2021 - Don't get too excited

[Red Firecracker]

Some of the 24H Series races (the non 24 Hour ones) are immensely civilised in that way. Start the race on a Saturday, run to evening, flag it, go into town for dinner (depending on work) and back again for the restart on Sunday morning, all very pleasant.

[MiniMan64]

Red Firecracker said:

Some of the 24H Series races (the non 24 Hour ones) are immensely civilised in that way. Start the race on a Saturday, run to evening, flag it, go into town for dinner (depending on work) and back again for the restart on Sunday morning, all very pleasant.

Doesn’t that rather sanitise the point of the race?

[df76]

MiniMan64 said:

Red Firecracker said:

Some of the 24H Series races (the non 24 Hour ones) are immensely civilised in that way. Start the race on a Saturday, run to evening, flag it, go into town for dinner (depending on work) and back again for the restart on Sunday morning, all very pleasant.

Doesn’t that rather sanitise the point of the race?

There will be restrictive noise limits at many venues, plus you need to think about how to safely staff the events. You need a large number of marshals to run straight through 24 hours.

[lowdrag]

Which is currently the problem at Le Mans. Every four years the ACO have to submit a dossier to the Prefecture at Le Mans outlining their plans for the next four years. there are strident complaints this time about the noise pollution, and whispers of electric racing. This of course will affect the day to day running of the ACO, since while I live about six miles from the Bugatti circuit I can often hear the sound of engines. F3 tuition, track days - the circuit is in operation every day between April and November.

[Red Firecracker]

MiniMan64 said:

Doesn’t that rather sanitise the point of the race?

Not at all. The key to the 24H Series races (do note though that few of them are actually 24 Hours long, the 24H name comes from their initial races and they have grown the business) is to appeal to a set of customers, namely gentleman drivers, who want to race and also have a sociable time. It works and works well.

They still run some pure 24 Hour events, but it works better form them and more importantly their customers, to split some of the longer races.

24H/Creventic are very very good race organisers, great fun.

[LM240]

lowdrag said:

Which is currently the problem at Le Mans. Every four years the ACO have to submit a dossier to the Prefecture at Le Mans outlining their plans for the next four years. there are strident complaints this time about the noise pollution, and whispers of electric racing. This of course will affect the day to day running of the ACO, since while I live about six miles from the Bugatti circuit I can often hear the sound of engines. F3 tuition, track days - the circuit is in operation every day between April and November.

Hopefully the tradition and history of the race / circuit for the city is enough to get rid of these noise complaints.

Reminds me of flats which were built locally next to the commercial area of the harbour..... people bought the flats and then complain about the noise from goods being loaded on and off the freight boats!!

[cn7k7]

LM240 said:

lowdrag said:

Which is currently the problem at Le Mans. Every four years the ACO have to submit a dossier to the Prefecture at Le Mans outlining their plans for the next four years. there are strident complaints this time about the noise pollution, and whispers of electric racing. This of course will affect the day to day running of the ACO, since while I live about six miles from the Bugatti circuit I can often hear the sound of engines. F3 tuition, track days - the circuit is in operation every day between April and November.

Hopefully the tradition and history of the race / circuit for the city is enough to get rid of these noise complaints.

Reminds me of flats which were built locally next to the commercial area of the harbour..... people bought the flats and then complain about the noise from goods being loaded on and off the freight boats!!

Sadly it’s a familiar story for pubs, music venues etc., for the Le Mans area though this would surely hurt the entire area financially.....turkeys voting for Xmas

[Oldwolf]

Whilst Le Mans is never far from my thoughts! Having had my first vaccine on Friday, Le Mans has come into sharper focus again.

Assuming that some spectators are allowed (which is, I know, a big assumption still)
What are peoples thoughts about how the ACO will limit or choose spectators?

My thoughts include:

1. ACO members only
2. French residents only
3. First come first served
4. Lottery

I was going to add 'ticket holders from last year' but I'm not sure how they'd deal with that as my ticket agent gave me a full refund last year so I have no credit or 2020 ticket issued.
I think the first two are the most likely, and the first the easiest to manage but it would be really interesting to hear others thoughts.

I guess the real question is - do I need to buy ACO membership :-)

[Biker 1]

I have received an invitation to the August races, as our tickets from last year are being honored, but I doubt it'll even be 50:50 that we'll be allowed to attend. Not much chance of all our group being vaccinated by then anyway, so who knows??

[davidd]

We just need to wait and see what happens. Most of the adult UK population will have had at least one jab by august.
Who know what will be going on in France or the UK by then, might be clear, might be locked down.

Anyone who intends to go this year (me) needs to accept a degree of flexibility and that there is no way it will be a normal LM.

Do we know when the next announcement from France on events etc is due ? (I thought it was sometime in April).

D

[Truckosaurus]

The easiest but bravest solution would be to just sell tickets on-site on race week itself - then everyone will know where they stand on number of attendees or what the travel rules are.

I'd happily travel over and buy 'on the gate' as I'm sure many other regulars would.

[LawrieC]

I've just renewed my insurance with Aviva, and saw that there was Green Card on the back. On their website it says you’ll need to register any commercial trailer weighing over 750kg before towing them abroad. All trailers (personal and commercial) weighing over 3,500kg must be registered and you need to get a Green Card for separately registered trailers. The caravan club don't agree, and think all trailers over 750kg need one.

Whilst I was looking I came across Emission Zones and looked up Rouen, and the news is not good for classic cars.

It starts in July 2021 and will cover the inner city and will only affect older commercial vehicles. It spreads over the next 18 months, and bans diesels over 15 years old, and petrols over 24 years old (I think!)

Crit'Air stickers are needed in all cars, but the French don't seem to bother.

Turn your back for a minute.....

[Tyre Smoke]

There is no legal obligation to insure a caravan. So I'm baffled as to why it would need a green card.

[delta0]

That July date for Classic looks like it is getting locked in. I see a lot of ticket resellers suddenly advertising for that date and a real uptick in activity around the Classic. It could be because it is now the next major car event at LM. I messaged the ACO on Facebook and they said they are not looking to the change the date at the moment, that was a couple of weeks ago. Let’s see what happens

[Chrisgr31]

Oldwolf said:

I guess the real question is - do I need to buy ACO membership :-)

Well for 60 euro you get 40% off two general admission tickets for this years race. However presumably they will be selling tickets for next years race in November so presumably you'll get 40% off them too. An ideal time to join!

[butaclor]

delta0 said:

That July date for Classic looks like it is getting locked in. I see a lot of ticket resellers suddenly advertising for that date and a real uptick in activity around the Classic. It could be because it is now the next major car event at LM. I messaged the ACO on Facebook and they said they are not looking to the change the date at the moment, that was a couple of weeks ago. Let’s see what happens

Can't find anything on the classic Le Man's site that has been updated in months, who is pushing tickets ? I have friends who are entered and they aren't giving positive vibes.

[delta0]

butaclor said:

Can't find anything on the classic Le Man's site that has been updated in months, who is pushing tickets ? I have friends who are entered and they aren't giving positive vibes.

I’m going off a google search for “le mans classic” and seeing what websites have been updated in the last 24 hours/week.

Notably these websites have been updated and still hold that date
- https://www.lemans.org/fr/all-events/tous-les-even...
- https://www.tr-register.co.uk/event/2021/07/1925/L...
- https://www.delta-racing.co.uk/3,4,5-july-2021-le-...

However...
I have just seen Spa Classic has been cancelled as of 11th March. So based on that I think the Le Mans Classic will be cancelled https://www.peterauto.fr/en/spa-classic-2021-2/

After reading the Peter Auto site it doesn’t seem so doomed. https://www.peterauto.fr/en/on-track/

They are running other events in July and should have their calendar confirmed in the next couple of weeks (based on the 10th March). So we should get confirmation soon

Edited by delta0 on Tuesday 16th March 13:40

[butaclor]

delta0 said:

I’m going off a google search for “le mans classic” and seeing what websites have been updated in the last 24 hours/week.

Notably these websites have been updated and still hold that date
- https://www.lemans.org/fr/all-events/tous-les-even...
- https://www.tr-register.co.uk/event/2021/07/1925/L...
- https://www.delta-racing.co.uk/3,4,5-july-2021-le-...

However...
I have just seen Spa Classic has been cancelled as of 11th March. So based on that I think the Le Mans Classic will be cancelled https://www.peterauto.fr/en/spa-classic-2021-2/

After reading the Peter Auto site it doesn’t seem so doomed. https://www.peterauto.fr/en/on-track/

They are running other events in July and should have their calendar confirmed in the next couple of weeks (based on the 10th March). So we should get confirmation soon

Edited by delta0 on Tuesday 16th March 13:40

What shouts at me is on the official site I can't see anything new eg: new entries ,people or car news etc .

[lowdrag]

butaclor said:

What shouts at me is on the official site I can't see anything new eg: new entries ,people or car news etc .

And being a prophet of doom and gloom I don't think you will see much, but for a completely different reason, which can be summed up in two words - "temporary export". Post-Brexit, taking your race car to Europe is just that - a "temporary export" and you will have to fill in papers for the french customs for your race car, for your trailer and one for your spares supply. You will have to declare the value of the total lot and then give 10% of the value to the nice customs man who is supposed to give it back to you when you return to Blighty. I have spoken to two companies who specialize in preparing cars for racing, taking them to the circuit, and providing mechanics as well. Many clients have looked at the cost and said they just won't bother. Oh, and then there might be - we aren't sure - temporary work permits for the mechanics and other staff.

When the Classic started in 2002 there were but 30,000 spectators, and Patrick Peter lost money. In 2004 50,000 and he made a small profit, and from there it has escalated, but if cars aren't entering and spectator numbers are restricted, as the ACO have said for the 24 Hours in August, I really don't see it happening.

[delta0]

butaclor said:

What shouts at me is on the official site I can't see anything new eg: new entries ,people or car news etc .

I think the Peter Auto one is the most important. It seems like in about a week or so we will know what the plan is