Club Arnage

just heard a rumour glass bottles banned inside circuit as of yesterday!!!!!

This is still a little confused, latest I heard is that ban now only applies to grandstands, however I can only see that being enforced untill the French spectators arrive with their picnics and bottles of vin, when it will go out the window.

I have just been in to MB and was not challenged re glass or booze.  My tent pitchers drank a few cold ones which I had brought with me in full view of passers-by with no comments made.

thank goodness for that,was getting panicky!

Better than thirsty!

I will be leaving the bottle behind now (well might try and smuggle a small one), I'll just bring a barrel instead  >:D

A first hand report posted about an hour ago on PH:

I've just arrived at houx and first thing they asked was do you have any alcohol in the car?

I said no (bottle of laphroaig in the boot!) and asked if alcohol wasnt allowed to which they replied "only glass bottles aren't allowed"

Fortunately all our homebrew is in barrels or plastic bottles  ;D

I supose a refrigerated trailer with barrels of beer is still allowed on MB.?!

Is the ban alcohol or is it the glass bottles ??

Thank god we have plastic glasess to poor our beer in

If you have ever read the small print on the back of the ticket, it has stated for years that taking glass bottles into the circuit is classed as a weapon and you can face a year in jail and a massive fine. Hoewever as we all know they have never policed this before.

An easy way around any bottle ban



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9UMvfKBaZI

how are we going to build beer mountains without bottles?

This live from Houx: It was no alcohol at first on Monday but as of late yesterday no glass bottles only.
They check everyone at the gate and certainly new arrivals.

Just hide the bottles and show them you've bought some cans or plastic bottles.

Hi Steve

How do you think we are going to get our wheelie bin to the start line more importantly

see you there

simon

At BN nothing was checked or asked about glass or bottles.  At the entrance of Tertre Rouge yesterday, I saw they were checking some cars and confiscating bottles.
Guess it's only at the campsites inside the circuit you could get troubles bringing glass in. 

Down at Arnage it was complete confusion. The normal gate guys were absent Monday/Tuesday and so a couple of rookies were trying to enforce several French regulations that clearly didn't make complete sense to anyone.

1) As always Arnage opened officially on Wednesday. When we arrived midnight Monday it was "closed" despite the 6 or so hardly regulars already in place. At 8am Tuesday we were allowed in - while we were pitching the guy came over to explain Arnage only opened "tomorrow" - sadly all my French had left me by that stage and after waving at the folk who had pitched on Monday he departed.

2) Not much later when we we using a couple of cans of Carlsberg to assist with the erection he returned to explain no alcohol was allowed on site. By this stage one of our French folk was with us (having been told at the gate Arnage was closed but when I waved he was allowed in!) and by the time the Securite chappy left it seemed beer and wine were OK but not stronger alcohol. We were happy to confirm we were only drinking beer (at that stage!) and resolved to secure our 26 bottles of single malt on site rather than risk a car search next time we passed the gate.

Yeah - we were aware of Enceinte Generale restriction on weapons (including glass bottles), as well as Aire d'Accueil regulations entitling Securite to look at the contents of any vehicle. (Arnage campsite is technically outside the circuit.) We did decide our bottle mountain should be restricted to wine bottles and was thus somewhat feeble as we figured putting whisky bottles in could be construed as taking the piss. Especially after realising while we could Tippex some of the bottles from 40% to 0% we would still have a problem with the cask strength and others that were 46%, 46.3% etc.

Our group does contain several native French, none of whom could explain what the rule actually was (either before Aperitifs or at 4am when they were speaking fluent English!)

We never got searched going into the campsite at Tertre Rouge but several people were and had all glass taken away, most people were trying to avoid glass because they were aware of the problems so getting cans and plastic bottles at carrefore was difficult. We got most of our supplies in Bernay so had barrels of wine and kegs of beer. large kegs of beer turned out to be very good so further supplies purchased on Thursday/Friday at Carrefore.

Le mans was much nicer without the mountain of discarded beer bottles everywhere you tried to watch the race and broken glass in the campsite.

Does anyone know the real answer to why its banned? If its the circuit, then why were we told it wasn't allowed on Blue Nord when we arrived on Monday. Blue Nord's not part of the circuit in my opinion. None of us were searched but we did see some bag / vehicle searches being carried out both campsite entrance and circuit entrance.

Asking the French to apply a rule consistently, common guys you know better than that.

We had no probs getting into MB, no search, nothing. Business as usual. This was a feeble attempt to ban alchohol from the venue by the mayor. I can only hope he came to his senses and won't try to pull a stunt like this again next year. But I am affraid that next year it will state on the tickets not to bring beer in glass or cans or other alchoholic beverages onto the circuit and campsites. Pretty much like it already is with the moto24. If that happens, I shall go to Sebring from then on!