Not the best Le Mans I’ve ever had
Discussion
Good points:
1. I got some fast laps of the circuit in at 6:30 am Friday morning before any police were around.
2. I got to see lots of nice cars on and off the track.
3. I found a couple of decent restaurants in Le Mans city centre.
4. I discovered that taking your shower around 7:00 pm each day meant you had the shower block to yourself
5. I had a good night out in Le Mans city centre Friday night.
6. I missed the traffic departing the circuit on Sunday by leaving at 10:30 am.
7. I had a nice lunch in Brussels on Monday.
Bad points:
1. Nearly missed my flight on Wednesday night because of bad traffic going home from the office.
2. The car was not delivered from its service by the dealer until gone midnight on Wednesday so for a while it looked like I was going to have no car for the weekend.
3. Upon arrival in Calais I started the drive down on country roads only to be caught in a torrential downpour so, after wasting 2 hours negotiating flooded country roads I aborted and went on the motorway.
4. Upon arrival at the campsite 9:30 pm Thursday, all the level ground was taken so, I had to pitch tent on an embankment at an incline – I discovered that night that nylon sleeping bags do not grip very well against foam ground mats and woke up in a heap at the lower end of the tent several times.
5. Access to the camp site required you to drive through the paddock and village areas in the circuit interior so it took on average an hour to get in an out of the circuit each time.
6. The police road blocked the Arnage meet on Friday morning.
7. Friday lunchtime I got the car stuck in the mud in the camp site and had to get a bunch of lads with an X5 to help push/dig/tow me out.
8. I missed the last shuttle back to the circuit from the city centre on Friday night – despite arriving at the bus stop 30 mins before the last bus was due to run – so I had a 2.5 hour walk back to the camp site.
9. I managed to mix up the communication with Dave/A308 MAN so missed the Saturday night dinner at the restaurant on the Mulsanne straight.
10. Saturday night I got a bollocking from a police officer in Arnage village who threatened to confiscate my license for revving the engine – I didn’t even engage gear or spin the wheels.
11. The hotel I’d booked for Sunday night in Paris was a dump and – contrary to Expedia – had no parking so, I had to park the car in a public car park with an entrance and exit ramp near impossible to negotiate in an f-car.
12. All the decent restaurants I know in Paris were closed on Sunday night so I ended up in an overpriced tourist trap with a very annoying English couple sitting next to me loudly talking crap.
13. Monday lunchtime I made a lunch stop in Brussels en route from Paris to Amsterdam and ended up having a less than mild road rage incident with a bloke on a roundabout who clipped the wing mirror of my car whilst cutting me up.
14. It pissed down on and off all weekend.
On balance I would say it wasn’t a particularly great weekend. Especially as I reckon it cost me around 1000 EUR including tickets, merchandise, petrol, food and drinks. Certainly the least enjoyable of the four Le Mans I have done to date. That would have got me a nice weekend in Barcelona, Venice or the south of France.
1. I got some fast laps of the circuit in at 6:30 am Friday morning before any police were around.
2. I got to see lots of nice cars on and off the track.
3. I found a couple of decent restaurants in Le Mans city centre.
4. I discovered that taking your shower around 7:00 pm each day meant you had the shower block to yourself
5. I had a good night out in Le Mans city centre Friday night.
6. I missed the traffic departing the circuit on Sunday by leaving at 10:30 am.
7. I had a nice lunch in Brussels on Monday.
Bad points:
1. Nearly missed my flight on Wednesday night because of bad traffic going home from the office.
2. The car was not delivered from its service by the dealer until gone midnight on Wednesday so for a while it looked like I was going to have no car for the weekend.
3. Upon arrival in Calais I started the drive down on country roads only to be caught in a torrential downpour so, after wasting 2 hours negotiating flooded country roads I aborted and went on the motorway.
4. Upon arrival at the campsite 9:30 pm Thursday, all the level ground was taken so, I had to pitch tent on an embankment at an incline – I discovered that night that nylon sleeping bags do not grip very well against foam ground mats and woke up in a heap at the lower end of the tent several times.
5. Access to the camp site required you to drive through the paddock and village areas in the circuit interior so it took on average an hour to get in an out of the circuit each time.
6. The police road blocked the Arnage meet on Friday morning.
7. Friday lunchtime I got the car stuck in the mud in the camp site and had to get a bunch of lads with an X5 to help push/dig/tow me out.
8. I missed the last shuttle back to the circuit from the city centre on Friday night – despite arriving at the bus stop 30 mins before the last bus was due to run – so I had a 2.5 hour walk back to the camp site.
9. I managed to mix up the communication with Dave/A308 MAN so missed the Saturday night dinner at the restaurant on the Mulsanne straight.
10. Saturday night I got a bollocking from a police officer in Arnage village who threatened to confiscate my license for revving the engine – I didn’t even engage gear or spin the wheels.
11. The hotel I’d booked for Sunday night in Paris was a dump and – contrary to Expedia – had no parking so, I had to park the car in a public car park with an entrance and exit ramp near impossible to negotiate in an f-car.
12. All the decent restaurants I know in Paris were closed on Sunday night so I ended up in an overpriced tourist trap with a very annoying English couple sitting next to me loudly talking crap.
13. Monday lunchtime I made a lunch stop in Brussels en route from Paris to Amsterdam and ended up having a less than mild road rage incident with a bloke on a roundabout who clipped the wing mirror of my car whilst cutting me up.
14. It pissed down on and off all weekend.
On balance I would say it wasn’t a particularly great weekend. Especially as I reckon it cost me around 1000 EUR including tickets, merchandise, petrol, food and drinks. Certainly the least enjoyable of the four Le Mans I have done to date. That would have got me a nice weekend in Barcelona, Venice or the south of France.
There was penty I aimed to do this year but the weather made it near impossible:
Wanted to check out WRR and Speedchills as future options. Soon gave up due to traffic around BSJ which has put me off that site for future LM.
Wanted to meet up with Guy (WRR) for a beer but phone was playing up so missed all the calls (also see point above).
Wanted to meet up with Dave (F308MAN) but again phone played up, his number was 'unknown' so couldn't call back.
Friday parade was a non-starter due to the weather. Just not worth the hassle.
On a positive note though the CBW was well worth it and will be on the itinerary next year. Did get to see Guy's dads Healey on display aswell, what a trooper that car is!!
Wanted to check out WRR and Speedchills as future options. Soon gave up due to traffic around BSJ which has put me off that site for future LM.
Wanted to meet up with Guy (WRR) for a beer but phone was playing up so missed all the calls (also see point above).
Wanted to meet up with Dave (F308MAN) but again phone played up, his number was 'unknown' so couldn't call back.
Friday parade was a non-starter due to the weather. Just not worth the hassle.
On a positive note though the CBW was well worth it and will be on the itinerary next year. Did get to see Guy's dads Healey on display aswell, what a trooper that car is!!
Alex@POD" Target="_blank">class="forumQuoter">Alex@POD said:
Phil, I saw you drive down past the restaurant on the Mulsanne on the thursday (or was it friday?) when I was with Guy, but unfortunately you didn't come past again so I could stop you... Really nice car though!
We got held up for ages queueing to get through HA and turned round to try another entrance so went down Mulsanne. It wasn't till we got back to the site that I got the voicemail from Guy. See you there in 361 days though!!Gassing Station | Le Mans | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff