Chav invasion at houx annexe
Discussion
Am I getting old and boring or is Le Mans deteriorating into some kind of chav fest? I noticed this year more than any other, the total lack of respect shown to the owners and their cars at the Houx Annexe roundabout. Don't get me wrong, I love the doughnuts and general atmosphere which is created every year, and have myself, done a few laps. However it seems to me the soaking of old/unusual/rare/cherished cars is somehow acceptable. Let me know your thoughts...
I agree. We had supersoakers for a spot of fun, but this year was baaaad. Each year I have seen Houx on the Friday night it has gotten worse, so if this trend continues next year I will be looking for an alternative.
It was also the busiest Ive seen it which probably didnt help matters!
It was also the busiest Ive seen it which probably didnt help matters!
General atmosphere is special, however the lack of appreciation and respect shown to cars and their owners is concerning. Some people run thier cars on a budget and can't afford to do damaging burnouts etc, never mind the mentality of people chucking water into peoples windows and into convertibles etc (regardless of value). The worst example I ever saw myself was at Arnage roundabout in 2004, full pint of beer into 360 Spider. Idiotic and embarrassing for everyone associated with the hooligan element.
chrisbr68 said:
so if this trend continues next year I will be looking for an alternative.
Too right - haven't been to the main LM bash for a couple of years. I'm a first timer to the LM Classic in couple of weeks and stay one step ahead of the mindless morons.
Someone once told me that CHAV stands for Council House And Violent and was marked on the top of your signing on papers or similar. The main LM seems to have filled up with PUCH's - Pi55ed Up Chinless Hoorays.
TBH this has been going on for a couple of years I think.
I did not got this year, for several reasons. Work being the major factor but I (and the group I go with every year) had our cars messed around with last year (amongst other things) and that left a sour taste. Quite why it is necessary to put sliced onion into the air intakes (for the cabin) of all of our cars one night I did not figure out? Thanks for that whoever you are.
I think it has become popular with the MaxPower crew. Whilst I believe people have a right of self expression, Le Mans has become a victim of its own legend, and we have seen the change in people going in the past few years. Anyone notice the difference compared to say 2003?
Having said that, I will still go again, but not camp and not drive a nice car on mad Friday...... (which kind of defeats some the fun really)
I did not got this year, for several reasons. Work being the major factor but I (and the group I go with every year) had our cars messed around with last year (amongst other things) and that left a sour taste. Quite why it is necessary to put sliced onion into the air intakes (for the cabin) of all of our cars one night I did not figure out? Thanks for that whoever you are.
I think it has become popular with the MaxPower crew. Whilst I believe people have a right of self expression, Le Mans has become a victim of its own legend, and we have seen the change in people going in the past few years. Anyone notice the difference compared to say 2003?
Having said that, I will still go again, but not camp and not drive a nice car on mad Friday...... (which kind of defeats some the fun really)
Edited by j-skid on Wednesday 21st June 22:54
unless its a large amount of water (i.e a bucket) that enters your car then no damage should be caused electrically, its only when a large enough volume goes through the carpets etc into the convenience ECU that you start having problems. however whilst i was in the pinzgauer trying to chuck water onto those on the inside of the roadabout i took a can of beer full on in the face, others were filling water pistols up with wine and others on here are saying even pi55 was used - now that is way out of hand! all i can say is shut your bloody windows next year if your gona be going round the houx roundabout, it'd be very difficult to police, the only way they can do i is to stop it happening all together.
I think I might write a letter to Max Power, Fast Car etc etc and ask them all to feck off.
This was my 3rd year and it gets worse and worse each year. These people have no interest in cars - just in the whole 'max power culture' innit...
Mind you, and arsey letter might just draw even more chavscum attention to 'our' event!!!
This was my 3rd year and it gets worse and worse each year. These people have no interest in cars - just in the whole 'max power culture' innit...
Mind you, and arsey letter might just draw even more chavscum attention to 'our' event!!!
Took my 911 last year and had a good time but got full of beer!!!. bought a stolen recovered cherokee jeep for £500 this year, big burnouts on a low budget and lot of fun. If I go in the porsche again, might take an electric fence instead of police tape for the campsite!!!!!!... I have been going for 18 years, Le mans has always been known for the respect given to rare and expensive cars, some of which only come out of hiding once a year for Le mans weekend!!... I did notice though that there was a very large Dutch and German contingent on the roundabout filling blasters with beer and singing patriotic songs.....
Obviously we responded with a dambusters chant!!...
Obviously we responded with a dambusters chant!!...
does anyone recon that the football may have had some bearing on this? I mean i know that Le Mans is a petrol (and diesel now evidently) thing, but there were lots of petrolheads there that were fanatically watching the football .... .
World Cup + many bears + Camping + Very Hot sun = bunch of tossers??
this was my first year there, so i have nothing to base things on, but the crowd at Houx Roundabout was not all i was expecting, and some of the crowds antics were downright bl00dy stupid .... did seem to be a very small minority though ...
Here's hoping anyway, and was a great weekend, i will be back ...
World Cup + many bears + Camping + Very Hot sun = bunch of tossers??
this was my first year there, so i have nothing to base things on, but the crowd at Houx Roundabout was not all i was expecting, and some of the crowds antics were downright bl00dy stupid .... did seem to be a very small minority though ...
Here's hoping anyway, and was a great weekend, i will be back ...
I think there was an element of football fever, and it just wasn't a very friendly environment this year. The roundabout antics were espcially poor (I witnessed some c.7 year old kid filling up water bombs for a team and then wandering about very close to burning out cars!).
I think our group is going to give it a miss next year and visit another 24 hour event instead (hopefully a temporary arrangement).
I think our group is going to give it a miss next year and visit another 24 hour event instead (hopefully a temporary arrangement).
They were also going for the bikes/scooters, which I thought very dangerous. I don't ride a motorbike myself, but the thought of a supersoaker in the face while negotiating a roundabout lined with a couple of hundred people doesn't sould like a safe idea.
Also, some of the people on the scooters were the racing drivers coming back from the drivers parade and I thought they deserved more respect than being covered in water.
Poor show.
Also, some of the people on the scooters were the racing drivers coming back from the drivers parade and I thought they deserved more respect than being covered in water.
Poor show.
I think it is all going a touch too far.
I dread driving my car around at night as you literally get mobbed and stopped in the road to do stunts.
As the day goes on the drunknuness increases and so does the poor behaviour.
It can be very intimidating.
I hear the problems stems from the event being promoted in lads mags.
Arnage corner on Friday morning has got the balance right.
I dread driving my car around at night as you literally get mobbed and stopped in the road to do stunts.
As the day goes on the drunknuness increases and so does the poor behaviour.
It can be very intimidating.
I hear the problems stems from the event being promoted in lads mags.
Arnage corner on Friday morning has got the balance right.
It was my first trip to Le Mans but the antics at the roundabout could have been enough to spoil and otherwise excellent weekend. I drove my Tuscan S round not realising what was expected and got thoroughly doused.
I don't mind water, and generally neither does the car, but my expensive camera kit on the back shelf really doesn't appreciate it.
This was late in the afternoon and from what I saw later on things only got worse and more dangerous. I enjoy a bit of fun but it struck me that if things continue to deteriorate then it would only be a matter of time before the "good fun" was stopped by the local law.
I don't mind water, and generally neither does the car, but my expensive camera kit on the back shelf really doesn't appreciate it.
This was late in the afternoon and from what I saw later on things only got worse and more dangerous. I enjoy a bit of fun but it struck me that if things continue to deteriorate then it would only be a matter of time before the "good fun" was stopped by the local law.
Agree on a lot of these levels, but I think that the culprits which I saw were mainly British/English...
There seemed to be an abundance of En-Ger-Land shirts and beer-boy behaviour, which I would hope can be attributed to the World Cup. One thing which realy did surprise me was the number of young children who were running around unsupervised with cars performing their ususal antics around the roundabout. Chav Dads anyone?
The one act which made me walk away from the Roundabout this year was when I watched a child of about 10 years of age empty a bottle of beer into the face of a middle-aged woman on a bicycle... This is absolute mindless behaviour and would not be acceptable anywhere else, so why do we allow car enthusiasts to be dragged into the mire by this minority group?
The answer - ACO policing next year? Somewhere that people can go and donut in a big empty space away from spectators?
There seemed to be an abundance of En-Ger-Land shirts and beer-boy behaviour, which I would hope can be attributed to the World Cup. One thing which realy did surprise me was the number of young children who were running around unsupervised with cars performing their ususal antics around the roundabout. Chav Dads anyone?
The one act which made me walk away from the Roundabout this year was when I watched a child of about 10 years of age empty a bottle of beer into the face of a middle-aged woman on a bicycle... This is absolute mindless behaviour and would not be acceptable anywhere else, so why do we allow car enthusiasts to be dragged into the mire by this minority group?
The answer - ACO policing next year? Somewhere that people can go and donut in a big empty space away from spectators?
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