[LM24] Your experiences Le Mans 2014

[Creep89]

My experience? Fantastic as an Audi VIP Forza Audi!

My trip to Le Mans startet early on saturday (4:30am). First, I had to go to Dusseldorf Airport (Germany), flying to Paris CDG and then take the TGV to Le Mans. Holy crap.. Everyone is saying the "Deutsche Bahn" is bad, but the french trains are far worse. Crappy train, dirty, no displays were you are. Even the smallest train in germany has displays with the next train station and announcements in german AND english. I don't get why the announcements are in french only. Arriving at Le Mans with the TGV, there were already hostesses from Toyota, Porsche and of course Audi waiting for you. After checking in, we were send to the parking lot where several cars were waiting for us.
45min later (due to massive car jam) we arrived at the Audi Racing Hotel. After the Check-In we got our iPod Touch with all the informations you need (Radio Le Mans, Timing, News,..) and of course our VIP pass.


Klick for big picture
For most of the time I followed the race at the Racing Club, which is pretty much the best location to watch the race.


Klick for big picture

It got pretty cold at night, but lucky me got a jacket from Audi Sport. But I got really tired at night, so I went back in and watched the race at night in a cinema atmosphere.


Klick for big picture

There were several tv screens for live timing, onboards and of course the official TV feed. I don't think that there is a better way to watch and follow the 24h Le Mans. The Racing club was really empty during the night, only 20 people at all I think. Two guys we met at the dinner at Audi Racing Garden were also there, maybe they are reading this


Klick for big picture

Good Morning! At 11am we had some helicopter flights around the track organized by Audi, which was pretty cool. After the race a bus took us back to the Le Mans train station were we had to get our train to Paris Montparnasse(?). Because of the train strike our train had a delay of 20min. Once again, what a naughty, naughty thing. There are so many people who don't speak french and they don't announce further information in english. Well, at least our TGV arrived, other people weren't so lucky with their train. After arriving in Paris, we decided to go by taxi to Paris CDG.

Conclusion: First time Le Mans for me and wow, it was epic. Thanks Audi!

Sorry for bad language, I'll edit it later on. (Note from Ayse - you didn't - so I did).

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by whitemr2

Negatives,
-The ACO app not working properly and having to update it during race 13.5 mb is a lot when you have to buy it on your 'not'french phone.

I forgot that point : I had to update the app 30 minutes before the start of the race !

[chunder]

Watched for 30 seconds, saw Audi were leading.

Turned off and did something else.

Roll on next year boys x

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by chunder

Watched for 30 seconds, saw Audi were leading.

Turned off and did something else.

Roll on next year boys x

Well, jolly good for you mate. Glad you felt the need to let us know.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Well, jolly good for you mate. Glad you felt the need to let us know.

You know, Ayse, even the most insignificant post can bring an information : yes, Audi have won again and done a great work.

[bella]

amazes me how people forget there's what, 5 seperate races going on within the classification? i didn't watch the lmp1 race at all, i was hooked on the lmp2 one! wayyyy more competitive

[Mike E]

While the serious practice and qualifying shunts were a low point, they presented another opportunity to show what lengths teams will go to to make sure they make the start.

Audi building a new car from their huge parts supply in time for qualy was one thing, but the #79 Prospeed Porsche gets my vote for team of the race. Having to scrounge a new shell, build it up from whatever parts were salvagable from the crashed car, lose their Bronze driver, be pushed up into the Pro class as a two driver squad as a result, and still finish 5th in class in a 2012 spec car beating factory cars from Aston and Porsche was a truly heroic performance, and the stuff this race is made of.

14 hours at the wheel for Jeroen Bleekemolen (I am turning into a proper JB fanboy ) was a good warm up for the Nurburgring 24 this weekend!

[Brake dust]

Nice post whitemr2! Great suggestion on ACO membership. Am I understanding it correctly, the cost is only 39 euros?

[whitemr2]

Originally Posted by Brake dust

Nice post whitemr2! Great suggestion on ACO membership. Am I understanding it correctly, the cost is only 39 euros?

You need the passion 24 vip, 102 euro per year, the passion 24 membership is when you don't visit the 24 race.
http://www.passion-24.org/htm/passion_24_vip.asp?

[Aysedasi]

Yes, don't buy the cheapie - I did a few years ago on recommendation and it got me nothing at all. I had to get James to sign me in as a guest!

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by PascaLM

You know, Ayse, even the most insignificant post can bring an information : yes, Audi have won again and done a great work.

And his was, indeed, the most insignificant post.........

[AndrewE]

Originally Posted by Creep89

My experience? Fantastic as an Audi VIP Forza Audi!

My trip to Le Mans startet early on saturday (4:30am). First, I had to go to Dusseldorf Airport (Germany), flying to Paris CDG and then take the TGV to Le Mans. Holy crap.. Everyone is saying the "Deutsche Bahn" is bad, but the french trains are far worse. Crappy train, dirty, no displays were you are. Even the smallest train in germany has displays with the next train station and announcements in german AND english. I don't get why the announcements are in french only. Arriving at Le Mans with the TGV, there were already hostesses from Toyota, Porsche and of course Audi waiting for you. After checking in, we were send to the parking lot where several cars were waiting for us.
45min later (due to massive car jam) we arrived at the Audi Racing Hotel. After the Check-In we got our iPod Touch with all the informations you need (Radio Le Mans, Timing, News,..) and of course our VIP pass.


Klick for big picture
For most of the time I followed the race at the Racing Club, which is pretty much the best location to watch the race.


Klick for big picture

It got pretty cold at night, but lucky me got a jacket from Audi Sport. But I got really tired at night, so I went back in and watched the race at night in a cinema atmosphere.


Klick for big picture

There were several tv screens for live timing, onboards and of course the official TV feed. I don't think that there is a better way to watch and follow the 24h Le Mans. The Racing club was really empty during the night, only 20 people at all I think. Two guys we met at the dinner at Audi Racing Garden were also there, maybe they are reading this


Klick for big picture

Good Morning! At 11am we had some helicopter flights around the track organized by Audi, which was pretty cool. After the race a bus took us back to the Le Mans train station were we had to get our train to Paris Montparnasse(?). Because of the train strike our train had a delay of 20min. Once again, what a naughty, naughty thing. There are so many people who don't speak french and they don't announce further information in english. Well, at least our TGV arrived, other people weren't so lucky with their train. After arriving in Paris, we decided to go by taxi to Paris CDG.

Conclusion: First time Le Mans for me and wow, it was epic. Thanks Audi!

Sorry for bad language, I'll edit it later on.

So you had a great cosseted experience. Pleased for you.

But guess why the train announcements are in French? Do we make announcements here in French, German, Chinese. No. Maybe learn French and not be so arrogant.

PS camping at MB after a great drive down was top! Beats being in the pits all last year ;-)

[Creep89]

On big events or at main stations there are announcements in english. It may sound arrogant, but at least all of the french people I asked were nice and answered my questions.

[Hans Stuck Fan]

After 8 years away...

Plus points:
All the old memories rekindled, such as:
First glimpse of the circuit
Car being pushed on to the grid for the herringbone
The start, dusk and a stunning dawn
GTE-Pro tete-a-tete
Ditto P2
Turbocharger changes on Sunday morning - echoes of the 80's
My wife loved her first visit

Minus Points
Just as I remembered...rubbish view standing opposite the pits (so didn't spend too much time there..!)
I always use the '84 and '88 editions as benchmarks

[Mal]

Originally Posted by AndrewE

So you had a great cosseted experience. Pleased for you.

But guess why the train announcements are in French? Do we make announcements here in French, German, Chinese. No. Maybe learn French and not be so arrogant.

PS camping at MB after a great drive down was top! Beats being in the pits all last year ;-)

Especially when you have such great company.....

[Brake dust]

thanks Whitemr2! Will remember that for the next time.

[CTD]

I'll wait until I have the time and got my memory and feelings settled and will return to post

But for the race itself I must applaud the race itself and Ligier/Onroak for one of the best debuts ever! (really hoped they would win)

[stampchez]

What an amazing experience for this first timer. It really is an epic day. It has taken over a week to really start to set in. It's amazing how fast 24 hours can go by when you are enjoying the experience.

Pros

• It was a very exciting and memorable motor race. Lots of exciting action in all of the classes and interesting storylines. It's too bad that so many LMP1 cars had problems but I can't complain too much as an Audi fan. I would have like to have seen Corvette win but it's hard to complain about second with the new car. They definitely had the pace to win.
• The circuit itself is amazing in person. There are so many places where you can take in different views and feel close to the cars. There are so many things going on along with the race. You can never see all of it in one trip. There is a lot more going on for the fans than at a Formula 1 race.
• The ACO membership perks were excellent. Our seats in Tribune 18 gave us a great view of the Audi, Corvette, and Porsche pits. We definitely appreciated the clean restrooms, cheaper drinks, and charging points in all of the ACO areas. The tent at Raccordement was a great place to escape the rain!
• Our camping at Blue Nord went very smoothly. We have never camped before so it was a fun experience. We were able to meet some nice people around the campsite.
• The behind the scenes tour was one of the highlights of the trip. Our tour guide, Hervé Guyomard, had so many stories and the access was amazing. It was too cool to be in the paddock the day before the race. The Michelin tour was also excellent. Thanks again to
  ATLFalconsFAN for setting that up.
• The feeling as 3 pm Sunday approached was something else. Everyone was in such a good mood. It felt like all of the fans accomplished something together.
• The entire trip was phenomenal. We were able to tour the D Day beaches, spend a night at a beautiful chateau, and spend a few quality days in Paris. It was just a fantastic trip.

Cons

• I am still bummed that I missed the Ten Tenths meet up. I turned it up a little too hard on Friday and started to feel sick on Saturday morning. Very disappointing.
• I had a few travel issues. There was no traffic getting in and out of the track which was great. We had some trouble with a taxi strike when trying to get from the airport in Paris. I got stuck at one toll booth and had my credit card eaten at another. I also had some trouble buying gas without a chipped credit card.
• Everyone was told to sit down in our grandstand at the start and finish. That seemed very weird. It looked like everyone else was standing in the other grandstands.

I can't wait to do it again! Pictures coming soon.

[whitemr2]

Sitting down in your grandstand at start and finish is indeed weird. And everyone sat down????? Looks like a nurcery school to me
It is even disrespectful NOT to stand up while the cars finish.
It's like a great concert giving the band a standing ovation.

[Gingers4Justice]

I've been back for over a week now and had a chance to think about stuff. Trip number 14, and up there with the best.

Positives:

- the race. Okay, not an absolute all-time classic, but one which kept throwing surprises with some classic Le Mans stories throughout the field.
- the weather. When I imagine my perfect Le Mans weather, that's pretty close to perfect. Not too warm, plenty of sun and a cooling breeze. I like a bit of drizzle to make the race itself interesting but perhaps next time we could go a little easier on the showers?
- taking the Panda to Le Mans again (though probably for the last time). That ridiculous car (even more so in its Martini livery) has been through a lot with me. I've given lifts to girlfriends, taken mates to parties, taken it on roadtrips in the UK, I've slept in it, ate in it, even sunbathed on top of it. But the best experience the Panda and I have shared together will always be taking the curbs at Indianapolis, for that one last time. It looks like my next car could be a Fiat 127, but even then, I won't get the chance to drive round Indy again Despite the lack of performance, space, credibility....well, it lacks a lot of things, I am massively fond of my Panda and I'll miss it when it's gone.
- introducing another friend to the world's greatest event and proving once more that you don't need an interest in cars to appreciate what's going on. Engrossed. That's how I'd describe my mate's Le Mans experience from Tuesday until packing up on Monday. When taking a newbie, I always think it's best to tell them as little as possible, because then they get a shock when they get there. When I took him to the pit-straight on Tuesday evening, I don't think he could believe how big the place was.
- proving to my mum that camping at Le Mans really isn't that bad. That's her 10th trip since '88, but her first one in a campsite...she may just about be persuaded to do it again
- Radio Le Mans. Once again, it just would not have been the same without them.
- Porker Support Race. I usually have no time for one-make anything, but that race was just what the doctor ordered on Saturday morning!
- The Tenths Meeting. Only my second year at the meeting but every bit as enjoyable as my first. Thanks to Victor once again for his rocket fuel and the resulting memory loss for the first two hours of the race - sorry I didn't get to meet even half the people there though!
- bumping into Tenthers elsewhere. Truckosarous, eps, Simmi, Kpy, WWODB - good to see you guys on the campsite.

Negatives:
- too cold at night. I massively regret not heading back to camp at night for an extra layer or too in the false hope that sunrise would make things a lot warmer.
- the Group C support race. I know you're sort of meant to treat these as a glorified parade lap, but for me, it's just sad. Those cars mean a lot to me for good reasons but I'm beginning to suspect I'll never see one driven in anger. All the more disappointed that I completely missed the Mazda.
- My other mate dropping out last minute due to an expired passport. Students, eh?

A vintage year in my book. Hope to be there in some form next year.

[Aysedasi]

Sitting down in the ACO stands T17 and T18 is normally enforced quite rigidly - that way everyone gets to see more than your head and torso in front of them....

[whitemr2]

Never experienced that, my hight (1.97) helps and I always ask for the top row. If nececary I can always stand behind my seat and have great vieuw.

[bella]

as a full spec midget (alright not that bad but i'm 5 ft 6 and it's quite short enough thank you) i appreciate it when everyone has to sit down too. appreciate it doesn't do much for the atmosphere but when people stand up easily 50% of the stand doesn't get the view they've paid to get.

[greeny12]

On the subject of standing, I thought we'd scored a good win getting row B tickets in the pits grandstand. That was until the gents in Row A decided to stand leaning on the barrier for just about all of their (2hrs plus) stay there, which even with the decent rake in T34 meant the cars dipped in and out of heads and torsos up the straight!

There were too many of them to think about asking to sit down, although I noted we were particularly unlucky as in most other sections the people in Row A sat down after applauding the start (which is entirely fine of course). And I decided that to stand myself (I'm 6'6") would be compounding the crime for the people behind me, who could see over them due to the rake so were all seated happily...

Not sure I'd go back to T34 anyway, but if I did I'd take any row other than B!!

[bella]

row a is a bit of a pain though, because if you sit down you can't actually see anything because the barrier is in the way... the design of the stand means that someone's going to lose at some point :/