Classic Le Mans 2014

[bigcat1]

Hi all,
can anyone give any general advice about the above event. Ticket prices havent been issued yet, but I'm definitely going! I'm going in the 3.4 Mk2 with a mate whose in-laws have a house fairly close to the track, so I'm sorted for accommodation.
I'm hoping to park the car in the classics enclosure, but general info about the event is rather short. Most forums I've looked at appear to be about the best roads to avoid police!!
Anyway, if anyone has been to this bi-annual event before, I would be pleased to get some general advice.
I was at Silverstone for the classic and that was brilliant, so I'm hoping Le Man will be as good!

[Brakebuster]

dont the club run a trip to this event ,

but unsure about any of the details

BB

[raysearles]

You should talk to Simon Cronin, he is the Club's Tours Director. As BB says the JEC have runs trips to this in the past but I do not think Simon has yet committed to anything for 2014. he should be able to advise on the costs/form/etc

His contact details can be found in the magazine or on the website under the Tours section ( you will find it in the blurb for the remaining tours for 2013...

Regards

[oldtimer]

A must go to place.
I go with her indoors and take the caravan and usually stay some extra time in France after the event.

I go Portsmouth / Caen about 5/6 hours I think, can't remember. Then 125 miles down to Le Man.
Can't get the map out just now but about half way there is the first turning right (south) and a beautiful fast N country road, or drive further on a bit and go down the motor way. Not so much fuzz on the country road

If you have accommodation, that is the biggest problem over.

Get some decent road maps of Le Man. A main road comes up from the south to the City.
To the left(west )is the Airport and to the right is the track. The main office is to the north west and outside of the track where I bought my tickets on one occasion.

Start your research early to work out costs!!??**!

Tickets are available from an office,I think in Kent, which I used last time

Come back if you need more but I bet others will join in

[bigcat1]

Thanks very much for the replies, guys. I've already booked the ferry- Portsmouth to Caen and we are sorted with the route as my friend has been to his in-laws house many times.
I'm keeping an eye on a couple of web sites regarding the actual tickets. As we already have accoms and ferry sorted, we just need the actual tickets for the event.
I want to get the car into the classics enclosure and I know there will be a form to apply for this. I'm also thinking of trying to get on the saturday morning laps of the track. I know its expensive, but this is a once in a lifetime deal (or maybe not if I win the lottery!)

I wondered if anyone had experience of the actual set up at the track? We plan to get there early Saturday morning and stay for the entire 24 hours of the racing. But I wonder if you can return to the car once its parked?

'Fortune favours the prepared mind' as they say. The more I can find out about the event beforehand the happier I will be!

I'll try and drop Mr Cronin an E mail to see what the club is doing. I might be able to get 'the motor' into the club enclosure.

Cheers

[retrognome]

You may not know that the twenty four hours is split into different age related grids, about six in all, each grid racing for around fifty minutes. After the first sessions the whole thing begins again. This means most cars appear three times at least, unless of course they retire, which many do. For the full flavour a visit to Arnage and Mulsanne is a must, especially at dusk or dawn, as this part of the circuit relates most to how things used to be. Viewing from the public grandstand opposite the pits and start grid also gives a great view. Buses run throughout. On Sunday afternoon one race begins with drivers sprinting to their cars, re enacting the Sixties. Wherever you park there is no problem returning to your car, but remember parking is not included in the ticket price. The biggest problem is fitting everything into the time span, but I suggest downloading the map of the circuit from the official website.

[ChrisDixon]

I'm also keen to find out about infield parking and posted on a couple of forums but I'm no further on. I know there are organised packages that include parking but none of these suit my itinerary and budget. I do know that some of the French car clubs get an allocation so perhaps a contact in the French equivalent of the JEC might be able to help? There is a JEC enclosure but it seems restricted to those booking the entire weekend package through a travel company.

[jBlackwell]

Might be worth calling Simon Cronin who organises the tours and is leading the JEC trip there in 2014. If there is a possibility other members can join the enclosure then he would be the man to answer that question. Also he has been going to the event for a very long time, he may know something or someone who can help.

James

[ChrisDixon]

As the event site is now live I found the club and private entry instructions here:
http://www.lemansclassic.com/en/inscriptions

Aside from pre'66 with a long list of exceptions, the main criteria is your car must be in excellent condition! You don't seem to be able to book it online so you need to post the form attaching a photo of your car. You also use this form to book the parade lap if you want to drive the circuit.

[bigcat1]

Many thanks for all of the replies on this. Its all booked and paid for now, including track laps. I think these laps might be 'fun' judging by some of the nutters shown on U tube, etc. It looks pretty much like a free for all. I'm going to go steady and hope not to end up wrapped around the Armco like Steve McQueen! You can see that I've been undertaking essential study for this event.
Anyway, I'm going to do it as one of those 'once in a lifetime' things.
I'm parking in the 'collector's enclosure' as a private entry. I hope to see some of you there! I will have a look in at the JEC enclosure to see who's there.

'Bon Chance!' if you're also going!

[regl7]

Did you have Good trip bigcat?

Also how was the JEC trip?

Pretty good/excellent event overall and want to go back in 2 years time. Loads to see and hear.

We survived the showers mainly at camp under a big event shelter and rested from sun at other times. Drove down and camped with a couple of Porsches and a estate car with lots of stuff plus mine, so lots of tent space and cooking stuff.

XK140 racer on trailer and another XK140 next to it in ferry queue a few spaces behind but not many Jaguars on roads to & from. Saw the new Project 7 car driving around the in field Bugatti circuit where the clubs park and loads of porsches, ferraris and lamborghinis etc in car parks driving to and from circuit plus and the odd XKRS and a few Mk 2s. Lots of e types inside the circuit and racing and a few D Types.

Thought Saturday was largely wasted as 1930s starts (group 1) 5pm ish (loads of dry track time wasted) with the race cars in the paddocks til then and then we left early evening as had a 3 to 4 hour stint at Mulsanne corner mostly in the dark for GT40s, cobras, 917 and e types, 935s and lolas etc (4, 5 & 6) later. Fantastic see/hear them accelerate up straight towards Indianapolis. Quite a lot of saftey car laps as weather a bit showery. Sunday am a bit wet and missed Cs and Ds on track as can't be there all the time.

Watching action around Dunlop curves pretty excellent too (couldn't get tickets for the 2 stands there).

Some of the club displays plus paddocks for the groups and Ferrari display excellent - quite a lot of mixed car clubs weren't as good as the carparks though.

Pootled down Mulsanne (chicanes closed) and through Indianapolis (best public road corners in world) to Arnage and then up to just before Porsche curves a few times early on Monday and with others on way home.

Endurance spectating event as arrived Thursday and viewed paddocks, trade stands & car clubs on Friday from 2pm when opened and then some of qualifications. Didn't stay for all of those or free practice. Long trips on Saturday and Sunday to main site visits plus Mulsanne corner trips and camping shopping etc. Pretty hard keeping 3 cars together to find right parking on Friday and at other times as parking not that well signed as there were 3 or more red carparks. Long time getting in Saturday as roads pretty busy and also heard of long queues for club car parking access getting inside circuit.

Do need to make the most of Friday (grandstands along start finish straight free for qualifications and practice) when you go as race cars on circuit from 3pm til early hours of Saturday morning as no practice for them on Saturday just racing from 5pm Saturday til 5pm Sunday only gives 3 slots of an hour each for each category and weather or a spill can cut these down to 15-20 mins of racing per slot. Lots of empty track time on Saturday till 5pm - Bentley club track lap and half good but saw them assembling at Mulsanne but seemed ages 30 mins or more between each car club and the kids in the small petrol models took ages .

Good campsite away from circuit and easy to get to shops etc verses a bit of delay getting there and need to time visits, plus had a lot of space. Camping closer outside of the club supported on track campsites didn't look so good but would see more as closer to action. If it had been sunny all the time the heat and finding shade would have been an issue during the race and then the grandstand tickets we had would have been used more. Odd waking up to hear GT40s etc on Mulsanne about 7 miles away early Sunday am as thought I'd fallen asleep at track for a few moments.

Paddock tickets a must as great to see the race cars up close and I also think the Ferrari display (25-30 cars) in there with 250 GTOs etc in the paddock bit. The official Mulsanne corner view point took quite a bit of hunting out on Saturday morning. Did enjoy driving driving down and back from Kent and the trips to and from circuit as so much to see on road and in car parks.

Great to see and hear the cars being raced and see all the other cars there or driving to and from.

[bigcat1]

Hi,
sorry for the delay in a reply. I thought I would add a few comments about this event to 'finish' it off.
Firstly, let me say that I had a brilliant time! The adventure was recounted in the September 2014 issue.
The whole event was really well done and I would definitely go again.

I have a few comments relating to my experience and some things I'd change.

If I was going again I would either pay to camp so that I could have a proper place to kip through the depths of Saturday night; or leave the circuit at midnight and go back to my accommodation to sleep and return on Sunday morning.

Spending the whole night there left me worn out on Sunday morning and meant I couldnt 'hack' staying at the track until the end.

I would definitely do the track laps again. Its quite stressful but really is great fun. I sometimes think I should have gone faster, but then I remember seeing some smashed up cars on trailers and I realise that I was wise to keep my cool. The joining and leaving the track organisation wasnt brilliant and it took ages to get back to our parking area as the cars leaving the track were crossing over the queue of cars joining! the Mk2's temperature gauge needle was at 110 degrees and I thought we would have to stop. Luckily we were able to keep going and all was well.

I would probably take more money as there were some great motoring items to buy such as books, clothing, although a bit pricey.

It has inspired me to do some more events such as the Spa classic and the Circuit des Ramparts at Angouleme.

I enjoyed driving the Jaguar on the continent and didnt experience any problems.

If you are thinking about doing this event in 2016- do it you wont regret it!