Welcome to the PistonHeads Le Mans 2013 liveblog! The bags are packed, the PH fleet is stickered up and ready to roll and ... it's raining apparently. Ho hum.
Lots to look forward to over the coming days though, whatever the weather, and we'll be keeping you up to date with regular updates here and on social media (follow the team on #PHLM13 if you're that way inclined).
To give you a rough idea of what's going on we've got our PH Friday Service tomorrow following Nissan's unveiling of its 2014 Garage 56 entry, a trip into Le Mans for the pre-race parade and a bunch of other stuff. On Saturday we'll be cheering Chris Harris on in the Legends race, taking part in an Aston Martin parade lap ourselves and then some race or other starts.
In response to feedback from previous liveblogs we'll update top-down so if you're a return visitor scroll down to see the latest update.
Last update: 1930h, Camping Bleu Nord
A folding bike and the 0547h to London Euston aren't exactly the high glamour start to an international motor race one might hope for but, assuming I make my rendezvous with Stuart, transport will be more appropriate in a short while, suffice to say. And I'm hoping the Brompton might prove itself a useful way of getting about the race. And that it fits in the car.
It's been a frantic build-up too, two thirds of our vehicular fleet only arriving yesterday, one of them pretty much with the paint still wet from the production line. And some very impressive PopBangColour graphics. Yep, that's a keeper, for a bit anyway. The other two cars are also flying the flag in true Brits abroad fashion and are now suitably stickered up so we'll be easy to spot on the way down. Give us a wave if you see us...
So the queue for Eurotunnel took ages. But Stuart and I weren't overly concerned, given the cars around us and general air of excitement. And carbon monoxide. Some lovely vehicles too, the flatbed VW splittie and Alfa 1750 GTV in the adjacent queue favourites of ours.
News from the road ahead includes the unfortunate update from Harris that his plan to drive out in his E28 M5 has been thwarted by a brake-related SNAFU so he's in the CLS Shooting Brake instead. We've yet to hear from Garlick and the other guys in the Mini and Jag who are travelling on the Channel rather than beneath it but hopefully we'll rendezvous with them somewhere in the not too distant.
Meantime it's a chance to relax into the Aston's leather-lined luxury (better, if not actually faster, than the train to Ashford) and look out for our fellow Le Mans roadtrippers.
1100h, Aire de la Baie de Somme
We've got an hour in hand over Garlick and the rest of the team so have stopped at some services to take a break from the rain. Hoping that'll calm down before we reach Le Mans...
At least we're not in a Morgan 3-Wheeler though; respect due to the gentlemen in said vehicle who seemed in remarkably good spirits considering the soaking they'd just endured. Indeed, spirits are high all round and the British invasion is well under way, with more interesting cars in one petrol station queue than you'd see in a month normally. It's just so pleasingly 'everything goes' too, an Escort RS2000 getting equal plaudits to the Ferrari 430 and Merc CLK Black Series it's parked next to. New and interesting cars are coming and going all the time too. Proving that even a bit of rain can't dampen Brits' love of Le Mans, and the whole experience of getting there.
Apologies for the slower pace of updates but navigational duty called to get the PH convoy successfully around Rouen and the apparently nightmarish traffic following a bridge closure. Always one with a nose for a sneaky off-piste cross country drive I bought a map and attempted from the back seat of the Jag to lead our merry gang around Rouen, with varying success. Not quite
a Dream Drive
but better than sitting in traffic.
A missed turn early on took us from the planned D-road route to a properly nadgery C-road alternative, good on the scenery and typically French roads spearing across undulating farmland and a very good demonstration of quite how brilliantly the XJ rides, even in Dynamic mode. The Aston was doing fine but the lads in the Mini were struggling a bit, a factory tight 1.6 diesel not really the tool for keeping up with a supercharged six or bellowing V12.
A ferry crossing over the Seine saw the end of our diversion and we were back on the autoroute and racking up the miles. It seemed to take an age but at the next filling stop we saw the same Ultima/Talbot Sunbeam pairing who left the previous filling station just ahead of us so we can't have actually *lost* any time. And we had a lot of fun.
And before we knew it we were in Le Mans, a bit of Carry On Camping comedy tent erection (fnarr, etc) and a quick beer later and Le Camping PistonHeads was sorted, the Mini van dispatched to Leclerc for essential supplies.
Now a case of getting the lay of the land, hoping our field for Friday Service isn't a complete quagmire (it isn't, we're assured) and sorting out the various tickets, passes, plans and schemes for the days ahead. I love the fact that you can sit on a campsite and see everything from stickered up hot hatches to Ferrari 458s rocking up, all with equally cheap and rubbish tents. And spectating is all the easier with a cold one to hand...
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