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PAST EVENTS PAGE 43

LE MANS TRIP JUNE 2001

Approximately 10 days before the event several of us got in contact as we had all said we would visit Le Mans this year. However there were two problems - we hadn't got a ferry booking and found that all the camp sites were full. With a combined team effort four cars were booked on a Sea France ferry for the Thursday 12.30 lunchtime sailing and a chateaux camp site was found about 8 miles away from the track. Yes - we were in business!

Mike and Alan drove down to Loughborough on the Wednesday evening and fortified by one of Liz's stews we ventured to one of the locals to meet Richard and Rachael. A good start was made to the 'holiday' and we returned home to a reasonably early night.

Up at around 6am the following day final packing was completed to the three MR’S and around 7.00am we set off - arranging to meet the fourth member - John Viveash at the Maidstone service station at 10.30am. The usual stop/start occurred on the M1 around Junction 10 but a good trip round the northern part of the M25 and no hold-ups on the Dartford bridge enabled us to reach the meeting point 40 minutes early - to find that John had arrived some minutes earlier!

We ventured into the service area and had some sustenance and one or two purchases of first aid kits and fire extinguishers filled the cars up with petrol and set off to Dover.

Our tickets had been paid in advance and so no waiting was necessary and we quickly joined the line of cars and chatted to fellow passengers.

Time to load up and a quick drive up the moveable ramps inside the ferry's belly saw us on the rear deck ( One of us - no names - is prone to sea sickness and will never ever forget the trip from St Malo to Portsmouth (9 hours) when the sea was so rough they closed all the cafes and duty free shops!)

The crossing thank goodness was very smooth despite the usual stiff sea breeze in the Channel. We all alighted in our cars and stopped just before the port exit and relayed our proposed route to each other. The journey then went fairly smoothly with various cars taking it in turns to lead. The French roads were very good and the traffic compared to UK was very light. With only about 30km remaining the author was intimidated by a large Mercedes right up his rear bumper. A quick spurt on the throttle to shake him off but no he insisted on trying to read the manufacturer of my boot lock and could not overtake as the road was a dual carriageway but only one narrow lane each side. At last we came to a roundabout and sure enough the MR2's cornering capability combined with the acceleration left him standing and it took him quite a long time to catch up even though he must have been doing 120mph+. I signalled him to overtake (standard road now) and he flashed his lights and sped past. This little incident left me about 5km ahead of the rest so I stopped at the next layby and waited. After 20mins or so still no sign of them so I turned round thinking they must have taken the alternative route at the roundabout. When no sign of them appeared I then decided to make my own way to the chateaux camp site and this took longer than anticipated due to narrow country roads, a dirth of signposts and the rapidly fading light. At last I arrived at our destination to find that they had already set up their tents and were enjoying the benefits of a licensed bar on the front patio of the chateaux!

We put our tent by way of car headlights and torches and settled down for the night ( after being refreshed by the liquid sold at the bar)

The following day we made our way to Le Mans and found the main road that is adjacent to the circuit where two of the four coloured car parks/camping sites existed. We duly paid our equivalent of £35 that gave us entry in to the blue car park and the track for the whole weekend. A wander round the inside of the track where you could watch all the cars being prepared from the pit lane looking into the 'garages'. The most popular being the Bentley and MG areas - there were 80,000 Brits at this event! The UK press were full of the return of Bentleys to Le Mans after such a long absence - what they didn't say was that Bentleys were owned by Audi and guess what - they had Audi engines installed!

There were various activities of sorts on the track and it got you into the Le Mans feeling when you could go to any stand and watch the the vintage 'racing'.

An enjoyable day was further enhanced by Alan's evening hot chili and rice - washed down later with refreshments from the bar.

Saturday was again murky and after breakfast we then began to realise how many people came to this event as it took the best part of two hours to make our way to the blue car park. We had decided to spend some time watching the race from the Virage Porsche curve.The noise at just after 4pm was terrific and sure enough some four/five minutes later we saw the leaders flashing down the incline, braking like no tomorrow and doing a 100+ mph controlled corner slide. Of course two of the Audis were in front and off they all went followed by about 20 Porsche 911's in the GT4 class. The sky had been reasonably blue at the start but ominous black clouds that were on the horizon quickly began to fill the sky. Sure enough after about 15 minutes the heavens opened and was I thankful for my big golf umbrella ( so were one or two others). This sudden change in grip on the track brought about a series of accidents and the safety car came out with the usual procession following. After a period of about an hour , the rain eased somewhat and the track being cleared of cars and car bits, the racing began again. It was soon obvious that the downpour had affected the electrics on some of the cars and pit stops became more frequent.

John and Mike had agreed to stay up for the whole night and went off to buy sustenance for the coming vigil - at the same time they tried to bring the two cars down from the original car park to the one behind our viewing area but weren't able to get in so took them to another car park only about 1/4 mile away ( The circuit is over 8 miles long!).

At about 7.00pm, dark clouds began to appear again and Alan and I ( the two more mature ones) decided to retire to more comfortable surroundings. I donated my golfers wet suit and brolly to the young ones and we set off to the car. Unfortunately about half way the heavens opened again and we both got really drenched. The outer clothes were shoved into the boot and the heater went on full clothes drying mode all the traffic jammed way to the campsite. We then proceeded to shower and change and eventually retired about 11pm.

The following morning John’s car was missing so it meant that they had stayed up all night. Here is Mike's story…

Stuart and Alan retired to the comforts of the chateau at around 7.00pm and left me and John to battle the weather into the night. As the track is so long it is necessary to jump onto one of the many shuttle buses that carries spectators to different parks of the track. Bag full of beers we left “Virage Porsche” and headed up track towards “Arnage”. Here we witnessed a spectacular shunt at 100mph by one of the Audi’s. From here we moved on to the famous “Mulsane” part of the circuit. At 205mph this has got to be one of the greatest spectacles in motor racing.

At 2am we left Mulsane and caught the shuttle back to the start/finish area and headed for the fairground attractions and had a ride on the famous Le Mans big wheel. From the top you got a great view of the massive track and a unique aerial view of the cars.

At 4am we decided to make camp near a giant screen just to the left of the pit exit to watch the rest of the nights action. We had a great view of the big brake discs glowing orange at braking point just before “Dunlop”. We stayed there until daylight and then headed back to Virage Porsche where we had arranged to meet Stuart and Alan for the days racing. Alan and I managed to park close to our pre-arranged meeting point and it wasn't long before John and Mike joined us - not looking too bad considering, and they regaled us with the above. They also described the view of the cars during the night when the brake disks glowed red hot as they slowed for the corners!

We then watched the end of the race, disappointed that the MG's hadn't fared so well. This followed the by now usual trek back to the chateau when we treated ourselves to a meal in the camp site restaurant - home cooking washed down with a cylindrical glass urn - filled with about four pints of local brew - complete with pouring tap!

The following morning it was all hands to tent dismantling and car packing. Due to the slight errors by no name mentioned on the journey here, we decided to split the journey back to Calais into four quarters and each of us memorised our section, (bear in mind that there were four of us in four cars with no navigators sitting in the passenger seats). The homeward journey across France went almost perfectly with only the smallest hiccup occurring in Rheims. For over 250 miles we managed to stay in convoy and all felt like singing the theme tune from 'The Italian Job' as we approached Calais. We had made excellent progress with not one misfire let alone breakdown. A quick trip to the large - wait for it - TESCO supermarket to cram in what little space was left in the cars our various selections of duty free. (one of our party had left his passenger seat in the UK for this purpose)

A pleasant late afternoon crossing the channel followed by a quick snack at our trip starting place - the Maidstone service station and cheerios and all in agreement that it was certainly a definite for next year.

Here is Johns contribution..

Nightlife at Le Mans!

And so, the intrepid adventurers, Mik and John, ventured forth into the night, to experience one of the greatest motor racing spectacles on the planet, determined to survive the 24 hours… Armed to the teeth with a portable chair, umbrella, waterproofs, cameras, a huge rug, some rather odd-tasting baguettes and as many beers as we could carry! We set off, it was time to move on from our daytime pitch at Porsche curves… the night was young, and we had a whole circuit to explore! We needed to get to the next corner… A fair trek but it didn’t seem too far… It was tempting to steal a bike like some French lunatic had done earlier before the start of the race. He tried to ride the stolen mini-moto round the circuit but was chased by the circuit gendarmerie! He actually managed to evade them for a while before he was cornered, smashed the bike into the Armco, and was bundled into the security van! So, we walked… for what seemed like miles! After drinking beers to relieve our feet and dumping off unnecessary inventory we arrived at Arnage to discover a free shuttle bus running between the corners! Arnage is a treacherous 90-degree right hander. You see the back of the cars as the turn into it and the noise of the exhausts as they blip the thottle for the downshifts is something else! We took the bus round the rest of the circuit, sampling French barbeque hotdogs and witnessing the awesome speeds at the Mulsanne straight. We returned to the start-finish straight. At night the atmosphere here is electric, but it’s not too crowded, so you can sit and watch wherever you like. We chose a spot right in from of the large screen which gives you a live report on the whole race. It also lets you see the pit work in detail before the cars roar out in front of you! There are loads of bars and stalls around this area, so after donning a funky Le Mans hat to keep warm we set off towards the lights and sounds of the funfair, which is huge! It is set next to the track, by the S bends after the straight. There is a massive big wheel, which is a good opportunity to see the entire track, or just tease the French girl sitting opposite! It does give a good impression of just how vast the circuit is, as you can see the lights from distant corners. The funfair even had a roller coaster and the usual dodgems and spinny rides as well as some rather seedy strip tents! There was a stand selling these doughnutty lumps, which the serving girls proceeded to smother with sugar and chocolate sauce!! mmmmmm!!! c'est tre bon, as they said on the wrap, must be a French delicacy! More like very sickly, I had to save some for breakfast! We took up a spot at the start finish straight to watch the race into the morning, but I couldn’t resist going back for another look at those intriguing tents…To finish off this event here are Alan's snippets which best of all describe the highs/lows of our excursion…

1) The getting there

Liz Kynoch's meal at Loughborough the night before 'the big haul' -lovely -thanks Liz!

The horrific traffic on the M1 south at 7am -bed is infinitely preferable!

Foreboding at Calais - what is driving going to be like?

Pleasant surprise - French are speed lunatics - but there is a method in their madness - gets easy!

Toll roads - brilliant - not expensive - and mainly empty! High speed cruise adopted -de rigour - and 'when in Rome!'

Minor roads - trickier - filled by British lunatics attempting to destroy their TR6's etc.

Navigation - more difficult near Le Mans - definite need for better maps and mobile comms. (The Chairman having lost himself out cornering a Merc and turning up at campsite 3 hours late! Shame about the bieres he missed!)

2) At Le Mans

Chateau campsite - brilliant - if it hadn't rained so much. Super facilities - bar, bistro, toilet etc- highly recommended.

Accessing circuit - can be horrific - but we found some good routes from camp-site.

Circuit - big and magical

Cost - minor cf F1 - £35 for 3 days

Pit lane access (Fri) - excellent

Toilet facilities - quality OK - but very limited and only near grandstands.

Round-track viewing - good but dispersed and minimal facilities. Toilets appeared zero - be prepared for short trip into abundantly close woods - go Gallic - but take loo paper - and Imodium to taste!

The race - brilliant - but wet! Younger members survived the night on the circuit, elders retired to a safe distance to get some sleep.

Hints at the circuit (for next year)--

1) Avoid Blue like the plague.

Get parking and camping for one tent at one or more of the good ones -to give us options through the night.

3) Take or buy folding seat and weather gear.

4) Downsides

1) Distance -especially for us northerners (1500m trip.) That said - its a 'must do' trip - at least once.

2) Weather - surely not this bad next year!

3) Navigation/comms - easily solved

5) Upsides

1) The event - magical.

2) The total experience - great despite the weather.

3) The Club camaraderie in wet adversity. Take 4 guys of wildly different ages, backgrounds, and personalities and throw them together - and some conflict could be confidently predicted. Put the common factors of MK1 enthusiasm and the Le Mans experience - and camaraderie prevails - to make a 'real good bash'.

4) The learning for next years trip.

5) The Calais 'booze run' -even in MK1's. (Take your passenger seat out if possible!)

6) Conclusions

1) Great experience

2) Good potential for ace trip to include vineyards - even females.

3) We now know what to go for - and avoid.

4) Would I go next year - you bet!