passion and infectious enthusiasm for all things automotive is abundantly evident and with an array of talent both on and off screen including avid car enthusiast Sir Patrick Stewart, is determined to do the spectacle of Le Mans justice.
“We’re doing it as a 90 minute feature film, which will then be re-cut for television and we now have 56 channels across the world interested in taking it, including ITV4 in the UK," she said. "The cinema cut was something we really wanted to do considering the incredible talent we have on and off screen; we’ve got Patrick Stewart, the Top Gear guys and I've had some great support from people like Mark McQueen, TJ Scott and Grant Wardrop, so it’s definitely cinema-quality talent and they will end up with very high quality pieces of television.
“There’s a clip where [Top Gear cameraman] Iain May and his precision driver are coming around the Jota car and you can see the whites of Simon’s eyes at 60-70 miles per hour; the focus is just amazing. These guys know their motorsport and that’s reflected in what they do. TJ Scott flew in for LA for Silverstone and came on board wholeheartedly with the project. To be involved with something that has such heart has really captivated people, even Patrick Stewart; he read his script with the heart and passion of someone who really knew and who really cared. He’s been in some of the biggest grossing films and TV shows across the world and there he is talking so lovingly about being involved in these little UK shows because of how passionate he is about motorsport.”
Of course, everyone is hoping this weekend brings a happy ending to a story which has already had its fair share of rollercoaster moments so far. Pole position and a race win at Imola was the perfect response after a colossal impact at Silverstone – when Dolan was edged onto the grass by a backmarker while leading comfortably with just an hour to go – serving as a timely reminder that in endurance racing, everything can change in an instant.
“That certainly added some drama to the film; Simon couldn’t really have done any better if it had been scripted!” Fantelli laughs. “I think the world of Simon, so now that I know everything’s fine, from a producer’s point of view I can say ‘well that was good.’ Obviously at the time our hearts were in our mouths, we were all waiting in the garage for around half an hour to find out what had happened. The TV coverage of it had stopped, we’d lost radio contact with Simon and it was all a bit scary.