24 Hours of Le Mans

Mission of mercy allowed Larbre to race at Spa

© Planetlemans - Frank Feenstra

Olivier Bossicard is a friend indeed to Vincent Vosse having volunteered to drive through the night to ensure his compatriot was able to start the 1000km race at Spa. During practice on Friday, Vosse was pushed into a spin by a prototype and sustained heavy front-end damage to the Larbre Competition Aston Martin DBR9.
“I got the call at 10pm on Friday and was asked if I would go to Dover,” said Bossicard, an engine technician who has a desire to work in motor racing. “I left at 11:30pm to go to Calais and caught the 2:30am train to the UK. Just before 3am I saw the Prodrive truck and loaded the part into my car, then headed back to take the train. I was back at Spa at 9am.” The team spent Saturday repairing the Aston Martin, and received dispensation from the stewards to be allowed to race on Sunday despite having not set a qualifying time. The car was allowed to start from the back of the grid with Pedro Lamy on board having flown in from the ALMS race in Houston, Texas that morning.
During the morning warm-up session, Lamy completed little more than a lap before he ran out of fuel. At the start of the race, he made his way through the field to lead the class before he handed the car to Gabriele Gardel. A power steering problem manifested itself, and when Vosse took over, he was forced to retire, in the fourth hour of the race.