2023 Le Mans Classic

[Phil Read]

Given that the 2023 Le Mans Classic is the 100th Aniversary, is the TR Register organising an event trip/tour?

[Mick Forey]

Travel Destinations will be offering their usual excellent service for us with a choice of accommodation, entrance tickets and ferries as a package. Not on their website yet but will be, so then we can advertise on here, on our website and in the magazine as usual.

If anybody is planning a large group trip then please let me know by email to international@tr-register.co.uk so we can let individuals know of where you are staying etc. so they are not on their own somewhere.

Mick

[Phil Read]

Thanks, I went solo with travel destinations this year. It would have been nice to have been with a group. I noted there was one group from the South West that had access to park in an area behind the main stand, which would have been useful at the time as I have difficulty walking and it is a long walk from the Porsche curves where I was camping.

[Mick Forey]

The London Group had planned to attend as a group but due to sickness and family issues had to cancel, great shame. I hope that we get more response for 2023.

Mick

[john.r.davies]

May I encourage those who journey to Le Man's to include some other historic sites of Motorsport history in their itinerary?

The UK benefited from early legislation that banned road racing, but led to Brooklands, Goodwood and all the other race circuits that we have so many of.    France, like other countries persisted, and Le Mans of course is a prime example.

But other sites still exist.  Some are derelict, like Rouen, where you need a map to know which modern public road was once used for French Grands Prix. But Reims-Gueux stands out, with the grandstands, pits and race organisation buildings still intact, preserved and restored by Les Amis du Circuit de Gueux.

https://www.amis-du-circuit-de-gueux.fr/

But if you do, take care!  So many have abused the site, by reckless driving that M.le Maire du Gueux has instructed the Gendarmerie to crack down and even ticket those who park on the road outside the pits.   You may be able to drive into the old paddock, behind the pits, if Les Amis are present on that day.

Bonne chance!

John

Edited October 20, 2022 by john.r.davies

[Alfrom]

I' have  done the LMC twice now.  Both times with the Travel Destinations package using their Flexotels.  This works very well indeed with the accommodation inside the track just a 10 minute walk from the Dunlop Bridge and all the retail outlets.( your car is parked securely alongside your accommodation.)  The first trip was with 5 others from my local group and was a great experience all round.  Sadly though one of the group had a mishap on the autoroute on the way there - this however did show that the TR insurance European breakdown/recovery scheme  worked very well and was superb value for money .  My second trip was solo and all went perfectly. On both occasions I also opted to participate in one of the 'club runs' that gives you the chance to drive your own car on this iconic circuit for half an hour.  It's a long way around so you don't get many laps!  Quite an experience driving a TR at close to full chat on the Mulsanne (not forgetting that there are some corners and other cars to negotiate during the lap. all the while remembering that you have to drive home in it )

All I can say is just do it and that however you do it, you will meet many like-minded people - and the Travel Destinations packages make it really easy and no, I have no connection with TD except to have been a satisfied customer..

[john.r.davies]

Alfrom,

Like you, I've done the parade laps of Le Mans, but they are now so popular, and so crowded, with people who are there for the parade, not a "full chat" run, much of the opportunity for that pleasure has gone.     The last time, I wanted to pass a convoy of Cobras, who took exception to my lese majesty, tried to block my path and brake tested me!

But enjoy, if the parade is your pleasure!

John

[Alfrom]

Understood John.  As with all driving, it has to be done safely and recognising that there are others on the road.

The first time I did the ‘parade’ laps all of the cars on the circuit during ‘my session’ were all of a similar vintage to mine and were being driven in a way   me.  Last year however, I think a lot of drivers turned up early for their session resulting in congestion in the marshalling area leading to a real mix of classics and supercars on the circuit at the same time.  It quickly became a little stressful as many of the supercar drivers were intent on driving at their level of full chat.  With the greater speed differentials it was not so enjoyable, so I can fully appreciate your comment John.

Afterall, I would guess that none  of us were professional drivers and were experiencing something out of the ordinary.  I was surprised that neither Le Mans nor Spa gave guidance on track behaviour during ‘parade’ laps (eg:  keep right, no passing on bends, use indicators),  contrary to what I have experienced during track days.

[john.r.davies]

"Congestion in the marshaling area"!   Yes, the organisation at CLM is not up to the level we expect in UK motorsport!   Last year in Plateau 1, we were waiting for half an hour  to set up the actual race grid, while marshals busied themselves, and subsequent grids ran up to an HOUR late!  Wouldn't happen at Silverstone!

[Charlie D]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:07 PM, john.r.davies said:

Some are derelict, like Rouen, where you need a map to know which modern public road was once used

Try this:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/Rouen-Les-Essarts+Circuit/@49.3281207,0.9916267,5648m/data=!3m1!1e3

You can then go to "Street view" and drive along the roads that are still open.

A lot cheaper than going there in person.

Charlie.

[john.r.davies]

OR, drive it with me, in SofS, a few years ago.    The video starts nearly halfway through, so stop it and restart, please?

And the noise in SofS overwhelmed my camera - turn the volume down!

After a more recent visit, I wrote:

Rouen-Les Essarts was the site of many French F1 Grands Prix, since the 1950s.  Today, it's little more than a mark on the ground, a ghost of a circuit, but what a circuit!  It was called the Little Nurburgring, because it's in the forest, with great changes in altitude.

Just south west of Rouen is the village of Orival, on Seineside. Head up the steep river bank on D938, and within half a mile you come across what must have been the steepest hairpin in F1!   What's more, the road way was cobbled, really slippery.

But start from the old pits and paddock, at the top of the hill to your right.   Their site is almost invisible now, but the entrance to the pit lane is there as a tiny layby, coned off so you can't park there (try the layby a hundred yards further up, same side.)

Walk down the hill and find the exit as well, even smaller, just some tarmac in the verge.  There is a fence on the verge too, but just beyond the exit there is a path into the woods, and only fifty yards in, turn right and get around the end of the fence!   

This gets you into the old paddock.  It's used as a timber yard, and looks like a clearing, but one that happens to be floored by tarmac.

Any foundations of the pits and race control buildings are covered by logs and old sawdust, but in a few places, lines do appear.

At the top of of the paddock, a logger's track leads you back to the road, so return to your vehicle, and let's take a circuit!

From the old start/finish line outside the pits, the road drops away steeply and curves down the hill.   It was the third corner here, Six Freres, that killed Jo Schlesser in 1968.    Honda had a new car, but their regular driver John Surtees, refused,  not because it behaved badly, but because it was made of magnesium!    John considered it far too dangerous, and sad to say he was right.   Schlesser crashed at Six Freres, straight into the banking outside the corner's exit.   The car caught fire, and the marshals' attempts to put it out with water just made the fire worse, as the magnesium was burning.  Jo died, and there after the layby there was built, to slow the cars right down.

Edited October 26, 2022 by john.r.davies

[john.r.davies]

Downhill from there you come to the tightest hairpin in F1, Le Virage du Nouveau Monde!   No idea why it's named for the New World!  That cobbled surface on the corner must have been horrendous in an F1 car, you can still feel it in a modern!

But look across the hairpin to the step banked roadside.  There used to be grandstands on that slope, but all that remains today are some crumbling concrete steps.

 

 

Now you have to drive steeply uphill again, through left and right corners, until you reach what is today a cross roads, L'Etoile.  Turn right, and Star Avenue lead you back to the start by a right turn at the end.

 

But go straight on for a hundred yards or so, and you will find more of a later course variation.   Another narrow layby on the right is blocked off from a wide curve of tarmac that leads into the woods.     I doubt if it's passable today, but ten years ago, we made it in a 4x4, over the several berms built to dissuade the venturous!

 

For Schlesser, Les Essarts was fatal, and so it was for several other drivers in an age when life was cheap in Motorsport.    There never was another French GP there after his death but race meetings happened untill the mid '90s.

Go, and remember a dangerous but glorious era.

John

[dblenk]

Well its been 10 years since i was there and great time i had with the crew i went with (you know who you are)

any of the crew fancy it next year ?????

who else is going, i will be camping anyone up for it2

does it clash with the IWE or is that dumped

David

 

[Den T]

32 minutes ago, dblenk said:

Well its been 10 years since i was there and great time i had with the crew i went with (you know who you are)

any of the crew fancy it next year ?????

who else is going, i will be camping anyone up for it2

does it clash with the IWE or is that dumped

David

 

10 years OMG

[dblenk]

Hello there

trust all is good be brilliant if we are all going

just got texts through looking good

should i bring the special brew or grappa hahahahaha

Dave

[ntc]

5 minutes ago, dblenk said:

Hello there

trust all is good be brilliant if we are all going

just got texts through looking good

should i bring the special brew or grappa hahahahaha

Dave

You can keep that stuff ha hahaha 

[dblenk]

hahahaha

 

[Phil Read]

I am about to book my tickets with travel destinations for the 2023 Le mans classic, probably the Porsche curve agaim. This year I noted one of the TR register had passes to park just behind the main grandstand  with their cars. How do you get one of these passes. Any info would be useful.

[john.r.davies]

Not been able to find a TR team anymore, so I'll be in the Plateau 1 paddock, with the Talbot team.   All TRers welcome, if we're not busy!