A very happy birthday to Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo. In the days before Patrick Head, Frank Williams ran a very different team from the standard-setter we know now, as Pescarolo found out to his cost in 1972. Adam Cooper reports
This year Henri Pescarolo did not take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time since 1969, when injuries sustained in a testing crash kept him away. Instead the bearded Frenchman pursued a new role as a team boss, as part of his arrangement with Elf's La Filiere programme to support young drivers. Henri says he might drive again in 2001, but even if he doesn't, his record of 33 Le Mans starts is unlikely ever to be beaten. What's more, he never really had duff machinery at the Sarthe.
"The Rondeau M482 was supposed to be the first car with fantastic downforce," he recalls, "but in fact it was slower everywhere than the M382 of the year before; naturally, we were very disappointed. The car was quite nice to drive, but it was slower than the conventional car. But apart from that, all the other sports cars were either fantastic, like the Matras, or at least very good. I never had a really bad car to drive in my career — except the Politoys..."
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