le Mans 2006

[dhdove]

Simon
Welcome home I'm glad you're car behaved.
Was all that booze going out or coming back?!
Love the photo of the car side on in the dusk under the tree, it would grace a Jaguar brochure........if you remove the tent in photoshop
Best Wishes
DH Dove

[SimonR]

Your photos capture the event well... Well done with the action shots.
I assume the weather stayed good too.


Yeah, I've quite a few more photos to stick in Photobucket in the fullness of time. The weather was superb; the first might there was a huge thunderstorm but then the sun came out and it was hot and sunny the whole time.


Which racing team did you support - Aston, Corvette?
Did you camp on-site ?
Did you stay up to watch the race all night ?
Was there English radio commentary ?
Best places to watch from ?
Any handy tips to get the maximum out of the occasion, if I can go another year?


Of the GT cars, I went out supporting Aston teams because of the UK and Jaguar link, although I have to say that I did admire the brashness of the Corvettes, too. They sounded simply awesome.

Of the Le Mans Prototype cars, I was suporting Car 22, Rollcentre Racing because that team is from just down the road from me. I also backed the MG Lola because of MG and Lola is very close to me too.

We camped in the Vert area which is not far from the Dunlop Bridge. The camp site was very good with decent shower and WC facilities, too. The campsites were basically little Britains - each was a sea of St. George's Crosses with some amazing motors parked out in them. In total I saw 4 XJs-S, a couple of E-Types, some '40s and other assorted XJ6s. Perhaps the nicest Jags there were some previous Le Mans cars - XK140s, D-types and C-Types.

I have to admit that I actually got a bit smashed during the race. Stayed up until about 5:30am and then fell asleep due to having drunk too many Stellas in Bar Terte Rouge. I was quite surprised that I could get any sleep at all with the sounds of the cars hammering round the track. Soon woke up though and rejoined the race at about 1pm.

Radio Le Mans was broadcast througout the event so we took a radio with us and tuned in for the English commentary. It's a great radio station and is only enhanced by the Presenters getting knackered in the small hours and saying daft stuff all night

The best places that I found to watch from were off the side of the Dunlop Bridge (great for sound, too), Terte Rouge which is just before the long Mulsanne Straight, Mulsanne Corner (quite a walk!) and also from the Ferris wheel where you can see all the pits and the pit straight. Really there is no shortage of good spots to catch the action.

I'll come back with some handy hints later - I'm off to bed now

[dodgy]

Hi JulesJag,

I took my XJS to Le Mans this year too. Its a 95 4.0L in Red. I did return a flash from an XJS in the same colour as yours that was in the traffic around Arnarge. Glad to hear you had a good time. Me too, what I can remember of it

Dodgy

[SimonR]

I took my XJS to Le Mans this year too. Its a 95 4.0L in Red. I did return a flash from an XJS in the same colour as yours that was in the traffic around Arnarge. Glad to hear you had a good time. Me too, what I can remember of it

Dodgy

Hi Dodgy, actually I was me who you saw in the blue XJ-S at Arnarge. What chaos that was, on the roads between different camping areas around the circuit - but great fun too. We had just nipped out for a cruise up the Mulsanne Straight and then were on our way back to the camp site.

Anyway, glad you enjoyed it, I think it made quite a difference to take a decent motor - I guess your S was as admired and appreciated as mine?

Now is the time to book for Le Mans 2007!

Btw: A few tips for those thinking of going next year:

-Book early I used www.justtickets.co.uk
-Look at a map and book camping in an area nearby the circuit - if it's a long walk it becomes a real hassle aparently.
-Take a classic/unusal car
-Take a decent groundsheet because the campsites are quite uneven!
-Use the Auchan supermarket which is just a little further away than the Carrefours (SP?) one in Le Mans but is a *lot* better and the toilets are nicer
-Make sure you are around at least the day before the race to have a look round the pits
-carry your ticket with you at all times so you can go outside the circuit if you want to
-Have at least one beer at Terte Rouge Bar during the race
-Wander down to the roundabout at the bottom of the Vert camping area on the day before the race to watch the madness that ensues.
- Take a barbeque and buy the crevettes that are always on offer at Auchan during the race weekend (apparently).
- Take a French dictionary if your french isn't too hot (at least so you can differentiate between the vacuum-packed meat for humans and the dog food which are in the same place in the supermarket and look identical. Eek!)
- Get out and about as much as possible and soak up the atmosphere.
That's it for now...!

[JulesJag]

Hi Simon,
Some useful stuff there. Thanks for the tips.
All the best, Julian

[dodgy]

Hi Simon,

The traffic going in your direction was awful. I was heading for the SuperQ because of all the road works on the way to Carrefour. We ended up going to Carrefour after superQ as they did not have what we wanted and we did not want to sit in the traffic you were in. We camped at Houx Annex so it was about the same distance to either. The XJS did get plenty of glances however I camped with some JEC members and 2 C types, a D type and 2 mark 2's do tend to attract more attention

Cheers

looking forward to 2007

Dodgy

[JulesJag]

Hi Simon,

I've been looking at the justtickets.co.uk website you recommended. They list loads of different ticket categories which you can buy.

Which type of ticket do you recommend - General Enclosure ?

Do you need to upgrade to go in the grandstands ?

How do you go about booking a camping pitch/ or car parking ?

Thanks, Julian

[SimonR]

Hi Julian,

Here are a few answers to your questions:



Which type of ticket do you recommend - General Enclosure ?


General Enclosure allows access to the race circuit for the whole week...you need this to get in.


Do you need to upgrade to go in the grandstands ?



Grandstands are extra, but your tickets are only valid for Saturday and Sunday. Wednesday to Friday the grandstands are a free for all.


How do you go about booking a camping pitch/ or car parking ?


Just Tickets sell tickets for all campsites or lay-bys as they are sometimes called, but book early (I've already booked for next year!).

Finally, www.beermountain.com is a good resource and explains where all the different campsites are.

Hope that helps you a bit.

SR.

[JulesJag]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the info and handy website link

Regards, Julian