Where is Vanina?

Vanina Ickx, 24 Hours of Le Mans 2003.

Where is Vanina?

Vanina Ickx has just finished a stint at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A couple of seconds ago, her team-mate jumped behind the wheel of their Porsche 911 GT3 to rush back in the race. Vanina has just taken off her helmet, wiped her face, and like a boxer sitting in a corner of the ring, she’s gathering her strength back. Her mind is elsewhere. Where is Vanina? Here, at the back of her pit, in front of my camera? Looks are deceiving. She confides later that at that very instant, she is still mentally out on the race track, at over 200km an hour, in the fury of the race, replaying every second: the images and sounds, the overtakings, the frights, the last-minute brakings, those turns taken too wide, the little mistakes and the audacious moves. This is a moment of pause captured on film, whereby one passes from one world to another, in limbo; a slow return to the present.