No way will this edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans be anything but a pure mythical endurance event. Looking back at the overall rankings various teams played up front. ProSpeed Competition was in a way part and parcel of this. When the team asked their drivers to go into “full attack”, their Porsche Spectra Resources-Saudi Sports Group had already experienced flats, the equivalent of six laps. Here we weren’t talking about tenths of seconds of the qualifying sessions, neither of the “leadership” in the LM GTE Am category at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Bret Curtis and Sean Edwards did not cross the finish line. The Porsche #75 crashed and was severely damaged.

Rudi Penders (Team principal)
“The start of the race soon turned into a nightmare, dropping the team from almost the first spot back down into the last in its category. As night fell we asked our drivers to do everything in their power… to bring the car back up into the place it rightfully deserved. And they achieved this. In fact brilliantly, because we were then up in fifth place… of this category, the second best filled category in this event. Going off track is a mistake we understand. ProSpeed Competition has now been present for the third consecutive time at Le Mans, and this is the first time that we have not reached the finish.”

Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA – 4th June 1983 – 2nd participation)
“I was at one with the car. We managed to truly fine-tune the car with our technical team. Not only was the car performing brilliantly, but on top of that very comfortable to drive. Sean has just completed a double stint, bringing the car up from eighth into sixth spot. When it happened we were actually up in fifth place. Just as dawn breaks the track evolves and changes. There is loads of debris lying around the track. I’m truly sorry not only for my team-mates but also the entire team.”

Bret Curtis (USA – 13th December 1966 – 1st participation)
“Unfortunately it all came to an end rather too soon, but all in all it has been a great event. Not only did I discover a mythical race but also thoroughly appreciated the on- going attention from the Porsche Motorsport and Michelin Competition technicians. The links that ProSpeed Competition enjoys with its technical partners is on a level with the links that Rudi Penders and Luc Goris were able to develop amongst ourselves, the three drivers.”

Sean Edwards (GBR – 6th December 1986 – 1st participation)
“As professional drivers, we know the in-and-outs of motorsport. Retirement is always on the books. Unfortunately in our case it rather overshadowed the team’s overall performance, on the technical front, that was on true topper. Our Porsche actually led the race! It was the flint chips that caused our flat tyres. As for the broken bearing which cost us also some laps, it might well be due to an eventual shock or other.”

Sean Edwards and Phil Hindley attended the FIA and Porsche awards in Monaco and Germany over the December month to collect their trophies for their respective championships.

Sean collected his trophy for winning the FIA European GT3 title at the FIA awards, as did Phil collect his trophy for winning the FIA European GT3 Teams championship. This evening was held in the prestigious Monte Carlo sporting club.

They were also both invited to attend the annual Porsche evening in Stuttgart Germany, where they both received trophy for their success with Porsche and Sean also collected a Porsche Design watch.

Above, Sean meets Michael Schumacher, his F1 hero since he was young. Sean said “It’s amazing to meet and speak to Michael, I have supported him my whole life and it’s a shame to see him leave F1 forever. But I am really glad I could meet him in person, he is a really nice guy.”