The Le Mans weather thread

The Le Mans weather thread

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Discussion
Wednesday 10th June 2020
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wsn03 said:
Well it failed me. I was living on my own and used to a throne in total privacy. The group we were with were clueless enough to live on dry chicken and chips just to compound matters (they didn't even go to the race).

I think it was the champagne i had on race night that finally pushed out 3 days of rancid stale food into the piss stained hole in the ground at about 4am.

It was a grim welcome to my first Le Mans.
That’s funny mate, LOL. biggrin

eps

6,272 posts

268 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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Welshbeef said:
Watching a fair few Le Mans clips.

Currently seeing 1999 with Brundel in the Toyota and he was leading setting Leo times near qualifying @ 3:37....
I just think of that 3:15 seconds last year how things have moved on with the same identical track incredible.
Only it's not quite identical - the Esses up to Tertre Rouge have changed massively and the hump on the Mulsanne. But yes a lot of the time has come from the cars themselves.

Those Toyota's were so impressive!

chasingracecars

1,696 posts

96 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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eps said:
Only it's not quite identical - the Esses up to Tertre Rouge have changed massively and the hump on the Mulsanne. But yes a lot of the time has come from the cars themselves.

Those Toyota's were so impressive!
Add to that the Tetre Rouge changes. Porsche curves have been tweaked, Arnage and Indianapolis corners have had extended run offs too. Although may not be direct track changes if I went into a corner with no run off I might back off a bit more!

wsn03

1,923 posts

100 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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Powerfully Built PSC Director - Outside IR35 said:
wsn03 said:
Well it failed me. I was living on my own and used to a throne in total privacy. The group we were with were clueless enough to live on dry chicken and chips just to compound matters (they didn't even go to the race).

I think it was the champagne i had on race night that finally pushed out 3 days of rancid stale food into the piss stained hole in the ground at about 4am.

It was a grim welcome to my first Le Mans.
That’s funny mate, LOL. biggrin
It really wasn't at the time though laugh

lowdrag

Original Poster:

12,868 posts

212 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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Well, you are all here in spirit, doing the pit walk and ready for a dose of merguez and chips I guess. The central heating is on in the house and it is raining. Welcome! I shall take a photo of Mulsanne bend which ain't anything like you remember it. Work not finished but it is looking more like a flat Indianapolis. Different angle of attack, far deeper towards the spectators, and far less angled. For us locals beer is cheaper, and for those who know the bar near the circuit entrance called Aux Portes du Circuit the owner Jeannine has sold it to the ACO who are going to demolish it, take a chunk of Parking Blanc for parking, and build a hotel. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 10th June 17:12

fatboy18

18,930 posts

210 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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Noooooooo,
Jennie's gone frown
That's yet another piece of LM history gone frown

lowdrag

Original Poster:

12,868 posts

212 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
quotequote all
fatboy18 said:
Noooooooo,
Jennie's gone frown
That's yet another piece of LM history gone frown
Don't quote me but I think she was 64 (or thereabouts) and had been there since she was 21. The aCO have twice announced in the past that they had bought the bar,, perhaps to try and force her hand, but with things as they are I suppose, what with getting older and no likelihood of much income this year, that it was time to take the money and run. I hear she has retired back where she came from, Le Lude, south of Le Mans. But I also heard that she was asked to stay on for a while, presumably for this weekend, the Classic etc. I may be lunching there on Friday with Yves Courage and a couple of others, so we'll see.

LM240

4,636 posts

217 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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lowdrag said:
Well, you are all here in spirit, doing the pit walk and ready for a dose of merguez and chips I guess. The central heating is on in the house and it is raining. Welcome! I shall take a photo of Mulsanne bend which ain't anything like you remember it. Work not finished but it is looking more like a flat Indianapolis. Different angle of attack, far deeper towards the spectators, and far less angled. For us locals beer is cheaper, and for those who know the bar near the circuit entrance called Aux Portes du Circuit the owner Jeannine has sold it to the ACO who are going to demolish it, take a chunk of Parking Blanc for parking, and build a hotel. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 10th June 17:12
Thanks for the info.

A hotel, you’ll never be able to book for the 24hrs! That will become (insert whichever car maker is using expo for VIP) exclusive accommodation.

As I don’t stay on track, I’ve never had a drink at that bar. Feel like I should of had a pint just for the sake of it having parked up on the way to the entrance.

Hopefully mulsanne as a spectator option isn’t totally ruined. Hopeful though, after Indianapolis actually became a better experience in my opinion. (But they hadn’t messed with the circuit part). Despite being one of the slowest corners, that big braking point has been an important bit to get right and caught many out. I hope they don’t take that element away too much. The tarmac run off will inevitably lead to liberties being taken with less jeopardy as a result of a mistake.

It’s going to feel even stranger actually being there at this time of year. Very odd indeed. One silver lining is that we’ve not missed a weekend of comfortable 22-23 every day, not a cloud in the sky or puff of wind and lovely long warm evenings.

I miss it so much. Fingers crossed for September.

lowdrag

Original Poster:

12,868 posts

212 months

Wednesday 10th June 2020
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I think you have no need to worry on the Mulsanne point of view. It seems to me that the viewing will be much improved, with the chicken wire on the banking looking down on the action better than before. Of course, all is a mess of gravel and tarmac at the moment, and with the virus work stopped some months ago but has now recommenced. I play golf opposite most days, so I'll wait a bit until things clarify somewhat.

Output Flange

16,793 posts

210 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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Lowdrag, as a local, do you have a view on how likely the 24 is to go ahead in September?

SimoN138

207 posts

231 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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Output Flange said:
Lowdrag, as a local, do you have a view on how likely the 24 is to go ahead in September?
... is there a view that 'behind closed doors' is not an option due to public road parts of track? very difficult to police so too dangerous?

FredericRobinson

3,667 posts

231 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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I'm not sure how policing a behind closed doors race is more difficult than one with spectators?

WhyTwo

1,114 posts

191 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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lowdrag said:
and for those who know the bar near the circuit entrance called Aux Portes du Circuit the owner Jeannine has sold it to the ACO who are going to demolish it, take a chunk of Parking Blanc for parking, and build a hotel. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 10th June 17:12
That's sad. We usually stop for a beer or 2 at that bar on our way into the circuit

The Leaper

4,935 posts

205 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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lowdrag said:
Well, you are all here in spirit, doing the pit walk and ready for a dose of merguez and chips I guess. The central heating is on in the house and it is raining. Welcome! I shall take a photo of Mulsanne bend which ain't anything like you remember it. Work not finished but it is looking more like a flat Indianapolis. Different angle of attack, far deeper towards the spectators, and far less angled. For us locals beer is cheaper, and for those who know the bar near the circuit entrance called Aux Portes du Circuit the owner Jeannine has sold it to the ACO who are going to demolish it, take a chunk of Parking Blanc for parking, and build a hotel. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 10th June 17:12
Lowdrag,

That bar is a bit of a distance from Parking Blanc so either the hotel will be massive or some walk from the car park to the hotel.

I've always parked in parking Blanc so I guess there will likely be greater competition for spaces there in future.

R.

24lemons

2,628 posts

184 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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FredericRobinson said:
I'm not sure how policing a behind closed doors race is more difficult than one with spectators?
I would imagine that if the race were to be run behind closed doors, there would be the potential for large amounts of people to try and gather in the public road areas of the circuit.

lowdrag

Original Poster:

12,868 posts

212 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
quotequote all
I thought that Parking Blanc (which I have never needed to use since I always dumped the car with Jeannine) backed onto the land which extends behind the bar. In which case, it is some other piece of land, but that is the plan I have heard.

Will the race go ahead? Have some good news for a change. Yesterday there was one new case of Covid in the Sarthe and no deaths. That is out of 600,000 people. So will it go ahead? I think yes. Will it be behind closed doors? Well that depends on the health situation. If the freedom to circulate brings a resurgence of the disease all bets are off.

Does behind closed doors matter? The public roads are closed for the race, because Mr Dupont in his Peugeot 205 towing his little trailer to the tip might cause a slight hiatus. So from Tertre Rouge to Mulsanne, and on to Arnage, and then to Porsche Curves is for race cars only. But the majority of that section, with the exception of the viewing areas at Mulsanne and Arnage, is banned to spectators anyway. Similarly, the right to enter the circuit and view from the Porsche Curves all the way to Tertre Rouge is dependent on the circuit being open. So yes, closed doors will mean just that. Does that mean Arnage and Mulsanne will be closed? Ask me another one.

A final comment. Just how many cars do the ACO think will come? An interesting one that. In the last few years the main interest has focused on the GT class which in the main comprised of Ford, Porsche, Corvette and Aston Martin. I haven't bothered to look at the entries yet but with three of those four gone it is looking somewhat lightweight. The LMP 1 is a foregone conclusion so no interest for me nor most I guess, and as far as the LMP 2 is concerned I view them as racing LMP 1 on a budget. That's rude and badly put, but you know what I mean. So, for me, the interest this year is very much watered down.

Also, with the combination of weather and so much racing in the dark, will that many people bother to attend? Personally, based on 1968, I would guess that at most 100,000 will come, and it could be 50,000. Yes, people are starved of racing this year, so we must take that into account, and as always, I could be talking out of a part of my body where the sun don't shine. So, all in all, take what I have written with a great big pinch of salt.



Edited by lowdrag on Thursday 11th June 13:56

FredericRobinson

3,667 posts

231 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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Those areas have to be policed in a normal year too

LM240

4,636 posts

217 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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Closing the place down for public viewing would be pretty simple and easy to police.

I don’t think many would bother attending just to crawl through woods and get a glimpse of the race. That wouldn’t be much fun or worth the effort.

The circuit part is easy to close down. Mulsanne and Arnage easy also. The numbers trying to get along mulsanne would be tiny.

Anyone bold enough to get into the track or corners would stand out a mile. Chuck in robust policing and hefty fines, I can’t don’t think the reward is worth the risk.

Without being able to view properly, I don’t think I’d attend the area just to be there and have a weekend away.

LM240

4,636 posts

217 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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The Leaper said:
lowdrag said:
Well, you are all here in spirit, doing the pit walk and ready for a dose of merguez and chips I guess. The central heating is on in the house and it is raining. Welcome! I shall take a photo of Mulsanne bend which ain't anything like you remember it. Work not finished but it is looking more like a flat Indianapolis. Different angle of attack, far deeper towards the spectators, and far less angled. For us locals beer is cheaper, and for those who know the bar near the circuit entrance called Aux Portes du Circuit the owner Jeannine has sold it to the ACO who are going to demolish it, take a chunk of Parking Blanc for parking, and build a hotel. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 10th June 17:12
Lowdrag,

That bar is a bit of a distance from Parking Blanc so either the hotel will be massive or some walk from the car park to the hotel.

I've always parked in parking Blanc so I guess there will likely be greater competition for spaces there in future.

R.
The land used for parking goes right behind the bar. I could see how a hotel would use that land (and possibly swallow up other private houses).

Though having walked through, I don’t think the parking is extended right down to that area.

wsn03

1,923 posts

100 months

Thursday 11th June 2020
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If its closed to the public then im guessing Arbor will be closed too, in which case I'd stay home and watch on tv