Le Mans weekend - not long back !

Lazydonkey · Post by **Lazydonkey** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:46 pm

That was easily one of the best weekends of my life

Stuart (brother in law) and I got back to my bit at 20:30 last night, 13 hours and 760 odd miles after leaving Le Mans................ absolutely shattered . I can however confirm it is impossible to sleep in a VX with an ITG kit, the roof off and a rather enthusiastic co-driver who drops 2 gears and guns it everytime the road clears

Highlights for me?
- The amotsphere
- The amazing cars on and off track
- The noise of the astons / corvettes and lambo
- Good bunch of VX guys (none of whom I'd met before) making us both feel very welcome
- Sitting having dinner in Arnage when 4 ancient Bentley Le mans type cars tuned up and the whole restaurant got up and gave them a round of applause
- The tunnels on the way home
- Eurotunnel letting us on 5 hours before our scheduled departure

Not so high points
- Getting stuck at a toll booth on the way down when aforementioned co-driver ignored ticket dispensing machine and red light and the (foam) barrier smacked me on the head
- Queues for very cold showers
- The heat
- The drunken fat man who sat on my front wing and tried to get my to do a burnout

Just a great great weekend with a fantastic bunch of guys, and my wee plastic car didn't miss a beat for 1,500 miles.............if you've never been to Le Mans you HAVE TO go just once.

Just a shame the aston broke with a couple of hours to go

EDIT : Looked out for DDtB and the mad man in the supersnot but didn't see either of you

Lazydonkey · Post by **Lazydonkey** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:55 pm

Some (crap) pics that sum up Le Mans for me.

All set to go, was a gorgeous day and the car was sparkling!

Met up with one of the Vx boys and we blatted off down the autoroute (the wrong way [rolls eyes])

The car park just outside the circuit looks like any other from here...

Until you go for a wander and play spot the supercar

Our view from the Dunlop stand

The VX area of the campsite on Sun afternoon

The funfair at the back of the circuit at 2:30 am

Home at last. Car is MUCH filthier than it looks but its pissing it down and I'm buggered if I'm off to clean it !

Post by ed » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:44 pm

nice

looks awesome, another thing added to my to-do-list!

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:12 pm

Well Giles might be planning a SE trip next year!!

Rag_It · Post by **Rag_It** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:50 pm

Ed was thinking about it whilst sitting on the bog reading Autocar actually the other day! Looks awesome!

You guys looked like you had a good trip Martin!

Dave

mrbennybennett · Post by **mrbennybennett** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:34 pm

Not been for 2 years and begining to get withdrawls!!

Dying to take the elise as the first time I was in a E36 M3 and the second in a 355 F1

Im definately gonna go next year with the guys ive been with before including my boss with his new yellow F340 Spyder

The more the merrier though it would be good to get a SE convoy down!!!

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:50 am

ooooOOOOOooooo Grandstands!

Too good to slum it with the proles then

Good on ya - it's a brilliant atmosphere, n'est pas? I have 18 hours of LM on DVD to sift through, just to try and keep the cravings to a minimum - but I was sat in the office on Weds/Thurs/Fri listening to Radio Le Mans and wishing I was there again....

I think an SE trip next year would be a blinding idea.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:55 am

Shug wrote: I think an SE trip next year would be a blinding idea.

what he said

mac · Post by **mac** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:59 am

It's something Giles and I have been mulling over since last year.

Would need some organising though - perhaps we could get a dedicated area on the new server for this kind of mega road run?

I think the best bet would be to pull together all the ideas and contacts from those who have done it before. Question is - how long would you want to go for?

Mac

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:03 am

Start a new thread methinks, with those questions.

My vote would be as long as I can get away with....

Lazydonkey · Post by **Lazydonkey** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:24 am

Shug wrote:ooooOOOOOooooo Grandstands!

Too good to slum it with the proles then

There is precisely nae chance of me going back and not getting a grandstand seat

For 80 euros or something you had an allocated seat IN THE SHADE with a great view. When the temp was in the high 30's shade was very important.....you could still mix it with the proles if you felt like getting closer to the cars (oh and sweaty!)

SE run would be a great idea, give me some company on the way south

EDIT : Just in case anyone is interested entry to the race (thu-sun), camping pass and the seats in the stand came to £220 for my co-pilot and I. £110 plus petrol, tolls and beer money seems cheap to me for a weekend away

Post by **Shug** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:46 am

Lazydonkey wrote:
Shug wrote:ooooOOOOOooooo Grandstands!

Too good to slum it with the proles then
There is precisely nae chance of me going back and not getting a grandstand seat For 80 euros or something you had an allocated seat IN THE SHADE with a great view. When the temp was in the high 30's shade was very important.....you could still mix it with the proles if you felt like getting closer to the cars (oh and sweaty!)

SE run would be a great idea, give me some company on the way south

EDIT : Just in case anyone is interested entry to the race (thu-sun), camping pass and the seats in the stand came to £220 for my co-pilot and I. £110 plus petrol, tolls and beer money seems cheap to me for a weekend away

Ah, but any organised trip gives you access to a hosiptality marquee for the shade factor

I guess I would be in the grandstand for maybe an hour out of the whole event... I'm always on the move at LM. The two years I've been (2000/2003) were some of the hottest on record - at least you reportedly had a breeze this year!

One of the best places to watch the start (apart from the pit straigh, obviously) was the old esses (before they changed them in 2001) You'd hear them over the hill, then they'd burst through the Dunlop bridge and slam through a left-right 3rd gear flick at silly speeds with walls either side of the track - 50 cars in one go. Goosebumps thinking of it!

I think if we were to do a trip, there would have to be options available (days attending/grandstand or not) As it's a bunch on blokes, I see no reason why we wouldn't want to use Houx Annexe (the nuthouse) as the location is okay and we're right in the middle of the Mad Friday action. The constant loud music is all part of the charm

Post by ed » Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:49 am

would def be up for it next year!

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:07 am

ed wrote:would def be up for it next year!

(been waiting for an excuse for ages to use that emoticon....

)

Lazydonkey · Post by **Lazydonkey** » Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:48 pm

We were in Blue Nord this year which is basically just across the road from the circuit fairground and seeemd a good compromise between noise and location IMHO.

Its also possible to get the car out if you want to nip to the supermarche / dinner