Le Mans 2013

[rossybee]

All I'm gonna say is roll on next year

[GregR]

Can't wait - big boy Le Mans on 4 August

[2F45T4U]

4 of us heading across tomorrow morning 4am via the Eurostar at about 0620 then a drive down camping then a night in Rouen on sunday for a freshen up and sleep before heading back to london on Monday. meeting another crowd of us over there too. Never been before, should be good craic. cant wait.

[a4drk]

Driver got killed today.
Shame
http://jalopnik.com/le-mans-driver-alla ... -541288338

[DJ]

So sad about Simenson. Thoughts with friends and family.

My first trip to Le Mans and can now understand what all the fuss is about. As a long weekend away it is truly fantastic. Can't recommended it enough. Journey home starts tomorrow.

PS. The Scots guy on the Lotus stand told me the exige roadster on show was the only one available in that colour in Le Mans. You know who you are . Good to see you. Cheers.

[Dominic]

PS. The Scots guy on the Lotus stand told me the exige roadster on show was the only one available in that colour in Le Mans. You know who you are . Good to see you. Cheers.

[Rag_It]

Just back from my first trip so thought a quick write up for those who have never been.... apart from the fact i can barely keep my eyes open after about 8 hours sleep over 4 days, i had an awesome time! The Simenson news was not good but the family requested that AM carried on racing. His team mates didn't sound like they wanted to though when being interviewed.

We arrived on Friday at about 2pm, went for a short donder, saw the Pistonheads meet, the riot police being called as burnouts got way out of hand and then back to the campervan for the 1st of many BBQ's! Friday saw first night over exuberation with the whisky being opened at about 9pm, however thankfully having been invited by a client of mine from my last job, he brought some boys who were clearly able to out drink me on the whisky front! (The beer wall was pitiful to say the least!)

Saturday was fantastic, no seats just general admission, it meant a LOT of walking, as we wanted to visit as much of the track as possible but very much worth it. (Bikes or motorised Scotter would have been good!) Campsite seemed to be a separate bit just for caravans and campervans, thankfully meaning the facilities were always clean. Went shopping Saturday afternoon for an hour or so, loads to see and buy, not to mention popped in to see infamous Mr Robertson, however upon enquiring where the workshy one might be, i was informed he had gone to the Paddock Club with the Aston boys..... Never made it back to see you on Sunday mate, combo of finishing off the whisky until the small hours and we headed off to try out a few other spots!

Sunday we got everything packed up, headed over for the last 3 hours of the race and with the weather the way it was, it made the whole weekend and the race itself very interesting. I guess my only negative thought on the whole thing (very minor!) was the lack of a parade lap round the track at the finish. It just seemed to finish dead. We got onto the track and walked a bit of it before heading back. Set off at 7pm to avoid the traffic of 300,000 people leaving and made it to Calais at about 11.45pm. No speeding on the way back, but i got flashed twice on the way down, clever cameras as i was on the speed limit, however apparently campervans have a 90 KPH limit, so it must have been able to tell by the size of the vehicle. As i understand it not endorsable? but two fines headed my way i guess.

I did however spy one of the craftiest methods of speed detection by the local Gendarmerie, which was to send a man out in full cammo gear, hide behind a metal box of some sorts and have the speed gun poking round the side. A few hundred yds down the road saw a gaggle of gendarmes all waiting for the next Brit to come tearing down the hill to chase!!!

All in all a very enjoyable way to spend a long weekend, something i think i will try and do if not yearly then certainly every second year. Oh.... would i have preferred to have taken the little yellow peril rather than campervan it? I thought about this on the way back and I think i decided no! Maybe in my SC, but I think the S1 would have been fairly horrendous from Fife to Calais, perhaps easier if i took the ferry somewhere more Northerly.

There was a lot to be said for the 6 berth campervan we took, it has absolutely everything in it, 2 huge double beds and room for two more on the single beds. Perhaps if i'd been down for longer, extending it like Mr Robertson with some extra days to drink his way through France then yes, but i think the right choice was made, not least because on the way to Edi airport on Thursday the S1 decided to lunch it's alternator belt, which at 70 or so tuts was not a nice noise to listen to! Dropped it off and left it with the big pile of sheds roond the back! Craig as usual bent over backwards to help, not to mention getting my ass to the airport ASAP so i didn't miss my flight!

Cheers,

Dave

[Mike Scib]

Sounds like a great trip dave!

SE trip next year! On the todo list as well as Spa

[rossybee]

Sounded great Dave!

One thing though, I did it in the SuperSnot with no roof doors or windscreen, twas ace

To be fair, we sailed Rosyth-Zeebrugge, but the Hull crossing still exists