Le Mans Banger Rally

[MonkeyRacing]

I have an idea forming in my mind.......

So having just returned from a 6th successive trip I thought I might look at making the next a bit more of an adventure. Make a week of it and rather than spend all week at LM maybe a tour of iconic Northern European racing venues prior to arrival for 'The Big One'. Mentioned to friends and they seem excited by the idea but to spice things up how about in sub £500 cars with Top Gear style challenges along the way and raise sponds for charity. Wondered whether any other folk might be interested in joining in with the fun? The very loose plan so far.......

Car criteria: sub £500 with MOT ideally a barge or classic. We all love a bit of window shopping, I envisage many hours wasted in the hunt!


2015 Schedule:

Mon 8 Jun - Meet Brands Hatch 10:00am then on to Dover-Calais ferry and drive to Spa-Francorchamps. Continue on to Germany and camp somewhere near the Nurburgring.

Tue 9 Jun - Lap of the Nordschleife then to France via Luxembourg and camp near Reims.

Wed 10 Jun - Paris then on to Le Mans in time for tea and beers.

Sun 14 Jun - Late evening ferry Calais-Dover.

Calais back to Calais is 1000 miles approx.


Challenges:

A photo of your vehicle at each venue and with the Eiffel Tower as a back drop so 6 photos.

A GPS verified pic of your vehicle within 10% of the manufacturers quoted top speed (on an Autobahn obviously!)

0-60 dash GPS verified again within 10% of an official figure maybe at LM.

Some other ideas....... A pic with plod, pic at a scrapper etc.

Teams could raise money based on challenges completed let's say people could donate £1 per challenge. An extra £1 for doing the trip under your own steam without breakdown!

So, anyone interested? Has anyone organised something similar in the past? Anyone with charity connections, cheap sticker supplier etc?

I don't really want to get involved in booking everything so teams would need to sort ferry, camping, GE tickets. I'm sure we could all get the same ferry and camp together on an unnumbered site such as BSJ. I can set up a Facebook page for the trip, Just Giving for donations, proper schedule etc.

Would be great to get the vehicles lined up at the PH Friday service!

Any feedback good or bad appreciated.

Cheers
Simon

[Vette_1978]

Sounds like a good laugh, good route etc. Just a thought though, you're in a £500 shed which may fall apart at any time, I'd rather break down 'at' or enroute to Le Mans, rather than ditch it at the 'ring miles from LM, with a massive bill for armco and my mates laughing as they drive off 'Top Gear Rules'.

[Jmracing66]

Sounds like a good idea, but I was going to comment about the ring bit as well.

Driving a £500 snotter round the ring would be a scary prospect...if it dumps a load of fluid on the track, breaks down etc, you are potentially in for a nasty suprise.

[Mellow Yellow]

Did toy with doing a £500 or £1k challenge a few years back. Costs soon mount up though, insurance was awkward (no NCB to use, multiple drivers) as is EU recovery for older vehicles. Also tricky to govern, the £500 limit, can easily be worked around by buying off a mate and a genuine £500 motor is likely to want a few quid spending on it before being taken on a 1000 mile road trip. Good luck.

How about bonus points for photographs of rivals either stopped by plod or broken down?

[LFB531]

We did this with Renault Clios (becuase we were going to France!) a few years back but with getting to LM and back being the only route;

With the £500, it had to be a Mk 1, sub 1400cc, taxed and MoT'd ready to go.

We allowed a bit more for 'extras', vinyl was cheap, most of us have an old stereo kicking around and ebay is your chum for everything else. Before I knew it, mine had a 'bad boy' exhaust for £20, a siren for £10 and even an ipod link for £45. Car cost £300 with enough tax and a ticket, we serviced it ourselves and put on a new cambelt.

Really enjoyed the fun, all the cars made it back and mine bought by my co-pilot for his daughter to learn to drive in...she's still using it today.

Go for it!

[MonkeyRacing]

Hmmmmmm I hadn't considered it being a competitive lap of the ring but we all know the track from Gran Turismo / red mist / let's see if we can get it on two wheels or drift the mother funker! Insurance & breakdown cover, I'm thinking this may be a non-starter....... In bangers.

Seems somehow less fun taking regular wheels though.

Thinking cap back on........

[johnhere]

Their is an event taking place this August
Details here
www.farnhambangerrally.org.uk

John

[Rick Cutler]

Here is a thought! Drive it there and get the train home leaving something rather different for a 3.14.

[MonkeyRacing]

On the other hand I'm thinking sod it, if kids can get tiny hatchbacks to Mongolia, a gang of experienced petrol heads can cope with a short European jaunt. If there's enough interest I'll take my van as a support vehicle. If a car goes terminal we'll tow it or abandon, not the end of the world.

The ring is just a long one way road, public highway. Anyone planning on going for a time risks missing LM & a huge bill. I plan on taking it easy and keeping out of the way of the track day heros!

Teams would need to show the original ad the vehicle was bought from as proof.

I'm paying £400 for the year for a 944 Turbo and a Mk1 MX5 through Flux on classic policies so I'm sure somethings workable. It may be all vehicles have to be 20+ years.

Any profit (if any!) from car sales post trip could go to the charity.