The documentary directed by John McKenna and Gabriel Clarke covers both the eventful production of the film "Le Mans," and the impact that real adventure had on the life and personality of Steve McQueen, deceased in 1980. Around 40 drivers participated in the filming. Among them, Le Mans native Jean-Pierre Bodin and Brit David Piper. Memories.

Jean-Pierre Bodin: "Filming the movie 'Le Mans' was like the week of the 24 Hours lasting six months (it went from June to November, 1970, editor's note)! The village built near the campsite of Solar Productions, Steve McQueen's production company, was a city within a city: administrative services, payment office, cafeteria, projection room…it was easy to see there were no funding problems! It brought a lot of money to the municipality of Le Mans because people involved in the production only paid with dollars and cash. We were mostly paid according to what we had to do. I would have loved to have been paid as much for racing, it would have afforded me a great career as a driver!"
David Piper: "At the end of each day of filming, we would go to the Solar village to take a look at the rushes. What was most difficult was to mesh the scenes we had filmed and those the Porsche 908 of Solar captured during the real race, namely in terms of lighting and the position of the sun. There was no other way to do it in order to show full grandstands and reflect the atmosphere of the race."
Jean-Pierre Bodin: "After its release (in 1971, editor's note), the film was quite unsuccessful in France for 10 or 15 years. For about 10 years now, a sort of cult following has embraced 'Le Mans.' It is certainly a major movie that described the 24 Hours at that time."
David Piper: "There were all the cars and great drivers of that era. The race sequences were filmed at real speed, which now makes it one of the most important films ever dedicated to motorsports."

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, JUNE 1970. Dedicatee of the film "Le Mans," Brit David Piper competed at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, site of the filming of the movie, at the wheel of this Porsche 917 K entered himself. His teammate was New Zealander Gijs van Lennep, future winner of the race in 1971.