Senna stays cool in the heat of Le Mans disappointment

Bruno Senna’s 2017 Le Mans was very much a race of two halves.

His No.31 Vaillante Rebellion car was leading the LMP2 class and looking set for a remarkable podium until electrical and gearbox gremlins struck halfway through the 24-hour event.

Worse was to come for his team – their other car managed an impressive third place, only to be disqualified the day after the race because of technical infringements.

But Senna was adamant there was one title his team deserved, whatever happened.

Speaking before the disqualification was announced, he told me: ‘We have the coolest team, for sure…’

To be fair, he had a point. Apart from iconic names including Bruno Senna, Nico Prost and Nelson Piquet Jr in the Vaillante Rebellion driver lineup, the team also took the bold decision to base their entry on an iconic French motorsport cartoon.

You may not have heard of Michel Vaillant (pictured, hanging around the pits area) but, since 1957, he has been as famous as any World Champion to generations of French motorsport fans – a ‘Roy of the Rovers’ on four wheels.

Brazilian Senna said: ‘I only found out about Michel Vaillant when I signed up with the team.

‘Nico [Prost] told me his dad actually started racing because of Michel Vaillant, because he was reading about racing with Michel Vaillant.

‘This cartoon has affected so many people, you have no idea. And the character has a similar sort of spirit to what our team has – it’s fun but also very serious.

‘Some people are saying our race suits look like gymnast suits but…’

The idea to base the team on Vaillant came from Romain Grabowski, communications boss with Le Mans and Rebellion sponsor Motul oils, after a couple of glasses of champagne – Motul obviously understand that the brain requires lubrication just as much as any car..

When Grabowski suggested it to Rebellion, he was told quite simply: ‘Let’s do it.’

While Senna maintains Vaillante Rebellion are super-cool, driving in an endurance race can be super-warm, with cockpit temperatures dwarfing the hot summer start most of Britain has been enjoying.

The rules mandate restrictions on the amount of time a driver can spend in a car once the ambient temperature hits 32C. Some teams – Porsche, for example – have air-conditioning in their cars. Others, such as Toyota, can’t afford the weight of an aircon system.

Senna said: ‘In open-cockpit racing you have loads of airflow on your helmet. So inside the cockpit, even if it’s hot, there’s still circulation whereas in these endurance racers you have two vents and that’s it.

‘Normally, we’re ok to drive up to 45C in the car but anything above that and you’ll start to struggle with long stints.

‘If it’s really hot then you don’t spend as long in the car – but then everyone is doing short stints and you can’t get proper rest, so you’re done anyway.’

It’s not just heat – there’s a lot of noise inside these LM2 cars as well.

Senna said: ‘It’s very loud in the car because the induction is very close to us, and there’s no airflow blocking the noise.

‘When you come out of the car, your head is really buzzing.’

Is Le Mans particularly challenging? Definitely. Senna (pictured) added: ‘For sure it’s the toughest race of the year.

‘It’s a tough race and a long race, especially in this heat. Having said that, in Austin last year the temperature in the cockpit was over 52 degrees. That was really bad.’

To put that in context, when the thermometer is between 32C and 40C, humans can start to suffer heat cramps and exhaustion. Between 40C and 54C, heat exhaustion is a real risk.

Despite the disappointments of the 2017 Le Mans, Senna hopes to be back next year.

He said: ‘Le Mans is the top race. It’s so different to when I first came here in 2009. It was busy, but it’s so much nicer now, with so much more going on.

‘And there’s more variety of people now. I think it’s becoming a bit of a festival, as well as a race – which is pretty cool.’