Brundle and son: Taking on Le Mans

The opening hour of the 2001 Le Mans 24 Hours had it all: torrential rain, big crashes, safety cars and chaos in the pits. Amidst the carnage, and by virtue of an exceptional drive and an adherence to the mantra of keeping the car on the grey stuff, Martin Brundle took an unlikely lead - the first time Bentley had been at the front of a Le Mans race for more than 70 years.

That Brundle was eventually reeled in by the faster Audis was perhaps inevitable; that he still managed to keep the Bentley in the fight for the lead almost three hours in to the race was a testament to his skill on one of the world's most fearsome circuits.

Brundle gave Bentley its first Le Mans lead in more than 70 years in 2001 © LAT

Stint complete, Brundle handed over to Guy Smith and headed for a deserved rest, his two guests - David Coulthard and King Juan Carlos of Spain - for company. It was the former who broke the news barely two hours later: the car had hit mechanical issues and retired. Brundle was out; his race - which he thought was his final Le Mans expedition - was done.

But Brundle's affair with the legendary race did not end in 2001. Last week he announced that he will return for another crack, this time with his son Alex for a co-driver.

It is not the first time Le Mans has had a father and son combination. Notably Mario Andretti partnered his son Michael on three occasions, with varying success. Derek Bell and Nigel Mansell likewise joined their sons, while in 1950 Louis and Jean-Louis Rosier famously shared victory in a Talbot-Lago T26 GS.

It is the latter example that both Martin and Alex are aiming towards for their joint bow in 2012, and they have the machinery to achieve it, piloting the Nissan-powered Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN, which won the LMP2 class in this year's race. They have previous too, having shared a Lamborghini at Hockenheim and won several races together in Radicals.

Le Mans though is a whole new ballgame and even as they ready themselves for the challenge - Brundle senior is already in training and setting new personal bests - there is an interesting dynamic developing between father and son.

"We have this role reversal going on compared to a few years ago," Martin says. "He [Alex] is now checking up on me to see if I have been in the gym now. He's also faster than me now - although I am still fast enough to drive an LMP2 car.

"I can help him though: I can shortcut his pain process of learning a lot of things, even if he'll still be very young. It's a mighty track and a mighty motor race and he's very aware that we have to deliver."

Martin Brundle tasted glory at Le Mans in 1990, sharing with John Nielsen and Price Cobb © LAT

The sentiment speaks volumes for how Martin and Alex are approaching their joint Le Mans bid. For Martin, a personal relish to be returning mixes with a fatherly delight - both at what could be a hugely significant milestone in his son's career and of course the prospect of sharing such an experience with him. For Alex, the fact he will be racing with his father is more of an extra, a positive aspect of an opportunity on which he is determined to capitalise.

"I think it means quite little to him to be racing with his dad to be honest," Martin explains. "He just sees it as a professional opportunity. But it means a lot to me because dad and his lad means a lot more to the dad.

"To share this experience with your son - for me to be able to strap him in the car and send him on his way - is going to be very special.

"It also will help Alex massively. I've always said, and I stand by it, that sportscar racing can offer you a number of elements that single seater racing can't: working with the pressures of a manufacturer, working with the tyre company, the set up, the dynamics within the team. You have hundreds of people in the pit team, a big budget, a lot of pressure and that's just like being in a grand prix team. I think it will broaden his horizons, give him confidence and I can't see any downside."

What of his own thoughts and goals ahead of what is a significant return to the discipline in which he enjoyed his greatest successes?

Martin Brundle competed alongside Mark Blundell in this year's Daytona 24 Hours © LAT

"For me, I have a small window to do this. I am still fast enough to drive an LMP2 car. Alex will still be 21 at Le Mans and before he takes off, I might never get a chance to race with him there again. I regret not having raced more in the intervening time since I last did Le Mans, but I've got the speed, I've got the fitness and stamina and I would be absolutely open to continuing past 2012."

Alex is asked the same question: how does he feel about partnering his father at Le Mans? Tellingly, it is the second part of the question he focuses his answer on.

"This is part of my development, my path into becoming a professional," he says. "It's a learning experience, but the goal is to win. I'm treating it incredibly seriously, and I've communicated that to my dad, who is willing to help me. He's done what he needs to at Le Mans, but he knows how much I'm putting in and he's doing likewise."

The reply is significant not just for goals Alex has set himself, but also for the implicit acknowledgement that it is him, not Martin, driving the project forward.

"For me, the training wheels have gone now," Alex continues. "I've finished my education and I'm taking care of far more myself, picking it up and running with it. It's how it needs to be.

"I have a massive respect for my dad, especially for the experience and knowledge that I just plain don't have. It's not for me to say if I will ever overtake him, but we're at the stage now where we have conversations and arrive at mutual decisions. I can still learn a lot from him, but I can also offer opinions that will change his. It's an important step in our relationship."

Brundle senior echoes the sentiment. "Racing nowadays is so much more data driven than it was when I did it, so I'm actually following Alex a lot on that if I'm honest," he says. "I think it was 1991 when I first had data acquisition on my F1 car, and then I remember seeing Alex's cadet kart with the Pi system giving all sorts of data - at that low a level.

"It has all moved on so much, so I'll be listening more than talking about that side."

That is not to say that Martin will be tacking a back seat over the race. "It's very hard - a ferocious race - so you can't compromise on anything frankly," he says. "I had some massive disappointments at Le Mans - I've had a puncture in the first chicane while leading for Toyota, and in 1998 I hit a patch of water and went off and had a massive shunt. That's Le Mans for you - but it's incredible.

1990 was Brundle's finest year at Le Mans, taking victory by four laps in the Silk Cut Jaguar © LAT

"If you ever lift you won't win in my experience: someone will drive flat out in a trouble-free run to the end of the race so you all have to. It's a sprint race for 24 hours; I don't ever remember coasting there in anything. Its bloody hard work.

"I'll approach it the same as any other race though. You have to set it up with a bit of security in mind - you want a car that, if its going to let go, will do so at the front not the back, and everyone has to be comfortable in the car because you get to the end of a 24 hour race. I'll be putting my views forward for sure. We don't know the third driver yet but we'll probably do like I used to do: I'll get really comfy and the others will have to make do..."

The last remark is said tongue in cheek, but Martin is quickly back into a serious appraisal. "The one area I might struggle in a bit is at night," he confesses. "The one area you just can't compensate for as you get older is your night vision - not in terms of safety or consistency but in terms of absolute pace. I didn't struggle at Daytona it has to be said, and the night is much longer there, but technically it's the only area of my own driving I could see giving me any concerns at all.

"Having to look in my mirrors though - that will be something new. I just don't think I have ever had that before in my career. There have been phases before when people are coming at you, but it's at a similar rate of knots. I'm going to find it strange at night and I'm going to realise how much I have terrified people in the various 24 Hour races I have done.

"I'm going to be on the receiving end of headlights that dazzle you and drivers who cut you up.

"I saw a tweet today from Alex Wurz saying "hi mate, adjust your mirrors please ;-)" - and in many ways that's the perfect welcome."

For Alex, a mirror of a very different variety is his final concern. "Greaves did an absolutely brilliant job last year, and I have absolute confidence in them as a team," he says. "It's a whole new world in sportscars, but I'm confident I can learn quickly and deliver the performance. Racing with my dad will help to a degree, but I also intend to leave no stone unturned, to do my homework and to approach the race in a positive manner.

"If we get to Hour 22 and then we're taken out - well, that's racing. As long as I can look myself in the mirror and say I did all I could to make it a success, I'll be happy."

For Alex, that success will be measured on two fronts. Le Mans as a race will perhaps be his sternest test to date as a driver; but as an episode of his career it could be more important, potentially the decisive point where youthful ambition turns into a professional career.

One thing is for sure though: the Brundle story at Le Mans is no longer finished. A new chapter begins in 2012, and fittingly both Martin and Alex will be helping to write it.