Insight: Journey To Le Mans

June, a month synonymous with the 24 Hours of Le Mans for motorsport fans across the world, represents the culmination of several months of hard work and preparation by British LMP2 outfit Jota Sport, which is set for the big screen in a new film to be released later this year.  James Newbold takes a look at Journey to Le Mans and is intrigued by what he finds…

If you’re a motorsport fan, chances are that you’ve seen, or at least heard of Rush, which documents the highly-charged battle for the 1975 Formula One world championship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, the Senna movie, or TT3D: Closer to the Edge. Well there's good news; the quality of motorsport cinema shows no sign of letting up in 2014. The latest offing to hit the big screens, Journey to Le Mans, is the story of Jota's 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, following drivers Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Marc Gene from pre-season testing through the opening rounds of the European Le Mans Series, a cameo in the World Endurance Championship at Spa and finally onto the race itself, the jewel in the sportscar racing crown, this weekend.

Jota's Le Mans 24 Hours is the subject of a new film
to be released later this year. (Credit: Jota Sport)

Certainly, it won’t be short on drama. Le Mans, immortalised by the 1971 film of the same name starring Steve McQueen, is a race truly unlike any other, watched by over 700 million television viewers in 2013 and steeped in over 90 years of tradition, the sheer intensity of the week-long build-up enough to leave even the most seasoned of veterans exhausted even before the start of 24 hours of racing on the 13 km-long Circuit de la Sarthe. Just making it to the finish can be a victory in itself and a proclivity for heart-wrenching late disasters mean nothing is certain until the clock ticks down to zero.

“Le Mans really is one of those very few events that modern day man can really push themselves past the limits of human endurance,” says Journey to Le Mans producer Charlotte Fantelli.

“We did an interview with Marc and he said that he will always fondly remember his Formula One days, but he will look back on his career and the highlight will undoubtedly be winning Le Mans. It’s the sleep deprivation, the psychological side of it as well as the physical side of it; very few people can withstand the gruelling 24 hours.

“But it’s all the preparations and all the things that go into Le Mans that make it such a huge and wonderful event, not just the 24 Hours itself. Its things like the Rocky music playing on the start line, the crowds, the buzz, the streets turning into a track, the big wheel, the music concerts, the campsites, the drivers parades, the scrutineering in the town, all of it is just so captivating and makes it so unique.”

Fantelli certainly knows what she’s talking about; her deep-rooted passion and infectious enthusiasm for all things automotive is abundantly evident and with an array of talent both on and off screen including avid car enthusiast Sir Patrick Stewart, is determined to do the spectacle of Le Mans justice.

Filming has been underway since the end of last season. (Credit: Fantelli Productions)

“We’re doing it as a 90 minute feature film, which will then be re-cut for television and we now have 56 channels across the world interested in taking it, including ITV4 in the UK," she said. "The cinema cut was something we really wanted to do considering the incredible talent we have on and off screen; we’ve got Patrick Stewart, the Top Gear guys and I've had some great support from people like Mark McQueen, TJ Scott and Grant Wardrop, so it’s definitely cinema-quality talent and they will end up with very high quality pieces of television.

“There’s a clip where [Top Gear cameraman] Iain May and his precision driver are coming around the Jota car and you can see the whites of Simon’s eyes at 60-70 miles per hour; the focus is just amazing. These guys know their motorsport and that’s reflected in what they do. TJ Scott flew in for LA for Silverstone and came on board wholeheartedly with the project. To be involved with something that has such heart has really captivated people, even Patrick Stewart; he read his script with the heart and passion of someone who really knew and who really cared. He’s been in some of the biggest grossing films and TV shows across the world and there he is talking so lovingly about being involved in these little UK shows because of how passionate he is about motorsport.”

Of course, everyone is hoping this weekend brings a happy ending to a story which has already had its fair share of rollercoaster moments so far. Pole position and a race win at Imola was the perfect response after a colossal impact at Silverstone – when Dolan was edged onto the grass by a backmarker while leading comfortably with just an hour to go – serving as a timely reminder that in endurance racing, everything can change in an instant.

Marc Gene, Harry Tincknell and Simon Dolan (left to right)
finished second at Spa in the WEC. (Credit: Drew Gibson)

“That certainly added some drama to the film; Simon couldn’t really have done any better if it had been scripted!” Fantelli laughs. “I think the world of Simon, so now that I know everything’s fine, from a producer’s point of view I can say ‘well that was good.’ Obviously at the time our hearts were in our mouths, we were all waiting in the garage for around half an hour to find out what had happened. The TV coverage of it had stopped, we’d lost radio contact with Simon and it was all a bit scary. 

“You’re reminded in a very dramatic fashion just how dangerous this sport is. All of us in our line of work, whether that’s being stood in the pits in our fireproof suits with cameras in our hands or behind the wheel of a sportscar, we forget how dangerous it is and it opens your eyes a lot to what you’re actually dealing with. With all the rules and regulations, the right equipment and the good team and the professionalism, everything feels very safe, so we were all reminded quite dramatically that it’s still not a risk-free sport.”

A strong podium finish among the WEC regulars at Spa and a competitive showing at the test day last week mean that with their proven car, Jota are sure to be in the mix and Fantelli has every confidence in the team to deliver the goods.

“Jota are a fantastic team in many respects, they’re a fantastic bunch. Harry is so excited to be there, he’s a breath of fresh air and Marc is the consummate professional; he’s got a real spark and a suave about him and he’s a fantastic guy to work with. And Simon, he’s hugely talented and one of the most driven people I’ve ever met in everything he does. He doesn’t do anything half-hearted and that’s something I admire hugely about him. It shows in his driving as well; he’s undoubtedly one of the quickest silver drivers out there and the more he works with the Audi drivers all he will do is take that and keep improving. I’m very excited to see what they can do.”

Now, we wait.

Driver’s Eye: Harry Tincknell

This season has had a bit of everything so far; the big disappointment from Silverstone, jubilation in victory at Imola and all the rest. We’re also doing a few bits back at home with our preparation physically, mentally and with the boys in the workshop as well. Hopefully it will give the general public a really good idea of what goes into the Le Mans 24 Hours; I’ve certainly noticed this year that more people who aren’t too informed about motorsport have heard about it than Formula 3. Hopefully it will capture the imagination quite well. It’s been a slightly unexpected spin-off from signing with Jota that I didn’t expect at the start of the season, you never know I might end up in Celebrity Big Brother or something like that!

Charlotte does a very professional job and she knows when we have to focus on our stuff and when is a good time to do the interviews and extra stuff we need for the film. The whole idea is that it’s a fly-on-the-wall sort of thing just following us around, so they do a very good job of merging into the background quite well. You’ll be having a debrief with the engineers and the microphone will appear above your head, but they do a great job of following the action without getting in the way or interfering too much. I’ve seen a few clips and it all looks very high quality, the TV production guys and cameramen they’ve got working on it are all very experienced. It’s going to be fun and hopefully it’s a big success and we’ll do our best next week to make a good end to the story next week by getting a good result in the actual race that will top off what I think will be a really good film, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how it looks at the end.