[LM24] What Do You Really Miss.....? (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly....)

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by kdr

On the new things good side, i do kinda like the flag drop with that massive French military helicopter swooping up the grandstand straight, and i'm not sure when it started - but i LOVE them playing Also Sprach Zarathustra as the cars roll thru Karting and the Ford Chicane at the race start.

Ah yes......

[kdr]

Did you take that Ayse or is that you highlighted on the other side with a lasso?

[Aysedasi]

Someone here either took it or found it on social media, I forget now. But yes, that me, my son and his partner lassoo'd....

[kdr]

In same grandstand again this year Ayse?

[Aysedasi]

Yep, but after many years in the front row, we're right up the top this time. The stewarding in there has got very bad and they let too many freeloaders in who block your view right at the front. Up the top is also slightly better for photography too.

[Adam43]

And when it empties out you can always have a little time at the front near the pits. You can get some good shots down into the pits.

[Aysedasi]

Yes you can. It's pretty hopeless for panning shots of the cars because of the debris fencing. You have to wait for a car to move to the right of the track to overtake another, then you can get them 'above' the fencing. T34 remains the best stand for photography.

[RL17]

View from our GS
https://share.icloud.com/photos/079i...MhV4oLZgmdi_JA

[Aysedasi]

It's a good view, particularly up at the top. I've been in there twice. The most uncomfortable seats in any stand though and quite cramped.

[RL17]

Lack of seat backs are a pain after an hour or so

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by RL17

Lack of seat backs are a pain after an hour or so

They certainly are....

[RL17]

Proper qualifying really missed.

Given that Hyperpole introduced/announced at time when 2020 entries in and just 5 LMP1s and 4 categories.

Surely just 18 cars over 13.6km plus long time to warm up tyres possibly would not be ideal. If going for TV - top 10 hypercars and a shorter time (15mins) so all have to go out within a 3 min window and one set of tyres allowed must be better.

[Mike E]

This year it will be the top 8 from each to keep it at 24 in total.

[Gerard C]

What is not mlssed: people smoking above the pits when refueling… Their comments and encouragements are missed tho.

[RL17]

Originally Posted by Mike E

This year it will be the top 8 from each to keep it at 24 in total.

Good

[RL17]

Did they smoke in the pits a few years back when the pits was so crowded that it was hard to see the cars?

[Aysedasi]

I'm sure they did....

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by RL17

Did they smoke in the pits a few years back when the pits was so crowded that it was hard to see the cars?

I do remember that the Matra team at least used to rent wrestlers and boxers to keep people away when they had to pit or make some welding in the corridor located behind the pit area. Who can remember the said corridor now? Happy days!
The unique ambiance can be seen in movies like LM by Steve McQueen or the other one…

[N Martin]

I miss the old qualifying too. I'm so bored of these 5 second knockout/shootout/super duper all apparently exciting qualifying sessions now. It was disappointing when it was announced for le mans as well. It was the final place to escape all that. Le mans 24 hours or any 24 hour race for that matter doesn't need these sort of gimmicks imo. But anyway I'll stop moaning.

As someone else mentioned some of the old names from RLM like Jim Roller, Gary Champion, Charles Dressing and Graham Tyler to name a few. I still love RLM but the banter isn't quite the same as it used to be.

[Aysedasi]

Yeah, although I'm fine with the current crop of commentators, some of those who have gone were great to listen to, especially wiling away the early hours of Sunday morning with the likes of Jim Roller and Sam Collins.

[PascaLM]

I really miss the time in the 80's when we could go in the paddock to watch the cars closely.

[Gerard C]

I see your point Pascal, but now the risk to be electrocuted is so high that its no more a safe area. What I miss is the side view mirrors, it was good to watch all the engineering in those elements to keep the drag as low as possible. Back in the day, the drivers used to say that the lengh of Mulsanne straight was a good opportunity to watch the gauges and listen to the engine noises…

[Adam43]

I have been fortunate enough to get into the paddock in the hybrid era. You might get run over by an electric golf cart towing some tyres, but you ain’t getting electrocuted by the race cars.


I miss a perfectly executed beer bottle tower. I don’t miss the crunching of glass under my foot in the spectator areas.