Club Arnage

Just booking my trip to Le mans atm and I have decided to pay the extra £15 and go on the Arnage and Indy excursion which i missed last year.  Basically a coach takes you from outside MB to the enclosure. 
The first bus departs at half 5 and the last bus returns at midnight.  what do you think is the best time to go and view? has to be inbetween half 5 and midnight remeber! thanks - Aston Fan

Personally, I prefer both after dark, for preference.

Sound appealing. Getting to Arnage is usually a pain because of alcohol and bad traffic, and it sounds better that the grandstand seat we had last year (which I barely used).
Have you got a link to these tickets?

I must admit it sounds appealing, although you need to consider what happens when more than the last bus capacity tries to board, its a long walk!!

Be sensible, stay off the booze, enjoy Saturday night and have breakfast at Arnage, nothing like it, fresh coffee and a croissant.  You can boogie All day Sunday.

Of course if you on the sauce getting there is a pain.  But £15 sound a bit OTT. I recon you could get a taxi for that and get to Mulsanne too.    For sure if 4 of you club together.

t.

I take it you guys have heard of a company called MRI (Motor Racing International).  Well it is through them, booked my first le mans tour with them last year and they were brilliant.  But this year have opted for there self drive package and camping at Houx Annexe.   The reason i am going to pay for the bus is because of bad traffic and the amount of alcohol our group will have consumed!
So people reckon dusk is a good time to go and watch then?  try and head down about 8 me thinks?! Aston fan

You can get to indy and arnage fairly easily, if you're happy queuing for a little while in the car. Alternatively take a pushbike and bob is indeed your fathers brother. We went to Arnage village for dinner on Saturday night last year, then on to the track after a feed.

After dark definitely is the best. I will never forget seeing cars arrive at indianapolis in the dark for the first time. I want to see sunrise at arnage next time I go. Get the bus, take a sleeping bag and stay all night. Best of both worlds.

I generally get to Arnage around midnight, stay there for a few hours; then make my way to Mulsanne whilst still dark and watch the sunrise there.

I head back to HA for around 08:00 and try to get a bit of kip.

All through the night is excellent at Virage Mulsanne and Arnage, the tricky choice is leaving it later until the wee small hours, less people, more atmospheric, especially at Arnage, near Indianapolis, because the engine sound echoes in the natural bowl, the downside is that your team/car may have expired.  My favorite time is from 03:30 at Arnage, watch the sunrise, and then back to camp for an almighty breakfast and a good kip.

You mention camping at Houx Annexe, surely not by choice.

I go down in the early hours to watch the sunrise at Arnage. Its one of my race highlights. Watching the cars fly down into Indianapolis is fantastic.

I get your point, but hanging around in the village will cost you the same £15 in half an hour on beer, so why would I care...

FS, you make it too obvious it's you ;D

I always do both arnage and mulsanne after dark, esp Indy is fab.
but last year i had a couple to drink with good company as usual at the shampoo bar, so before riding off to the other side,  a stroll with Barry, CA and american buddies down to tetre rouge.
Indy and bottom off mulsane at night is the fav.
the back to pit straight at 4 to see how many closed garages.
 but dawn sun rise for me has always been sat on the top of the hill at the esses with a good supply of remy, even though the old stretch has been changed it was the first dawn for me 16 yrs ago.

The general consensus seems to be that the best time to visit is after dark and I have to agree.  Even though you can't get quite as close to the cars as in the old days (thinking back to the mid70s when I started this crazy passion) standing at the very front of the spectator enclosure at the braking point for Arnage is the highlight each year for me.  The atmsophere is very special indeed.

Given the time restrictions placed on you by the coach timetable AstonFan I would suggest you take the first bus down and the last one back again...

A bit OTT?  Perhaps not if you consider that from Arnage you can pick-up another shuttle bus that runs between Arnage and Mulsanne - another fantastic spot.  I have to confess to not having used the service myself (always been lucky enough to have own transport options) but they appear regular enough - though pretty busy as the evening draws on.

For me the Mulsanne - Arnage stretch is where I spend most of my time with an excursion to the business end of the circuit (Porsche Curves, Tertre Rouge, Esses, Village) on the Sunday morning before returning to the 'south' from about midday on the Sunday.

I bet once you have been down to Arnage you will go again every year...

I tend to stay off the sasuce on Saturday night and drive out to Arnage at around 03.00am......not much traffic then......I hang around there for a couple of hours and then head to Mulsanne for sun rise and an hour or so.......before heading back to Porsche curves for a bit......and then finally resting in Arnage village for coffee and fresh stuff from the bakery......oh joy I get all giddy just thinking about it!

A real must do, and if you don't have access to transport, use the bus, a taxi, a bike or walk - it is that good.  Dusk is my favourite time, and we generally get out there for one of the qualifying sessions, plus once during the race, normally on the Saturday evening.   Last year's qualifying in the wet was simply awesome as they braked into Arnage, a ton or so of water fell off the cars as the aerodynamic effects faded, and then the difficulty of getting the power down accelerating out of Arnage gave a good insight into who were the good drivers, cars and the also-rans.  A magic piece of Le Mans, even since they increased the Indianapolis run off a few years ago and put up fencing so that you can't see the cars from as far out from Indianpolis as you used to be able to.

MG Mark

He would never hack it in MI5 would he? ::)

Maybe MFI ;D

Pam, You mention camping at Houx Annexe, surely not by choice?

Where else would you suggest three 18 year olds camp?! lol

Ok thanks for the advice then guys, i have decided to leave at half 7 and get the midnight bus back.  that way we get to see the sun set (about half 9 or 10) and then a couple of hours in the dark.

Is it just one enclosure and you can see both corners and the run to indy from the mulsanne corner?  Roll on Wednesday 13th June 2007! - Aston Fan

I think when I did the MRI trip, you went to Mulsanne corner, then Arnage in two hops.  It may have changed though?

Arnage corner is a great place to watch from at any time, but is at its best in the dark.

Watched three classes in the dark from there at the classic last year, it really makes you appreciate the driving skill of the best drivers.

Your money will be well spent.

It is seperate enclosures for Arnage and Mulsanne. You can't see both  corners from either viewing area so you have to visit both. The run up from Mulsanne to Indy is not to be missed as it is one of the few viewing areas that is still relitively dark.

 Why pay MRI £15 when you can get the free bus from opposite the main gate? That way you are not tied to specific times as I believe you are with organised trips out there. The free busses do get a bit crowded and it is a mad scramble to get back on them at the 2 stop off points but it is all part of the weekend. Last time we did it we dropped stink bombs just before the bus doors opened, that cured a bit of the pushing ;D

They get temperamentally sometimes on this forum, use the search to see the  strongly held views held about the pros and cons of the different campsites.

if you come up with HA as the correct answer, its wrong 8)