车迷们太在意勒芒正赛往往忽略了赛场外的事儿,尤其是“勒芒之旅”- 车迷和赛车手们是怎么去法国的呢?1997 年,Matthew Carter 和 Ray Bellm 是驾驶迈凯伦 McLaren F1 GTR 去的。前无古人,后无来者。
在前一年(也就是 1996 年),Bellm 和队友 James Weaver 驾驶该车拿下 BPR Global GT Endurance Series 冠军;并在勒芒 24 小时耐力赛上获得第九名。当年底,BPR 系列赛更名 FIA GT Championship 锦标赛并修改了规则。如此一来,迈凯伦 McLaren F1 GTR 成了定制赛车而非公路(改)车,“长尾”McLaren F1 GTR 应运而生。
赛会的规则修改让 Bellm 十分尴尬,他的迈凯伦赛车无法继续参赛了。于是,他将这台 McLaren F1 GTR 变更成公路车:“我去上了牌照,让它变成一台能合法上路的汽车,这才是真正的勒芒精神!”轮胎换成公路胎,装了倒车灯、后雾灯和喇叭,另外还安了消音器,尽管没能让“噪声”降低多少。为更适合长途驾驶,避震器换了更软的弹簧,拆除防滚架,驾驶员左侧还加装了一个碳纤维材质座椅 – 那是为汽车记者 Matthew Carter 而准备。除了这些“逆向”公路改装,其他的装备统统没动。
不过开这样的准赛车上公路还是有些硬核。因为发动机噪声太大,所以 Carter 和 Bellm 得用对讲机通话。“每次刹车都会有相当刺耳的声音,而且这车基本没有多余的空间,无处容纳行李。热得很!还没空调!但在高速公路上提速是非常过瘾的,就像劈开红海 …”
“我们沿着 A28 公路(Abbeville 阿布维尔 -Rouen 鲁昂)飞驰,Ray 不像在赛道上那样狂奔,前车司机能在后视镜里看到我们一点点逼近。但说实话,可能大部分司机没看清是什么玩意超车过去。”Carter 回忆说“有的车会为我们让出车道,然后乘客会探出身子和我们打招呼,催促我们全油门超车,只为听听 V12 的声浪。当然,Ray 会满足他们。”
当然,抵达勒芒之后 Bellm 会驾驶“长尾” F1 GTR 上场拼杀。只是这次究极完美的“勒芒之旅”并没有完美句号:Bellm 的车组尽管在比赛中大部分时间处于有利竞争位置,但赛车出现了故障 … 至于那台在法国高速狂奔的 McLaren F1 GTR?它成了 Goodwood 等赛车活动的常客,只是车主不再是 Bellm 先生了。
原创文章,作者:cesifu,如若转载,请注明出处:http://www.cesifu.com/article/9477.html
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