[LM24] Le Mans 2007

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Pilgrimage

Do you think they reckon it'll be a Audi Peugeot battle then???! LOL

I think that in all the years that I have been going to Lemans the cars on the poster usually represent the manufacturer paying the most to the ACO for being there rather than the car most likely to win. However money not only buys you a large hospitality area but usually a reasonable chance of winning, having large numbers of guests watching you lose is not good for business. Think Nissan and Toyota.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Suze

Thanks Bentley, I'd missed that....

(Incidentally - whoever it was who was asking about Reims to tie in with their Le Mans visit - drop me a PM as was in Reims and visited the old circuit last weekend. Sorry can't remember who it was and was quite a way back now in thread!).

It's a detour I'd love to do too..... Having driven the old circuit (in GPL, that is ) I find it fascainating to see what is left. pirenzo visited it a couple of years back and sent me some photos which I must dig out.

[Truckosaurus]

To add to the Le Mans build up, I discovered a Tartiflette stall at this week's Farnborough market.

[Suze]

Drop me an email if you want Ayse - have some great pics, was a Ferrari event on whilst we were there with 50 / 60 Ferraris new and old - just was chance it was same weekend we were visiting!

It's worth a visit and a detour on the way down if you've not been....

I want Grand Marnier Crepes

[paul-collins]

Originally Posted by GT6

I think that in all the years that I have been going to Lemans the cars on the poster usually represent the manufacturer paying the most to the ACO for being there rather than the car most likely to win.

Notice that Shell is prominently displayed, while Total is not displayed at all.

[nobster]

Originally Posted by Suze

Thanks Bentley, I'd missed that....

(Incidentally - whoever it was who was asking about Reims to tie in with their Le Mans visit - drop me a PM as was in Reims and visited the old circuit last weekend. Sorry can't remember who it was and was quite a way back now in thread!).

Hello suze, you've got PM

[GTfour]

Can't wait to receive my tickets! As I heard that they're beeing send at the moment...
What about the campsite tickets,are they stil the same crappy quality compared to the grandstand and entrancetickets? Last year some of them allready started to fade by the suns rays at the end of the weekend!

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by paul-collins

Notice that Shell is prominently displayed, while Total is not displayed at all.

Shell is an offical sponsor and race fuel. Total is not. It will be interesting to see how that pans out for the Peugeot team, as they are required to USE Shell Deisel fuel, not the exact chemical forumlation produced by Total.

[Aysedasi]

Personally I rather like the way the Peugeot and the Audi are trying to catch the Astons...........

[Truckosaurus]

Originally Posted by GTfour

What about the campsite tickets,are they stil the same crappy quality compared to the grandstand and entrancetickets?

I got my tickets at the weekend, and the new camping tickets seem to be ones you hang from your rear view mirror, I guess this is to facilitate the scanning at entry and exit of the site. At least there'll be no more glue marks on your windscreen that are still there the following year.

[F.O.F.]

i'm so happy!my tgv tickets got here today and it just hit me how soon the race is(still not soon enough).last year was my first and i hope there's many more to come............ yay!!

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

I got my tickets at the weekend, and the new camping tickets seem to be ones you hang from your rear view mirror, I guess this is to facilitate the scanning at entry and exit of the site. At least there'll be no more glue marks on your windscreen that are still there the following year.

I have only just got rid of the two glue lines off the windsceen caused by last years camping tickets, but the idea of hanging the cmping ticket from the mirror seems a little risky, what happens if it flies off when the roof is down or someone nicks it, you will have trouble getting back on the camp site.

[Truckosaurus]

I guess owners of softtop cars will have to keep their tickets in their pockets once inside the site. I depends if the marshals make a fuss of parked cars without the ticket on display, or if they'll not bother now that they are beefing up security on the gate.

[Bramzel]

Better options would be to put a strip of normal tape (easy removable, maybe the tape you use to tape off parts you want to keep clean when you're painting) on your window and put the campinglabel on top of that, or just peel off the edges of the sticky strip of the campinglabel so you don't have the entire sticky strip messing up your windscreen

[Craig]

I have booked four pitches... do I hang all four passes on my non-existent rear-view mirror? I actually got a telling off at Earls Court last year, the gate nazi wouldn't let me into the hall until I hung the pass up inside the lorry I was driving, I had to turn off the engine and sit with my arms crossed until he finally understood the predicament that not having a rear-view mirror presented me with. Let's hope the French are less officious... oh, wait...

I also recall a biker, in full leather and carrying a helmet, being told by the people in the office at the Grand Canyon that he MUST hang the pass on his mirror at all times else he will be towed off site. Quite an amusing one, the office staff just couldn't understand his issue!

[GT6]

I fear we will be back to the old days when the campsites would get totally full early in the week, we all remember the old dodges for getting more cars in than you had camping passes and with the difficulty to get enough camping passes this year I can see problems ahead. I am glad we are going down wednesday as by thursday the more popular campsites will be full and it is not acceptable that having paid for a space there is no room to park let alone set up a campsite.

[Truckosaurus]

Hopefully the ACO's new barcode scanning system will prevent people with forgeries getting on site, and the zoning and marking by the marshals should keep people within an area of appropriate size, which would allow late comers a decent sized pitch, albeit a less prime spot.

[The Real DMN]

I got my notice through confirming some seats above the pits for me and my old man. Has anyone been up above them before? Whats the view like, seating arrangement (ie are the seats numbered or is it first come....), isn't there a big screen down by the ford chicanes that can be seen from them, etc?

I've never used the tribunes before, so does anyone have any advice in general for them?

[Piglet]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

Hopefully the ACO's new barcode scanning system will prevent people with forgeries getting on site, and the zoning and marking by the marshals should keep people within an area of appropriate size, which would allow late comers a decent sized pitch, albeit a less prime spot.

Marshals? Have you seen something that says there will be marshals on the campsites?

My understanding of MB (from folks that have been in and spoken to the ACO) is that there are no spaces marked on the ground this year, so the zoning is in place but with no markings on the ground and you will be able to pitch where you wish within your zone (subject presumably to an assumption of 35msq per pass).

Sooooo....no guarantees that there will be space for latecomers let alone big pitches left, so there may be space but not in any better form than in previous years.

I can't see that zoning will make any difference at all. They do not intend to escort people onto the sites and show them where they should pitch. Apparently MB will be fully allocated (like Houx) next year.

[Truckosaurus]

For the last 3 (maybe 4) years on both Beausejour and Bleu Nord there's been plenty of marshals who show you to a spot and mark it out for you with tape.

[Piglet]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

For the last 3 (maybe 4) years on both Beausejour and Bleu Nord there's been plenty of marshals who show you to a spot and mark it out for you with tape.

Ahh perhaps it's just MB that they've lost the will to try to control

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by The Real DMN

I got my notice through confirming some seats above the pits for me and my old man. Has anyone been up above them before? Whats the view like, seating arrangement (ie are the seats numbered or is it first come....), isn't there a big screen down by the ford chicanes that can be seen from them, etc?

I've never used the tribunes before, so does anyone have any advice in general for them?

I've sat in T34 above the pits for the last three years and I think the view is unsurpassed anywhere else on the start finish straight. The stand is steeply raked, so make sure you have your balance before you negotiate the steps! All seats are numbered as per your tickets and you will need to take up your allocated seat before the start and finish. At other times (particularly during the night when I've been one of about 6-7 people in the entirte stand), you can wander where you like.

You can see the screen at the Ford Chicane reasonably well.

[bernard b]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I've sat in T34 above the pits for the last three years and I think the view is unsurpassed anywhere else on the start finish straight. The stand is steeply raked, so make sure you have your balance before you negotiate the steps! All seats are numbered as per your tickets and you will need to take up your allocated seat before the start and finish. At other times (particularly during the night when I've been one of about 6-7 people in the entirte stand), you can wander where you like.

You can see the screen at the Ford Chicane reasonably well.

can't say better
during the night, it's quite easy to watch refueling as the access to first row is easy (even if there is always someone, in the 6-7 people Ayse said above, at the precise place you wanted to go)
during daylight, this first row is overcrowded

main problem imho : too much noise (the grandstand roof is like a reflector), that's why I usualy sleep there: with such noise, you never sleep for very long

[Aysedasi]

You know me Bernard - sleep isn't a word that exists in my Le Mans vocabulary.....

[bernard b]

I know, I know ...