Events Coverage
Audi Sport at the Grande Parade des Pilotes
By by: George Achorn, photos by author
Jun 19, 2008, 10:00

There’s one day during Le Mans week where the focus isn’t on the cars. There’s no scrutineering in the city center, no qualifying sessions at the track to jockey for grid placement or experiment with the last few car settings. Friday, as much as it can be, is all about relaxation and love for the drivers. During the day, hordes of fans leave their trackside campsites and nearby hotels and crowd into the downtown streets of Le Mans in order to catch a glimpse of their favorite driver at the Grande Parade des Pilotes or maybe get a look at a rare supercar..


The parade begins with laps of automotive exotics thanks to watchmaker Bell & Ross. This year began with a Sauber Mercedes and Silk Cut Jaguar Group C racecars that were both in town for the Le Mans Classic event, followed by rare offerings from Bugatti, Ferrari, Sbarro and more. Several Audi powered exotics were also on hand, including a white Spyker C8 spyder and a menacing matte black Gumpert Apollo.


For the seventh time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy was presented on the back of a vintage Audi roadster since Ingolstadt returned as reigning champion. Even the Audi driver lineups remained unchanged this year, so the same trios prepared to do their lap of downtown astride other vintage open-tops from the Audi Tradition collection while handing out autographed photo cards and signing just about anything shoved in front of them.


Along the parade route, the masses of crowds are seemingly everywhere. There’s always a sea of fans shoved up against the crowd barriers that line the street, though it’s so much more than that. Look up and most windows along the route are filled with faces - most balconies with bodies. Towards the end of the route, the majestic stone bridges, part of the castle-like cathedral that marks the downtown, cross over the parade route seemingly one hundred feet in the air.


Speaking of signatures, falling under the ‘things shoved in front of them’ column would have to be a model for a small lingerie shop underneath the stone feet of those bridges. Part of a clever marketing campaign, the girl was there so that drivers might sign her silk dress. No surprise, almost every one of them obliged.

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