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Anyone else going to le mans this week?
It was a bucketlist item for me so i bought myself tickets this year. im flying into Frankfurt Thursday and roadtripping to le mans. We are glamping at Porsche Curves with Travel Destinations.
anyone else going? ive been reading all the trip guides i can find, not sure what to expect but on the edge of my seat! |
Never been, and I'm actually struggling to find any coverage on TV too.
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Re: TV coverage - Looks like Fox Sports 1 and 2 have at least some of it.
TVRacer.com - TV Racing Schedule |
You are in for a great trip!
I drove over from central Germany in 2010 for the L M Classic, truly fantastic experience . It's quite a trip each way! The middle part of France is somewhat like our plains states vast ag fields and open spaces, to bad they don't have autobahn speeds there. The station wagon I rented served nicely both on the trip back and forth and as a sheltered place to catch some winks while there, there is a lot of noise from the track and from your neighbors in the camping area! Major partying going down. :-) Good idea to stock up a cooler with food and drinks with lots of ice before entering the track area. There are vendors there but they may be a long way from where you camp. A folding chair with straps for carrying is good to have, I found different vantage points to watch from and did a LOT of walking around to see as much as possible. So it was nice to be able to sit down to hang in good spots for a while. I had tickets for The grandstands near the start/finish line across fron the pits, but the noise there kept me from spending much time there. Have ear protection with you. The Classic was a true bucket list experience for me. And with Porsche debuting the new Hybred prototype this year at the 24hrs it should big fun . Take lots of pics to share with us. The parking lots and camping areas are a great car show in them selves. Cheers Richard Ps. This is a true endurance event for the spectators too! |
John - VERY interested in your experiences with Travel Destinations following your return. I'm a die-hard midweek fan and the glamping sounds like the best option for maximum race immersion whilst still having a bit of luxury (if you can call it that). Sending you a PM.
Needless to say i'm very jealous. Have an awesome week and be safe! mat |
John - Can't make Le Mans, but rode a motorcycle to the front gate of Spa yesterday.
In Dusseldorf 2nite, Bremen Tues and then Prague the rest of the week b4 heading to Lake Como and then a convention in Austria....Have fun and send us pic's for sure....... I should have put this on my schedule, but didn't think of it? |
I can only wish ! Fun money "tapped out" from an over extended Daytona Speedweek.
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The "holy grail"of motorsports imo. Hope you have a great time and post some pics when you have time. It's on my list of things to do also.
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Le Mans review
Well I had an awesome Le Mans experience. Definitely met and exceeded my expectations.
I arrived on a red-eye flight from Toronto into Frankfurt where my friend Doug met me. This was a big effort for him too...he is in the process of moving to Frankfurt from NYC and was there on his house-hunting trip. He went an bought a car the morning I arrived (a Skoda Superb turbowagon, a great roadtrip and family car, and will do 210kms/hr without complaint) and picked me up straight from the airport. Actually he did better than that, he picked up the car, went to the Getrinktmarkt and picked up 4 cases of beer and a case of wine... The drive was 780kms and mainly uneventful except for 1.5 hours traffic around Paris. Beautiful countryside. The roadsigns in France are very amusing, especially the brown tourist signs that I suppose are supposed to capture the theme of the region you are in. I didn't catch a lot of pics of those but the images included a squirrel holding either a beaker or a bong, a nuclear plant cooling tower, and an exhausted-looking miner. Who else knew there are active oil pumping derrik fields east of Paris? Arrival was a bit difficult as we came in at dusk after the ticketcounter was closed. I had booked with Travel Destinations but they didn't send the tickets beforehand so it was a negotiation to get through the gate to our campsite. This was one of the bugs the TRavel Destinations people said they would work out next time. This was their first Le Mans. An earnest attempt at French and a refusal to move out of the way got us through the gate. The Travel Destination people were great. Porters were waiting for us to move our stuff into the very nice Honeybell tents which were well appointed. Air matresses with fresh sheets and duvets, carpet on the floor, rugs, tables, umbrellas, Le Mans radios, all very well done. Expensive but better than advertised which is so rare. Our tent was within 50 meters of the Porsche Curve hill which made for outstanding viewing and easy access to go from the hill to the tent or their bar for supplies or shelter during the two brief downpours at the start. Friday is "Mad Friday" with the most fun coming from the Danish camping areas near the Porsche Curves. Traffic queueing along a road is encouraged by ~300 fans and a few instigators to do burnouts...I think the consensus was a Toyota van and a Smartcar both driven by Danish vets were the winners. Both burned their tires down to what must have been the cords. The fans, ourselves included, were just about pissing ourselves with laughter. BTW, the assortment of exotic cars was incredible. More Porsches, Ferraris, Lambos, Konniggseggs (?), Astons but also wildly modified VW T1 and T2s, Triumphs, Morgans, Spykers, Minis, etc. I guess to be espected when y ou assemble a couple hundred petrolheads but very impressive nonetheless. Here are some early pics, I need to take the kids to the park now but will post more later... |
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more from Friday
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403255211.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403255271.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403255289.jpg Though the cars were on display for the open pitwalk on Friday, the LMP1 teams in particular took pains to cover up parts of the cars. All the Toyotas, Porsches and Audis had covers over their ducting. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403255627.jpg |
Whats up with Pelican's upload, it keeps rotating the pics?
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Thanks for the write up. Did the headsets come w/ the package or did you bring those? Did you go into town on Friday for any reveling or did you stay at the track? What kind of supplies were available at the track? Did you need to go grocery shopping or anything?
thanks, mat |
Wow thanks for sharing!
<-- green with envy |
Ill post more tonight/tomorrow. Yes, much revelling. Ill pick up from Friday morning soon. Continuing detox...
Those are my headsets. You need to bring your own supplies unless you want to buy every meal from a greasy stand, which is also ok. The most scarce commodity was ice for the esky. The atmosphere was great. With 200,000 + people and no Police presence to speak of its was great to see no bad attitudes, no aggro, nothing other than fun and good natured attitudes even under tantric states of intoxication... |
Awesome. Can't wait to hear more.
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So that was up to Friday morning. The pits are open all day, and there are thousands and thousands of people filing through a 30 meter space so its a bit crazy. Even crazier until 11:00 when the organozers figured out there was only one entrance/exit and finally decided t open anther gate.
Porsche was in full effect, the sponsorship was everywhere. All along the main straight, which is actually a dramatic uphill, they had ~10 of the Le Mans winners on display under small tents. No placards or description of any kind which was a shame for those uninitiated in the ways of Porsche, but a great display...here are some pics... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403296349.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403296400.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403296430.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403296446.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403296903.jpg |
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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403297045.jpg So I'll admit that this is the 3rd time I've been up close and personal with this car, including having sat in it in the Stuttgart museum just last year thanks to a very slow day and a friendly guide..but this is the first time I've noticed its asymmetrical. Note the big "snorkel" intake on the left side but nothing n the right...did any driver in period ever complain of an off-center aero center or did they sort it out through other unnoticed aero? http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403297071.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403297090.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403297135.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403297164.jpg |
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The wheels on that last 936 are interesting...they are faux-bbs fans painted with spokes but those are actually fans... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403299379.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403299396.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403297602.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403299406.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403299415.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403299425.jpg |
Pelican keeps flipping the 919 upside down. Its got lots of downforce but not that much...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403299957.jpg The Toy too. Lets see if this stays right-side-up http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403300012.jpg The intricate carbonfibre work was really impressive... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403300062.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403300088.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403300097.jpg I really wanted the Zeod Nissan Garage 56 entry to do well, at least better than the original Deltawing and more than the 5 laps it did before the gearbox died. I was shocked to hear they quit so early with a gearbox failure. For Xsakes, Audi changed out two turbos and still won, why would Nissan quit with a gearbox failure with 23.7 hours to go? Impressive entry but disappointing outcome for the second year in a row. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403300239.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403300251.jpg |
Arg. My Surface just glitched and I lost 30 mins of work...
So resuming with Friday afternoon, that was a party. I cant seem to find those pics but the highlight was the Danish side of Porsche curves where they line both sides of the narrow road and egg traffic cars into burnouts. Hands-down the owner of the Smartcar and a second place goes to the Toy or Mazda minivan that both just about shredded their tires to the cords. Shame on the myriad exotica that wouldn't play. The Dane henchmen made sure they felt the same too with their supersquirters and horns. Even worse were the exotics and ricers who tried and stalled or couldn't manage a burnout! Who knew a Smartcar could rip it wide open? Anyway, even the no- or poor-shows only got goodnatured ribbing. The rest of Friday evening was filled with making new friends and touring around on foot. |
So we turned in early on Friday at 2AM Saturday morning and got an early start around 7AM. Every day started with a big bacon/egg baguette that I am sure will show up in my autopsy. Yum though.
Saturday started with a 83-91 Group C race for which I had high hopes but didn't quite live up to the billing. First off, it had a pair of Merc cars that never raced in period that won by several laps. How you can have a car in a Historic race that never raced itself and was never homologated is silly to me. Second, half the field died of engine failure or suspension woes before the end. At least none burst into flames like in London last week, though that would have been a highlight. I was really let down by the noise too. I remembered them sounding awesome. By comparison, the modern Astons and Corvettes sound absolutely unreal. Far and away they were the best sounds of the weekend. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81Zf7DuDU6WRDdtOXdlRm80WHc/edit?usp=sharing ANyway, few pics of them worth sharing though I have some video I'll post later. Then onto to the Carrera Cup race. It was 40 minutes of sheer madness. 65 idendically-supplied (though differently prepared and set) cars going at it was awesome. Sometimes 3.5 wide through Porsche Curves. All of them looking to be noticed for a ride next year. Good stuff. Heres some video of 65 of them pouring through the Porsche Curves... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81Zf7DuDU6WWlRNYTlDVXpVa1E/edit?usp=sharing |
So the big show itself started at 3:00 as scheduled and promptly we had 2 very hard downpours. Like biblical kinds of rain, but only for 5 minutes each. Track temps went from 40 to 20 in minutes and all kinds of mayhem ensued. Safety cars out and things calmed down, but not before the Nissan Zeod quit with a gearbox failure. As I sad earlier, how can you spend millions on prep and quit with a bad gearbox 10 mintues in? The Billy Madison Ms Lippy tirade comes to mind..."you don't give up...you get out there and you fix your FXXXing gearbox!" Audi fixed 2 turbos midrace and still won. OK, I understand the difference in resources but seriously they could have flown to Xtrac, got another, fit it, and done at least a few more laps for pride. Poor from an enthusiast and spectator view.
Anyway, with the race underway it was an awesome signt and sound. I should say here the sounds of the Astons and Corvettes were unreal. Spine-tingling. I spent a lot of time talking with other attendees and the strong consensus was- Astons - Awesome Corvettes - Great, and feel that thump in your chest Porsches - The expected great sound but nothing new or special Ferraris - Annoying, like a drill in your ear Audi LMP - Didn't hear them. Silent Rebellion and Porsche LMP - as it should be |
We watched the start from the Porsche Curves near our campsite and then took Internet Advice to walk around and see the sights. We walked up through the Paddock area to Tetre Rouge, back along the straight, back to the Curves and all the way to Indianapolis, Arnage and back to the Curves. Easily 25 kms but spread out over 8 hours and - ahem - enough hop- and grape-based hydration.
Here's a clip from Indianapolis at about 10PM https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81Zf7DuDU6WZ1JWM0N4LWVlUGs/edit?usp=sharing We got back to the Curves about midnight and slept for 2 hours, then watched from 2AM to 4AM, then a quick nap again from 4AM to 6AM then up for the day. Dawn was a great sight and though I have lots of video, little in the way of pics. Doug may have more. The Porsche Curves at 7AM...https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B81Zf7DuDU6WVFdoUVI1cjRjR0k/edit?usp=sharing http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403303788.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403303803.jpg One of the best things we did was to go early on Sunday to the Ferris wheel. Touristy, yes but awesome views. No line at 7AM. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403249759.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403303886.jpg Doesn't seem to matter if I flip the pic in Paint, one is right-side up and the other upside-down in Windows bit Pelican puts both upside down? http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403304016.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403304159.jpg damn I am going bald... |
There was bound to be a huge number of impressive cars there in an event with 200,000+ petrolheads and I have lots of pics but these two are the ones I'll call out.
We didn't actually get to speak with the owner of this car but its a beautifully turned-out backdate with great details. If this is yours, step up and accept your award...Along with Jury's its a favorite of mine... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403304667.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403304685.jpg |
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403305108.jpg
I'm posting the last one for a few reasons. 1 - He and a mate roadtripped down from London in an Ariel Atom 2 - I appreciated his labelling of "Captain Underpants" and "Dr Jahnkapedia" 3 - They were fun guys to talk with 4 - They nearly set the entire Porsche Curve parkinglot on fire. As their Dad and I were speaking, their BBQ dropped a coal into the pile of dry grass underneath, and the wind immediately spread the fire. 20+ frantic guys poured their beers, stomped on it and did anything wise and unwise to get the fire out. There was easily $15MM in cars in that immediate parking lot, with 300+ Carrera GTs, Astons, Ferraris, TVRs and other stuf that would have been lost in short order. More tomorrow |
We spent the last few hours watching from the Porsche Curves. It got crowded but still no problem seeing the race. It was exciting to see the Porsches back in the race and with 3 hours left actually looked like they might win with the Audis suffering turbo problems. But we know the ending now, disappointing for Porsche especially given all the $ and effort into the event.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403341496.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403341524.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403341550.jpg At the end we jumped the fence with the crowds and strolled down to the finish line where there was a party going on. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403341634.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403341729.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1403341743.jpg |
Parade lap
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/A54uRqd6I8o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Champagne at the finishline. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8f2jE53eHMk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> So that's about it for highlights. We spent the rest of the day Sunday walking around and making friends, slept there Sunday night and left about 5AM on Monday morning for the drive back to Frankfurt. Silly traffic again around Paris but overall a beautiful drive through the countryside. It was an expensive trip so I don't know if I can spend the $ again. It was a special occasion for me and any other trip I'm afraid might not live up so I may leave it at that. Maybe the Nurburgring 24 hrs next time? Thanks again to Doug who was a great co-pilot, enabler and friend. I had a blast Bud, you are a legend. |
Thanks for the great write up and for posting the pics and vids. What a great trip.
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I made Motorsport Magazine's coverage of Le Mans!
No joke, I can make out me and my buddy Doug in the crowd there by my sunglasses and his backpack... http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1408744985.jpg |
Thanks John. I really enjoyed the story and pics. Great adventure :)
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