Club Arnage

Emailed the ACO over the weekend about various issues, and amongst other things, this was their response:

".......You will be able to reserve for the 24 hours 2008, starting on the Test day on the 3rd of June 2007.
....."

 ??? ??? ???

Del

Well, as I'm planning an 08 assault, then I may just try ringing them on the test day.

yup.. all order en masse on the 3rd ;)

As previously stated, I am happy to deliver a mass CA booking on the morning of June 3rd for the 2008 race.  I suggest you download the '07 form, change the year, and post it to me. Anybody who is interested should PM me and I'll give you my address to send the forms to.  This offer is limited to those with 100 posts or more (this is just for security as I don't want my address to be public knowledge). Does that sound fair?

Great idea termie, will bring a copy to Sebring to save on expensive stamps ;D

Termie,

please can you post the link for the download?  my work computer dont like parts of the le mans site for some reason!

http://www.lemans.org/sport/sport/calendrier/pdf/bon_commande_gb.pdf
There you go!

Tight wad!! ;D
Just don't forget to check I've still got it by the time I get home!! ::)

Termie. You're a star. I'll try to program our dvd recorder  so that it gets the cheltenham festival for you too. I won't be around to supervise it, so I'll leave instructions with Mrs Liv not to let my daughter watch sooty, pingu etc. while the prog is on the TV.

Termie,

sur la poste as they say ;D

Termie you are an angel :angel:
My form is in the post!

Thanks

In my experience they may be slightly wrong - I have usually requested next year's tickets when I collect this year's, on the Friday of test weekend.

As it looks like I won't be able to do Test w/e this year I may well join the Termieclub. :)

Wow, I didn't expect quite such a scramble when I made the post!!

I was also told this last year - that they wouldn't accept bookings until after test w/e.  But I know for a fact that some people booked long before this.  For the past few years, I have emailed them my order, whereas some people fax theirs.  I have a feeling that if you email them, they have an easy way of responding (refusing) the order if it is too early - if the order is faxed, they can't easily respond.

Also bear in mind that Termie has offered to go and have a chat with the ACO people after the current activity has eased off a bit - to try to get some answers before we start ordering.

Del

You're quite right.  June 3rd is the Sunday of test weekend.  I'm going to try for Friday morning (1st) and see what happens.  Then will keep trying each morning until they relieve me of them!!!
Meanwhile, I have one more general entrance ticket to book and will do that after Sebring.  Then I'll get a face-to-face answer.  Faxing before June 1st may work as suggested above, dunno.

Just out of interest guys, what is the best way of securing tickets nice and early for 2008? -  do you all go through the ACO?  It looks as if i'll probably go about organising next years trip and getting a few guys involved who haven't been before, and would obviously want it sorted ASAP! (after this years of course ;) )

Rolls

That would be your first mistake if booking with the ACO (and most people on CA book direct with the ACO).

If you follow the thread above, we are talking about submitting orders at Test w/e at the latest, ie 2 weeks before this year's race.

Del

Oh, ok -
So how do you have to register interest with at test weekend?
Cheers

Download the booking form from:

http://www.lemans.org/sport/sport/calendrier/pdf/bon_commande_gb.pdf

Change the 2007 to 2008 (make it obvious), fill in your requirements (don't enter any pricing data - it will be different next year), mail or fax the form to the ACO.  You can then sit back and sweat your b*llocks off for 6 months before you find out what you have been allocated  :'( :'(

NB:  On the form, 'Lay-by' = camp site, and you won't have a Client No yet.

Del

I've just downloaded the booking form for the first time in years - I usually just send in my order in 'free format'.  It has changed a lot since I last saw it!!

Anyone ever used the 'Remarks' column successfully??  It appears to me that you can ask for, eg, particular seats in a tribune.

I wonder if we could use this to specify particular pitch numbers on the campsites??

Keep it in mind, Termie, for your 'chat' with the nice people at the ACO.

Del

 and you won't have a Client No yet.

[/quote]

ooops.. termie have you got tippex? :o

Worry not, Fagey, my client number has been the same for the last 6 years (not so the one after the / which is the booking number!)  They don't change year on year.

Superb -  cheers for the info!  :D :D

I'm not sure if this should be a separate topic. 

If we turned CA in to a real club i.e with membership.   Mostly to finance CA as I sugggested in http://www.clubarnage.com/forum/index.php?topic=6529.0

Then another advantage of membership could be a ticket office.   So instead of simply sending our forms to Termie or the ACO we send them to the CA ticket office.   The CA ticket office then consolodates all of the orders in to one mega order and submits that to the ACO.

That may appleal to the ACO as in theory it's less work for them.

In theory the CA Ticket Office should be able to offer a discount to members over the normal price since it would buy in bulk so a General Entrance Ticket would only cost €55 instead of the standard €61.

If the CA Ticket office were allowed to use the ACO membership advantages of those ACO members who are be willing to  order though CA the  cost could be even smaller.  Since it may be possible to use up the Members unused Discounts. 

For example :-
I'm  Sorting out tickets for 10 people with 6 cars  We have 2 ACO Members in our group,  so in theory,  If anyone wanted we could get a further 6 Discounted Camping tickets and 2 more Discounted Entrance tickets.

Of course it's not going to be as simple as that. 

I'd happily Volunteer to do the consolodation and so on.  But I guess it would also need the Termietermite services too for liasion with the ACO.
 

What do you Think?

t.

Not a bad idea, Tom, although it has been brought up before in a slightly less 'organised' fashion.

Some problems spring to my mind.

I use all my membership allocation for GA tickets so would not benefit in any way.  However, I am sure that a deal could be struck with the ACO for a bulk purchase - I'm sure Messrs MRI, Just Tickets etc don't pay Series A rate for what they purchase.

Also consider the liability.  CA, or you, would be liable for the payment of all tickets ordered, and as we all know, circumstances change in the 12+ months between ordering and attending, and there will undoubtedly be 'non-payers'.

CA, or you, would also come in for stick if (when) some people could not get what they asked for, and could well result in, again, non-payment.

It would be 'infradig' for those lucky people on the 'magic' list to be demoted back to the ranks   ;) ;)

I think this is something that may be worth developing, but we should 'evolve' into it rather than rush into things.  Termie's offer for 2008 orders is a good starting point - we should monitor the numbers and feedback later to determine if it is worth developing.

Del

I agree with Del.  I think it could be a real minefield for the organiser.  I've been let down myself in the past by people who were "definately" coming and it's a nightmare if you end up paying for tickets you didn't want (luckily somebody on CA helped me out - ta again, Brian).  You (or whoever) could end up with a big liability, certainly in the short term, and as Del says, be blamed for all sorts of things - lost tickets etc. Also, I doubt if the ACO would view us in the same way that they do Just Tickets et al.  I think it would only work if we all wanted the same things - a group booking in the same campsite/grandstand etc but that is just never going to happen is it?  Let's try this and see what happens, hmm?
If anybody has any "spare" ACO membership allocation, couldn't we just do this through the forum, as we do with spare tickets?

DelBoy,

I agree with all your points.   

I know in the past Smokie sounded out a Bulk purchase of tickets in the hope of getting a larger allocation of MB Tickets but was only offered BSJ.  I'm not sure how things turned out with JPC and his bulk purchase of Entrance tickets last year.  There may be others.

I can also see those that get their desired allocation each year may be reluctant to move to what is in effect a new supplier.

Your point about the monitary side of things will be the biggest headache.   

Non the less I do think that it should be possible to draw up some guideline that woudl be acceptable to all.

T.

Tm

Its taken 4 years to get the t shirts ordering sorted.

Te first year i was well out of pocket, the second year was a £1 loss, then £1 profit, last year i lost £38 due to posty or ?? . . . .

so who would take on the responsiblity ??

Yes the responsibility for the monitary side of things would be the biggest problem.   Lets face it if everyone that has gone for a T-Shirt this year went for tickets worth £60 that £6,000+.  I for sure wouldn't want the responsibility for that.   It would need to be done on proper Commercial but "Not for Profit" basis.

t.

I know the feeling, I already have some doubts sometimes within our relativly small group about responsibility for finances, cause all arrangements with suppliers and rentals are made on a personal base. I wouldn't want to take it upon me for a group of 100, where I can't recall the face of at least 60% of 'm.

I agree, most people are good about their finances, others just let stuff linger. since we use some many different sites, it will probably never come to ordering a big chunk all at once.

Fagey, Werner and Robbo.28 - forms received.

Thanks for letting me know Termie
Hope the form is filled out correctly, hate to miss out on a technicality!!

Thanks again.......just gotta sort 2007!!!

Just out of interest, where has everyone requested?

Well, no because the camp sites are "lay-bys" not car parks, but I've changed it for you!

I have now spoken to the ACO.  As all the places will be marked on MB and other campsites, the only way to make sure you camp together, is to book together (as per grandstands now).  Bookings for 2008 will be taken from Saturday 3rd June.
However, they have said that if I take all our forms in on 1st June, they will accept them from moi.  So, as said above, anybody with 100 posts or more can take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime offer! Please pm me for my private address and get your forms for '08 in the post!
http://www.lemans.org/sport/sport/calendrier/pdf/bon_commande_gb.pdf

So how many requests have you got up 'till now?

You are the first.  Maybe the rest aren't coming (more beer for us!)

Oh apart from those who sent them to me pre-Sebring of course.

I need to send in the form, is there any chance you can put mine Paddy's Delboys and JPC's together then if they are number we should have them together.

Yup, not a problem, although a prod once the forms have got to me might help.  I have Saga moments, you know.

I'm gonna add this picture, and order 15 tickets for '08. I hope it will be clear to them where we want to stay. I will add mr. Appleyard, mr. Every and mr. Cutler as co-orderers. Maybe Debs can staple them together :)

(http://www.drinkingforholland.com/Paddy/letter.jpg)

I will of course ask very nicely if they'll give you your usual spot!

Cheers Deb, I'm printing the form now and will email it to you from work tomorrow.

Debs

Me Please....

I will check with Mr Wishy and see what he thinks but I definitely want 2 tickets,

When do you want the application form?

Before June 1st!

I'm going to hold mine for a bit as I think I'm going to join the ACO so will wait until I've got a number to put on mine.

After all we've got plenty of time....

Are you sure? Only six weeks to the deadline, and the booking office is really busy now :-\

If you have any worries about the post etc, you can send it to me and I'll add the membership number for you when you get it.  Up to you.

Mine is on it's way to you Deb (well, will be in the morning) - many thanks for the excellent service   :) :)

Del

Don't say that until about this time next year when your tickets land on the doormat!

Arrived this morning.  Thanks for the pressie too!

Sssshhhhhhh......Piglet might hear   :-X :-X :-X

Del

Tooooo lateeeeeee

Our post is crap...

Rusty, your form arrived today.
Don't forget, the rest of you, you've only got just over a month to get them to me!!!

Hi Debs

Mine is on its way to you.  I'm not going to bother with ACO membership for this year after all.

Cheers

I'll await receipt Piglet.

JUST 3 MORE WEEKS THE REST OF YOU!  Don't forget to allow some time for your forms to get here.

When will the date for the classic be announced? Not sure if i can do both next year.
Will have to decide in the next few weeks which one to do.

I think it's announced and I think from memory it's the 15th July or somewhere around there - I think the website is lemansclassic.org or something similar

No sign of any dates
http://www.lemansclassic.com/uk/index.html
but mid-July is normally about right.  Very unlikely that anything gets finalised until the meeting with all the authorities involved in road closures etc at the end of the year.
You can always book the tickets (no payment involved) and turn them down when the allocations come through in December (or flog them on!)  That way you'll be safe, whatever you decide and whatever the dates turn out to be.

Le Mans Classic 2008 11 12 13 july

see http://www.lemansclassic.com/2008/GB/index.html

Dave

Well done!  My link's out of date.  Sorry.

Might be buggered then. Sconefinger jr. Number 2 is due around the 18th of july and the little buggers always come early. I would be a lousy father missing birthdays.:-(
On lav subject- having named my first Lola i'm struggling with a name for number two. Any ideas? The wife hates Inaltera and Matra so they are out.

One of my kids is called Lola (well, my kid substitutes anyway).  The other two are called Cooper and Chevron....

Is that Dave Newcastle with the Elan? How are you doing?

Well just be extra nice to Mrs Sconefinger for the next few weeks to make sure he's not a month early!!!!!! After all you are already busy in the middle of June every year.

Dave 

(doing good ta - car nearly ready just got some bushes to change on the rear wishbones which I keep putting off cos need a press to get old ones out, then a tune up, pack and away - still got four and half weeks - usually doing something to the car to get going with four and half hours to go!)

It'll be ex Mrs Sconefinger if she tries hiding my passport again I tell yer! Bloody women;-)
Fancy a pint before the off Dave?
Termie- show us your Chevron!

You might be very disappointed...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97986095@N00/238359765/in/set-72157594409845188/

Nice, my favourite model ;D

Piglet, I got your booking form today.  Under three weeks to the deadline folks...

Fab, thanks Deb  ;D

Barry and Steve Brown : Your applications arrived today. 2 more weeks only the rest of you...

Thanks Deb, you got the tickets then (http://www.sebringfans.com/forums/Smileys/SFBigSet/afro.gif)

Yes, thanks, very quick.  Let's hope this '08 pre-booking malarky works as well!

Cheers Deb,

Beer awaiting your visit to our bijou encampment on MB as always.

or wine

or cidre

or armagnac

or barcardi

Redstu and Dukla 2000 - forms received.  13 days...  Nudge, nudge.

Deb

you have PM

Nick

So do you.

is houx annexe avaialible next year or am i better offer just going for maison blanche?

4 weeks from now the race will be starting or is it? because in france they are an hour ahead so we will actually be 1 hour into the race? how many pugs left i wonder!

If you fax your application on 3rd June to the ACO, then you should get Houx Annexe.  That's the date that '08 booking opens so nothing will be reserved before then.
15.00 start this year (14.00 your time!)

Houx Annexe has been doubtfull for the last couple of years but it now looks like this really will be the last year of Houx Annexe. There may be an alternative but it will not be as good.

My suggestion is to put Houx Annexe down as your first choice then MB as your second, I would however choose a third option otherwise YOU WILL get BSJ.

I will be annoyed if people from HA get MB over and above dedictated MB'ers next year.

Interesting, Rick.  Are we certain that the whole of Houx Annexe is for the chop?  As much as I look at the tramway/stadium plans, I can't see that the whole site gets affected.

Isn't Houx Annexe the ground that is to be used for parking for the stadium they are building nearby or on HA? I understood that the tramway would only utilise this ground as overflow parking?

As far as I know the stadium was the main reason.

This one due to open in 2009:-

Babelfish:-

The new stage A pole of sporting excellence is born in the south of Mans. Joining together on the same site all the large equipment of sports and leisures. The new stage, sporting arena, dedicated to football and Rugby, but so cultural and hotel.

(http://www.ville-lemans.fr/data/graphic/196/13CE461F-7F000001-01B9CAF4-FE24ECE1.jpg)

The Leon-Bollée stage, which accomodates the meetings of football in the district of the Madeleine, cannot increase his capacity for reasons of safety, circulation and parking. This is why a new stage was decided. It will find its place on the site of Antarès, already rich of a hippodrome, a road racing set, a track of karting, a golf and a ring cyclist.

This new equipment, which will be delivered in January 2009 for a startup in August, will count 25000 seats for the sporting meetings, 41500 places for the spectacles, 1330 parking bays (without counting the 4400 places of Antarès), a hotel of private initiative of 65 rooms two or three stars.

(http://www.ville-lemans.fr/data/graphic/392/13D0F0A0-7F000001-01B9CAF4-6D768C3B.jpg)

It Will cost 50 M Euros, financed to 50 % by Mans, 25 % by the department and the area and 25 % by private investors.

For my 2000!!!! post,

You can even see the image of the cars lights in the bottom of the last picture.

As I say, I've looked at looked at the plans on the LM (not the race, the city) website to try to see what this involves.  I know that there is a huge stadium car park involved but what is not clear is if or whether it will be usable during the race as a campsite/car park or both, and just how much if any of HA is affected. In frustration, I've just e-mailed the ACO to ask them.  I will see what transpires.

I don't know HA at all.  Scroll down on this forum
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283180&page=2
and there's an overhead shot of the location of the stadium.  What does it say to you?

Looks like about a 1/3 will be used up by those shots. The only problem with places like that they always expand.

As I get tickets for both sites, I guess I'm alright then  ::)

Well, you shouldn't keep telling people how good it is then!

Just out of interest, does anyone know when LM08 will take place? 15/16 or 22/23 of June?

Ta.

My money is on the 15/16th.

As is mine.
PQ on the 1st June.

Og God, please save us from the endless debate about next year's date.  I can't bear it.... ;)

I know what you mean.  Put a big cross through the whole of June and July 2008 then you'll be sure to have all your weekends free no matter what dates are chosen for the race and the classic.  But then, I don't have to book a channel crossing...

Hmmm now that would be good.  what a way to do the big 60.
t.

IMPORTANT

I have heard from the ACO this morning "In effect, Houx Annexe will no longer exist in 2008."

Anybody who's asked for HA in their booking for next year, please pm me with your alternative.

you have pm ;D

Just remember there is another association football tournament being played in 08,  its the Euro championship hosted by the Swiss and Austrians! Luckily there will be no matches which will clash with the traditional start time :)

I have a sneaking suspicion that 3.00pm will now be the 'traditional' start time for the foreseeable future!!

Del

Nikliv, your booking form received and ammended as requested.
Not to push this too much but to be certain that I'll get these in time, anyone else needs to get their forms in the post and pronto.
 Paddy, no sign of anything from you; aren't you coming? ;)

or book holidays from work the previous November.

There's that.  Signed, Smug of La Sarthe

Posted today, cheers Deb.

Feel free to discuss it in November - just not the preceding May  ;D

Been decussing it in May for the previous 6 years, just continuing the tradition. ;D

Better than talking about the dreaded 'r**n' word, or even 'S'.

sorry.

Rick Cutler and Chris (Alibongo) - your booking forms are with me.
Just one week to go the rest of you!

On that subject, Rick if you want to be near Paddy, DelBoy and JPC, then maybe you could remind them to get their forms to me! ;)

 ??? ??? ???  Thought you had mine Termie   ??? ??? ???

Del

Woops.  Profuse appologies,Del, I most certainly do have it!  I missed it because your letter was still attached to the front.  Do not fret - now firmly with Rick's. :-[ :-[

So far I have Lawnmower Man, Barry, Steve Brown, Piglet, Rusty, Fagey, Werner, Redstu, Nickliv, Rick Cutler, DelBoy, Chris (alibongo), Robbo-28 and dukla 2000.

I'll kick Paddy a bit tonight, to check whether he has sent it or not.

Marius why dont you send in a booking form as well, you can always refuse the tickets if they are not what you want.

Have just sent the forms in pdf format via PM to Termie. Envelope with original prints will leave tomorrow via post office.
I have ordered 15 places for MB, so will definately have that whole corner with Del, Mark and Rick. If that seems too much, we can always sell on here at CA.

Thanks Deb,I was a bit worried it would not get to you.  :)

Could someone post a picture of a completed form, so a numpty like me knows what to put where for the tickets required. (Obviously I know my name and address!)

Thanks,

Patrick.



"Mum? What's our address?"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97986095@N00/513214915/
P/L Could you let me know when you've finished with this as I'd like to remove it from the photostream once it's done with, thanks.

Redstu, booking received this morning.

YOUR FINAL CALL!!!
My Thursday post will be the last one which will make the bookings so anything posted after Monday is highly unlikely to get to me in time.

I've forgotten the point of this thread. Will research and send if required...  :)

Good point, Smokes. I'll re-iterate.

I have had agreement from the ACO that I can submit all our bookings for 2008 in one lump, on Friday 1st June (a day ahead of the official opening date for '08 reservations.) Anybody who wants to take advantage of the CA mass booking can do so if they have posted 100 times or more.  Please PM me for my address if you want to take advantage of this.  And get them in the post on Monday because time is running out.

I have just twigged that today is a Bank Holiday where you are so I doubt it anything posted now will reach me in time.  So, if you still want to take advantage of this, please e-mail me with a scan of your form and get it to me by Thursday.  PM me for my e-mail address.

My research this year seems to confirm that the ACO does indeed process the ticket applications in the order in which they are received so this is a good offer, especially given the probable demise of HA next year (this assumes of course that the bl**dy footy stadium actually goes ahead as planned.)  However, a difinitive answer wasn't really possible as so many people forgot which day they actually applied.  As I'm thinking that maybe we could charge a very small fee for this service next year, to help maintain our server, I'd really like to have a proper handle on what goes on for next time.  So, I need your help.

Could everybody (including those whom I have booked for) make a note of the date (and time if poss), plus the method, of application for their '08 bookings and come back to me once you have had that (delightfully vague) confirmation letter, together with their '08 booking number (the one after their customer number) when they get it.

Thank you.

My case was a major exception, but I think I have found the answer.

A couple of weeks ago, I set the PC date forward a month for a particular purpose, and forgot to reset it.  So 30-odd emails went out with a June date on them.

I did the same last year, and looking back at my records, although I emailed the ACO on 6th June, it went out dated 6 July, and it is likely that this is the date the ACO used.

Memo to self - leave the bloody date alone!!

Del

Rick, I've put your form with Paddy and Delboy's but have had nothing from jpc.  Is he in with one of your forms or does he need another nudge?

 Don't forget they'll be numbered pitches so unless the forms are together, you won't be together.

Hello termie,

I see you have special permission to hand in the forms early.......which sort of messes up my plan to give you the form on Saturday / Sunday.

Is it ok if I scan it in and e-mail it to you? Are you able to print it and put it with the others?

No probs. I think you might have my e-mail address but I'll pm it to you.

Thanks for all your help and efforts Deb!  (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y185/DobbinTheGreat/Misc/hail.gif)(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y185/DobbinTheGreat/Misc/biggrinz.gif)

He needs another nudge,  ::) whch he has just got!!  ;)

Just printed it again and will complete it, scan it and email it to you before I leave the office!

Thansk Termie!!  :D

Sorry to refer to you in the 3rd person. The cat's mother... ;)

Cat's father surely!!!  >:(  ;)

This offer is now CLOSED!  I'm off to the circuit for PQ Scrutineering and will hand in all the forms this morning.  Keep everything crossed that this works!

Thanks, Deb, I'll keep fingers crossed

'08 Bookings accepted by the ACO today with a big smile and all in a bundle. We were the first so if we don't get what we want I don't know what we do!   Now the agonising begins - why does this seem to get earlier every year?

PS Could everybody else please keep a note of when they do their bookings, ta!

Thanks DebsWilco!

Hi everyone Counting down to to monday 11th ferry can't wait.

Regarding tickets the last few years I have faxed my order for the following year in about April. I don't get a response till about July but it seems to work

Hi there.  What do you book for?  This year nobody that I've found who asked for Houx or MB after the race got them.  GE's and less popular campsites haven't been the problem.

Crikey... I'm nervous enough about getting everything sorted for this years race.

Now I'm nervous about next years too!  What are you trying to do to me?  Give me a heart attack to get your hands on my Bleu ticket? (as if...)

I've got to go for a lie down now...

I was going to phone them today but we had visitors and so forgot.
Can I still book for 2008 without a form? I have always booked when I arrived at LeMans so don't have an old form to edit.

Download the form from:

http://www.lemans.org/sport/sport/calendrier/pdf/bon_commande_gb.pdf

Make sure you change 2007 to 2008 at the top of the form.

Del

Thanks Delboy

Can someone please confirm that the ACO will accept a faxed booking form, or do I need to post it?

Cheers

John

3 years ago I used a fax, worked fine!

Last couple of years I've just emailed ticket@lemans.org stating 1st & 2nd (and even 3rd) preferences for camping & grandstand, and supplied a full postal address. I had asked the agent who was dealing with this year's ticket dispatch if she could confirm they were opening booking requests on 3rd June (which they told me earlier in the year) and she said (on the 2nd) that "you can send your booking today, it's opened"...

Now there's the fingers-crossed 6 month wait to make sure they actually *got* the email, and have put it in the appropriate place in the queue...

Ewan

I always email the Ticket Office but this year, Hell's Teeth!, they actually emailed me back and confirmed receipt of my order.

I presume this means that they'll ignore it and give me Beasejour but there are distinct signs or organisation creeping in. Is that a good or bad thing you decide.

I've done all 4. Post, fax, e-mail and by hand - all on pq weekend or the following week (ie before race week).  I have always got the tickets I wanted.

Faxed my 2008 order to the ACO today.  Lets see what happens

John Boy