Customer Reviews

Le Mans 24 Hours 2003-2004

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I own several of these Le Mans annuals by Christian Moity. Let me just say that they are REQUIRED for any fan of endurance racing. Most of the editions are in English but be careful.....some are in French and ONLY available in French (1982 is a prime example). The earlier editions from the late 1970's through early 1980's feature mostly black and white photos but there's NO SHORTAGE of them: Every page is full of detailed pictures from that year's 24 hour race. The newer editions from the mid-1990's forward are in full color and the photos are FANTASTIC! The 2003 annual follows the historic 1-2 victory by Team Bentley with their Speed 8's competing in the special GTP Class for closed-top prototypes. They held off the charge of the Audi's for 24 hours straight resulting in a near-perfect race. The other interesting developement in the LMP group was the young Gunnar Jeanette (Driving for Panoz) locked in a fierce battle for 5th place with a Courage C60. The Prodrive Ferrari Team took top honors in the GTS category by beating the factory Corvette C5-R's by 10 laps......the defeat was even worse for Corvette considering 2003 was the 50th anniversary of the 'Vette. Each book gives you an in depth look at the men/women and machines that take part in the gruelling race. The books usually start off with a historical section devoted to some sort of significant achievement at Le Mans. For example, Cadillac returned to La Sarthe in 2000 for the first time in decades so the historical section was devoted to Cadillacs at Le Mans. The same has been done for Corvette, Bentley, Aston Martin, etc. If there are no particular marques making a historic return to the race, then the section usually talks about what happened decades ago. For instance, if you have a 2002 annual you'll be able to see all the things that happened in years ending in 2. The books show you the complete entry list for the year (One car per page) as well as the drivers, sponsers, etc. Detailed statistics are provided regarding practice times, qualifying, the race itself (Hour by Hour), and finally the race results. The books are so well detailed they even give you the hour by hour pit stops of each individual car along with mountains of additional information. These books are well worth the price of owning them but be warned.....the older they get, the harder they will be to find and they will be EXSPENSIVE! (Yes, these books do appreciate in value) I have a rare English version of the 1979 race that has never been opened.....try finding one of those! The easiest edition to find right now is the 2003 annual (Won by Bentley). Anything older than 1999, however, is practically impossible. Try to buy them the same year they come out; that way you can be reasonably sure about finding a copy.