[LM24] Le Mans - the FAQ's (Archive Thread - Closed)

[GT6]

Not sure the carting track is operational during Le Mans week

[CTD]

I know it was in 2012, where I was camped close to it. But haven't taken the time to find out in the later years.

[Pilgrimage]

There was loads on the karting track last year - relentless.
My one comment was it looked like the karting might have been hospitality or team based due to matching outfits (on and off track) - unless the karting circuit is sponsored (eg by Oreca? - just a guess and frankly I can't remember the details)
There is a nice viewing spot on top of karting circuit garages which looks over Corvette Corner and last year when safety car was out action on the kart circuit provided some good entertainment simply by turning around!

PS: Its an epic track - would love to have a go sometime...

[ATLFalconsFAN]

Today and tomorrow in America are days where not a whole lot of work gets done. See it's the first two days of the NCAA "March Madness" college basketball tournament. As an American it is my duty to bring my little portable television (no more than a 4" diagonal screen) and sit it on my desk while I am supposed to be working. I'm able to pick the station up with the antennae on the TV.

This got me to thinking...

Does anyone know how the race is broadcast locally during the 24 hours? Could someone with a small portable television pickup the broadcast with an antennae?

[GT6]

There are often TV's showing the race in our campsite but no sure how they are getting the pictures but i think they are satelite rather than areal, but know the lot you are camping with they may well have sorted tv out already

[Pilgrimage]

Originally Posted by GT6

There are often TV's showing the race in our campsite but no sure how they are getting the pictures but i think they are satelite rather than areal, but know the lot you are camping with they may well have sorted tv out already

Indeed they must all be satellite. I often see guys looking towards the heavens pointing old sky dishes. Unless you know what you are doing an almost impossible task.

[Kpy]

We have a local TV dealer come and install a satellite dish and connect it to our large TV screen.
The race is broadcast on Eurosport, which is a premium channel in France, but our dealer sorts all that out for us.
We've had that arrangement since we started on Houx more years ago than I can remember, but it is perfectly possible to set up your own dish, if you have the right UK box and aerial.

[bella]

i know this is true for the other end of france where it's warm, not sure about round le mans, but if you want to pick up the uk sky service and the free channels down there now you have to have a monster dish. as a result our gaff looks like a spy hideout, i'm surprised the russians haven't sent a plane over to have a look.

[Kpy]

Originally Posted by bella

i know this is true for the other end of france where it's warm, not sure about round le mans, but if you want to pick up the uk sky service and the free channels down there now you have to have a monster dish. as a result our gaff looks like a spy hideout, i'm surprised the russians haven't sent a plane over to have a look.

No that doesn't apply in Le Mans, in fact it doesn't apply to Sky subscribers at all and you'll need a subscription to watch Eurosport.

It's people located in the south of France using a Sky box without a subscription to pick up BBC and ITV signals who were expected to experience a drop-off in signal. In fact friends of mine living near Nice have found very little drop-off in signal with a normal 60cm dish.

[Mal]

Luckily we have a couple of techies in our group who bring a dish and a TV and seem to be able to get the race pictures pretty easily.

[bella]

i think if you actually buy more than 1 pint at the circuit (and that's only to get that year's plastic cup ) then you're doing it wrong!

Originally Posted by Kpy

No that doesn't apply in Le Mans, in fact it doesn't apply to Sky subscribers at all and you'll need a subscription to watch Eurosport.

It's people located in the south of France using a Sky box without a subscription to pick up BBC and ITV signals who were expected to experience a drop-off in signal. In fact friends of mine living near Nice have found very little drop-off in signal with a normal 60cm dish.

thanks for the detail - for what it's worth we use a smart tv with freesat built in, have a completely clear view all around near-ish cannes and still lost signal almost completely. we never had a decent number of the uk channels in the first place. at least now the only disruption is when the wind blows the dish off course

[NelisB]

In 2008 there was a company called KangarooTV renting small TVs with timing&scoring and multiple livestreams. I've been asking them every year if they will bring that service to Le Mans again but they won't for some weird reason.

[GT6]

It was not very successful at Le mans, a friend tried one and it was expensive and i think the growth shortly afterwards of mobile aps on phones/tablets put them out of business

[whitemr2]

Originally Posted by GT6

It was not very successful at Le mans, a friend tried one and it was expensive and i think the growth shortly afterwards of mobile aps on phones/tablets put them out of business

I have to disagree, sorry, I also rented it for the whole week and loved it. Live timing, at that time not available on my cellphone, live in-car tv, all the bigscreens foottage. It even worked at the campsite. It was awesome. It was proven to be very good in F1. I think the company could not make a good deal with ACO (money) Now with modern technology (livetiming) kangaroo is probably less desired but I will rent one if it is available.

[Aysedasi]

I think that's about it Simon. James hired one in 2010, I think it was. It was interesting and sometimes useful. I don't think we watched much of the stream but it was handy for timing and scoring. Now if connections could be improved and data made cheaper, apps are clearly the way forward.....

[Mal]

Surely its possible these days to have an event Wifi - at least in the main stands area?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Mal

Surely its possible these days to have an event Wifi - at least in the main stands area?

The technology certainly exists in a confined area. A lot of modern sports stadiums are 'connected'. Ultimately these franchises want the fans to be talking about their experience, not struggling to send a tweet against a crushed 3G signal.

Again it's all about cost. If you want to buy, install and maintain an enterprise-level wifi system that's going to be pricey. And it's certainly not something that is going to stretch around the entire circuit for a quarter of a million people. I wouldn't expect it any time soon.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Simmi

The technology certainly exists in a confined area. A lot of modern sports stadiums are 'connected'. Ultimately these franchises want the fans to be talking about their experience, not struggling to send a tweet against a crushed 3G signal.

Again it's all about cost. If you want to buy, install and maintain an enterprise-level wifi system that's going to be pricey. And it's certainly not something that is going to stretch around the entire circuit for a quarter of a million people. I wouldn't expect it any time soon.

Was struck by the contrast in service quality last year. At test day perfectly cheerfully streamed RLM as we ambled around the track, then during race week had progressively less and less connectivity (ending up with essentially none at all by Saturday) and only got it back when we left, drove down through town, and as we got to the Carrefour roundabout suddenly had strong consistent signal.

Appreciate it's all about bandwidth, but it shouldn't be beyond the wit of the telcos to put a few extra towers in to deliver some level of service. Strongly considering falling back on 2G for this year in the hope it might be a less congested service and allow some vestigial level of connectivity.

[Aysedasi]

But let's face it - 75%+ of the fans never leave the 'main' circuit area all weekend.....

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

But let's face it - 75%+ of the fans never leave the 'main' circuit area all weekend.....

I would be surprised if 25% actually make it out to the mulsanne or arnarge, the traffic is usually horrendous we have in some years only done the tour on Wednesday or Thursday. Within the circuit you can see quite a bit of the track from Tertre Rouge to the porsche curves so plenty to see.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by GT6

I would be surprised if 25% actually make it out to the mulsanne or arnarge, the traffic is usually horrendous we have in some years only done the tour on Wednesday or Thursday. Within the circuit you can see quite a bit of the track from Tertre Rouge to the porsche curves so plenty to see.

25% probably never make it out of their campsite

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by GT6

I would be surprised if 25% actually make it out to the mulsanne or arnarge, the traffic is usually horrendous we have in some years only done the tour on Wednesday or Thursday. Within the circuit you can see quite a bit of the track from Tertre Rouge to the porsche curves so plenty to see.

The traffic isn't that bad. We've had little problem getting out to Arnage and Mulsanne Corner, but then again, we don't tend to do it during the day. Evening qualifying is normally taken, one at each, and we don't get out to Arnage until about 1.30-2.00 am during the race. By then the roads are really very easy.

[GT6]

I think that is perhaps a little high, after all there are no facilities in most camp sites to buy beer

[Mal]

Originally Posted by GT6

I think that is perhaps a little high, after all there are no facilities in most camp sites to buy beer

Most people have enough in stock - we had 525 pints in our camp last year brought in barrels from blighty

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Mal

Most people have enough in stock - we had 525 pints in our camp last year brought in barrels from blighty

535 pints that should last a day or two, we tend to sample the local wine/beer but try to keep to the dark country beer rather than the lagers