Trussers (Paul Truswell's blog): June 2025

Half-way through the year is a good point at which to reflect on the last six months. I’m pleased to say that, apart from a brief period in hospital in January (when I was really rather unwell), my health remains good. My multiple myeloma remains in remission (coming up for five years next month) and although I am assured it will relapse, it doesn’t show any signs of doing so just yet. I managed to get to Le Mans earlier this month – celebrating 45 years since I first went to the race, and my 43rd attendance, having missed (but reported remotely on) the two Covid-affected years in 2020 and 2021. It was also the 115th 24-hour race I’ve attended – although I am tempted to add two 25-hour FunCup races at Spa-Francorchamps and Creventic’s “TCR 500”, a 23-hour race held at the same circuit in 2019, to that total.

But I am getting ahead of myself already. My motor racing year started as ever, in the Middle East in January, with the Creventic-organised Dubai 24 hours and Abu Dhabi 6 hours on successive weekends. I was with Red Camel for both races, ‘working the strategy’ for our 992-class Porsche, to be driven by Ivo Breukers, his two sons Rik and Luc, and our regular Swiss amateur driver, Fabian Danz. To be fair, the whole crew is amateur – Rik and Luc are classified by Creventic as “Semi-Pro”, but neither of them, nor any of the mechanics, make any money from the sport.

My primary job is to keep track of fuel consumption, but during the races, I also keep on top of what we should do at any point in the race if a Code 60 occurs. Creventic rules allow for only 25% of the normal fuel allocation to be added when the circuit is under Code 60, but it can be an advantage to stop when this happens. When we do stop, it is usually my decision whether to change tyres and driver as well, since the tyres have a limited life and the drivers cannot drive for more than two hours at a time. This can mean having the next driver on standby for up to an hour, just in case a Code 60 happens. So the sessions before the race are spent pounding round, working out fuel consumption and tyre (and hopefully brake) wear, as well as fine-tuning the set-up of the car.

For Friday’s free practice and qualifying sessions at Dubai, our Team Manager, Thomas van den Berg, was absent with a nasty flu bug, leaving me to manage our way to a provisional pole position; which was unfortunately penalised due to someone (me, maybe?) omitting to ensure that the fire extinguisher was correctly armed before the three-part qualifying session.

Dubai 24 hours - a thrilling contest in the 992 class

Despite this setback, come the race we managed to win the class by just over a minute in a closely-fought battle, and would be able to head off down the road to Yas Marina with high hopes. The crew had time for some rest and relaxation between the races, so some visited the fort at Dhayah, some the zipline at Jebel Jais – allegedly the world’s longest – in Ras Al Khaimah, to the north of Dubai. Some (me, maybe?) stood by and watched while others sought the thrills!

Selfie at Jebel Jais

The six-hour race at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit did not go so well. A broken upright in the race required a 45-minute stop for repairs, meaning an 11th place finish in class, and one point away from capturing the 992-class Middle East Trophy.

Rear upright repair at Abu Dhabi

Two months later, the Red Camel Porsche was back in Europe, and we were off on our travels again. This opening round of the ‘Michelin 24H European Series’ was at Mugello in Tuscany, Italy. Unfortunately, Ivo had come off his scooter in February and damaged his neck, so wouldn’t be able to drive. He was like a caged animal the whole weekend, prowling around the garage with nothing to do to relieve his energy. Everything worked out well in the race, though – Rik, Luc and Fabian coped with four planned driver changes in the seven-hour first segment and three in the second, five-hour segment. Rain affected both parts, but we won the class with relative ease as the opposition fell apart around us.

Class winner at Mugello

The second round of the championship was at Spa-Francorchamps, another two-part 12-hour race, with the usual parc fermé period between the five-hour first part and the seven-hour second part. Spa is, in effect, Red Camel’s local circuit and we get plenty of supporters making the short drive to visit. The weather proved kind, and again our opposition failed to materialise to the extent that I feared, allowing us to take another comfortable class win.

The third round, at Misano in Italy, was an uninterrupted 12-hour contest, but a disaster by Red Camel standards. Luc had a collision with another car, which lost us three laps, and then we lost a further hour repairing the car following contact with the wall at the pit entrance. Eleventh place in class was no compensation for the hard work of the crew getting the car back into the race.

Two races remain: another straight-through 12-hour race at Paul Ricard in July, and the 24-hours of Barcelona in September. We currently lie second in the championship standings, 12 points behind RPM (Krohn Racing), so there is still much to play for.

Snetterton

I dovetail my work with Red Camel with various commentary work, as well as a spot of writing here and there. In April, I was commentating on the Public Address at Snetterton at the BRSCC’s Spring Race Weekend. Fiestas, Minis and BMWs were on the card, and a super weekend of club racing was spoilt only by a long delay caused by a recovery vehicle clobbering the startline gantry, which took an age to be made safe. Somehow, we still managed to get through all 24 of the scheduled races and I was home before midnight!

My next commentary appointment was for the ‘Silverstone 500’ – the three-hour, blue-riband event on the British GT Championship calendar. The rules require three timed pit stops to be made during the race, which is one more than is necessary on fuel for a GT3 car, but which enables two stints to be undertaken by each of the ‘Pro’ and ‘Am’ graded drivers. There were lots of incidents on track, leading to several Full Course Yellow/Safety Car periods, which meant plenty of opportunities for different strategies. Darren Leung and Dan Harper played a different game to the rest in their Paradine (assisted by WRT) BMW M4. You had to stay sharp to follow it, but I felt that I and my fellow PA commentators Alistair Douglas (at Stowe) and Mark Werrell (in the pits) managed to keep the spectators informed of what was going on in what turned out to be a thrilling encounter. Support races were provided by GB3 and GB4 single-seaters as well as Ginettas; the weather was lovely, and a great day out was had by all.

Silverstone pits and startline, viewed from the commentary box

Another visit to Silverstone came three weeks later, for the BARC-organised TCR UK meeting on the National circuit. My co-commentator for this was Motorsport News editor Matt James, who worked very hard getting the stories from the pit lane, as well as tracking down the winners at the end of the races. The poor chap was quite exhausted by the end of it, although fewer cigarettes might have eased his burden (or maybe not!).

And so to Le Mans. Despite having been there so often, and despite the changes that have taken place over the years, it still has magic like no other event. Each year, a little bit more of the history is removed and replaced by something ‘corporate’. And each year a little bit more is added that really isn’t necessary and has me thinking ‘Why?’. I quite enjoyed watching a group of Toyota mechanics this year, making their way down the ‘working paddock’ to the pit area occupied this year by Proton, which used to be Toyota territory. I didn’t understand a word, but there was much pointing at the temporary edifices that are erected behind the pits; obviously they were making comparisons to the way they had it laid out in previous years.

Le Mans Test Day - WFH

For me, Le Mans requires more preparation than any other event during the year, especially because of the requirement to be ready to describe (from my office at home) the events of Test Day for Radio Le Mans. I also write a review of the WEC season so far, with its implications on how Le Mans might turn out, for Racecat Engineering; so by the time we got to Le Mans on Tuesday evening, much hard work had already been completed.

It is a shame that I am not able to do more races with the Radio Show Limited crew, for they are a great bunch and we generally have a lot of fun together. The thing I find most challenging about Le Mans week is the audience – and I realise that a lot of the readers of this will be listeners to Radio Le Mans as well. The problem is that many of you are at the circuit, trying to listen on dodgy FM receivers, with the blare of Gibson engines and the wail of Aston Martin Valkyries as background noise, while others will be at home, listening for the background noises as much as what is being said on air. Many of you will be dipping in and out, wanting to catch up, others will be tired of the constant repetitions. And following the race is so much easier these days, with smartphones showing live timing, big screens showing the action around the circuit and TV coverage with the benefit of nearly 40 camera positions (and replays). It all makes the job much more difficult. What can we tell you that you are not already able to find out for yourselves?

Having said that, I still derive an enormous amount of pleasure, not just from commentating at the race, but from being there. It remains one of the greatest races in the world, and is one of the biggest sporting events of the year. To be involved is a great honour and to be allowed to share some of my insights may be a huge responsibility, but is still a privilege. Jenson Button said at the end of the race: “Yeah, it was fun… I just wish it could have been more fun.” I think he had a point.

I’ve used the opportunity to dig through my archive for some pictures of those “more fun” days, so please indulge me.