And I'm back from Le Mans again! Brilliant year - Toyota snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when their car broke down 1 minute 44 seconds from the end of the race, letting in Porsche. On the downside, crap weather and a six hour delay at Eurotunnel, but I'll forget about that in a few weeks.
The Friday night gig was off the scale - helped by a very enthusiastic crowd. Looking forward to next year but not sure if the bar will still be there.
And I'm back from Le Mans again! Brilliant year - Toyota snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when their car broke down 1 minute 44 seconds from the end of the race, letting in Porsche. On the downside, crap weather and a six hour delay at Eurotunnel, but I'll forget about that in a few weeks.
The Friday night gig was off the scale - helped by a very enthusiastic crowd. Looking forward to next year but not sure if the bar will still be there.
If Saga Lout doesn't I do. With the current format being replaced in 2021, the entry at the top level of the race didn't really challenge Toyota this year and Alonso won his second title after two punctures in the last hour for the other Toyota which had led from the start. The best racing was found in the GTE pro category with Corvette, Ferrari and Ford GT providing for a really challenging race.
The journey there and back remains challenging with Eurotunnel but the roads have improved since my first visit there in 1996, with the autoroute from LeMans to Rouen and from Rouen to Calais making life simpler. If only they would sort out the signage or provide a bypass of Rouen the journey would be 30 minutes shorter. Still the best race and circuit on any calendar. If the FIA had any sense they would run the French Grand prix there in the week following the 24 hrs, using the proper circuit (8 miles) and retain the audience that travels from the UK and the rest of Europe (250k people last year) for the F! race.
Rouen is a bit of a pain but not too bad, can make it up on the motorway :-) can do it in about 3.5 hours easy.
Usually by-pass Rouen....by going via Totes, Yerville, Yvetot and Bourg Achard where there's a nice hotel, then re-join the motorway from there. That said 3.5 hours is pretty good going...assume you mean from Calais/Euro-tunnel.
We always used to stop overnight in Rouen on the way there and back. Was great to take the Route National from Rouen to Le Mans, stopping at various little villages on the way down for coffee etc. Was a procession of classic & sports cars pretty much all the way and a fantastic atmosphere. Haven’t been since 2008 but keep saying I must go again.
With the autoroute replacing the old RN the journey is much quicker but doing the 416 km in 3.5 hours is going some even with the 130km limit on parts of the autoroute. The old route was much more picturesque and being overtaken by DB4s Bentleys and old jags was always part of the fun on the journey. I remember in the 90's being overtaken by a an Aston well in excess of the speed limit on several occasions because he had to refill the tank every 90 miles or so due to his speed. I last saw him being talked to by the gendarmes at the Bouloigne toll booth on the A26 having been caught out by the entry time on his toll ticket. Generally, speeding by UK cars in France used to go unpunished (save for Le Mans), but more recently they have been sending speeding fines out with the help of the DVLA (caught out last year but not for Le Mans). No points on the licence unless you dont pay the fine..
I love motor racing but the LMP1 category is a joke at the minute. If Alonso ever claims the "triple crown" I hope that it isn't on the back of his victories at Le Mans in the last two years.
With the autoroute replacing the old RN the journey is much quicker but doing the 416 km in 3.5 hours is going some even with the 130km limit on parts of the autoroute. The old route was much more picturesque and being overtaken by DB4s Bentleys and old jags was always part of the fun on the journey. I remember in the 90's being overtaken by a an Aston well in excess of the speed limit on several occasions because he had to refill the tank every 90 miles or so due to his speed. I last saw him being talked to by the gendarmes at the Bouloigne toll booth on the A26 having been caught out by the entry time on his toll ticket. Generally, speeding by UK cars in France used to go unpunished (save for Le Mans), but more recently they have been sending speeding fines out with the help of the DVLA (caught out last year but not for Le Mans). No points on the licence unless you dont pay the fine..
I got a ticket from last September. This was for going 15kph (95 on a 80 stretch) over the speed limit on an empty & straight road just east of Loches. It was my first driving offence but as long as you pay on time no points on my licence. Incidentally the fine came 6 months after the incident.
With the autoroute replacing the old RN the journey is much quicker but doing the 416 km in 3.5 hours is going some even with the 130km limit on parts of the autoroute. The old route was much more picturesque and being overtaken by DB4s Bentleys and old jags was always part of the fun on the journey. I remember in the 90's being overtaken by a an Aston well in excess of the speed limit on several occasions because he had to refill the tank every 90 miles or so due to his speed. I last saw him being talked to by the gendarmes at the Bouloigne toll booth on the A26 having been caught out by the entry time on his toll ticket. Generally, speeding by UK cars in France used to go unpunished (save for Le Mans), but more recently they have been sending speeding fines out with the help of the DVLA (caught out last year but not for Le Mans). No points on the licence unless you dont pay the fine..
Yes Calais to Le Mans, It included a couple of quick pit stops for my co pilot and one refuel. We may have sneaked over the speed limit ever so slightly a couple times
On the way down we stop in Gace for lunch, lovely little town/village.
With the autoroute replacing the old RN the journey is much quicker but doing the 416 km in 3.5 hours is going some even with the 130km limit on parts of the autoroute. The old route was much more picturesque and being overtaken by DB4s Bentleys and old jags was always part of the fun on the journey. I remember in the 90's being overtaken by a an Aston well in excess of the speed limit on several occasions because he had to refill the tank every 90 miles or so due to his speed. I last saw him being talked to by the gendarmes at the Bouloigne toll booth on the A26 having been caught out by the entry time on his toll ticket. Generally, speeding by UK cars in France used to go unpunished (save for Le Mans), but more recently they have been sending speeding fines out with the help of the DVLA (caught out last year but not for Le Mans). No points on the licence unless you dont pay the fine..
Yes Calais to Le Mans, It included a couple of quick pit stops for my co pilot and one refuel. We may have sneaked over the speed limit ever so slightly a couple times
On the way down we stop in Gace for lunch, lovely little town/village.
We always stopped in Gace on the way down, as you say a lovely place. We'd get up early and leave Rouen first thing on Friday to miss the rush hour and stop there for breakfast. There used to be a lovely little butchers there, where we used to buy our meat for the evening bbq at the campsite.
And I'm back from Le Mans again! Brilliant year - Toyota snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when their car broke down 1 minute 44 seconds from the end of the race, letting in Porsche. On the downside, crap weather and a six hour delay at Eurotunnel, but I'll forget about that in a few weeks.
The Friday night gig was off the scale - helped by a very enthusiastic crowd. Looking forward to next year but not sure if the bar will still be there.
You still do the gig this year?
I was there once again - 20th anniversary of my first visit and probably my last, as the bar I perform in on the Friday night is probably, almost definitely, closing this year. I was reminded by my son that I've been saying that since 2010! Fantastic gig - great crowd and we didn't get off stage until twenty to 3 in the morning!
All too easy for Toyota this year, as has been said above. But some exciting racing in the other categories.
I've been given the chance to go to the Singapore GP this year - I've got a mate who lives there and he's arranged the tickets. I do like a bit of night racing.
Comments
The Friday night gig was off the scale - helped by a very enthusiastic crowd. Looking forward to next year but not sure if the bar will still be there.
The journey there and back remains challenging with Eurotunnel but the roads have improved since my first visit there in 1996, with the autoroute from LeMans to Rouen and from Rouen to Calais making life simpler. If only they would sort out the signage or provide a bypass of Rouen the journey would be 30 minutes shorter.
Still the best race and circuit on any calendar. If the FIA had any sense they would run the French Grand prix there in the week following the 24 hrs, using the proper circuit (8 miles) and retain the audience that travels from the UK and the rest of Europe (250k people last year) for the F! race.
I went again, third year running, great time.
Rouen is a bit of a pain but not too bad, can make it up on the motorway :-) can do it in about 3.5 hours easy.
Generally, speeding by UK cars in France used to go unpunished (save for Le Mans), but more recently they have been sending speeding fines out with the help of the DVLA (caught out last year but not for Le Mans). No points on the licence unless you dont pay the fine..
If Alonso ever claims the "triple crown" I hope that it isn't on the back of his victories at Le Mans in the last two years.
On the way down we stop in Gace for lunch, lovely little town/village.
We always stopped in Gace on the way down, as you say a lovely place. We'd get up early and leave Rouen first thing on Friday to miss the rush hour and stop there for breakfast. There used to be a lovely little butchers there, where we used to buy our meat for the evening bbq at the campsite.
All too easy for Toyota this year, as has been said above. But some exciting racing in the other categories.
I've been given the chance to go to the Singapore GP this year - I've got a mate who lives there and he's arranged the tickets. I do like a bit of night racing.