[LM24] The Le Mans experience

[rdjones]

Originally posted by PascaLM
What's a cracking bog ?

Good toilets and no I am still not telling anyone where they are.......

[Craig]

Quite frankly Rob, if you've had your arse anywhere near them I'll stick to using the tyres at Indianapolis... hahaha!

[kdr]

Originally posted by rdjones
Good toilets and no I am still not telling anyone where they are.......

maybe that explains all that smoke coming from the taurus?

[nobster]

Well Wyzard, stop complaining and please go to the ring next year.
If you did your homework you would have found out that there are more viewing places at Le Mans then at the ring ( been there myself lots of times )
With a bus you could have gone to the porsche curves or indianapolis.
Takes a bit of time and you have to be inventive but that surely won't be a problem for you.
As for the toilets, you don't have to pay - it's entirely up to you to pay whatever you like.
Not satisfied with the toilets- not clean - then don't pay. simple.
Hope you have a great time at the ring next year, don't forget to take your binoculars with you, you will need them.

[medler]

It was my first trip and it was brilliant. Watched the start from somewhere near the start. Watched some of the night racing from Anarge corner. I also had all my expenses paid in return for driving one of the race transporters, so it didn't cost me a penny and that included beer and I ate in the resturants away from the town and curcuit all for free of course. Sorry am I gloating.

[Aysedasi]

There's actually a good point in there - don't try and get by eating at the circuit all week. Get out and about. I had one of the best meals I've ever had on Friday night within a few miles of the circuit. Although I indulged with a couple of merguez, you can do a lot better.....

[wyzard]

Thanks for all the feedback, including all the positive stuff. May try it again but will investigate it further.

Concerning the negative stuff well chaps if you've got nothing better to say then.......

[Fab]

That's perfectly Ok for me Wyzard : your notes may help next year newbies, and it shows that there's still a lot to do to improve the place. More : as said above (by Pascal), it underlines things we don't see anymore after numerous years...

More questions (to all newbies too) :
- did you appreciate the race, or did you find it boring ?
- about the race again : what did you expect and did/did not have ?
- were you a sportscars and/or GT fan before coming or not ? And then ? Is Le Mans a good way to promote that kind of races (i.e. : we've members who prefer Spa or the Nordschleife, or even GARRA)
- after your first trip; would you say that Le Mans is now going down, or does it have still more to give ?
Thanks for the answers !

[Iand]

It was my first time at Le Mans this year.
The only thing I don't understand is why I have never been before, I loved it!
Due to work etc I could only get down on Saturday so I missed alot of it.
I loved the race, I have been to alot of F1 races and Le Mans is somthing else, you can't explain it to someone that has not been.
I was a big fan of the group C cars in the early 90's
(anyone else at the Donington races 90 to 92?)
and this has realy turned me on to Sportcar racing again.
The races was great.
I missed out on a lot by not reading up more before I went
So come on next year!

Oh and thanks to the girl that got a her tits out on the driver parade right infront of me

[chocmonster7]

Toilets - yes they are mostly bloody awful, especially for us girls!

Having been to France on family holidays as a kid I was probably more prepared for what the conditions were going to be like though!

Tickets - When you think that a GA ticket for most Grands Prix is over £100 (and those races last 2 hours or less) then 24 hrs for £40 is very good value! Even if you do spend the whole time in one place without exploring.

I tend to think of Le Mans as a event like say Glastonbury but with noisy cars. People go for the atmosphere and to have fun as well as watching the racing.

After spending this years race on the sofa at home I realised how much of the actual race you miss when you are there but then this year I missed having fun in the campsite with my mates.

I'll be back next year!

[Toth]

Originally posted by Fab
More questions (to all newbies too) :
- did you appreciate the race, or did you find it boring ?

A race like this can't be maximum exciting for the whole 24 hours. And without a radio it's not easy to keep up with what's going on. But still I found the race very interesting. I was continually checking who's still running (and do they sound allright) and measuring laptimes etc. There were plenty of very tense moments as well, with audi's running into each other and my beloved ferrari #66 loosing a 4 lap lead

Originally posted by Fab
- about the race again : what did you expect and did/did not have?

I expected that it was easier to keep up with race positions etc, some boards with just car numbers etc would have been very nice. Also a screen at mulsanne or porsche can't be that hard to organise

Originally posted by Fab
- were you a sportscars and/or GT fan before coming or not ? And then ? Is Le Mans a good way to promote that kind of races (i.e. : we've members who prefer Spa or the Nordschleife, or even GARRA)

A fan is too big a word, I always liked the cars (lmp and gt) and watch the occasional race during the year and le mans every year. I guess le mans is good promotion because I'm a lot more of a fan than before. But I can't compare it with other races, this was my first sportscar/gt race

Originally posted by Fab
- after your first trip; would you say that Le Mans is now going down, or does it have still more to give ?

There's a lot more to do for me, arnage/indy and the whole week leading up to the race. I'll go back, and with what I now know it will be even better

edit: camping/toilet wise I must have been very lucky. One stinked and one was dirty, and I've seen lot's worse than what I've seen at le mans.

[Piglet]

This was my second trip to Le Mans and my first on a campsite. How was it? Well I'm still grinning now, in fact I started grinning when I left home on Wednesday night and haven't stopped. It was a blast, fantastic company, fantastic atmosphere and fantastic weather. We had normal GA tickets (good value I think) and saw loads. High points have to be watching dawn break from the Ford Chicane and then the sun rise over the Dunlop Bridge. We got a bus out to the Mulsanne, didn't have time to do Arnage but that's on the list for next year. We also went into the pit lane for the podium celebrations.

The drivers parade was fun - although a little drawn out, we had great lunch and dinner in Le Mans on Friday without any hassle (you try that around Silverstone in July!).

Le Mans is so much more than a race, our only regret is that as we only arrived on Thursday late afternoon (and then took over two hours to errect Chateau Piglet on the camp site!) we didn't manage to get to see much night qualifying and didn't have time to to get into Arnage Village at all.

Even the trip down and back was fun with brit cars left right and centre blasting past us at all speeds (sorry to the GT3 man who seemed to have been nicked going into Alecon having come by us at a fair speed earlier!).

Wyzard, give it another go - perhaps get new friends! The place is immense and I can't wait for next year.

[Javi]

It has been the fourth consecutive time going to LM, and I promise to keep going. It´s 1200 Km from Madrid, so it´s a long journey to be there just a little more than 48 hours, but it is really worth the effort. Prices are very nice if you consider what´s on offer. I´ve been to some F1 races, and, due to my work, with some nice tickets, but I ve never been so close to the cars (even the pitlane) as in Le Mans with a general enclosure...
But, the best, the very best of LM is the people going there. The atmosphere in the parkings and campings is just great. I don´t know in UK or France or wherever, but I do promise everyone that, at least in spain, it is impossible to see a Ferrari 550 maranello (or Porsche GT3, or Lotus, or Lamborghini, or..) owner with a tent and sleeping by his car, completely drunk.., just as normal people do.
Le Mans is attended by people of every social class that LIKE motor racing. Formula 1 is attended by (not all, for sure) some people who want to be seen there, just for the "glamour" and don´t care much about the racing.
I just love it!!!!

[bernard b]

Originally posted by chocmonster7
... then 24 hrs for £40 is very good value...

actually, for £40 you have of course 24 hours race, and 8 hours qualifying, but also 8 hours for the test day = 40 hours
£1/hour
is there anything better ?

Edited : and I forgot 30 minutes warm-up !

[Karl Kling]

Originally posted by bernard b
actually, for £40 you have of course 24 hours race, and 8 hours qualifying, but also 8 hours for the test day = 40 hours
£1/hour
is there anything better ?

Edited : and I forgot 30 minutes warm-up !

And you also got the friday pitwalk as well as the two days of pitwalk during PQs!

[jase]

This was my first trip to Le Mans, already planning next year. Wyzard, I don't think you gave the weekend a big enough chance, I travelled with Piglet and totally agree with the sentiments given. We also met up with Hamsmith, who seemed to be in total awe the whole weekend.

I worked out that for Thursday to Monday I spent a little over £200 - Beer/ferry/fuel/food etc. Try doing the British GP for that!

Like most things you get out what you put in, There are plenty of free places to watch from, free coaches to take you to the far end of the track, the radio, screens (OK could de more of them). Yes I would like a grandstand for next year, but it's not at the top of my list.

[jase]

Originally posted by bernard b
actually, for £40 you have of course 24 hours race, and 8 hours qualifying, but also 8 hours for the test day = 40 hours
£1/hour
is there anything better ?

Edited : and I forgot 30 minutes warm-up !

And as Karl says Pit walks.

AND the 1 hour GroupC race

Nothing better IMHO

[Fab]

Originally posted by bernard b
Edited : and I forgot 30 minutes warm-up !

Not talking about the Legend Group C race !

Bernard, you cheated, my questions were for newbies !

For the newbies : keep on posting comments, including negative ones ; there's always ways to warn ACO...

I'd like now to find someone who didn't appreciate the race by itself and who would like to express why (boring, uninterrested cars, etc...)... anyone ? Well, including those who didn't come (but the feeling is really different on telly IMHO)...

[ss_collins]

I love Le Mans - We had our usual corner of Le Houx Annexe - and being a work trip with clients we had 4 excellent motorhomes. Our Brief was to show the clients a good weekend - and boy did we - I got to drive all the bits of the circuit you are allowed to on Friday (mega), we enjoyed the Danish instigated burnout contest. Became the loudest part of the campsite, got very very drunk a lot. And watched some great bit of racing at the pits, Tetre Rouge, esses, Porcshe curves. Though one amazing bit was watching some guy vomiting into a bin on the pit lane durin the walkabout - hilarious.

Le mans is the best weekend of the year - Bring it on 2005.

[Alistair_Ryder]

Ok Fab, as a newbie if i would have to look through everything with a tooth pick , the only dissapointment i had was to do with viewing areas. From going to every vantage point on the circuit, it just seemed like there should be more viewing areas considering the amount of people there. It seemed like every viewing area was just so crowded, and felt like they weren't built to accommodate this number of people. This is why i absolutely love the Spa 24 Hours, for the fact the circuit is another steeped in history, yet you can access almost all of the circuit. Surely they could have some form of viewing which extended just down past tetre rouge for the first section of the mulsanne straight, cars wouldn't be going THAT quickly there, if compared with the straights at Monza which you can view from. Its just such a shame that for a 8.5 mile circuit, you can only view from about 3 miles of it. But apart from that minor problem, it was amazing..cant wait for Spa though, Belgium here i come.

[kdr]

i've always thought they could erect small temporary grandstands at the chicanes on the mulsanne...and perhaps near that silver domed expo/concert building.

[renkadima]

One thing I used to enjoy during Le Mans week was heading to the circuit immediately after scrutineering. Everybody's still in set-up mode and there's nobody checking who's going where. Thus, you have full access to the pits and garages (teams permitting, of course) but without the crowds of the Friday pitwalk. Absolutely marvellous.

Next year, Piglet, Jason, Wyzard et al, get there on the Monday and go with the flow.

[vandijk]

Oh and thanks to the girl that got a her tits out on the driver parade right infront of me [/B]

Lieyer

We --the Dutch-- horned like hell and she just played a game with us. Result 15 empty horns.... and no b..bs

[Liz]

I was kind of behind the scenes this year and did not get out of the paddock at all except twice to the village and home to the campsite. But I have a few comments after 5 years working my way up to "insider":

1. The toilets and showers at Houx Annex DID charge 2 euros per trip, and don't try to get away without paying. They were VERY insistent that you pay up right away.

2. The toilets are disgusting except for the ACO Centre and expensive grandstands, and Karting Nord which has Madame in charge. But the ones at Monza are even worse and you would not go into them without hip waders and biohazard suits after Friday.

3. Traffic both foot and vehicle is dangerous and ill mannered; you just pretend you are in New York and walk straight at people as if they are not there. Either they move or you knock them down. If you are polite, you will never get anywhere. But be nimble when dealing with paddock bikes!

4. The people in the campsite where we were this year were extremely loud, but they had good taste in music anyway. Someone stole all our flags off the flagpole, the first time we have run into theft in 5 years. I bet they wonder why they have all broken out in hives now.

5. Radio Le Mans is essential accompaniment all weekend long. Even when you are not watching, you can keep up that way.

6. Talking about "leaving the circuit to eat" is not an option if you do not drive. There are millions of people in the world who don't have cars. We have to eat on site. Fortunately we can now eat at hospitality -- the Media Centre CHARGED for food this year! Cheap skates.

I love Le Mans and look forward to it every year, and with a few adaptations and a sense of humour, you can make it through 12 days without any clean clothes (the French have removed the only washateria we knew about!) and with people firing rockets at your tent... I love it.

[vandijk]

Someone stole all our flags off the flagpole, the first time we have run into theft in 5 years. I bet they wonder why they have all broken out in hives now.

We got a mail from some Dutch fellows. They told us that their videocamera was stolen by 5-7 guys in the passenger tunnel at Terte Rouge. One just grabbed the cam and gone they were... scam!

The lights did not work in the tunnel this year.