When To Drive to Le Mans: Wednesday Vs Thursday?

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richardsmith68 said:

Need a bit of advice please. Travelling down Wednesday in a 9m motorhome so have booked 2 pitches on BSJ. Arriving Wednesday evening what are the chances of me getting 2 pitches together so I can park up? Starting to worry……

I've got 2 pitches for a motorhome on BSJ too but we're going across on Saturday and stopping at Versaille on the way down, arriving Le Mans on Tuesday. Hoping we're plenty early enough.
In 2022 we stayed on Houx unnumbered and arrived Wednesday and it was fine, but not a sold-out year.

[Vsix and Vtec]

Well, that was a short lived battle of wills. I've changed my Eurotunnel booking to Wednesday night,,, I get an extra 24 hours to drink in the glory of it all!

[NoBrakesWC]

I go Wednesday. In 2022 my first year went Thursday but felt needed a day more to enjoy it and take my time and relax.

[LawrieC]

If you've the spare holiday, go for the week. A barbecue and a cold beer, with something else going on and a few mates isn't boring.

If you go on Wednesday, you'll spend most of Tuesday packing, and worrying about what you've forgotten, so you might as well waste Monday too.

When I first went, it was Friday night out out and Sunday night back. We soon learnt

[Aysedasi2]

LawrieC said:

When I first went, it was Friday night out out and Sunday night back. We soon learnt

I did that for years, occasionally Thursday night out. After 24 years I finally got to go for the whole week and haven't looked back since.

[eps]

Aysedasi2 said:

LawrieC said:

When I first went, it was Friday night out out and Sunday night back. We soon learnt

I did that for years, occasionally Thursday night out. After 24 years I finally got to go for the whole week and haven't looked back since.

For our first year we arrived on Saturday morning, 1am or so to the sound of one of the Panoz's doing test runs up and down the runway behind us and left Sunday....!! Left 'home' early on the Friday and then across on the Catamaran Ferry via Wales..!! A left hooker G Wagen with 5 up and a slab of beer under the luggage from Duty Free!! Two other friends came in a Caterham, sleeping around 1/2 hour from Le Mans and getting there at mid-morning - mobile phones weren't really a thing then!!

Next year we attempted to arrive on the Tuesday but my Ginetta G27 conspired against us achieving that!! We arrived on the Wednesday, early, after sleeping in the cars in a petrol station... A G27 with 2 Caterhams.

For most years since then we've gone with Wed/Tues and then left on Sunday. Have tended to find a cheap hotel on the Sunday near Rouen and then head home on the Monday.

We had a great year in Beausejour near the Drinking for Holland guys, with good access to the Porsche Curves. We'd arrived on the Wednesday and had a good plot. We turned up the next year on the Tuesday, 2007 I think, to find Krejser or similar had booked out the entire first BSJ field... plus that was the really wet year, so the 2nd and possibly 3rd fields were out of bounds for being too boggy.. So were 3 or 4 fields from the entrance to BSJ.. That year we agreed to never be in there again.

Groups seem to be arriving ever earlier year on year, for the recent past... Thankfully most of the communal Le Mans kit we have is grab and go, boxed already Just means I have to take a sensible car. Hopefully that will change for next year!!

[Truckosaurus]

eps said:

...after sleeping in the cars in a petrol station...

With a missing passenger 'window' so the poor co-driver was in a draft.

[Oldwolf]

I'd be happier if everyone would stop eulogising about how wonderful it is to arrive at Le Mans early, the fact it's quieter is part of the pleasure

[FredericRobinson]

Oldwolf said:

I'd be happier if everyone would stop eulogising about how wonderful it is to arrive at Le Mans early, the fact it's quieter is part of the pleasure

Best part of the week, sat around a nice quiet campsite, couple of beers, talk rubbish, before those noisy cars come along and spoil it. Usually spend a good couple of days looking at things in the gazebo, moving them to somewhere better, then deciding they were better off where that were and moving them back. The simple pleasures of life.

[Oldwolf]

FredericRobinson said:

Best part of the week, sat around a nice quiet campsite, couple of beers, talk rubbish, before those noisy cars come along and spoil it. Usually spend a good couple of days looking at things in the gazebo, moving them to somewhere better, then deciding they were better off where that were and moving them back. The simple pleasures of life.

I know what you mean. I camp at the municipal campsite and it's fun watching that fill up over the week and catching up with friends who you only ever see at Le Mans.

Ah... only 44 days to go before I'm there

[LawrieC]

Some of our lot are going on the Friday for scrutineering, and I'm sat there thinking why didn't I. I've absolutely nothing planned, and I'll have been back from France for over a week

BTW I don't rush there, there's too much to enjoy en route, even if it is a nap and a coffee

Edited by LawrieC on Thursday 25th April 19:59

[RallyChamp]

Tend to drive down early doors Thurs. However, the longer you can share the experience (that includes the drive down) the better imo. I see there are plenty of FP sessions on Wednesday, so some track action to be had. The Road to LeMans series is an excellent watch - noisy V8 of 5.6 litres with plenty of pushing and shoving!

[Strasse]

This might give you a few extra ideas as to what going on in Race Week. It's based on what happened last year with changes added as official announcements are made...it will gradually firm up by late May.


https://www.le-mans-guide.co.uk/legal-notice


Regards

Strasse