From YourSITE.com
Parade of Drivers at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
By by: George Achorn, photos by George Achorn
Jun 15, 2007, 14:08
French love pageantry and there’s no better example of that during Le Mans race week than the Parade of Drivers through the streets of downtown Le Mans on Friday. With no sessions planned at the circuit, driving teams’ main focus for the day was the parade scheduled for that evening.
Each team of three drivers rides atop a vintage car, beginning at the review stand in the city center, circling through the town and then back to the center for the parade’s completion. Dispersed between the teams are exotic cars, marching bands, peacock-plumed dancing girls, school-age racecar drivers and more.
Lining the entire route each year are throngs of fans, waiting for a glimpse of their favorite drivers or maybe even an autograph card. Even the least-known drivers are well loved at the parade, with a reception fit for a rockstar.
As has become tradition, the Audi Sport team drivers were chauffeured around the track in classic Auto Union open-tops driven by the staff of Audi Tradition. Other independent teams were driven by local vintage car owners.
Surprisingly, two of the JLOC Lamborghini drivers showed up for the parade. However, Marco Appicella, the driver who’d had the accident on Wednesday, was nowhere to be found.
The rookie team of Spyker’s #85 entry looked pimp, with drivers Andrea Chiesa, Alex Caffi and Andrea Belicchi in matching white hats. However, if there were a pimp award to be given at the parade, then that award would most certainly have been given to Oreca’s Stephane Ortelli. The 37-year old Monaco native, who also drove Oreca’s R8 in 2005, convinced his teammates Soheil Ayari and Nicolas Lapierre to ditch their ride and join the Hawaiian Tropic girls on the big Excalibur in the car behind them. Smiles come easily to drivers during the parade, but they may have come a bit easier to Ortelli, with his arms around two Hawaiian Tropic models.
Towards the end of the parade, the skies above Le Mans would again open up. Even as the rain began to fall, many drivers remained on the route, signing autographs and greeting fans. Amongst them were the Audi Sport drivers, holding umbrellas and signing away on cards, shoes, shirts and anything else that could be marked by a pen.
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