A stainless-edged bonnet crest with a leather backing, the Zippo-sized key sets into a central cradle with rare gravitas.
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It’s a touch inconvenient — there’s no ring disrupting its polished profile, and the key’s gleaming finish demands a little more attention than the typical plastic clicker. It barely squeezes into a change pocket, and when it does, the hard edges’ press against the thigh constantly reminds of its presence.
Carried quietly around the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it feels special; tumbled in the pocket watching the same crest win its 50-year return to the world’s greatest race, it feels downright regal.
A 24-hour race goes on a whole lot longer than you might think, but it all wraps up rather quickly.
The checkers wave, the champagne splashes, the haulers exit. The spirited centenary crowd funnels out before we media have even finished interviews. Shops are packing up within an hour, all as PAs echo Taylor Swift and Sean Paul across the empty grounds. The load-out is almost as impressive as the start; it’s time to pack up and get home.
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My ride back is a red 296 GTB. Loaded with cameras, rain gear, and shaving cream, it has already served as a brisk and comfortable chariot across the 1,800-km haul from the factory gates in Maranello this week, my shuttle during qualifying, and my locker during the race.
Now, it’s time for dinner and a shower. I’m exhausted: Porsche Curves at warm-up, the front straight for the start, a sundown photo hike along Mulsanne, late-night infield drinks with the Brits, and delusions of staying up for the full 24 have properly drained me.
Resignation to a 4:00 A.M. snooze under my media-room table has left my back sore and my hair funky, as ought to be expected after attempting to sleep on a bunched-up, still-wet raincoat. Several parts hurt; my phone says I’ve trundled some 67,000 steps around this circuit, and I fear I’ll stain my favourite race-car socks if these blisters go.
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I am dog-tired. I am also walking back toward my final run in a car that lent its engine architecture to the machine that just won Le Mans outright. One final leg, one last hurrah: everyone else’s party may be over, but I have that key in my pocket. It’s time to rally.
Slotting the key into place and starting the engine, my heavy eyes lift. A few phone-wielding stragglers appear, gesturing for a rev; pulling both paddles selects neutral, and I oblige.
Ferrari 499P at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Porsche 911 GT3R at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Porsche's 963 LMH car, racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Le Mans media centre late at nightPhoto by Elle Alder
Porsche 911 GT3R at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 499P at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Porsche 911 GT3R at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
NASCAR at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Overnight revelry at Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Overnight revelry at Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Photo by Elle Alder
Overnight revelry at Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Photo by Elle Alder
Overnight at Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Tire prep at Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Overnight at Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
Le Mans 2023Photo by Elle Alder
All 17 Photos for Gallery
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The waves and upturned thumbs and cameras continue as I venture away from the historic town of Le Mans; smiling back, it’s hard not to feel like a celebrity. Gone are the drunken crowds, the swarms of enthusiasts stopping supercars at spray-painted starting lines and requesting traction-off launches without recognizing the two gendarmes on motorcycles right behind, the shirtless men evacuating themselves into ditches. Traffic has cleared, nav is set to avoid highways, and the pixelated path ahead promises good things.
I haven’t put much lateral force on the car so far this journey ��� I got that out last year at Fiorano — but as civilization thins, I start to load it up through smooth, open-sighted twists. I build pace as I go, and though both feet are monumentally sore, the left still has enough in it for snappy left-foot braking.
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The 296 delivers more than enough power for roads of this size, and I seldom roll more than one-quarter throttle. Even with a few pinned pulls, I have to remind myself to run it all the way out to 8,500 rpm — so torquey is the ‘hot-vee’ twin-turbo V6 that just a little renders a whole lot. Unshakably balanced to make the most of its 819 horsepower, the 296 seems just the right amount of supercar.
Ferraris convoyed from Italy, Germany, and Britain to mark the brand's top-class returnPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTB in Le Mans, FrancePhoto by Elle Alder
All 2 Photos for Gallery
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Fifteen minutes in, the blood is pumping. Such precise, responsive controls in such a rigid chassis afford a demanding, rewarding directness. I leave traction on and damping soft; it’s already more than enough. The smooth-textured but waved and heaved surface below — my favourite sort — playfully threatens to buck the car, but tires stay connected and responsive. Controls lighten and weigh as the tires unload and settle, and though the tractive stakes aren’t nearly as delicate as the transitional wet-dry tugs that the drivers racing and spinning through the prior evening’s torrents had to contend with, I am mindful to keep my inputs light, my fronts on comfortable axes for each compression.
I feel more exhilarated and alert as the farther I go, but still ease off to soak in the gold-cast vistas of this 10:00 P.M. sunset; I stop only to photograph cows for a friend. Then, as quickly as it began, it’s time to end.
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Turning on to one final country road before a well-earned shower, a tempered pace lets the hardware cool. I set my head back into the nesting contour of the carbon bucket’s headrest, appreciating how pleasantly it centres my skull. Then, with hands relaxed and left foot lazily slumped against the rest, attention frees to reflect on the hours past.
Ferrari 296 GTB at the end of the 2023 24 Hours of Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTBPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTB at the end of the 2023 24 Hours of Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Brake dust on the wheel of the Ferrari 296 GTBPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTB at the end of the 2023 24 Hours of Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTB at the end of the 2023 24 Hours of Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
All 6 Photos for Gallery
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Personally, enduring the 24 so eagerly proved more challenging than anticipated, and strategies for the future will need to leave for more conservation, less over-extension. Still, the soreness, sweat, and exhaustion were all made worth it for the spectacle, the creative opportunities, the international friendships formed and online connections realized, the touching moments bonding over enthusiasm through language barriers, and the reminder of we Canadians’ warm reception abroad.
As an enthusiast, the historic and dramatic 100th-anniversary race just witnessed — the mechanical and spectacular weather-wrought attrition, impacted cars limping back to pit on three wheels, NASCAR’s transplanted demonstration entry for Garage 56 — makes this one of the most spectacular enduros one could have hoped to see. Even Ferrari seems surprised by the result: taken with candid honesty from driver James Calado and Ferrari Endurance head Antonello Coletta, a low team-projected likelihood of either 499P finishing the race makes this result all the more remarkable.
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It’s one thing to have beaten reigning champion Toyota, but another to do so on a first try back. Ferrari hasn’t raced Le Mans’ top class since 1973, and hasn’t won outright since the 1965 250 LM whose bubbled haunches inspired the rear of the 296 GTB. Whoever you or I were rooting for, this Le Mans was quite deservedly taken by Maranello.
And for this one monumental weekend, I held a part of that in my pocket.
Ferrari 499P at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 250 LM, the last top-class Ferrari to win Le Mans outrightPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTB key
Starting formation at Le Mans 2023
Ferrari 499P at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 296 GTB Challenge safety carPhoto by Elle Alder
Porsche 911 GT3R at Le Mans' Dunlop CurvePhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 499P at Le Mans' Dunlop ChicanePhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 499P at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Porsche 963 at Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
Ferrari 499P at Le Mans
ACO building at Le Mans 2023
Porsche 963 at Le Mans
Aston Martin Vantage at Le Mans 2023
Flag control at Le Mans 2023
Goodyear Blimp at Le Mans 2023
Ferrari 296 GTB, Roma, and SF90 at the end of the 2023 24 Hours of Le MansPhoto by Elle Alder
All 17 Photos for Gallery
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Elle Alder is a staff editor, feature writer, and automotive reviewer at National Post Driving.ca. Educated in History, Alder's resume spans international archival research, skilled trades, humanitarian organization, photography and videography, freelance writing, copy editing, and editorial content planning and assignment.
Summary
Online Editor, Driving.ca
Trained researcher and writer
10+ years of experience as a working photographer
H.BA, History — Wilfrid Laurier University
Education
Elle Alder earned an Honours BA in History from Wilfrid Laurier University, with focuses on Soviet industrial planning and the modern Middle East. Between coursework, Alder worked as a Research Assistant both for faculty members and under third-party contract.
While a student, Alder also co-founded the University's International Students Overcoming War Scholarship Fund. Funded through an administration-matched student levy, this initiative partners with NGOs in regions of conflict to offer full scholarships to students whose studies have been impacted by war. ISOW remains a student-managed program a decade on, and has continued to grow its staff, budgets, and student rosters.
Experience
Educated in History, Alder's resume spans international archival research, skilled trades, humanitarian organization, photography and videography, freelance writing, copy editing, and editorial content planning and assignment.
Having picked up a camera as a distraction from oft-gloomy subject matter in University, Alder's combination of photo skills and writing ability caught the attention of Canadian automotive publishers. Starting with classic-car special-interest stories in Porsche Provinz and Autostrada magazines, Alder later went on to photograph galleries for Driving before being hired as a staff editor.
As a full-time automotive journalist, Elle Alder's professional scope has broadened from the romance of classic motoring to the utility of modern consumer- and performance vehicles, as well as to on-camera presentation of vehicles for video audiences. Alder also contributes as a videographer for other Driving contributors, and has sought mentorship to continue to expand on all of these skills.
Off-hours, Elle Alder drives and maintains a small collection of classic vehicles including a 1983 Porsche 944, 1997 Lada Niva, 1983 AMC Eagle wagon, 1959 Citroen ID 19, 1952 Tucker Sno-Cat, and a 1971 Massey-Ferguson Ski Whiz. Further hobbies include film development, fountain-pen- and typewriter restoration, and model railroading.
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