Le Mans 24 Hours 2013 1St Time

[Rusty Nuts]

Hello All,

Thinking of going to Le Mans for the first time and looking to book with this company:- http://www.onsite-events.com/lemans.shtml has anybody been with them or have any experiences they would like to share i.e. do's and dont's. After looking at thier website I phoned and spoke to a chap who seemed quite knowlegable and helpful, but thought I would tap this fountain of knowledge before parting with any hard cash.

I just can't do the camping thing, therefore this is why we chose this optoin.

Thanks for looking.

[Norman Verona]

Shinda, I've been to Le Mans many times over many years.

My better half wouldn't rough it at all but we always camped. Tent, chairs and sufficient clothing were stuffed into the boot and held on the back (no spare) with bungees. The point is that the tent is only used to sleep, the correct camp sites have shower blocks and decent toilets. All food is available at the restaurants which are cheap when compared to UK food but expensive for France.

The camaraderie at the camp sites is really good and it's as much fun as the race.

We ought to organise a club trip but I suspect we wouldn't get the numbers to do it properly. We used to get 100-125 CARS (about 180 people) on the L7C trip.

Let me ask.

[Rusty Nuts]

Hello Norman,

I think the first time around I would like it to be as smooth as possible for all concerned. The club event sounds like a terrific idea.

[Blatman]

If you want it smooth, don't leave organisation to others!

Bus rides from the hotels to the track could easily take in excess of 30 mins if not more and unless they run 24/7, you're stuck with their schedule or getting cabs (yeah, right!) for moving around the place. So forget the bus and take the car. There are likely to be 250,000 - 275,000 people there for the race but getting around by car isn't as bad as you would imagine. London rush hours are worse, except for when the race ends. Then it's baaaad unless you know the "short-cuts"...

Food and drink is everywhere and universally good. Hot running water is easy to come by as long as you don't want a shower in the morning. Wait 'til early afternoon or just before bed time.

Camp in Beausejoir and there is a free bus from the front of the camp site to the track with several stop offs.

And be prepared to walk. Even going from Terte Rouge to the Ford Chicane will take 20-30 mins with no crowd. When there are 70,000 people in the way it takes a whole lot longer.

And you'll want the car at the circuit otherwise you won't be able to get to Mulsanne / Indianapolis / Arnage, where, if you have a camping pass, parking is free

Oh yeah, take a torch. Absolutely essential equipment.

And there are many threads on here already about going to Le Mans