Advice on Le Mans Classic Parade laps please
Discussion
Hi there
I did this in 2012 through the HLR club. I was warned about the standard of other driver which was very apt as there were two serious accidents in my session, the De Tomaso Pantera and the Aston.
Another consideration is that I couldn't find a UK insurance company who would cover the 3 parade laps, did it anyway but didn't relax until I pulled off the circuit.
There were no checks of briefing or even checking of cars eligability, my group also included an MX5!
found this link of someones video, mine is car no. 71 following the MX5, quickly passed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW37panlPGw
It would be much better if they segregated cars into similar groups by age or performance but thats the French for you.
Jon Adams
I did this in 2012 through the HLR club. I was warned about the standard of other driver which was very apt as there were two serious accidents in my session, the De Tomaso Pantera and the Aston.
Another consideration is that I couldn't find a UK insurance company who would cover the 3 parade laps, did it anyway but didn't relax until I pulled off the circuit.
There were no checks of briefing or even checking of cars eligability, my group also included an MX5!
found this link of someones video, mine is car no. 71 following the MX5, quickly passed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW37panlPGw
It would be much better if they segregated cars into similar groups by age or performance but thats the French for you.
Jon Adams
here is my video that I took at the 2012 Classic, after this the over crowding and the frankly very poor standard or driving by some I was not going to bother this year but I am taking a newbie down this year so will do the track laps so he can experience it.
The French TVR that hit the Aston features a bit, being agressive all the time, I ended up dropping back to get away, crash happens just out of sight in front of me.
https://vimeo.com/45663419
The French TVR that hit the Aston features a bit, being agressive all the time, I ended up dropping back to get away, crash happens just out of sight in front of me.
https://vimeo.com/45663419
Nice Drive, Good to see you backed off a bit coming out of Arnage rather than trying to squeeze through the middle 
It is amazing they don't put the more modern cars together, the pace the Sagaris was going it would have been bloody hard to stop in those wet greasy conditions, but lets be honest you were not far behind him!
It is amazing they don't put the more modern cars together, the pace the Sagaris was going it would have been bloody hard to stop in those wet greasy conditions, but lets be honest you were not far behind him!
Watching the video of the Triumph, it is appalling to see the standard of driving. People overtaking on the right, people staying on the left after overtaking, and so on. I wouldn't do it for all the tea in China. I gave up track days here in France when for the Telethon at Le Mans they put me out with GT3's and Ferrari 355's because "my car had a big engine". No matter that the four sets of brake pads in mine wouldn't make one of theirs, that my tyres were about one third of the width, that they had every acronym such as ABS BAS et al which I didn't. It finished when overtaken by a GT3 who then braked hard for the next bend. I had to be extracted from the gravel trap whence I put the car to avoid him. I was to blame of course. That won't stop be being there to film the debacle of course. Might be more interesting than the racing!
fatboy18 said:
Nice Drive, Good to see you backed off a bit coming out of Arnage rather than trying to squeeze through the middle
It is amazing they don't put the more modern cars together, the pace the Sagaris was going it would have been bloody hard to stop in those wet greasy conditions, but lets be honest you were not far behind him!
Granted but I did a slow bit to start off with to feel the grip levels and then drove as fast as I felt was safe, the remember there was very little grip just after the Ford chicane but the rest felt surprisingly OK.It is amazing they don't put the more modern cars together, the pace the Sagaris was going it would have been bloody hard to stop in those wet greasy conditions, but lets be honest you were not far behind him!
This year will be the last I feel.
Found a bit of me on track at Arnage @ 16:20 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6I70dQ60As
Crap Video quality though, something wrong with the tracking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6I70dQ60As
Crap Video quality though, something wrong with the tracking
Another video of the parade laps. Not the most respectful driving in the world and shows just how much difference in speeds there can be. Not me driving by the way. I was the nervous passenger s
tting myself especially when following the blue Porsche. Felt a lot closer than the wide angle view of the camera depicts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWJnJMfJvMo&fea...
tting myself especially when following the blue Porsche. Felt a lot closer than the wide angle view of the camera depicts.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWJnJMfJvMo&fea...
I did my first parade lap at the last classic, despite doing several track days this was just something else that I will never forget. I took my Alpine A610 flat out everywhere I could hitting max speed down the long straight. It is a fantastic experience but I was of the opinion that it is more an 'everyman/woman for themselves lap' but you won't forget the experience of being able to go flat out on the real LeMans circuit. Do it or you will always have that 'I should have done it' regret.
Edited by BIRMA on Tuesday 17th December 15:52
lowdrag said:
Watching the video of the Triumph, it is appalling to see the standard of driving. People overtaking on the right, people staying on the left after overtaking, and so on. I wouldn't do it for all the tea in China.
This is my view. My first taste of these parade laps was at Spa in a friends TR6 - we came very close to getting wiped out by a DB9, while being overtaken by Radicals and the like. It was actually very scary.By comparison, I drove the Nordschleife this year and found the standard of driving to be impeccable.
scotty_d said:
Hope I am not going to regret booking this up now.
I have always wanted to drive round this track and also my first time at a le mans event. I can do with out poor track etiquette after rebuilding my car for tge last18 months.
Just be aware of the other drivers, don't pull over to take pictures, use your mirrors (a lot) and remember to check your braking, Its easy to get swept along with cars going a similar speed then find out you might be going into a corner quicker than you thought!I have always wanted to drive round this track and also my first time at a le mans event. I can do with out poor track etiquette after rebuilding my car for tge last18 months.
fatboy18 said:
Just be aware of the other drivers, don't pull over to take pictures, use your mirrors (a lot) and remember to check your braking, Its easy to get swept along with cars going a similar speed then find out you might be going into a corner quicker than you thought!
People pull over to take pictures 
Will treat it like any other track event but with much more caution as I am unfamiliar with it.
Read back through the posts! There was one bloke in a Porsche Boxter who pulled up along the pit wall to wait for his mate to catch up, then pulled out with disregard for other drivers, .....On the Mulsanne I saw people pulled over at various points.
If I'm honest, there were a couple of bits I did not like on the Circuit, first part is going over a blind hill at the Dunlop bridge, Its a tricky one, if you floor it after the chicane and go over the brow of the hill, you never know what might be lurking on the other side, (remember there are cars of many different ages on track), So my advice is Don't. Second part was the first chicane on the mulsanne, again I saw cars cutting inside others, when really there was no need, afterwards could hear other drivers moaning about some people driving too slow, it had been raining on my track laps, so I did not have a problem giving people space to get round the kink, but there were a couple of incidents on this corner! (I only saw the aftermath not the incidents happen) But if you try to cut inside someone on a damp track forcing the other driver onto a wet greasy part of the circuit, its not really fair on that driver is it!
Its not a race ...cough, cough
This is just my take on it, others might think differently?
If I'm honest, there were a couple of bits I did not like on the Circuit, first part is going over a blind hill at the Dunlop bridge, Its a tricky one, if you floor it after the chicane and go over the brow of the hill, you never know what might be lurking on the other side, (remember there are cars of many different ages on track), So my advice is Don't. Second part was the first chicane on the mulsanne, again I saw cars cutting inside others, when really there was no need, afterwards could hear other drivers moaning about some people driving too slow, it had been raining on my track laps, so I did not have a problem giving people space to get round the kink, but there were a couple of incidents on this corner! (I only saw the aftermath not the incidents happen) But if you try to cut inside someone on a damp track forcing the other driver onto a wet greasy part of the circuit, its not really fair on that driver is it!
Its not a race ...cough, cough
This is just my take on it, others might think differently?
I think the major regret would be not going round the circuit, as I said I took my Alpine A610 around and enjoyed every minute. I will agree about the odd bad driver I came across a guy in a fairly new Ferrari actually stopped after a bend and his obvious intention was to show me how fast he could go on the straight part. By the third lap I was really in the spirit of the whole event and despite many track days under my belt this was by far my best driving experience in my life I drove very fast and came out of it un-scathed.
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