Pre Le Mans - 14/06/2001   Bits And Pieces From Scrutineering On Monday   Donald Duck or Daffy Duck? I don't know, and I also don't know why Olivier Beretta looks as though he's planning to carry the quacking thing in his Chrysler. Just one light moment in a relaxing afternoon in the Place des Jacobins. Fine weather, blue skies...but not that relentless heat of last year. David Lord found a nice spot in the shade for this scene-setter.... The list of cars to be scrutineered has been available here for some weeks. Champion were first through, Tim Crete directing operations to have the car and team in exactly the right position for the team shot. Johansson were next, then the DAMS Cadillacs (fresh from a late test at Dijon last week, below)..... ....the Corvettes and so on. Ron Fellows was lapping it up. "We don't get this kind of attention in sportscar racing in North America." I don't believe drivers do anywhere other than Le Mans, Ron. This is the big one, and it's already shaping up to be an epic event. Johnny O'Connell demonstrated his 'mastery' of French. Seven out of ten, Johnny (not quite as good as you think it is). Xavier Pompidou was missing (and Ben Collins) as David Lord took this photograph of four of the Ascari drivers. That's Scott Maxwell, Harri Toivonen, Werner Lupberger and Klaas Zwart - from left to right. Pompidou is definitely the sixth driver, partnering Klaas Zwart and Scott Maxwell. That's one detail to add, boys. The whole procedure was running late, so the Ascaris were an hour later than planned to go through all the examination procedures. The late arrangements over the second and third Johansson drives meant that Patrick Lemarie had a good long test at Snetterton recently, while Tom Coronel has only had a few laps of the same track. This grouping is likely to pull together very quickly, but it's a late deal. No reason for it not to do well because of that of course. More later this evening - or on Tuesday morning. It's a long drive to get here, and coverage will build up as we approach Qualifying on Wednesday evening. Official website of the Le Mans 24 Hours Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport