In June 2008, three of us headed over on an adventure to see ‘Les 24 heures du Mans’, a world famous 24 hour car race in France - a pilgrimage i’ve made on a fairly frequent basis since the age of 8 in 1990, when the Jaguars were victorious. My two friends Paul and Ste (who are brothers) had never been before, but I insisted that they would have a great little holiday, so they decided that they’d book up with me. Everything all went to plan on the drive down (including the ferry crossing), even the fickle French weather was baking - everything was almost going too well! The first headache upon arriving in the dark was that the camp site (bleu) that my Dad and I used in 2003 (when I was last there) was full upon arrival which was a problem as last time we just turned up. After being led on a bit of a wild goose chase, we eventually met some particularly helpful stewards who helped us find an annex overflow site which turned out to be just fine (even though we had to pitch a tent in the dark!)… so my advise would be book the campsite of your choice well in advance, although your race tickets can always be bought on the door. More concerning to us was that we’d planned on having a good drink that night, but had passed up the chance to stop at a few of the supermarkets we had seen earlier on in order to get a good crack on with the driving, yet upon arrival in Le Mans the supermarkets were shut! Nightmare!!! So the night ended up as a bit of a damp squib. But we decided that we’d make the most of the following day!
Audi racing down through the esses from the famous Dunlop bridge...
We woke up and headed to the supermarket in search of the booze as well as gas for our mini stove and a few other bits and bobs. It turned out well and got everything we needed and on the return back to the site, we cooked a cracking brekkie that went down a treat, along with a nice cool drink or 3! Total bliss! The weather was even hotter than the day before and reckon we could have probably done without the gas for the stove as the sun would have cooked the food by itself!!! Unfortunately, we missed the classic race which preceeded the main race, which had many cars I’d watched in years gone past when I was growing up (makes me feel old saying that although i’m only 26!) so that was a bit of a shame. We arrived just in time for the main race however, and after buying our tickets we headed track side, to my favourite spot on the esses to watch the cars whizz by for the first time - I told Paul and Ste to brace themselves for the din that the Chevrolets made! I was disappointed however that the event organisers had decided to get rid of the trees and build a grandstand right on the best spot (obviously milking the money), leaving ordinary race-goers like myself in the cold (even though technically it was over 30° C!). They had compensated somewhat however by building a new banked area over the other side of the track which had good access also. The only thing was that it wasn’t sheltered, which left you open to the full range of elements which Le Mans is famed for! The fact that everytime I go they seem to manage to restrict the fans view still further, leaves me questioning whether I want to return again. As first timers though, Paul and Ste thought it was brilliant, so i’m glad it didn’t detract from their enjoyment - we even saw a crash right in front of us! But for me it is an annoyance having more and more of a restricted view each time I go, bearing in mind i’ve gone six times over the last 18 years.
Winner's podium!!!
Afterwards, we wandered round the stalls on the in-field and soaked up some of the atmosphere and had a bite to eat before heading back to the campsite for a well-needed drink. The mission I set for the night ahead was to try and sneak track side on the Mulsanne straight (known locally as ‘les hunaudieres’) which due to the high speeds is an area of extremely limited access. I’d tried and failed twice before, but this time I was really determined to make it. My dad has made it there before and has some amazing photographs to prove it - apparently he ended up at the front of somebody’s garden which was track side! There is also suppose to be a restaurant come bar (chinese possibly?) that has track side viewing, however I think its a myth as I’ve never seen the elusive place!!! Anyway, we set out (inebriated from the alcohol!) in the late part of the evening on what turned out to be an unsuccessful 10 mile treck around the biggest section of track in search of prime viewing. We ended up seeing none of the race, but enjoyed some brilliant craic all the same, as we trampled through numerous bushes in the dead of the night! We returned back to camp long after sunrise to get some sleep, just as everyone else was walking in the opposite direction to the track! We were weary and it was raining, but we had a funny night all the same! Even though we were tired, we couldn’t get much sleep at first, because of the buzz of the night before and because one of us would keep imitating the ‘P-P-P-PEOWNNN!’ sound of the cars passing by just as one of us was dozing off! It was funny… the first 20 times!!! We got up a few hours later at lunch time, just in time for the last stint of the race which was eventually won by the Audi team of Tom Kristensen (who had personally now won the race a record 8 times) just ahead of Jacques Villeneuve’s Peugeot team. We joined in the celebrations on the track once the race had finished before heading back to the car and back home. Although the race maybe isn’t the same spectacle as it once was, it is still special and we had a thoroughly good weekend away…
By Ben Charlton.