One Hell Of A Weekend

Introduction

I've watched and reviewed many Le Mans DVDs but all of them cover the race, without going into much, if any, detail about the effort needed to get a car to the circuit and onto the grid. One Hell of a Weekend follows Team Modena from their base in England where they are forced to begin a desperate search for a third driver prior to setting off, arriving at the Circuit de la Sartre and the pre-qualifying, qualifying sessions and the race itself with 13 year veteran David Brabham and rookies Nelson Piquet Jnr. and Antonio Garcia in their privateer Aston Martin DB9.

The 60 plus minute DVD is split into sections with the bulk of the footage in the pit lane, showing exactly what happens during a race weekend and more specifically during the 24 hours of racing including some footage of the 2006 race itself.

Video

A very good picture with captions identifying each speaker, the race coverage, provided by TWI, is clear even that taken during the night.

Audio

Much of the DVD is taken up with interviews and the dialogue is easy to hear, with interviewees pausing when a car drives by so you don't have to try and make out what they're saying against the roar of an engine. Each section has the same caption music which sounds like two guys in a garage and is frankly horrible but it's only on for about 5 seconds at the beginning of each chapter so it's bearable.

Wayne Forrester's narration, written by Keith Littler, is clear and informative.

Extra Features

David Brabham talks over about fourteen minutes of home movies from when he was very young to when he started racing go-carts, discussing his upbringing in England and Australia and his family. This is followed by a short interview at Le Mans where he describes why it is so special and then you get the music video comprising clips from the DVD over the terrible theme song.

Conclusion

Most Le Mans DVDs focus on covering the racing rather than the nuts and bolts of preparing a car and the effort needed to qualify and then keep it going for the 24 hours of flat out racing so One Hell of a Weekend is a welcome release as you get to see a side to Le Mans that is usually neglected. Team Modena have given full access to the film crew, though they do ask them to leave the office when the call comes through telling them that one of their team has been forced to pull out. Once you get to the circuit, the film crew and the interviewer really get around, talking to many members of the team and it's incredible what the men, not just the drivers but the whole team, go through in the 24 hours of racing, particularly David Brabham who was driving double stints when Piquet Jnr. and Garcia were driving single, 13 lap, stints and the physical and mental toll it takes on them.

This is an interesting DVD which is well worth a place in the collection of any fan of Le Mans as it shows you why it is regarded as the greatest race in the world and a fine companion piece to the other race DVDs offered by Duke Video.