Le Mans 2006!!

Tony 260Z

Tony 260Z

Club Member
Folks, in something of a miracle event, my Wife has actually agreed to my going to Le Mans this year (I'm not 100% sure she cottoned-on to it being in France, but there you are).

So, do I go to the 24 Hours or the Classic?

Do I camp in a tent, or live it up in a hotel with hot and cold running chambermaids?

Can I take my Z on track at all?

Does anyone drive there from the UK? Recommended routes, hotels etc etc?

Cheers - all info/advice gratefully received!!!

Tony
 
Ah ah time for me to step in !

If you go to Le Mans classic... you might be invited by our French club and park in the infield and do a few spirited parade laps for a modest amount of money.



And if your wife doesn't feel like joining you, maybe you could drive her first to La Rochelle and Flo could show her around the wonders of the Atlantic coast! Then we could go in convoy to Le Mans with Sean and a few others members?



Your choice! Oh and Happy new year to all
 
17/18 June Le Mans 24 Hrs (but come down for at least the Wednesday) We'll be in Camping Expo (known as Aire d'accueil Expo) - book and pay for your tickets [/B][/U]NOW !
www.lemans.org
Camping ticket allows one car and camping plot - book 'X' qty general entrance tickets seperately

8/9 July Le Mans Classic (get down on the Friday to pitch the tent)

Book your cheapie ferry tickets now via SpeedFerries (Dover-Boulogne)or Pand O (Dover-Calais) are doing a promotion for 2006 now. Drive down the A16 to Rouen and then the new A28 via Alençon to Le Mans. This route avoids the lorry overloaded M-ways, Paris and costs less on tolls !
 
Thanks chaps - Happy New Year to both & families!

Still a choice though!!! Aaarrggh!!

Actually my Wife won't be coming. She relishes four days of camping and motorsport about as much as I would four days in Ikea :)

It'll be just moi, or moi + brother-in-law I think.

Tony
 
I've pre-booked the Le Mans Classic tickets for a specific number of cars - one can only get in to park on the Bugatti circuit with the other car clubs if the car is a 280Z (not ZX) or earlier and only with a pre-booked club ticket :) !

Later, more modern cars, 280ZX, 300, 350 and Skylines (post 1966) may park in the outer, modern car club enclosure and again, pre-booking is necessary via a club and I have done that too !

I'm giving priority to our French club and if any are left over, I shall make them available (at a discounted rate) !

If there are disappointed people, sorry, but I have advertised this for some time now and would have accepted reservations !
 
I'm not selling ferry tickects now but reminding you that NOW is the time to book tickets at Le Mans AND your ferry !!!


Book early for 2006, fares to France from only £23* each way!


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Norfolkline, from Dover to Dunkerque:
From £23*

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.


P&O Ferries, from Dover to Calais:
From £39

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.
Day trip from £12

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.


SeaFrance, from Dover to Calais:
From £39

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.
Day trip from £14

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.


Eurotunnel, from Folkestone to Calais:
From £56

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.
Day trip from £19

each way for a car and up to 9 passengers.


Drive down the A16/A29 to Rouen, then the A28 to Le Mans, avoiding the most crowded and expensive m-ways and Paris !

See you there !
 
Sean, I'm thinking of taking the ferry to Caen. It's a much shorter drive that way isn't it? (not having driven on the continent before). I know the ferry will me much more expensive (offset by fuel costs a bit), but is it an easy drive to Le Mans from Caen?

Thanks!

Tony
 
It is a shorter drive (but Caen to Alençon and the A28) is not easier !
Unleaded 98 is currently 85p per litre so I imagine you can work out what the extra kms will cost you against the higher ferry price to travel to Caen !

Try www.micheln.fr and try to type in on the itineraire section Caen-Le Mans and Calais-Le Mans checking to add the fuel costs and average speed - 100km/h on m-ways generally as it includes stops) !

The getting there is half the holiday ! But don't forget your Le Mans camping tickets !
www.lemans.org
 
Hmmm... I rather fancy visiting the WWII beaches you see. And Arremanches etc. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time (I chose to do my projects on D-Day and the Maquis when I was a nipper at school).

Where will you lot be camping at Le Mans? Obviously if I can camp with people I know (sort of!) then it would be easier.

Cheers!

Tony
 
Lemans.org says I can't book online until February... duhh???

Sean, am aiming to drive over in early hours of the 15th and home on the 19th. Route not decided yet.

Will endeavour to get tickets for same are as you. Is Expo a numbered plot campsite or will I be able to set up near you?

Cheers,

Tony
 
It aint a numbered site so I'll need to 'rope off' an area for you next to us if you arrive on the 15th !
Telephone booking is open though and they speak English !

Sean
 
Thanks Sean. Only prob I've got is that one website (www.beermountain.com) is a bit disparaging about Expo and says it's not very suitable for tents. Are they right or are they talking out of their arris's?
 
All the ground at Le Mans is hard - it's a mixture of sand and small stones although there are some campsites that are of softer sandy earth and grass but they're less convenient in terms of walking distance from the village, pits and main grandstands/viewable areas of the circuit. Some years there are free shuttle buses (and their quese) and sometimes not !

The trick at Le Mans is to avoid tent pegs wherever you are and bring a bag of 6" nails and a metal hammer !

Acceuille Expo (camping Expo) isn't 4 star but I like it for easy access to the stands and easy access to the hypermarket (avoiding the jams) and to the other parts of the circuit by car during the night ! I don't wash there, but have my preferred toilet block inside the village which I always combine when touring around the village, watching the race and doing the pit-walk !

It's also somewhat quieter during the build-ups nights and the Sunday night afterwards but ask Smaurkid for his opinion as he's always further down towards Maison Blanche !
 
Thanks Sean - all your info and advice is much appreciated.

Six inch nails and a hammer... wow... camping Conan style!!!

Still, I'm not coming for camping comfort anyway am I? It's for the experience and the atmosphere. Oh, and the opportunity to spend four days half-cut and looking at race cars :)
 
Perhaps not camping comfort but at least you want your pup-tent to stay up ! We lost ours in a storm one year due to insufficient pegging - one learns !

The great thing about Camping Expo is one can get half-cut AND still stagger across to watch the race ! I know others who have completely missed the race due to certain excesses :)

Get on and book now though - it may be too late !
 
Just to re-iterate what Sean Says - just get there , then learn what the best site to circuit/bar ratio is ! Everyone has their favourites , I have been going since 1993 and I still havent got it spot on . We camp at Maison Blanche , which is close to the circuit, and has a good atmosphere. The ground is as Sean says hard to concrete in make up ,but it is very over subscribed and if you dont book it in August the year before you are going to struggle to get in ! To be honest, if it is a bad year for weather - all the campsites are bad . And if it is a hot year , then all the campsites are hot . To give you an idea of the general level of dirt etc go and have a look at www.buttmonkeys.co.uk - that is us!All I would say is - go with a group of people . Oh yes - and bring your favourite set of wheels , what sort of Z is yours? All get much respect from the general crowds down there ,especially if you get the rear end smoking , apparently ...........

Sean - are you doing a stop and pose on the Friday afternoon ? I will get to you this time , split rim or not ! ;)
 
Cheers!! Hehe... sounds like fun wherever I wind up. Mines the red 260 on the earliest page of the 260Z gallery. Wolfies, 2.8, no back bumper "le mans style" (so i was told).

Light up the rear end???? The very thought....

:)
 
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