Maison Blanche is worse than ever!

[lowdrag]

I went past today and took a peek. Drainage going in everywhere, not a blade of grass nor any earth to be seen; a complete building site! I'll take a photo in the next day or so and you can see what you are getting for your money, since frankly I can't see it being in anything like good condition this year. All we want is a load of rain and then a sharp frost and they'll be completely jiggered for a while and work will stop. Regardless, the ACO won't pay out to turf it and any seed won't be anywhere like dense enough by race time. Pray for dry weather and bring thick mattresses (or mistresses) with you!

[WhiteBaron]

Am not in Maison Blanche this year for the first time due to whatever they are planning.

I'd be interested to see what they are up to if you get the chance

[Petra]

Regardless of the work being carried out at MB, after last year's race I have been praying for dry weather at LM 2008 every single day

[Piglet]

Hello Petra

So maybe not being on MB will be a bonus if it's in a bad condition

[Buttmonkey]

Maison Blanche is getting worse every year I remember when you could actually turn up and camp there!

[lowdrag]

Well, I promised you some photos. Here's the state of MB today. A real quagmire with still a hell of a lot of work to do to get the drainage in, let alone getting the surface presentable for five months hence.

[Piglet]

[E36GUY]

lol!

All the best to you on MB this year then!

[MadMacMcMad]

Houx Annexe please

[Brian Liverpool]

So glad they have bumped us off MB onto Blue Nord, no way that will be fit for camping in June.

[Petra]

Piglet said:

Hello Petra

Hello Piglet


It's still another five months to go, could be fine if they finish the work and sow grass early springtime

[lowdrag]

Frankly, with the gravel everywhere, ruts from the lorries, the rain we are having and a poor spring are really counting against a good camping area. We've had a lot of rain recently and everywhere is wet through (well, where it is clay soil like MB). If we get the cold snap they were predicting for February then the ground will be like iron and unworkable at all. The grass will take a long time to seed and it'll be a sparse covering no matter what I fear. On the other hand, the sun might come out tomorrow and we'll have a wonderful spring! Fingers crossed for you all. I'll post more photos in a month or so then you can judge for yourselves.

[lowdrag]

According to the workmen there Maison Blanche will not be open for Le Mans this year. The work is provisionally to be finished ready for the Classic but not Le Mans. Obviously this is not absolutely certain but I suggest you get ready for the bad news and plan accordingly. I have to go to the press office and the ticket office later this week so if I hear more I'll post.

[Hoolio]

lowdrag said:

According to the workmen there Maison Blanche will not be open for Le Mans this year. The work is provisionally to be finished ready for the Classic but not Le Mans.

Are you certain they're not winding you up? I mean, what will the ACO do with hundreds and hundreds of people not being able to camp on MB?

I'm not going to the 24hr in June but I am going to the Classic in July. Either way I hope those workmen pull their fingers out of their deriere's and get it sorted!

[//j17]

Hoolio said:

lowdrag said:

According to the workmen there Maison Blanche will not be open for Le Mans this year. The work is provisionally to be finished ready for the Classic but not Le Mans.

Are you certain they're not winding you up? I mean, what will the ACO do with hundreds and hundreds of people not being able to camp on MB?

I'm not going to the 24hr in June but I am going to the Classic in July. Either way I hope those workmen pull their fingers out of their deriere's and get it sorted!

Reality Check - they are French...

[Piglet]

I only know of one person who has had a letter from the ACO offering him MB tickets, everyone else (so far) who asked for MB has either heard nothing or been told that they have been or will be allocated Bleu Nord.

The agencies are selling MB but I don't think that necessarily means that they know that they have the tickets.

I think the ACO might be preserving their options on MB for the moment and it wouldn't surprise me hugely if it isn't going to be open. It looks a huge mess and they presumably also have other works going on that need to be finished that they may view as being more important.

I hope I've got MB tickets but when I get my allocation, which I expect to be for Bleu I'm probably going to keep hold of both sets and make a decision nearer the time.

[lowdrag]

Piglet said:

I only know of one person who has had a letter from the ACO offering him MB tickets, everyone else (so far) who asked for MB has either heard nothing or been told that they have been or will be allocated Bleu Nord.

The agencies are selling MB but I don't think that necessarily means that they know that they have the tickets.

I think the ACO might be preserving their options on MB for the moment and it wouldn't surprise me hugely if it isn't going to be open. It looks a huge mess and they presumably also have other works going on that need to be finished that they may view as being more important.

I hope I've got MB tickets but when I get my allocation, which I expect to be for Bleu I'm probably going to keep hold of both sets and make a decision nearer the time.

Garage Vert is also a mess but work there is scheduled to finish at the end of March. Since I am well known at the bar where I met the workmen I would take bets on them telling me the truth, but then I'll know more another day from the press office and the ticket office. I think Piglet is being realistic here. Oh, and as regards the comment that they are french, of course all road works etc. finish on time in the UK don't they? The weather here has really been against them at times with a fortnight of below freezing temperatures (day and night) in November and then rain galore. Better you know now than later though. As regards available camping spaces, I am not sure what they are doing on the corner near the Alain Prost karting circuit but there sure is a load of earth moving and levelling going on. Perhaps that might be extra camping; I've no idea, but without MB it sure is going to be tight this year.

Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 15th January 13:26

[Petra]

My dad's captain on seatugs, and one thing I've learned through the years is that people planning works tend to know nothing about the real world where the work is going to be carried out. For some reason they ALWAYS underestimate the time needed to finish something, even without the weather acting up. Personally I'd rely on the opinion of the workmens rather than some organisation like ACO

[Combover]

So where are we going to be put then? I've paid for MB tickets and will not be happy getting dumped on someone else's campsite. Is this definite yet?

[Piglet]

Combover said:

So where are we going to be put then? I've paid for MB tickets and will not be happy getting dumped on someone else's campsite. Is this definite yet?

Nothing definate AFAIK.

Who have you paid for tickets? Assuming it's an agency I'd ring them and ask them if they KNOW they are getting x many MB and what their contingency plans are if they don't.