What is worse at LM ?

[Fab]

We had a lot of talk about what we love at LM...

But never about what we hate... I can see here or on CA forum a lot of complains about ticketing, camping facilities (loos ?), modifications of the track, fences, etc...

I'd like to have a glance on your opinion ; I'll give you mine : definitely ticketing questions, but I can't see any solutions, and succedeed last years to have what I needed, even very late (was not Liz case in 2002, if I can remember).

I suffered a lot of the mob in June, and found a lot of pleasure for Classic, because of the easyness to go everywhere without too much crowd... but I have to admit this is the price to pay for a great event !

This thread has not the purpose to point ACO defaults, just to see of what you suffer... in your pleasure to come at LM !

[SFonseca]

Le Mans is perfect....!!!

[beausejour]

French policemen, standing on site's in de forrest where cars pass at maximum speed. :-((

New entry at this forum. I'm from Holland and visited LM this year for the very first time. Enjoyed it very much, and promised myself to keep visiting La Sartre yearly till the day I die. Special interest in RFH, Bentley and Corvette.

That's it for now.......

C U

[AllonFS]

The lack of veggie food options for my mate this year! Apart from cheese baguettes, (one stall only in the village), frites and sweet stuff; everything else had dead animal in it. I know for most of us the first merguez is part of the pilgrimage, but it was a bit embarassing for my mate. The beer had more effect on an empty stomach though!

[Fab]

Originally posted by beausejour
New entry at this forum. I'm from Holland and visited LM this year for the very first time.

Cheer welcome !!! Our chief is Ayse, he'll welcome you when he read your post !

Originally posted by beausejour
Enjoyed it very much, and promised myself to keep visiting La Sartre yearly till the day I die

I'm sad for you : you're an addict as well now, and I can insure you that it's terrible !!!

Originally posted by beausejour
French policemen, standing on site's in de forest where cars pass at maximum speed.

I'm looking for someone who will allow me one day to dodge the "gendarmes", as we say here...

[Fab]

Originally posted by AllonFS
The lack of veggie food options for my mate this year!

I'm not a veggie myself, but you're right : I'd like to have some "non meat" food sometime on the track... well, it's only two or three days...

Only one solution : go to the -expensive- restaurants in the village...

[kdr]

as a veggie i agree with allonsfs....luckily we rent some rooms in a private house nearby, stock up on huge breakfasts.

as well as le mans i've been quite regularly to the los san fermines/bullrunning fiesta in pamplona. although two entirely different events, as they occur within a month of each other i notice some similarities.

both events are magical, and both can have their downsides, but their downsides are uniquely special. the way hemingway puts it in "the sun also rises" could easily be applied to both....

"its like a wonderful nightmare..."

[beausejour]

Originally posted by Fab
Cheer welcome !!! :beer: Our chief is Ayse, he'll welcome you when he read your post !

thnx ! A cheer to you too. ;)



I'm sad for you : you're an addict as well now, and I can insure you that it's terrible !!! ;)

I'm happy to be a 'junkie-for-life'!! I'm fed up with visiting F1. After a few GP's I found out it's a plastic sports. LM is the real thing for me. My previous job didn't allow me to visit LM ealier, but since I'm a selfsupporting entepricer I make my own agenda. No one will disurb me in mid-June for the rest of my life, not even the misses! ( costs me some, but it's worth it. I tried to take her with me, but now she found out thre will be only COLD water for washing and no sleep for 24 hrs she only pointed a finger at her forehead :mad: ( women !! )

I'm looking for someone who will allow me one day to dodge the "gendarmes", as we say here... :laugh:

Same here....
I bumped into almost every policeman in the Noth-West of France that night. I visited every spot allowed with a general enclosure-ticket, but didn't find the high speed-sensation. The best spot I could find for that was Terte Rouge, and the end of the start/finish straight. Another visitor of LM attended me to a farmer who lives next to the first chicane, but trying to reach that farm wasn't succesfull :banghead: So, if anyone knows what I mean and has a suggestion; post it here, legaly or not:censored:
( A Leatherman tool is standard issue...... )

C U

Beausejour

[beausejour]

huh??

I see I must learn more about the 'quote-option' and emoticons here.....

[AllonFS]

Not that I would want to suggest any trespassing in France, but! This year me and a mate followed the track up the Mulsanne from Tetre Rouge. Just past the modern stadium looking building is where the barriers stop you; there are a few houses there heading away from the track. We sneaked past the barriers and continued parallel to Mulsanne through several fields. Eventually we cut back to the track and managed to find a bit of barrier between marshalls and gendarmes. We were able to spend a little while there, (probably about half way towards the first chicane) and just enjoyed seeing the cars go past. Well I say see, it doesn't really do justice to the sensation of noise, speed and blur of colour.

There were quite a few other intrepid explorers, and a few close scrapes with officials and less than impressed locals, (sorry)! You need to go quite a way through the fields, but it is worth it though; it has been my ambition since my first race in 1999, for me the Mulsanne is Le Mans.

Best of luck and be careful.

[beausejour]

[quote]for me the Mulsanne is Le Mans. [unquote]

before I mess up another reply, this is the only way to quote properly.

Thanks for your reply. Your quote rules!! I'm aware of the risk, especially after the flight of Mark Webber in the Mercedes, a few years ago. I've stored your reply, and I will print it before I travel to LM next year.

Beausejour ( You deserve a beer for this reply. Come and get it, Friday afternoon at Beausejour ( where else ?? ) at the Corvette-flag on top of our camp )

C U

Beausejour

[Liz]

Tickets are my big headache every year, because I want the Pitwalk tickets that you can't buy on site. Otherwise, the ACO opening their "Welcome Centre" so late in the week and even then not having everything ready to go. Why aren't they open for lunch at least on Friday?

Otherwise just the horrible crowds in the pits and paddocks on Friday, and the fact that inevitably the people right against the barriers are large, fat young men who refuse to move an inch, so little short people can't see anything. Or people who walk blindly in front of me when I'm taking a picture. (I always look carefully for people with cameras before I walk through a set.)

But except for the tickets, these are all very minor things and if I get my Pitwalk ticket this year none of them will matter.

[Nordic]

1.The entry could be expanded from 50 (or 48)cars
2.The campsites are not the place to practice ralling skills (or lack of)
3.People who take forever to take a photo, expecting everyone else to leap out of there way!
4.Fridges in all campsites provided by the ACO for cool beer storage.

[egor]

The Rain It makes showering easy but a bugger to dry your clothes when your camping.

One thing they have control over (or not) is the fences, One fave place was after the Dunlop bridge leaning on the wall watching the cars going down into the esses, with nothing in your way to take photo's.


Then one year like breading rabits they were everywhere . I am sure when the ACO / FIA who ever it was insisted on the fencing (FIA I believe), went around and instead of just looking at the safety aspect, they also looked for any place where you could get a good vantage point and made sure your view was obscured

Thats a moan from me, other than that the whole Le Mans thing is the best week in the world for me.

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by beausejour
French policemen, standing on site's in de forrest where cars pass at maximum speed. :-((

New entry at this forum. I'm from Holland and visited LM this year for the very first time. Enjoyed it very much, and promised myself to keep visiting La Sartre yearly till the day I die. Special interest in RFH, Bentley and Corvette.

That's it for now.......

C U

As my friend Fab rightly said, I would get around to welcoming you eventually! Nice to meet you, look forward to seeing your comments between now and next June!

And on the food front - Le Mans simply woujldn't be Le Mans without

merguez!.

(Wish I could have one right now!).

[Fab]

Originally posted by Aysedasi


merguez!.

(Wish I could have one right now!).

Darn ! I'm hungry now !

[rdjones]

The only problem with Le Mans - it only goes on for 5 days a year ! ! ! ! !

[paul-collins]

Well, what do you expect from an event called "120h du Mans?"

[Bluebottle]

The best place to see the cars at speed without risking arrest is the viewing area on the straight after the Mulsanne corner, as the cars head up to Indianapolis and Arnage. The Merc incident caused the authorities to quite rightly step up security on the fast bits but I think it's a great shame they insist on putting green netting outside the two restaurants. There is a missed oppertunity for safe viewing here- a grandstand in the field next to the Shanghai would provide exellent views from a safe distance. Apparantly, the residents of houses next to the track are required to keep their front windows shuttered during the race! I suspect this is a requirement of the local Prefect rather than the ACO?

[Bluebottle]

I have to say it was lovely to be able to enjoy the Classic without the hooligan element of June. Last time we went (2001) i was getting very irritated by the gangs of idiots trying to get people to do wheelspins etc. It's a pain in the rear because of the traffic build-up and also the damage caused to some cars- a mini in front of us suffered a bent wing and broken mirror because of a couple of idiots trying to lift the front of the car, and there was also the accident involving a rented Ferrari that year, not to mention the number of people who drove home on badly worn tyres.
Come on guys, please grow up!

[Liz]

We didn't have hooligans where we were camped, except the Brethren ... and they kept their hi jinks to themselves pretty much. We did have a French marshall give us grief about hooking up our hosepipe to their standpipe, but Noel talked her round.

I wasn't overjoyed with the entrepreneur at the Alain Prost Karting Centre who was charging people 5 Euros to stand along the wall on Sunday. I have the distinct feeling he was working without a net.

[Fab]

I just wanted to make a small commentary about the "hooligan" question (maybe "hooligan is a little bit "strong" : we use this english word in France only for football fans, very violent ones).

I used to go to the 24 motorbike hours in the early 80', and went back in 2002 : I was impressed (maybe I'm too old !) by the number of drunk (not so disturbing if you stay away) and agressive (dangerous, especially for young ladies) young guys.

It's less disturbing at cars 24 hours, because the public is much older. I never was disturbed myself at LM by agressive/heavily drunk people, just to be careful that they don't fall on you... But i was with newbies this year, and they have been (not a very nice "view", we have to admit).

It's up to everyone : I come on the track to see a race, others for a big feast (including bottles walls), as long as we don't have to "stand" a trouble behavior, it's OK.

I have difficulties to understand agressive behavior on the road, including what Bluebottle described above (I saw the "you have to wheelspin" in front of blue park in the 2001 friday afternoon : someone broke its car in that game, stupid !)

Other question : how to gather 250 000 people (for a car race, btw !) and dodge people wanting to have fun in their own way, and make them to understand that a drink contest is not fun for everybody ? I don't know.

I saw drivers making really dangerous and stupid things this year around the track (with thousands of pedestrians around !)...

I have to precise that this is just a description, I'm not here to "judge" the behaviors (who am I to do this ?) and to say what is bad or not... we have to share the place, that's all...

[Liz]

The good thing about Le Mans is that it's easy to figure out after you have been there a couple of times, which places to stay away from. Check out the chat boards at Club Arnage and you'll see a lot of threads that brag about how close people got to dying of alcohol poisoning and how much they enjoyed seeing their friends do the same. They usually tell which camp sites they were in so you can avoid them. The only dangerous driving I saw was on motorcycles. But there ae a lot of people who don't watch where they are going, which is even more dangerous IMO. Pedestrians and cars alike.

For a crowd that size there are surprisingly few incidents.

[Aysedasi]

With all due respect to CA, the main reason I "took up residence" here having used the CA forums is that I got sick and tired of hearing tales from airheads whose only interest in going to Le Mans seems to be to get as wrecked as possible for as long as possible.

Sorry if that offends anyone, but there is much more to Le Mans (and being in France) than booze......

[AllonFS]

...yeah, like merguez!