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Making your Marque at Le Mans: Richard Mille Le Mans Classic 2012
[The running start is still a feature of the Le Mans Classic – where applicable. The running start ended after 1969 when Jacky Ickx refused to run to his GT40. Ickx walked, started his car, and duly won the race. One of the closest finishes in Le Mans history, Ickx in his GT40 traded places with Herrmann in his Porsche 908 throughout the final lap]
This was the sixth time that the Le Mans Classic had been run at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. What is notable is that the event is as old as the Richard Mille SA company itself. This was the first sponsorship deal Richard signed, for something that was close to his heart and interests, and the event has grown along with the success of Richard Mille. This was the fourth time I had been invited along to enjoy the cars being pushed to the limit on the circuit where they once raced.
[The quintessential Le Mans Classic car: the Ferrari 250 LM leaving the pit lane] 
[The all conquering Porsche 917 from 1970: the car that made the Porsche marque at the Le Mans 24 Heures]
Le Mans has always been a particular race where cars have made their marque. A car firm’s reputation could be made or lost in the race itself. A car firm could learn from the Le Mans race and this would feed through into the production line. It struck me that this same philosophy has been used by Richard in his watches. There is the research end that produces watches such as the RM006, RM027 and RM050, and what was learned from the technology, the new materials, the method for manufacture fed through in time to the rest of the Richard Mille watch line.
[A pattern language and a rare sighting; from right to top left: RM027, RM011 Carbon, RM035]
As Richard Mille SA is now 12 years old, it is now possible to look back and see some of the ways this racing car/production car philosophy has influenced the progression of the watches. As this was a classic car race, it is also worth considering how Le Mans influenced a couple of (English – yes I know, I am biased on that one) car manufacturers so that they truly did make their marque at Le Mans.
[Making Ford’s marque at Le Mans, a GT40 flies through the finishing straight in front of the stands]
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For the rest of AndrewH's write-up in Richard Mille forum, richardmille.watchprosite.com
