I love reading this stuff.
Dave
Willy Braillard, who gives us the story of his first 24 Hours of Spa. It was in 1969 ...
" In 1969, I am 23 years old, I am in the third season of competition, in Formula Vee, and René Moerenhout, boss of the club 'Les Gémeaux', Boulevard du Souverain in Brussels, client of Jean-Pierre Gaban, asks me to do the 24 Hours of Spa with him in his Porsche 911. A bold proposition ... I had never driven in touring before! No need to think about it to accept. I had been a reserve driver for Team Opel in 1968 , at the initiative of Paul Deetens, team director, which allowed me to do 5 laps in testing on a Commodore.
Cool testing with the 911, and on Saturday, René takes the start. As he was much taller than me, we had a procedure when entering the pits or in the deceleration lane: we had to either move forward or back the seat depending on the driver behind. Marks were painted on the floor, and it only took a glance to spot them. Naturally, René forgot to move the seat forward (very light!) Which supported us up to the middle of the back! And from the first round, I almost got out at Stavelot! Sliding car and all the trouble in the world to master it by driving with your fingertips! When I left the pits, I found it weird to crack the gears, but naturally, I couldn't fully disengage! On the 2nd lap, I was in the wake of the 911 from Chasseuil / Ballot-Léna, the future winners, at the entrance to the S of Masta when I was very surprised to see it braking violently. Immediately, a cloud of dust and parts flew ... A car had come out ... But which and who?
For 5 laps, that is to say more than 22 minutes, we eased the foot at the entrance of the S (yellow flags) to accelerate at the exit when we saw the remains of the poor 'Eldé', Leon Last, gentleman-driver of Liège, who passed without headphones through the window of the Mazda's door, wrapped around a telephone pole.
During the two hours of my stint, I tortured my brains to know who it was, knowing that the pilot was dead! I imagined it was a BMW, the car was so unrecognizable. I did not know any of the drivers of the rare BMW present, but when I passed the baton, I learned that it was poor Leon, who had winked at me during the briefing, to me, the beginner ...
Let's come back to the race ... My teammate used to sleepless nights in his nightclubs, I had said that the night was for him, I who had never spent a night without sleeping! At midnight, I pass the baton, determined to sleep, when after three-quarters of an hour, Roger Vanderschrick (a great pilot, injured in a serious accident at the Barisart hill climb in 911), calls me to see if I can get back behind the wheel after the minimum mandatory time, René not being comfortable in the dark.
So I get back behind the wheel, and after two hours, Roger asks me if I can continue ... That is a total of four hours behind the wheel! When I stop, although I have decided to sleep, I am asked to get back behind the wheel after three-quarters of an hour of nap! And here I am again for another four hours!
It was then, when dawn was coming, that in a daze, I set my best time. I was only a few tenths off the clock for Gérard Larousse, factory driver, Jean-Pierre Gaban's team-mate, in a car prepared in Stuttgart with 30 more horses.
Following this feat, Gaban asked me the following year to participate in my first 24 Hours of Le Mans! During the tests of the double clock tower of the Sarthe, I found myself in front of the great and late Bjorn Waldegard on the factory car! Not a little proud, the Willy ... Finally, during these 24 Hours well anchored in my memory, we took 4th place overall and first in Group 2. Very good memory of my first of ten participations in the 24 Hours of Spa .
Getimage (1) by stretch1985, on Flickr
spa 69 2 by stretch1985, on Flickr
spa 69 by stretch1985, on Flickr
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