MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Heading over early tomorrow. Looking like being a bit of a scorcher - temps up around 30C and lots of sun. Shame there are only 5 LMP1-H competing but the LMP2s are a lot faster this year which is good.
Looking forward to lots of red wine, bread & cheese 🙂
Pastis!
Not going, not even slightly jealous, no not at all...
🙁
Pastis!
No thanks! I'll add olives & merguez to my list though. The race is generally secondary - fine food & drink is where it's at 🙂
Don't forget the Tartiflette.
Do the chopper display squad still put in an appearene?
Absolutely scorching in Paris this past weekend, a cool 26 today but due to warm up again. Note we had an epic/biblical thunder storm one night. Sadly this year I have to add to the very long list of years I said would be my first visit to the race. Enjoy the weekend.
Meurgez are great, just about make up for the lack of bacon !
Sadly this year I have to add to the very long list of years I said would be my first visit to the race.
You need to put that right!
Think this will be about my 15th visit (or close to it)
It's father's day on Sunday so any year I'm not working its some beer and heart attack food in the fridge and I try and watch 18 or so hours of the race.
My 50th falls on the 100th anniversary so if I don't make it ovee there by then come hell or high water I will in 2023!!
My first time was last year, this year I'll be returning in a fleet of £250 bangers which we hope to take on through Austria and to the nurburgring after the race!
Would love to go but unless i can blag something last minute I'll have to settle for watching it on tv 🙁
It's father's day on Sunday so any year I'm not working its some beer and heart attack food in the fridge and I try and watch 18 or so hours of the race.
Sounds like a good plan, when i was there 2 years ago i managed to stay up for the whole race barring getting my head down for 20mins on the front seat of the work van next to the track. But even then I could still hear cars going round so not sure if I actually slept or not 😆
Been twice and loved it both times.
Once in a small group on the first visit - on the second there were 12 of us on my stag do. Unsurprisingly I got my fair share of banter with people on the Saturday when I was dressed in a pink plastic dress as Penelope Pitstop. Also coincided with really hot weather for most of the day!
Result of the race is pretty secondary in my experience - it's the social side that's great. Make sure you're sat by the track at 3am ish though - not many people about at that time and seeing the cars fly past in the dark whilst drunk is great. If you're near the end of the start finish straight you see the cars braking towards you then snaking through a few turns before accelerating away.
The lmp cars were the most amazing for this Witt he downforce as it's almost unbelievable how quick they go through those turns.
I'll never forget the sound / ground shaking ability of the v8 Corvettes.
I will be glued to Eurosport as usual..
Fabulous event.
I know @Simon I must, have friends and colleagues who go most years and always come back with big smiles
Not going, not even slightly jealous, no not at all...
Nor am I.
Kindly don't gloat SdB....
I've promised my father I'll take him to the LM Classic next year for his 70th birthday.
When he was in his early 40s, he took to leaping on his motorbike with a friend and heading to various motorsport races across Europe - he only went to Le Mans once and turned up without tickets. They pulled the bikes into a lay-by to check the (paper!) map and got chatting to a guy driving a team support truck. In between broken Franglais the guy gave them tickets and VIP passes..!
Eurosport it is this weekend..!
Sadly this year I have to add to the very long list of years I said would be my first visit to the race.
Ditto (baby #2 put paid to that). Next year...
Still not been yet and MrsSB is off to Spain with girly mates tomorrow morning so the left at dads are having a Le Mans themed tennis BBQ round at a mates where we can talk about our plans for next years trip.
Host has just bought a Healey 3000 to take, another has an E Type and I'm hoping to pick up a Boxster (wife is v keen to get one but she thinks it will be new!!).
Can't decide whether to go to the Classic race or not.
Anyone seen the Amazon series yet?
Going to give it a go tonight
Can't decide whether to go to the Classic race or not.
I've only done the classic, but Shelby Cobra's and GT40's do it for me 😀
Anyone seen the Amazon series yet?
Given that I effectively have 2 jobs at the moment and am hiding at home to get through it all, now having this running on the iMac behind my work laptop isn't helping..!
For those going, have you stickers up your cars? If so, let's see..!
Meurgez are great, just about make up for the lack of bacon !
Pro tip. take Ficelle (like a skinny baguette), chop into sausage shaped lengths, waggle knife in bread to create hole, whack loads of mustard and harissa on the merguez, pop it into the bread. French market style. Stops the bloody thing falling out.
Have been about 10 times and was offered a trip this yr in a mates brand new 5ltr mustang as passenger/guide but couldn't do it due to family commitments
Sorted out anything that needs doing this morning and now settling in to watch the race.
Can't believe the weather is nice outside though! Still the wife's away out so I can't go anywhere today anyway so might as well watch it
Not going, but been before. Hoping Toyota will win this year, after last year's last minute let down.
Sat in in-laws garden outside Paris, very hot and with a bit of a hangover from too much Rosé last night. At least a partial Le Mans experience anyway 😐
Getting that itch every year to go back again at some point! Went in '07-'09 and they were awesome. Looks like a proper scorcher for the whole 24H this year, those camping will struggle to sleep in their nuclear reactors 😀
Will just keep tabs on it and plan to watch the finish with my dad on Sunday. Hoping Toyota get a podium at minimum after last year's heartbreak.
Will be going again next year, stood memorized in the grand stand last year when the toyota stopped in front of us. Hope they clinch it this year.
If anyone doesn't have support, Quest have some live coverage and highlights. And if you need the full fix, youtube are streaming radio le mans.
Poor old Toyota!!!
Unbelievable scenes. They're having an absolute nightmare!
He's away again!!
The car in front...
...is a Porsche!!!
Not Toyota's year again
Still not at the half way point, what's the odds on the podium being an all LMP2 affair?
Wonder what the odds were on that yesterday..?! JEV likes flashing his lights doesn't he? Him and Brundle are in the same class car so not sure what his craic is. This is all new to me mind.
Make sure you're sat by the track at 3am ish though - not many people about at that time and seeing the cars fly past in the dark whilst drunk is great.
I couldn't believe how dead the place was at that time of morning when I first went, think I was still expecting huge crowds even at that unsociable time of day!
I think i must be in the minority that wants Porsche to beat Toyota 😆 I need to go again next year, watching it on tv just isn't the same 🙁
I would love to have gone. I know someone who was a mechanic for the WEC ford team, he didn't like all the traveling and he chucked his job at the end of May!
what's the odds on the podium being an all LMP2 affair?
Not far off that being a good possibility now!
#2 Porsche could still climb back up to 3rd with a clean run to the finish, 2nd would be a possibility too.
After years and years of the Audi's running around with monotonous reliability it's rather exciting with all the breakdowns spicing it up!
Car #1!!!
No oil pressure, whole lap on hybrid power?
It's been a good race but the LMP1s have been a disappointment
Unlucky with where it's happened on track again.. long way back round to the pits!
Sounds like they've exhausted the battery, risk it and run the engine on idle?
Would never want to wish any of the teams bad luck but I'm hoping the last? LMP1 Porsche slows for a full LMP2 podium now.
As mentioned on Eurosport this could change LMP1 racing in the future.
Crunching the numbers a delay of 10-15 minutes would mean a full LMP2 podium!!
EDIT: my timing screen has suddenly gone form the Porsche being 13 laps back to 2? Is that right?
Porsche may also nurse home their car to ensure it gets the double points for being the first LMP1 car.
No chance they'll nurse it home imo. Getting beaten by an LMP2 doesn't make for great marketing!
Yesterday afternoon I was thinking that it wouldn't take much to get an LMP2 victory one year - didn't see it coming this weekend
I think it's great that a LMP2 car might win, but a shame for WEC overall as these P1 cars are supposed to be the pinnacle of the series, with the simpler P2 cars showing up the big boys in this heat (although to be fair Toyota were unlucky last night)
These hybrids create a massive amount of heat, couple that with the high temps at this year's race and weaknesses are being found. Not necessarily in the hybrid system but the rest of the systems installed. Seeing as none of the top teams are idiots and the cars have run in the WEC reliably then that says they are pushing the limits of current technology.
I now have 90 mins to travel to my dad's house. The way this is going it could be completely different by the time I arrive 😀
Real shame the rebellion had to stop for the infringement, They have been quiet about the remaining Toyota and I wonder if it can make the podium.
I was going but, and yesterday I was a bit gutted but the heat looks a bit much for me.
Just turned Eurosport back on - the Porsche definitely doesn't look like it's being nursed!
After I wrote that they may nurse it their lap times came up on the screen! They are about 150 second behind so 15 laps to catch up, although maybe less with the amount of pitstops the LMP2 cars are having to make
Yeah can't see them holding on, but I really want them to!
As bad as it is I really want the Porsche to have a problem, maybe a flat just past the Dunlop bridge or something ...
but the heat looks a bit much for me.
There isn't much shade around the circuit and your tent becomes a furnace, too, so there's not much respite from the heat. Makes for some interesting smells too.
Barring a mechanical problem, it does look like the Porsche will catch up, unfortunately.
Nearly getting done 🙁
Massive battle between the Corvette and Aston, they're always at it every year 😀
It's the best thing happening at the moment, but the director keeps cutting away to unrelated stuff, like the Toyota that's in P9 coming in for a stop.
Suicide move at Indianapolis by the Aston.
is there anywhere online i can watch le mans?
My good god!
That's all I have to say...
Well done Aston 😀
Congratulations to Porsche and at least Toyota finished!
Brilliant end to the 24 hrs 🙂
Great finish by AM, real racing right there!
Extraordinary. Glad the Vette made the podium, what incredible racing from both of them.
Amazing drive by the Porsche #2, to come from second to last, to win, extraordinary!
Another great race. I think I enjoy the actual race more, watching at home, as you see more of it, but it's the overall experience, including the run up days to the race, the variety of cars in the camping areas and the general atmosphere that I miss.
Yeah it's a pretty awesome experience. My first Le Mans memory is being in the campsite watching a 911 GT2 doing some very very late testing on the runway on the Friday evening. Dusky, soaking runway, lights looked awesome!
Only been twice, but as it was '97 and '98 I struggle to convince myself that it would be as good going back now 😕
How has no one mentioned riding there it's a really nice ride from ouisteham.
legend - MemberYeah it's a pretty awesome experience. My first Le Mans memory is being in the campsite watching a 911 GT2 doing some very very late testing on the runway on the Friday evening. Dusky, soaking runway, lights looked awesome!
Only been twice, but as it was '97 and '98 I struggle to convince myself that it would be as good going back now
Shame you missed the loony car era 1988 to 1993, luckily for me my mother was living 3/4 hour south of Le Mans then so I had a great excuse to drive down & borrow her motor home.
Never under estimate the joy of you own toilet & fridge at such an event 🙂
Nasty sting for the #13 car
I have a significant birthday coming up next year and Mrs G is going to fund a trip to Le Mans for us, planning on staying in the cabin things and purchasing corporate Michelin hospitality.
Any tips, tricks or things to look out for?
Ps, super excited already and it's a year away,
G
Get a pocket radio each so you can listen to the Radio LeMans commentary. I'd imagine there are other ways of doing it now, but a wee radio means you're not having to use up your phone battery
Make sure you get to Arnage for night time as the cars come in at nearly 200mph through a flat right before a big brake. Buses operate but they're busy.
I take bikes as they are by far the best way of getting around although if space is an issue then you can hire them from a few places (ones at the entrance to Beauesejour campsite).
Another good spot to watch at dusk/night is at the old (not the new garages or kart club building) kart pit garages at the exit of Porsche Kerbs (It's Kart Nord). You get a great view of their speed.
Forest Esses are also good and has a screen. Pits at night is worth viewing.