Radio Le Mans

[Lazy B'stard]

the incessant ramblings drove me nuts to be honest.

You want to try an evening on Maison Blanche with me and Martini then.

[Fran]

the incessant ramblings drove me nuts to be honest.

You want to try an evening on Maison Blanche with me and Martini then.

Oh no you don't!!   

[Lazy B'stard]

the incessant ramblings drove me nuts to be honest.

You want to try an evening on Maison Blanche with me and Martini then.

Oh no you don't!!   

And yet again this year you are back for more.

[Brad Zarse]

I think it has to be remembered, that there is a hell of a lot more to running a radio station like RLM than meets the eye.  Not least the fact that the ACO have bumped the cost of the rights to broadcast hugely over the past 10 years.  With that bump in cost, have come further demands as to quality,  and as the quality grew, it started to get adopted for use over the top of TV broadcasts -- the ACO of course realised this was happening, and bumped the cost even further, because RLM has additional sales streams. Radio and TV are actually two very different mediums - and to me, this is the only down-side to RLM - the fact that really, you need a TV screen to be able to follow it.

I think the fact that RLM has changed SO heavily over the past few years, is actually another thing that can be put into the pile of things that the ACO have progressively done to ruin what should be the best event in the world - not just in the campsites, but around the track as well.   

Unfortunately, the ACO are determined to screw this event up - sterilising it, by moving spectators further and further away (there are barely any good viewing points at Le-Mans any more) and making radio companies such as RLM so expensive to run, that they have to get massive corporate backing all over all of the commentary, as well as sell the coverage to as many TV companies as possible, just to make coverage of the race possible.

John Hindhaugh is much more than just a commentator of the race - indeed - he is much more than just the voice of sports car racing - he's the man who makes all of the commercials work so that the service can continue.....but one can only assume that one day, even he will get bored of dealing with the arrogance of the idiots who run ruin this event annually - and for that, I believe sports car racing will become all the poorer.

I vote for a British coup, to take back our race from the incompetence of the ACO, and apply some common sense to proceedings - Before they ruin the race, that everyone knows is a british race, that happens to take place in France.

[Lazy B'stard]

Do you really think us Brits could do a better job of running the race than the French Brad? Seriously?

If it ever got past the nanny H&S brigade it would be a shambles. We can't even do a decent job of putting on a Grand Prix and that's just 2 hours not 24.

As the recent Royal Celebrations have shown, and I'm sure that the upcoming Olympics will show (I can just see Boris fluffing his lines introducing Little Mix whilst billions around the world piss themselves with glee) that we cannot organise a piss up in a Brewary.

I know it's an annual CA tradition to slag the ACO off, but they still manage to pull it off year on year.

[Fran]

And yet again this year you are back for more.

Of course, wouldnt miss it for anything.   

[Brad Zarse]

absolutely I believe we could do a better job of it.  For a start, the H&S brigade would be nowhere near it - as the race is on foreign soil.  

The things that are bad about the ACO are the things we would do right.  Ticketing for example - the ticketing system the ACO use, isn't even a system! It's an absolute farce!  As for restricting beer onto campsites....F*** off!  We've paid for the stupid allocated camping areas - we've paid the over inflated entrance price - If either of those things were reasonable, we'd be able to pay for the over inflated beer costs...... I would bet it was probably 7euros a pint in the bars this year??  

My point however, is that it's perfectly possible for that race to be de-sterlised.  We don't NEED 100ft of gravel traps and 100ft of catch fencing to make the track safe.....  I sat and watch cars tipping 200mph on the infield of Sebring 3 months ago, with no catch fencing at all....surprise surprise - nobody died.  (although granted - one of our numbers did do his best to kill himself with excess alcohol consumption, and a rather nasty reaction to some caffeine tablets).    

As an example - why are there no areas where you can watch along the Mulsanne?  Why does that area even get restricted? I haven't seen anyone crash to the side of the straights for 13 years - surely this is an area of potential revenue growth for the ACO?  You're very much a captive audience if you're that side of the circuit - the french might pull the event off - but it has SO much more to give than it does currently.

Every year I go to Le-Mans, the ACO have taken away something else which was magical about the event - and my fear is that if they don't get their arrogant heads out of their own backsides, there'll be none of the things that used to make Le-Mans the best event in the world.   That includes Radio Le-Mans, The dirty fairground rides, and most importantly, actually being able to see the fecking race!!

[Lazy B'stard]

Some fair points but a few I don't agree with.

1. Over-inflated entrance price.

British GP is around £300 per person this year if you want to keep dry. The race is always sh*t to boot and beer is always watered down sewage.

2. Catch fencing and run off areas.

Yes they get on my tits too, but McNish did a pretty good job of displaying their worth last year. No one wants to see 1955 again.

[Martini...LB]

And yet again this year you are back for more.

Of course, wouldnt miss it for anything.   

I am going to log off now to practice some of my rambling... with and without shoes... or I might just sit and talk to myself - back to normal then 

>Martini...LB

[Dirk3D_NL]

I still think Le Mans is very cheap compared to other race classes (not including ALMS)

we can organise a wednesday-monday weekend including unlimited draft beer and food, campsite entrance (Maison Blanche) and trackview for 300 euro's not including the trip back and forth....

not bad, if you compare it to Spa F1 which is the same amount only for your ticket....

oh, beer was 5,50 for a 0,5 liter Kronenbourg trackside, i pay that in Delft as well when drinking a beer on a terrace...

and this year again we saw a car flying over the straight...

[Brad Zarse]

Some fair points but a few I don't agree with.

1. Over-inflated entrance price.

British GP is around £300 per person this year if you want to keep dry. The race is always sh*t to boot and beer is always watered down sewage.

Not comparing apples with apples - F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports.  As much as I hate to admit it - Sportscar racing - isn't.  This is why you see most drivers who don't make it in F1, or who retire from F1 - ending up in sportscars.....McNish being the prime example - top sportscar racer - wouldn't be allowed anywhere near an F1 car (although there are those saying he shouldn't be allowed near a sportscar either!)

2. Catch fencing and run off areas.

Yes they get on my tits too, but McNish did a pretty good job of displaying their worth last year. No one wants to see 1955 again.

Motorsports is dangerous.  At Le-Mans though, you are SO far away from the action, that there was never even a threat of the McNish car causing damage to anyone.  Protect the public, yes, but one freak accident, shouldn't mean further sterilisation.  If we did that, how long before nobody is allowed to watch the racing - just in case.  We all sign up to the dangers when we buy the ticket.

[Brad Zarse]

oh, beer was 5,50 for a 0,5 liter Kronenbourg trackside, i pay that in Delft as well when drinking a beer on a terrace...

£5.50??  That is actually quite disgusting - that must be what, 5 euros profit per pint all told??

and this year again we saw a car flying over the straight...

Over - not off of. 

[monkey]

Sorry to hear you feel that way Brad - I can't help feeling that if I were so disillusioned with it - then I don’t think I would bother going. But I am not so am already making plans for next year.

As for RLM - like I said before they have moved on to new audiences. That is there judgement call. I wish them every success with that.  

[Lawnmower Man]

I agree that these days at Le Mans you are rather distant.  But you have to remeber there have be a number of occasions in the recent past where Cars have managed to to make it past the Fencing or Armco. 

A few years back I went down to Mulsanne in the  morning and found that the a Porsche 935 had managed to get over the Debris fence and had squashed the concrete post and scaffold pole that marks the boundary of the spectator area.   Some poor soul had also lost his chair as that had been squashed by the 935 too.

Then there is the Flying Merc in 1999 was it?

Whilst they may be rather over the top with the distances I don't think they can wait for something bad to happen before they do something.

t.

[Dirk3D_NL]

5.5 euro's brad , not pounds

so approx 4 pounds