Brabham: Wednesday, and we're still celebrating!

Sunday was an historic day for Bentley and Le Mans, as the famous British marque finally retook the 24 Hours title for the first time since 1930, and, although he was not part of the winning crew, honorary Brit David Brabham was able to reflect on the event and what success meant to the team.

Despite being recognised as one of the leading sportscar racers of his era, the Australian only received his best crack at the outright Le Mans crown when he was called up by Bentley, having previously tackled the French enduro marathon at the wheel of the unique front-engined Panoz. While the American car was an undoubted fan favourite, it did not hold the same potential for overall victory as the Audis and Bentleys that it faced over the years, leaving Brabham more often than not a frustrated onlooker by the early morning hours.

Then, as Audi declined an entry for its works team to allow sister marque Bentley to step up to the plate, Brabs' ability to wheel a prototype was recognised, and he duly joined fellow 'Brits' Johnny Herbert and Mark Blundell - both former 24 Hours winners - in a potent line-up designed to take the green machine to victory. The trio were ranged alongside an equally formidable crew, with Dane Tom Kristensen going for his fourth win in a row - and fifth in all - teamed with former Audi team-mate Rinaldo Capello and Bentley Boy Guy Smith.

Having set the pace in pre-race testing, the Bentleys were always going to be the favourites to replace Audi at the front of the grid - and so it proved, with the two closed cockpit cars duking it out for the honour of starting the race from pole position.

''We were pretty confident of a front row start from all our testing,'' Brabham noted, ''but we were disappointed to have to settle for second spot.

''Both Johnny and I had a go for pole - I had two goes and Johnny had two - but we got so much traffic on all our qualifying runs. My engineer showed me the data from qualifying from both my laps, and I was four-tenths quicker than Tom until the Porsche Curves - then I had four slow cars to get through. Johnny was the same. Tom got a clear lap, and we didn't. Still, Tom did a great job.''

The pace of both cars was then maintained throughout the race, as the #7 and #8 machines continued their duel for podium positions. Neither missed a beat during the 24 hours, with routine stops being the only real reason for time spent in the pits - with one exception.....

''Car #7 had no problems at all - and I think that broke the record for the least amount of time in the pits,'' Brabham revealed, ''Our car needed two battery changes and I also had to stop to get the side head restraint out of my lap - which probably cost us the race very early on!''

Although the works R8s had been 'retired' after three straight wins at Le Mans, the privateer Audis were still expected to pose a threat to the GTP class Bentleys, and so it proved with both the Champion Racing and Team Goh examples still in the hunt until the latter stages.

''We knew that the Bentley Speed 8s were going to be the fastest cars on the track, but both Johnny and Dindo pulled away very quickly at the start,'' Brabham said, reflecting on the team's pace in the early stages of the race, ''We needed to do that, because we knew that the Audis would do less stops than us.''

In order to minimise the time that was lost with driver changes, the Brabham/Herbert/Blundell crew planned long periods behind the wheel

''We did about eight hours each in the car,'' the Australian explained, revealing an equal share of the workload that showed no preference for day or night driving, ''We either did double stints or triple ones. We knew Johnny would start, then me, then Mark, and we just rotated in that order all through the race.''
DB's sportscar experience also paid dividends when it came to resting between stints, with his history of long-distance events at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans now allowing him to detune between spells at the wheel.

''You do get used to it,'' he said of the effort put into racing round the clock, ''but you always feel a little tired after the event. I sleep when I get tired [during events], and I slept for a couple of hours when I got out of the car around three in the morning. I'm lucky in that I have always slept in all my 24-hour races because I can switch off. It does make a huge difference when you on for a good result though - and the Bentley was so good to drive, it didn't take everything out of you.''

That good result was still to leave Brabham with a little more frustration, however, as he watched the #7 car coming in first in a Bentley 1-2. The disappointment was palpable, especially as team-mate Herbert had shown that the #8 car had the pace to win by setting fastest lap, but the crew knew that that extra early pit-stop probably set the tone for the entire event.

''When I got the call to slow down and wait for the formation finish, I felt flat,'' Brabs admitted, ''I knew then that it was all over and I wasn't going to win Le Mans this year. I got out of the car and, at first, had no emotion at all, although that all changed when I got to the podium and saw all the Brits cheering the Bentley Boys.''

As usual, the crowd made its mark on the drivers on the podium, with Brabham - starved of such scenes in recent years - almost overwhelmed by the volume of support for the six green-and-white clad pilots.

''The fans where awesome, and the support Team Bentley got was incredible,'' he admitted, ''It was great for me to experience such an occasion, and I will never forget it.''

Even though he was disappointed with his own personal result, Brabham could not avoid getting caught up in the mood, as the Bentley team celebrated the result it had been seeking at the end of a three-year programme at Le Mans.

''The team's reaction was what you would expect - first, relief and, then, sheer jubilation,'' he revealed, ''All the hard work and money spent over the last three years had all paid off. This result exceeded their expectations. It was the perfect result. All the drivers and crew in the other car did a really good job, and I was please for Dindo and Guy for getting their first win -even though I told Tom he was just being greedy!

''We are still celebrating and it's now Wednesday. We won't stop for a while!''