These next few days were the main focus on my holiday. I’d been on some of the Le Mans circuit roads before, but never to a meeting. So the Le Mans Classic meeting it was. I thought that the Classic meeting might be a bit less “strenuous” than the full 24 hours – but I had not taken into account the weather. As it was, it turned out to be baking hot for the whole 4 days, rising up to 34 degrees C at one point. Everybody was taking shelter in what little shade there was around the circuit.
Anyway…….
Just for a change, I decided to go “cross country” from Thouars to the circuit – “one gets so BORED with motorways, doesn’t one ????”. So it was plenty of typical straight 2 lane French roads interspersed with villages, forests, etc.
I went on a package camping deal with the Speed Chills . They organised a private campsite about 10 minutes walk from one of the circuit entrance, complete with decent portakabin style showers ( yes hot water !!!!) and loo’s, together with a big marquee, which acted as a sort of club house/canteen/bar.I went for the “all in” meal deal, which included a full English breakfast ( if that’s your thing) and good selection of evening meals. The bar was ALWAYS mega-busy ! Limitless coffee as well. All really very sorted, so you could concentrate on the event. I was a bit sorry for the kitchen staff, as it was hot for the whole time. The guy doing the BBQ and the cooked breakfasts moved it outside – sensible really…..
They also included the admission tickets, passes, etc, in the package. From what I could see/hear it was a pretty cosmopolitan bunch, with groups from all over Europe. Not many “virgins” like me, most people had been before.
Having got there sensibly early on the Thursday lunchtime ( before the mad men arrived on Friday night from the Channel ports), I had time to do some preliminary scouting. One genius move (or so it turned out) was to take my bike. With the assistance of some friendly gendarmarie, I wended my way on to the famous Mulsanne straight – it is !
The plan ( ha ha !) was to wander round the village/paddock on the Friday ( together with the qualifying runs and demonstrations), then do the cycling bit round the circuit on the Saturday, watch some of the night-time runs/race Saturday night/Sunday very early AM, finishing off with more races on Sunday, collapse Sunday night, then off to Rouen Monday lunchtime.
That was the plan………. What changed things a bit was the heat and my ability to survive. The open stands and enclosures are concrete, which retained the daytime heat well into the night. I think on the Saturday, I consumed 6 litres of “water based products” ane never say a drop back, except for sweat.
So Friday it was the village/paddock. HUGE is the only phrase that comes to mind. An enormous amount to see, with not only the various race paddocks, but also trade stands, displays, etc. All a bit overwhelming really.
PLEASE NOTE – NERD WARNING – NOT MUCH BUT CARS FROM HERE ON IN. SORRY……
One nice feature was a static paddock(Heritage Club) full of cars that had previously run in the Le mans 24 Hour race itself, across the ages
Onwards……
The paddocks were arranged in grid/date/class collections. Each grid had its own practice session, then races in the daytime plus races in the dark, throughout the weekend. So everybody competing had the whole Le Mans experienced. many of the cars had two drivers, so good fun had by all.
I decided that it would be impossible to record everything. There were so many jaw-dropping gorgeous cars that it was impossible to choose, so I just took pictures of those things that especially caught my eye. For instance, the two below, a wonderful DS and the brand new Formula E racing machine. There was stuff everywhere !
There were over 60 entries in the Jaguar Challenge race, many many E Types, plus a few Mk 1’s and 11’s. The dribble down the chin had already started……
Another fantastic feature was the proliferation of “marque” clubs, ranging from various pan-European Austin-Healy Sprites, via BMW’s, Morgan, Ford, Ferrari – even TVR ! In fact, the whole of the Le Mans Bugatti circuit was virtually covered by club cars – thousands, it seemed to me. Obviously there were specific areas dedicated to specific manufacturers, such as Porsche and Alpine – too much, I say !
Here’s a selection from the Porsche display
Time for a sit down, so I went into the grandstand opposite the start/finish line. Needed to get out of the heat, as the temperature was inexorably climbing through the 30’s……..All the grandstands were free on the Friday anyway.
Suitably rested, it was off to gawp at more cars. I eventually found all the Group C (mega sports type cars of the type that run at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race – Jaguars, Porsches, Peugeots, etc), tucked down the bottom of the Bugatti circuit – far away from the madding crowd – you had to make the effort to get there. It was worth it though. This was one of the highlights of the day, for me anyway, as I could get close up to this rather exotic machinery.
Next, one of my all time favourite racing cars, the Peugeot 905 EV1 bis. It’s the wailing ex-Grand Prix high revving V10 that gets me – absolutely gorgeous ! Can’t believe that these particular cars were built in 1993, still look pretty up to date really
At the other end of the “available money” scale is the Gebhart C91. Only one or two built, but still one of the fastest Group C cars around. at the time, 1991 that is.
A smattering of Jag’s as well, around 1987 build. Dribble, dribble…..
Then there was the old Porsche or two, at least one Alpine plus a gaggle of other stuff from Nissan, Rondeau,Toyota, Spice, Courage, Alba, Tiga, GKW, etc, etc, etc – too much !!!!
Starting to flag a bit now, so I made my way back to the start/finish area, by the Ford Chicane. There was a sensible bank (not too crowded) and it was getting towards dusk. Thankfully starting to cool off a bit.
One of my favourite shots, looking up the main straight by the pits, with all the cars acellerating away on full power. Just magic.
And suddenly it was dark ! That didn’t mean that things stopped. In fact quite the reverse. All of the classes were given a change to run in the dark, just like the REAL 24 hour race. The “night session” lasted until about 3 in the morning, but I gave up at around midnight. Completely different atmosphere around the circuit, with the cars all lit up and the pits ablaze. For some reason there was more commentary in English at night as well !
One of the “perks” of being in a club display was the opportunity to have a run round the circuit at night – controlled to some extent by a course car. Yeah, maybe ! The guys in the Supercar Club took full advantage. Here they are getting ready to go. There was a whole range of exotic stuff in the queue. Insanely jealous !
Renault had a big stand ( naturellement !) with a selection on display. See below.
Definitely felling tired by now – a very long day indeed, but absolutely gob-smackingly and overwhelmingly fantastically good. Back to the tent…… Good night.