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As some premium members may know, homeforsummer posted a thread asking if anyone was interested in going to Le Mans for the weekend. He got a few responses and this is the story...
hfs, GTP_Ingram, thesrdic, Roo, Famine, MiniFam1 and I all piled into a Kia Sorrento and set off for France at the weekend in order to watch the 24 hours of Le Mans. We went underneath the channel, in a car, on a train, on the Thursday and arrived at the circuit de la Sarthe (which is a river, don't cha know.) Thursday evening was wet and rainy but, after erecting our tents, we headed to the track to see some of the LM practise session, and to get some dubious food. Hot dog avec frite dans une bagette was the order of the evening. Back to camp. Attempt to sleep. Sleep OK.
KIA OMG by GTRdaan, on Flickr
We got up on Friday and wandered over to the pits. It was a bit busy, but we got to walk up the whole pitlane.
Pit Lane at Le Mans 2012 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
Zose craazy Dutch were out in force and they camped outside any pit that had a Dutch driver. Jeroen Bleekemolen in this case.
Pit Straight at Le Mans 2012 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
Pit Lane at Le Mans 2012 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
After we left the pitlane, we went to the museum. I'll sort out the photos for that later.
Friday night was barbecue night. It had started to rain in the early evening but, luckily, it stayed dry later so our food didn't get too damp.
Race day (Saturday) dawned a bit damp, so we wandered back over to the pits to see the Group C race, and then the Aston Festival. (I didn't get any good pics of these 2 races.) Famine and MinFam1 had found the viewing area in our camp and reported that it was a good spot to watch from. The fact it had an English burger van and ice cream van may or may not have had anything to do with our decision to go there... The real reason we went there was because we got a good view of the track, on entry to the Porsche curves, with the catch fencing being lower down and usually out of shot. We spent the first bit of the race there. We then headed out to an area on the outside of the Porsche curves but it wasn't great viewing there so we got on the bus and headed for Arnage.
Indianapolis to Arnage spectator area was right next to the track, but was really busy, and with catch fencing in the way. The cars sounded Epic there, especially the V8 Corvettes, but were too loud for MiniFam1, so we only stayed there for about 20 minutes.
Back in the queue for the bus to take us to Mulsanne corner and we heard that there had been an accident between a Toyota and a Ferrari. If the buses had been more frequent, we probably would have been at Mulsanne as it happened...
When we got to Mulsanne, the cars were cruising round behind the safety cars. We walked up the corner to see the cleanup operation, and an Audi A1 Course car going the wrong way round the track... We waited there until it went green again, then headed back for the bus to take us back. We split up then with Famine and MiniFam1 heading for the souvenir shop, GTP_Ingram and I headed back to camp (hfs was already there). Roo and thesrdic were still at Mulsanne.
As it was now late evening, and getting dark, I decided to head out back to "our spot" to see if I could get some night photos, but my camera wasn't too good in the almost dark conditions. I headed back to attempt to get some shuteye in my tent. Not very successfully though.
Sunday morning, found Famine and MiniFam1 in "our spot" where I joined them and was woken up by a bacon butty and a cup of coffee. Lovely. (It's a bit strange to be in the middle of rural France, and go up to a fast food van to be greeted with, "Morning, my love, what can I get ya?")
We were joined here by the whole posse, where we sat and watched the rest of the race, cheering whenever Jordan Tresson's No23 and Lucas Ordonez's No42 went past.
We stayed on the Sunday night, where the campsite descended into anarchy with tent being set alight, cars being driven into ditches and fireworks being set off (some attempting to be set off with a blowup doll attached...)
Back into the KIA on Monday, through the tunnel (in a car, on a train) and dropped off Roo and thesrdic. Back to the KIA's base, where 4 of us decamped into my RX8 for the trip to chez Famine, then GTP_Ingram and I headed back to Scotland.
Got back home at half 1 on Tuesday morning. Knackered. Slept for about a day.
Completely epic weekend. When's next year?
Deltawing by GTRdaan, on Flickr
Deltawing by GTRdaan, on Flickr
2 Audi e-tron Quattro by GTRdaan, on Flickr
12 Rebellion Lola by GTRdaan, on Flickr
46 Thiriet Oreca by GTRdaan, on Flickr
8 Toyota TS030 Hybrid by GTRdaan, on Flickr
23 Signatech Nissan by GTRdaan, on Flickr
51 AF Corse 458 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
57 Krohn 458 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
61 Waltrip 458 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
50 Larbre Corvette by GTRdaan, on Flickr
35 Oak Morgan by GTRdaan, on Flickr
43 Extreme Limite Aric Norma by GTRdaan, on Flickr
97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
79 Flying Lizard Porsche by GTRdaan, on Flickr
More on my Flickr
Roo's pics
hfs, GTP_Ingram, thesrdic, Roo, Famine, MiniFam1 and I all piled into a Kia Sorrento and set off for France at the weekend in order to watch the 24 hours of Le Mans. We went underneath the channel, in a car, on a train, on the Thursday and arrived at the circuit de la Sarthe (which is a river, don't cha know.) Thursday evening was wet and rainy but, after erecting our tents, we headed to the track to see some of the LM practise session, and to get some dubious food. Hot dog avec frite dans une bagette was the order of the evening. Back to camp. Attempt to sleep. Sleep OK.
KIA OMG by GTRdaan, on Flickr
We got up on Friday and wandered over to the pits. It was a bit busy, but we got to walk up the whole pitlane.
Pit Lane at Le Mans 2012 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
Zose craazy Dutch were out in force and they camped outside any pit that had a Dutch driver. Jeroen Bleekemolen in this case.
Pit Straight at Le Mans 2012 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
Pit Lane at Le Mans 2012 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
After we left the pitlane, we went to the museum. I'll sort out the photos for that later.
Friday night was barbecue night. It had started to rain in the early evening but, luckily, it stayed dry later so our food didn't get too damp.
Race day (Saturday) dawned a bit damp, so we wandered back over to the pits to see the Group C race, and then the Aston Festival. (I didn't get any good pics of these 2 races.) Famine and MinFam1 had found the viewing area in our camp and reported that it was a good spot to watch from. The fact it had an English burger van and ice cream van may or may not have had anything to do with our decision to go there... The real reason we went there was because we got a good view of the track, on entry to the Porsche curves, with the catch fencing being lower down and usually out of shot. We spent the first bit of the race there. We then headed out to an area on the outside of the Porsche curves but it wasn't great viewing there so we got on the bus and headed for Arnage.
Indianapolis to Arnage spectator area was right next to the track, but was really busy, and with catch fencing in the way. The cars sounded Epic there, especially the V8 Corvettes, but were too loud for MiniFam1, so we only stayed there for about 20 minutes.
Back in the queue for the bus to take us to Mulsanne corner and we heard that there had been an accident between a Toyota and a Ferrari. If the buses had been more frequent, we probably would have been at Mulsanne as it happened...
When we got to Mulsanne, the cars were cruising round behind the safety cars. We walked up the corner to see the cleanup operation, and an Audi A1 Course car going the wrong way round the track... We waited there until it went green again, then headed back for the bus to take us back. We split up then with Famine and MiniFam1 heading for the souvenir shop, GTP_Ingram and I headed back to camp (hfs was already there). Roo and thesrdic were still at Mulsanne.
As it was now late evening, and getting dark, I decided to head out back to "our spot" to see if I could get some night photos, but my camera wasn't too good in the almost dark conditions. I headed back to attempt to get some shuteye in my tent. Not very successfully though.
Sunday morning, found Famine and MiniFam1 in "our spot" where I joined them and was woken up by a bacon butty and a cup of coffee. Lovely. (It's a bit strange to be in the middle of rural France, and go up to a fast food van to be greeted with, "Morning, my love, what can I get ya?")
We were joined here by the whole posse, where we sat and watched the rest of the race, cheering whenever Jordan Tresson's No23 and Lucas Ordonez's No42 went past.
We stayed on the Sunday night, where the campsite descended into anarchy with tent being set alight, cars being driven into ditches and fireworks being set off (some attempting to be set off with a blowup doll attached...)
Back into the KIA on Monday, through the tunnel (in a car, on a train) and dropped off Roo and thesrdic. Back to the KIA's base, where 4 of us decamped into my RX8 for the trip to chez Famine, then GTP_Ingram and I headed back to Scotland.
Got back home at half 1 on Tuesday morning. Knackered. Slept for about a day.
Completely epic weekend. When's next year?
Deltawing by GTRdaan, on Flickr
Deltawing by GTRdaan, on Flickr
2 Audi e-tron Quattro by GTRdaan, on Flickr
12 Rebellion Lola by GTRdaan, on Flickr
46 Thiriet Oreca by GTRdaan, on Flickr
8 Toyota TS030 Hybrid by GTRdaan, on Flickr
23 Signatech Nissan by GTRdaan, on Flickr
51 AF Corse 458 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
57 Krohn 458 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
61 Waltrip 458 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
50 Larbre Corvette by GTRdaan, on Flickr
35 Oak Morgan by GTRdaan, on Flickr
43 Extreme Limite Aric Norma by GTRdaan, on Flickr
97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 by GTRdaan, on Flickr
79 Flying Lizard Porsche by GTRdaan, on Flickr
More on my Flickr
Roo's pics
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Love the composite with the DW and LMPs 👍
