We've been on our first trip down to the Le Mans Classic this week and left quite satisfied . The mixture of great racing, a huge number of car clubs, the unique atmosphere of 24 hour running, and the French twist proved a winning combination.
We drove the coupe down just outside Le Mans, which is easily done in an afternoon from Boulogne. The drive was made more interesting by spotting fellow Le Mans visitors and their cars, a sorts of old cars were out in force. The first night was spent just outside Sees - north of Le Mans. As we drove into the hotel car park we were greeted by a bunch of Daimler club cars from the UK, and owners were very friendly! It seemed like Normandy was being invaded by Brits.
In general the organisation of the event was good, with none of the traffic problems we had heard about. But we did find when we arrived on the Saturday that our allocated club car car parking - that we paid for - was full! We were directed to another area, not far away, which was OK and in easy walking distance of the grandstands and paddocks.
The event is centered around 18 one hour races. Racing is split into six 'Plateau' which are age related the earliest cars being from 1923 and the most recent from 1979. Each Plateau race lasts one hour and these races are run one after another from 16:00 on the Saturday until 16:00 on the Sunday (so you get racing all the though the night). Each Plateau has three races.
The cars may not be as ultra exotic and rarified as entered into The Goodwood Festival of Speed but all the essential cars were there. From Talbot, Bentley, Bugatti ans Invicta in Plateau 1 (1923 – 1939) through to Lola, Chevron, Porsche and Ferrari in Plateau 6 (1972 - 1979). With around 60 cars per race this creates a great atmosphere, and they all do the traditional Le Mans start...
Cars with competition history like the Lancia Aurelia B20s are much more popular here than in the UK with four or five on the grid. There were some interesting and different traders which you don't get to see in the UK (I'll put up some links later). The atmosphere is really made by all the enthusiasts attending as we experienced on the Saturday evening in the streets of Arnage which were packed with old cars and all the nearby restaurants overflowing with Le Mans visitors
The comparison to The Goodwood Festival of Speed is interesting. This is far more of an enthusiasts event with real racing and an extremely active club participation. 6000 club cars booked in this year. In contrast Goodwood has almost completely got rid of any car club involvement and auto jumble. It has gone more and more down the corporate hospitality route which may bring in the money but is very tedious for anyone that actually pays to get in.
We are now wandering around Normandy having a relaxing few days in the country in glorious weather and are bumping into all sorts of old cars mainly from the UK doing the same thing. The photos show an Aston Martin DB4 GT with it's bonnet up; parked beside us after dumping it's oil on the floor. I told him he should look at getting something more reliable...
Comments