First time Le Mans tips
Discussion
E36GUY said:
I think the chances of you doing pitwalk, parade and CBW are virtually nil.
My advice would be not to worry about cramming it all in on your first trip. Play it by ear. You'll enjoy it, you'll be back again and you find something new/different each year.
Parade this year Guy? My advice would be not to worry about cramming it all in on your first trip. Play it by ear. You'll enjoy it, you'll be back again and you find something new/different each year.
8 years and never got there. :-)
The parade is well worth doing. The Tram leaves the circuit at the Avenue Antares, near the Houx and Houx Annexe campsites. It takes you to the Place de la Republique, where the parade starts. All the bars spill out on to the streets and there's a real carnival atmosphere.
I usually head towards the Place de l'Eperon, down Rue du Cornet, where there are more bars out on the street. You need to get there early to have a chance of getting close enough to the front of the crowds but if you do it's great fun. As well as the drivers signing autographs and handing out merchandise, there are parades of sportscars, marching bands, dancers etc..
When the parade ends, stick around in town for a bite to eat in any one of the little restaurants in the old part of town before getting the tram back to the track. It'll be alot less busy and if you are lucky you'll miss the worst of the Mad Friday chavving around.
I usually head towards the Place de l'Eperon, down Rue du Cornet, where there are more bars out on the street. You need to get there early to have a chance of getting close enough to the front of the crowds but if you do it's great fun. As well as the drivers signing autographs and handing out merchandise, there are parades of sportscars, marching bands, dancers etc..
When the parade ends, stick around in town for a bite to eat in any one of the little restaurants in the old part of town before getting the tram back to the track. It'll be alot less busy and if you are lucky you'll miss the worst of the Mad Friday chavving around.
We did the parade for the first time last year and it was great. We all wished we'd done it in the previous years. The atmosphere was brilliant and we got to see all the drivers and cars. I almost ruined my shorts when the La Ferrari drove past me!
Best part of the day was getting Webber to give us a big thumbs up.
Best part of the day was getting Webber to give us a big thumbs up.
I'm sure its about 5'ish that it starts, although it'll probably be late anyway ! As previously mentioned, its a great atmosphere, I remember last year discussing the merits of fruit flavoured beer with a very drunk dutch guy who swore by the stuff (it was awful!) and then ended the evening with a kebab and a sing song on the tram back to circuit !
Edited by Geoff66 on Friday 17th April 12:41
E36GUY said:
I think the chances of you doing pitwalk, parade and CBW are virtually nil.
My advice would be not to worry about cramming it all in on your first trip. Play it by ear. You'll enjoy it, you'll be back again and you find something new/different each year.
Parade this year Guy? My advice would be not to worry about cramming it all in on your first trip. Play it by ear. You'll enjoy it, you'll be back again and you find something new/different each year.
8 years and never got there. :-)
gt6 said:
Output Flange said:
Stop it. Le Mans isn't Le Mans without Merguez and wine in a box.
Blimey you must be rich, we buy the wine in 5 litre plastic barrels, sometimes even spending over 5 euro's on the posh onesAlso, if you don't speak French any meat product with 'abbats' 'dinde' or 'volaille' is to be avoided, unless you normally eat turkey sausages and liver kebabs. Ideally, don't let non-French speakers do the food shopping at all.
1. if you have space ie. going in a van, take bikes. Cycle to Arnage saves at times, over an hour in traffic.
2. Take a ride on the big(ish) wheel during the race. Daytime is best.
3. Take a stroll round the campsites and look at all the nutters camping there. Don't forget your camera.
4. Lock everything up as best you can, loads of thefts every year and getting worse year on....
5. If you are not on the Houx and don't have a generator, take a good electric cold-box and three good car batteries or more to power your box. At night, disconnect it as its normally cold enough then re-connect it 1st thing in the morning. We found a good car battery will work a cold-box for between 12 and 16 hours.
2. Take a ride on the big(ish) wheel during the race. Daytime is best.
3. Take a stroll round the campsites and look at all the nutters camping there. Don't forget your camera.
4. Lock everything up as best you can, loads of thefts every year and getting worse year on....
5. If you are not on the Houx and don't have a generator, take a good electric cold-box and three good car batteries or more to power your box. At night, disconnect it as its normally cold enough then re-connect it 1st thing in the morning. We found a good car battery will work a cold-box for between 12 and 16 hours.
As another first-timer, I'd appreciate thoughts from any regulars on the French traffic cops - I've heard all sorts of horror stories about hefty fines, car confiscations and generally worrying attitudes from the gendarmerie (one chap I know was pulled in his DB9 [admittedly with a sodding great vinyl-wrap Union flag on the roof] and told he'd been clocked at a speed that was well above the [admittedly illegal] speed he was actually doing - he got clobbered with a €750 fine, although I suspect a possible failure of the attitude test...)
I guess the safest way would be to ease off, enjoy the scenery and the atmosphere and have a gentle cruise, but I know how tempting it will be to floor it through a few gears away from the toll booths
What are the speed limits and what is the tolerance before having one's collar felt?
Any other general driving tips?
I guess the safest way would be to ease off, enjoy the scenery and the atmosphere and have a gentle cruise, but I know how tempting it will be to floor it through a few gears away from the toll booths
What are the speed limits and what is the tolerance before having one's collar felt?
Any other general driving tips?
Not just the toll roads you need to be wary of. I got done on the way back doing 90 in a 50 a fwe years ago. In my defence, I missed the 50 sign and was by no means going excessively quick on purpose. Hidden bobby, one jumped out, pulled me in, removed money, by time we left 2 more cars had been pulled in. So just be wary in villages as well as the tolls. Also got pulled over for random check on way back, just usual, check license, V5, stuff in car, no fine, just being nosey and awkward and probably looking for bleary eyed folk who should know better.
There are loads of old threads on here about speeding to LM. The general advice would be, don't speed. I've always stuck rigidly to the limits or within a few km's of them. It's 130km/ph in the dry on most autoroute sections and 110km/ph if it's raining/wet.
I think the old days of 750euros worst case fine are a thing of the past. These days the fines are from 60-80 euros up. I had a chat with a chap in an RS4 a couple of years ago who had just parted with 3000euros and escaped getting his car confiscated by the skin of his teeth, from memory he was caught doing over 140mph. Car confiscations (then sold at auction) are common place for these speeds now but as I said there are loads of threads that detail the thresholds.
My advice, stick to the limits, enjoy the tunnels and generally enjoy the other cars and the experience.
You'll be back!
I think the old days of 750euros worst case fine are a thing of the past. These days the fines are from 60-80 euros up. I had a chat with a chap in an RS4 a couple of years ago who had just parted with 3000euros and escaped getting his car confiscated by the skin of his teeth, from memory he was caught doing over 140mph. Car confiscations (then sold at auction) are common place for these speeds now but as I said there are loads of threads that detail the thresholds.
My advice, stick to the limits, enjoy the tunnels and generally enjoy the other cars and the experience.
You'll be back!
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