My 24 Hours of Le Mans experience....

Is online today: http://www.autos.ca/motorsports-customization/feature-24-hours-of-le-mans/

Excellent article

Thanks so much

+1, great summary of events from a personal perspective.

so what happened to the one guy to die, i heard a couple of you guys talk about in a couple of other treads from lesly, but not details about what happened to him.

i forgot to say that was very well written and very cool to talk about some of the stuff you talked about in other treards. and still some very cool pics of the event.

Best details available so far: He touched a wet curb, back came out, he corrected a little too much and went off the track, unluckily into one of the mighty trees of the nostalgic tree line with a guard rail only about 4 inches in front of it.

Articles like this remind me that it takes talent to make a living as a writer and for that reason I'd starve. Great job!

Great write-up. Didn't expect a history lesson, very involving!

Wow, thanks so much guys! Coming from you, my GRM peers, that's high praise indeed. It was such a... big event, that the hardest part was deciding what to leave in, and what to leave out.

The Audi hospitality could be a story unto itself for a magazine on exclusive lifestyles - we could race karts (apparently there were several former Le Mans drivers out on the track) take helicopter rides, eat rack of lamb, have a massage or drink to our heart's content. None of that appealed to me, I was on visual and aural overload.

The paddock and pits were awesome - it was great to have the pass to get in and away from the crowds, which became overwhelming.

The crowds lining the track were character studies for sure. Lots of gallic faces. I was utterly gob-smacked at the sight of the ferris wheels. It never occurred to me until later to go up on it, dammit.

The drunken media rolling in all night and cursing in every language imaginable was a hoot, not to mention whoever set off the fireworks in the hall at 3 a.m.

There was a parade of previous winners just prior to the start, including the black 1966 GT40 MkII.

Just found this thread, and yes, Lesley, that article was VERY good. Thanks!

Fireworks in the hall?? To quote Girling Foss (although he was talking about the Germans), "They're a funny people, aren't they?"

In reply to Lesley:

In for later...

Lesley wrote: The Audi hospitality could be a story unto itself for a magazine on exclusive lifestyles - we could race karts (apparently there were several former Le Mans drivers out on the track) take helicopter rides, eat rack of lamb, have a massage or drink to our heart's content. None of that appealed to me, I was on visual and aural overload. The paddock and pits were awesome - it was great to have the pass to get in and away from the crowds, which became overwhelming.

I got to see the other side when I was at the historic Le Mans last summer. Let's just say that your access certainly made the event a lot more enjoyable. Just trying to get food was a lesson in French obstructiveness - and I like the French and speak the language.

Good article for sure. Too bad you didn't get more room, it could have gone on for a while :)

Oh man... at that point I'd been up well over 40 hours (couldn't sleep on the plane). I just lay on my back and laughed. The walls are paper thin (god, there sure is a variety to snoring) and there were no ceilings to the cubicles. Somewhere around 5 a.m. a guy totally lost his blob, screaming first in (Russian? Hungarian? ) then swearing about all the shiny happy people making noise. There was the sound of a German female (probably from Audi) trying to calm him down, then an absolute explosion of hysterical swearing from this idiot. Even putting the pillow over my head didn't drown him out, so I called out "Please be quiet, there are people trying to sleep!"

Well! After he screamed at me to "go berkeley yourself"... he began kicking the wall, which I discovered was at the head of my bed. My colleagues at this point were in the hall, in case he tried to do something. The german saint from Audi managed to calm him down somehow (on which I don't want to speculate much, as it got very quiet).

I could easily have gained 15 lbs. if I'd stuck around the hospitality areas, holy food porn.

Thanks Keith - I really could have written a lot more. I'm doing a centre spread feature for the Canadian Audi Magazine, so I'll be able to elaborate more (and probably work in more of the sybaritic nature of the Audi compound)

I hear you on the ordering frustration. While waiting for our train, we had a coffee at the airport hotel lobby, which took forever. It cost 8 euros, which I borrowed from a colleague. Later on, I purchased a 10 euro note to pay him back... it cost me $19.00 Canadian. Coffee was waaaaay better at the track.

Awesome read Lesley! You rock! Wish you had a regular column or feature in GRM (just your illustrations alone would be awesome for the mag, IMO).

So, for those of you dreaming/scheming about going themselves and don't have the connections to do it like Lesley, the wife and I are working on booking our own trip for next year and found this site:

http://www.gptours.com/Le-Mans-24-Hours/

For those of us who've not been to Europe before and don't speak the language it seems like a great (if not expensive) way to do the trip with enough hand-holding to make it enjoyable. We're going to visit friends in the UK while we're there, so we can spend a couple of weeks touring around London and Paris after the race :) even if all we can afford is sitting around people watching ;)

The fact that the included hotel sounds nice, helped win the Wife over as she's not a camper (I slept in the back of my minivan during the one and only 24-hour race at Portland which was awesome until the red-flag), but honestly I doubt very much I'll sleep much during the race.

Lesley, any tips or tricks to pass on to those of us who wish to follow in your footsteps?

Aww, thanks so much for your kind words. That package looks great! They've looked after a lot of your main worries, including food.

I was part of a very small group of Canadian media, just 5 of us. Everything is booked in advance, so I can't claim any savvy for our travel plans. We took the train from the airport, which is a very pleasant experience, and stayed right on the track, as apparently there isn't much in the way of accommodation in Le Mans. Other media I spoke with stayed in chalets.

If I do it again, I'll make sure that I take a pill on the plane. Really needed the energy, as sleep was impossible the first night of the race.

I'd also wear better shoes, because holy hell, my arches were sore that night from all the pavement walking.

If you're going to shoot pictures, your point & shoot just isn't going to cut it, other than for crowd and curiosity shots. I really needed the telephoto lens I borrowed.

A map and a schedule - I got turned around a couple of times trying to find my way back from the paddock - the place is beyond huge. We were given them upon arrival, but I promptly left them in my room. I also wished I'd availed myself of the Audi corner shuttle, to see some of the far outreaches of the course.

Sunscreen for sure... even though it was cool and overcast, my forehead and nose are flaking. Some of the guys I traveled with wore cargo pants to keep all their stuff in and leave their hands free. I carried a camera bag/knapsack and a jacket with multiple pockets, as once you leave the grandstand area, the grounds are red dirt and you won't want to put a nice bag or purse down to take a picture.

Go up on the ferris wheel! Why on earth I didn't do that is beyond me, but I'm still kicking myself. :-)

I'd recommend the Flexotels from Travel Destinations. That's where we stayed - they're closer to the track than almost every hotel (unless you're a guest of Audi), less expensive and a nice compromise between camping and paying big bucks. The staff was very helpful, even driving us to the nearest wifi (at McDonalds!) so we could check in for our flight the next morning.

http://www.lemansrace.com/deptcontent/mobile-rooms-on-circuit/91/

Le Mans is really a British race, it's just held in France It's easy to take the train to/from Charles De Gaulle airport, and the tram will ferry you right to the track. We walked from there to our Flexotel easily.

Food is going to be a hassle. It's a monopoly inside the track, and they don't care. At the Classic, food availability was poor, lines were long and there were many head-banging moments.
"This is a small coffee, I paid for a large"
"That is what the machine makes"
"But the cup has a line here for small and here for large. It only comes up to small. I paid for a large" (this is a commemorative cup printed for the event - you have to stand in a long line that is hidden to get your 1 euro deposit back)
shrug
"I want the coffee I paid for"
shrug, walks away and hides
...I don't leave...
comes back, presses the button on the machine, gives me my large coffee

The track is enormous. Huge. You'll never see it all on foot, really.

Get a grandstand ticket. It's awesome watching the start and it gives you a place to get out of the rain and watch the pits.

Keith Tanner wrote: I'd recommend the Flexotels from Travel Destinations. That's where we stayed - they're closer to the track than almost every hotel (unless you're a guest of Audi), less expensive and a nice compromise between camping and paying big bucks. The staff was very helpful, even driving us to the nearest wifi (at McDonalds!) so we could check in for our flight the next morning. http://www.lemansrace.com/deptcontent/mobile-rooms-on-circuit/91/ Le Mans is really a British race, it's just held in France It's easy to take the train to/from Charles De Gaulle airport, and the tram will ferry you right to the track. We walked from there to our Flexotel easily. Food is going to be a hassle. It's a monopoly inside the track, and they don't care. At the Classic, food availability was poor, lines were long and there were many head-banging moments. "This is a small coffee, I paid for a large" "That is what the machine makes" "But the cup has a line here for small and here for large. It only comes up to small. I paid for a large" (this is a commemorative cup printed for the event - you have to stand in a long line that is hidden to get your 1 euro deposit back) *shrug* "I want the coffee I paid for" *shrug, walks away and hides* *...I don't leave... * *comes back, presses the button on the machine, gives me my large coffee* The track is enormous. Huge. You'll never see it all on foot, really. Get a grandstand ticket. It's awesome watching the start and it gives you a place to get out of the rain and watch the pits.

Yeah, the flexotels were, um, removed from consideration fairly quickly by SWMBO. I'm not planning on sleeping anyway, so as long as she's happy I can hang out and watch the race while she heads back to the room :)

As to the staff and the treatment of their customers, sounds like par for the course with most pro-races I've been to, whether IMSA/ALMS, Indy/Champ, etc. the difference is the language. They all gouge their customers because they can and figure that most won't do anything about it. Sucks as you'd think the series would want to make sure their customers are better cared for, but there is a lot of politics, contracts and unions involved in those deals. ALMS did the best to take care of the fans with free pit passes for kids and cheap pit passes for the adults, etc.

The hotel on your package tour looks like your typical upscale European – I love them. The atmosphere, those weird divided duvets, the high ceilings... and the breakfasts (I have mega food intolerances, and just love a swank traditional Euro hotel brekkie - everything from fruit to that muesli/yogurt thingy to smoked salmon).

Lesley wrote: The hotel on your package tour looks like your typical upscale European – I love them. The atmosphere, those weird divided duvets, the high ceilings... and the breakfasts (I have mega food intolerances, and just love a swank traditional Euro hotel brekkie - everything from fruit to that muesli/yogurt thingy to smoked salmon).

Yeah, that made the wifey happy :). She doesn't eat land-based meat so food is tricky at times when traveling. Let me tell you about finding food for her when traveling in her native Philippines, the land where pork goes to die and chickens cross the road to be fried or adobo'd ;). Thank goodness for their love of seafood!

Backpacks and cargo pants are the normal attire for us. So we'll make sure to get some extra walking in this next year with some good shoes in preparation. Wish we had a decent camera, we'll see what Santa brings ;)

Lesley wrote: Is online today: http://www.autos.ca/motorsports-customization/feature-24-hours-of-le-mans/

"Not me.

I’m here on a mission. For me, the 24 Hours of Le Mans represents the ultimate pageant of motorsports as art; and there are several iconic scenes I’m determined to capture with my lens."

Yeah, I was hooked at that one. Well done. Protip from an old Corner Worker (even though I've never worked Le Mans)..UV penetrates clouds. The Sun doesn't care what the atmosphere is doing.

Thanks :-)

I was surprised how much sun I got on my face. Fortunately, it was a fairly brisk day requiring jackets. All those crowds and smells would have been overwhelming if it had been stinkin' hot.

sounds like you had a blast. what media are you with lesley?

I am envy your experience, but you have worked long and hard to get there. Good for you. Maybe one day in the way future I will get to go to LeMans, for now just have to settle for Petite at Road Atl.