Club Arnage

Hello everyone.  I am experienced camper and motorsport photographer and I have finally decided to get around to going to the Le Mans 24 Hours.  This was with the caveat that we would combine it with our holiday, so my wife is coming with me.  Le Mans is sandwiched neatly in the middle of our holiday.

Because my wife is coming with me, and she isn't a racing fan, I have booked Camping Pont Romain as I didn't think she would want to camp on site.  The problem I now have is what to do around the actual race in terms of getting kip, eating etc.  I have a parking place booked (albeit on parking Rouge) and I was wondering which of these would be my best option:

i) Park up, do the race stuff and kip in the car Saturday night when I get tired.
ii) Buy a pitch on one of the circuit campsites and take a 2 man tent just to get my head down Saturday night
iii) Take my bike (with lights and hi vis obviously) and cycle between CPR and the circuit
iv) Drive back to the CPR late Saturday and come back early Sunday.

I was wondering if those of you that have stayed at CPR could suggest the best way forward - or another option if you can think of something else.  I was also wondering if those of you who have stayed at CPR could confirm that the buses (and connecting trams) into town from Yvré l'Evêque are reliable?

Cheers
GG

If you really are only going to be attending the actual race (or say 9 am Saturday to 4 pm Sunday), I would just get the parking space and kip in the car when you get desperate!

Getting in and out of the circuit during the race can be slow and difficult.

F

Agree with Fran.
Traffic can be a real pain during the race, so just kip in the car during the night (or just stay awake  ;D)

Definitely sleep in the car. The trams are very reliable though will be busy on race week end.
http://www.setram.fr/index.php ( if it does not load in English look at the bottom of the page.)
Phil

Thanks for the replies guys.  Should I take my bike anyway for getting down to Arngage/Mulsanne?

I have never done a 24 hour race before - though I have worked nights (14 hour ones) for many years, so the staying up thing shouldn't be too much of a problem.  I just need to make sure I take my cooker, bivvy bag, sleeping bag and the like.  And a bowl for washing so I don't stink.

I may pack the other half off back to the campsite via tram and bus if getting out of the car park is not a good idea.  I believe that the tram branch line connects with the number 23 bus that goes back out to the town where the campsite is.

Yes, traffic is bad around the circuit for the entire 24 hours, I've regularly been stuck in 3am traffic jams. Trams are immune from the traffic, and the terminus is at Tertre Rouge. But... I'm not sure if they run all through the night, I suspect not.

The sunrise at Le Mans can be quite a special time (roughly 6am) and quite often there are incidents and retirements just as the sun is rising, so it is a good time to be out and about. It is also the time when you can walk the circuit perimeter and soak up atmosphere. So... stay at the circuit kip a few hours in the car.

The Bivvy and sleeping bag could be a good option so you dont have to trek back to the car (unless it's wet), after midnight you can normally get in to the Tribunes. Cooking gear? this is France so lots of food options around the track, especially in the village, rather than lugging gear around, Wash bowl so you dont stink? again dont worry, this is France.

mulsanne is too far for a push bike.there are regular navettes (buses) around the circuit for the 24hours.and small trains on the inside of track(reggae bus) bike can be good from camp/parking to circuit bus stop.but dont forget a decent chain.and lampost.

I presume I am better taking the inside circuit option then rather than the Navette?  I read some horror story about people being stuck in traffic for hours on the Navettes.

I have just noticed there is a park and ride for the tram at Espal Arche De La Nature.  Has anyone used it, as that is not too far from Camping Pont Romain.

We have a parking space at the ACO members car park, which is at the top of Rouge and every time we have walked in we have seen the French we small tents pitched during the race. So I would do as they do and if you happen to meet some English guys camping in the ACO camp site (also at the top of Rouge car park) they might let you in to use their shower and toilets.

Does anyone have a view on what the best route to the circuit will be from Camping Pont Romain?  I know the place will be rammed, but you guys know the roads round there better than I do!

Hi GG - Welcome to Club Arnage,

I have not stayed at CPR before - so I cannot help with that - sorry.
There should be plenty of other Le Mansters around on that site who can help and advise either from here or once you are there!
If you get really stick about the trams / transport, PM me - I have a secret agent in Le Mans who can find out the information for you......................

1/ Sounds to me like your best option would be to leave Mrs G at the Campsite and take the car to Parking Rouge.
Stick a small tent in the back with the bike just in case.
A few beers and soft drinks, a baguette and some fromage - just in case you need to kip in the car and feel a bit peckish!
As Rhino says - there are a lot of places to eat and drink around the circuit!
A small towel, toothbrush and B/O basher will suffice if you need to be clean  - there are showers that can be accessed from the campsites and in the village area.

2/ If you need to pitch a small tent, I don't see why there would be a problem getting into most on-site camping without a camping pass (you only need a pass to drive the car in).
Either hook up with someone on here and 'borrow' a bit of space (you are more than welcome to stick a 2Man up in our plot!)
_or just walk in_
If you get asked why you are taking a tent into the campsite, just explain that you're taking a tent to stay with your friends who are already in there!!

3/ If you want to get down to Arnage or Mulsanne then worth taking the bike in the back of the car.
The buses last year were taking about 2 1/2 to 3 hours for the round trip (not including watching time.......................budget 4 to 6+ hours!!)
There is NO ACCESS to either from inside the circuit during the race - you need to go around via Arnage village. Although it is still a bit of a trek, especially as these areas are best seen at night, it could be tricky in the dark, AND if you don't know where you are going, however there will be plenty of people around to ask for directions - half of them will be drunk and the other half will will be French (AND drunk)...... ;D ;D

4/ Getting the car on and off circuit during the race is always an absolute NIGHTMARE  :'(
AVOID.

Maybe see you there!
clk

I've stayed at the camp site, but not at 24 hour time.
Nice little site, good showers, small pool.
No restaurant, but you can order sausage, or steak hache and chips for the evening, we drove into LM centre for a decent dinner.
You do need push bikes if you want fresh bread, croissants etc for breakfast, none available on site, local bakery in village 5 minutes away on a bike.

That's really kind of you - thanks for the offer!  I will have a think about what I am going to do.  I suspect I may well just kip in the car - though I am aware it will be more like 36 hours by the time I have got to the circuit Saturday morning!

What time do you think I should aim to be on Parking Rouge by?  I have heard it gets full and people can get turned away.

Hope to see some of you at the 6 hour race at Silverstone in April!

I would guess to aim to be there AT LEAST before 9am.
I don't really know as I have not parked there before ...................................anyone??

I would try to avoid getting onto circuit by car any later than this as it is really crazy at that end of the circuit at that time.

I have stayed at CPR a couple of times during the 24 hours. The last few times they have run a bus between the track and campsite for a charge, might be woRth phoning and finding out if they are doing this, since I know the ownership has changed and so has the price - risen dramatically.

Last time however I did what you are suggesting which is to get a parking rouge (which is really easy to get in and out of the track from, no queuing at all even at the end of the race) and then stay in the car for a few hours kip or just don't drink and then nip back to the campsite (which is what I did). Just make sure you park up against the fence to prevent getting parked in.

The bakery is only about a brisk 10 minutes walk in the morning and a big supermarket is only about 10 min drive. The bus into town goes direct from the town hall.

Be aware that the branch line of the tram line terminates in a pretty dodgy area. We had booked a taxi to pick us up from their and were very glad when it arrived. The #23 bus that you mention does not run late and so if you plan to send your wife back on the tram and then bus I would highly recommend you check the times.

Hi all,

Just got back home to Finland from our first Le Mans trip with the wife. The experience was superb for both of us even though my wife is not particularly interested in motorsports. We decided to book a hotel and drive to track. On Saturday night we wanted to drive to the hotel and back to the track on Sunday morning. I wanted to share how it worked out, just to help other Le Mans virgins who also might want to plan a nice "non-camping" trip to Le Mans ;)

- We drove to Le Mans on Saturday morning, traffic went standstill around 9:30 in a way I've never seen before, be sure to arrive before 9:00 as already has been written on this thread!  We barely escaped the jam and had to sit on the traffic only around 30 minutes.
- Traffic is worst when arriving from northeast on Voie de la Liberté, if possible planning your route to arrive from the opposite direction may save you possibly hours of time on traffic

- We booked a numbered parking spot from Park Blanc, a very good choice for us. Park Blanc is close to the start-finish line where we had Tribune seats, the car acted as a headquarters with plenty of cold water, snack, warm clothes, umbrellas etc.
- Finding your parking spot on the parking field can be difficult because most of the officials don't speak english and there is too few of them around the field, finally we bumped into an official riding a bicycle and she showed us the spot

- Tribune seats were a good choice, we had a good view to the track and pits, we took snacks and a bottle of wine there and enjoyed watching the race
- Race commentary is almost only in French and the radio is very hard to listen to with normal earbuds due to the drive-by noise, best option seems to be earmuffs over earbuds or earmuffs with built-in FM radio
- Cell phone network data transfer was jammed from time to time, couldn't follow the live timing or news articles on the official website as much as we'd liked to
- Food on the village can be expensive but not very good in quality, we found the best price to quality ratio from the sandwich/kebab tents outside the track area

- after sunset we wanted to go to Arnage and Mulsanne corner, there were a long queue to the shuttle buses so we decided to walk to Arnage which is around 4km from the Porsche curves
- Road from the main entrance all the way to Arnage was in standstill after midnight, because the shuttle buses were sitting on traffic we walked back to the Tribunes (here you need the warm clothes and after that, the cold water...)
- Visit to Arnage is a must. Don't miss it at any cost ;D There's lot of passing, some wheelspin when accelerating out, brake discs glowing red, the Christmas lights and glowing number plates on the cars, lots of people stuffed together, smell of the grill selling sausages and beer, the atmosphere is there!

- getting out the track after 1:00 AM was not a problem, we had to sit in traffic for about 20minutes to get to the highway, the traffic was jammed from main entrance to Arnage direction but not as bad to the opposite direction
- at this point the comfortable hotel bed in the quiet countryside was so good...and the warm shower in the morning was even better  8)
- back to the track on Sunday morning between 9 and 10AM and almost all the traffic was gone by then

- after the race was finished we left right after the LMP1 podium ceremony was over, took us around 30 minutes to get to the highway
- highway near the entrance to A28 was badly jammed, we took a countryside route to north where the roads were clear, just a few cars with GB plates on the route  ;)

Hope this helps and at least serves as a reminder for us when we hopefully return to the race someday  >:D

edit: corrected some typos

An excellent write up, SportCarAddict.  Many thanks.