Club Arnage

Simple question really.

Can you say in a few words, what the special attraction of Le Mans really is?
Why do you keep coming back?

I got the Le Mans bug three decades ago and there is still this magnetic attraction to the middle of France in June each year   ;D

I'm not sure there is a simple answer.    I think you have to go to Le Mans to understand why we do it.

It's more than the Cars, the People, the Atmosphere and the Race.

A can tell you it's not the weather. 

t.

You mean, alternately burned to a crisp one day and flooded-out the next?

'Not been to Le Mans, but have been to at least 30 of the last 40 Sebrings and Daytona 24s.

As requested, in a few words, it is the endurance race that entices me. I've a passion for racing, endurance in particular (did one 24 at Daytona many moons ago, we broke) and it's not the people or atmosphere...it is the endurance contest that draws me.  ;) :)

All that sound exactly why we go to Sebring in the middle of March.  Having been to France and Le Sarthe my sincere hope is that each of you on this site get the chance to travel to the middle of Florida in March for Sebring.  I have been going since I was 10 years old in 1958 and have seen cars that are now priceless antiques when they were in their glory.

Warm sun, very heavy rain, cold, hot, orange blossoms, and some of the most famous drivers in the world make up the lay of the land...the same reasons you all go to LM...plus some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

I reckon it is a similar craving to those who partake of the baccy.  You try to give up / miss a year, but the strange force keeps drawing you back.
Maybe, somewhere, there is a self-help group - Le Mans Anonymous?

If there's a self help group, keep me out of it   >:D

It's indefinable, it's the race, it's the country, it's definitely the people.

It's what it is, Le Mans - there is probaly a good quote in a certain film we could use.

Whatever, it is the only"thing" that affects me this way even with a very wide range of other interests.

b

Hate the godforsaken place ;)

What Steve said........... I am a compulsive addict  >:D

Think this is my 28th trip down.

Simple answer...its good fun and a chance to meet old friends and meet new ones.

Got my two sons into it now so the legacy will continue!

Jem

My 19th this year.

Put simply....everything else is just waiting.

Does that kinda sum it up?

I dont know.
Hav to go Down again to find out.

The museum, every year i say to the missus that i have to go down again as i have never visited the museum. I like the french cider too and playing with the spud cannon. 

Fun, people, atmosphere, Le Mans related traditions and the drive there and back.

It's difficult to describe... the Le Mans week itself IS the unique attraction!  ;) ;D It's the atmosphere... The cars, the people, the sound, the view... even the weather... I think, all these are the reason for that unique and special atmosphere at Le Mans...  :) imagine a few hundred thousand people at the same racetrack - all there for the same reason: because they love motorsport, because they love Le Mans... Watching Le Mans is not enough... you must FEEL it...  ;) going there only once in your life won't be enough... it's like a drug... it fills your senses and makes you addicted... There's such an unbelievable amount of passion and joy at the circuit that you can almost touch it. Even though you sleep only a few hours during the entire race week, the positive energies of the event recharge your batteries for a whole year!  ;D

I went in 2009 for the first time and I want to return to Le Mans since then... I wanted to go last year, but it didn't work out... I wanted to go this year but I didn't manage to save enough money  :( Last year was OK but this year... it really hurts...  :'( But I will never give up! I know I will return to Le Mans - and not only once.

Nice one Andrea could not have put it better myself been going now since 1992 and only missed a few in that time.
You will return it is only a matter of time and returning will be all the sweeter after your exile.

 :)

thanks Kiters  :) your words in God's ear  :)

It's almost an impossible question. It's something so hard to quantify. It's more than a race. It's more than an event in itself. Yes, there are the physical qualities, the noise, the spectacle, the cars, the friendships, but it runs much much deeper. And it's on so many levels too. How many times in moments of trouble or dissapointment have we thought 'oh well, there's always Le Mans'. It's a beacon that draws us near, gives comfort and as it draws nearer it gives your heart a little skip when you think about it.

I have never been religious or spiritualistic in any way. But now I can empathise with those who do follow a faith or belief. And see how it's with you in whatever you do. I found it hard to understand how someone could believe in some bloke with a beard on a cloud who made everything in a week, but to them no doubt they see our religion as just a motor race.

So what is it that makes it special? I don't know for sure. There is definitely something in the air down there. A life force that crackles the air, an undefinable magic, drug like in its intensity. You feel it more in the early hours in the older parts of the circuit. Is it the history? The sense of occasion, the triumphs, the tragedy, the joy of seeing another fellow man become immortal at 3pm on a Sunday? Could there be a certain leaching out of all the emotion of the millions of pilgrims that have followed the calling year after year? I'm sure we have all been to somewhere where something bad happened- a battle field for example. You feel a certain sadness as if those poor souls left something behind- you feel the sorrow. Le Mans is different, it's the polar opposite. So many people, so much passion, so much joy, over so many years. Surely the very fabric of the place has fed on such magic and absorbed it. Is this what we feel? Is it this force that we cannot see, hear, touch or smell that draws us in?

Maybe if we understand what it is that draws us back, some of that magic would be lost?

Looks like a few short words are impossible. I think the best way we can demonstrate why we go back, is to take someone who has never been and climb up that banking beside Maison Blanche on Wednesday evening during qualifying just as dusk starts to fall, take a look at their face and remember your first time. Only then will you know why.
But do warn them before you leave home. It's going to be a big commitment. After all you never go to Le Mans once.

Si

Deb (termietermite) and I first went to LM in 1997, by "luxury coach" which turned out to be crap, and we got virtually no sleep all weekend. But the LM experience was simply something else. By bus to Arnage and Mulsanne in the evening. Turkish coffee in the Old Village in the small hours of Sunday. Watching the dawn come up. We missed '98, but tried again with a different firm - MRI - in 99. This gave us a hotel in Alencon for Friday and Sunday nights, so we were better rested, more rational, more energy. Ditto 2000. Then in 2001 we decided to drive, and Deb booked Hotel Galaxie, where we shared the breakfast room with David Leslie, since lost in tragic circs. 2002 we had a gite for a fortnight, although it was a bit far from the circuit (just in the Mayenne). Mate Paul drove Deb round the circuit in his Morgan on race day, hence her avatar. And this was all pivotal - it was during those two weeks that I said to Deb "We could live here!" And so we did, moving in 2004.

Chez nous is 40 mins leisurely drive from Parking Blanc. We, now I, am able to attend scrutineering and test weekends, the whole shebang. On my own is ok, I discover. With Deb was a lot better!

That, my friends, is what Le Mans can do to you.

Well, I guess that about sums it up.  Never met her, I've never met you but I feel like I know you both and would enjoy your company.  If you EVER decide to come to Sebring you have a place to stay.

First year 2003 been every year since ( except this year... I will not be missing another ). It has become part of my life. I love the planning  trip for around 20 people. We are there for scrutineering all the way through. It the trip, the people, the place, the race, the weather, the spirit of Le Mans. All that, and the odd warm French larger.  :)

What the hell is going on? The track is clear and almost dry.

Come on!

Shame, looks like we have been robbed of a grandstand finish for the GTE Pro class

The attraction... I get to sit in my seat, in a field, for a week  ;D

>Martini...LB

For me my first visit was in 1998 as a sort of recce for coming out in 1999 for Pretzels 40th birthday, due to the fact the my brother in law invited me to go along with him.

Well that first visit had me totally hooked and to this day I still cannot work out why I keep coming back. Yes the racing is incredible and over the past 16 years I have met some fantastic people who are all should I say a little crazy because like me, they also keep returning to the "field in France".

It does go beyond the racing. The camaraderie of everyone on this site and beyond is incredible.

I have never really said a big thank you for all your support to when I had my near fatal car accident on the 4th June 3 years ago.

Two weeks after the event,"Neil"  sent the get well card and DFH t-shirt in the post to me, which after reading all the messages had me crying like a baby because it was such a moving moment for me, but not only that he managed in between preparing for LM to come down from Cheshire to Kings College Hospital in London to check on me whilst I was in ICU and then reported back on here(which I still have all the get well messages posted on here in a special folder).

So I still have no idea why I keep going back, but health allowing I will keep on returning as long as I can. ???

Andy

It's just the best place on earth to be, in every respect, for one week of every year.....

MG Mark

Exactly... I couldn't have put it better!

ask the same of Mountaineers  ;D