2006 help for American newbies

[Jonnyspa27]

Del,
So basically what you're telling me is that now that I've expressed interest to the ACO, I will get an invoice via e-mail for a camp tic? Also at Maison Blanche I did not find any forum or post to view people selling or looking for tics. The link you provided me is great, I will have to research that one a bit more. You mentioned you would probably have a spare set for yourself to sell? Let me know where they are at and how much you would like and I may be interested.  thanks again.

[DelBoy]

Del,
So basically what you're telling me is that now that I've expressed interest to the ACO, I will get an invoice via e-mail for a camp tic?

Depends on what you said to them.  If you just enquired about availability, no.  If you asked them for a ticket, yes.  Usually when you place an order, you state specifically which site you want - you don't always get what you want, and as I said earlier, there is probably only tickets left for BSJ by now.

Also at Maison Blanche I did not find any forum or post to view people selling or looking for tics.

If you mean the Maison Blanche website, it is not what I meant.  Look at the 'Sell or Swap' section of THIS (Club Arnage) site.  If you scroll back a few pages to early June and before, you will get an idea of the sell and swap activity.  You wont see any at the moment - thousands of people have ordered tickets but until the invoices are issued late in the year or early next year, people don't know what they have to sell or barter with.

You mentioned you would probably have a spare set for yourself to sell? ...

I am in the same boat as all the other thousands.  If I get what I ordered, ie my requested campsite AND the quantity, then I will have a spare as I have had one vehicle and 4 people drop out for next year.  This happens to me and many others as in the 12 months or more between ordering the tickets and actually going to the race, a lot can happen (births, marriages, deaths etc).  Just keep your eye on this site and you will see the activity level increase dramatically when the invoices are issued.

Best of luck - any further clarification or questions, just ask.

Del

[DelBoy]

Forgot to mention, Jonny, that the one Being, he of the deity - our illustrious moderator Smokie, is above all these earthly mundane things.  He seems to acquire his tickets by some method of immaculate conception - don't ask how!!

[smokie]

Moderators (and the ACO!)  move in mysterious ways.....     



All the advice you have so far is good Jonny, particularly the piece about using our Sell or Swap forum.

Remember that you can buy entry tickets at the door even on race day. It's the on site camping tickets which are like gold dust. And these are only really essential if you have a vehicle - without one, in theory, you can simply walk through the camping gates and set up, with no pass.


If you are offered a camping ticket by the ACO, take it, as they won't offer again! But if not, many people will sell spares here at cost, and usually regular forums members will often take preference over people who just drop in once. Tis can start any time after initial ticket allocation (as Del says, around Xmas) and continue right up to June, as people's plans change.

You probably already know prices, but for 2005 an entry ticket (enceinte generale) was approx $71 and camping (AIRES D'ACCUEIL) ranges from $46 to $109 for Wed to Sunday (price depends on campsite).

[Jonnyspa27]

OK now I'm really getting amped to go over, I think my buddy is game to go so all we are needing now is to get the camping application e-mailed or sent to us and I think we're in motion! Also I've been checking out more websites fans have posted, I gotta say Le 24 Arses is pretty sweet. Haven't seen a display like that since Long Beach last year  Where does one get the Team Swack gear? This is going to be a good one!

[Jonnyspa27]

DOH! It's SQUACK not SWACK my bad guys 

[Andy Zarse]

Hi Jonny, a word from the wise; bring plenty of toilet tissue, a 24 pack/per person should be enough for a few days. If there are more than two of you travelling, the minivan might be a good idea. Go to the lavatory regularly, at least three times a day, but make sure you put lots of paper down the bowl before you sit down. A good length of vulcanised rubber to bite on is always a boon, in my experience. Don't drink the water and avoid some of the BBQs unless you like eating broiled boxing glove. We wouldn't want constipation, or it's polar opposite, to ruin your trip of a lifetime.

Looking after one's bowels is terribly important, especially abroad. Haemorrhoid unctions are freely available in France, but I normally bring my own. If you have any questions regarding problems of the digestive system, then Team Zarse probably know the answer. We take a campervan kitted out with our own enema equipment, complete with Rile's Probe. Hope this link helps:

http://www.karunaretreats.com/?page=colonicboard#Setup

[Jonnyspa27]

Thanks for the Deuce droppin' tips. I'll sleep better at night knowing you have the collonic gear.  Chaps I did get some interesting news that maybe you can help me decode from the ACO. I e-mailed them again to say 'yes, when the camp order forms become available I would like one please.' This is the response I received:

"Dear Sir,

If you wait the new booking form, you will have nothing more to book, that's
why we send you the booking form of the year before.

Yours faithfully.

Service Réservation / Booking Office
Circuit des 24 Heures
72019 Le Mans Cedex 2
FRANCE
Tel: (0033)(0)892 697 224 (0,34€/min)
Fax: (0033) (0)2 43 84 47 13
www.lemans.org/ticket"

I've received no file in the e-mail and only a link that does not work. Am I missing something here? Do I just need to go onto the lemans.org site and click tickets and go from there? 

[smokie]

They're foreign, that's the problem!

Here's a link to the booking form in .pdf format - it's on page 5. http://tinyurl.com/7gngw

You can fax it to the ACO.

Shout if you need help with translation.

[Jonnyspa27]

Marvellous! This will give me some early practice with the French I learned these last few years. I'm starting to get a little rusty My only question is do I print this off fill it out and send it to them or just use this as a reference for what I can expect to pay?

[Steve Pyro]

If you have access to a fax machine I suggest you print it off, fill it in and fax it back.
I do this each year and it sems to work for me.

[Jonnyspa27]

Good call steve.

[BigH]

That's good advice for any newbies from Andy Zarse and no mistake. He has also come up with a useful link to a different sort of poo bar. Vintage Champagne up the tradesmans entrance would certainly separate the hoi poloi from us poor plebs, a real status symbol to wear along with their twin sets. The day can't be far away where the likes of you and I are queuing up with our tickets and having our retinas scanned to gain entrance to the village, while the movers and shakers are having their colons irrigated and then waved straight through.
As regards medical attention, I would of course be more than pleased to help out, but my advice to anyone would be to make sure that you ask to see the practitioners credentials. If, upon this request, he starts to lead you round to the poorly lit bit of waste ground behind the frites bar, then be on your guard.
That's also a marvellous example of Dada-esque ordering from the ACO, mind you, what do you expect from the nation that gave us Jean Paul Sartre and Plastic Bertrand?
Send them a reply from here http://www.elsewhere.org/cgi-bin/postmodern/
H

[BigH]

My only question is do I print this off fill it out and send it to them or just use this as a reference for what I can expect to pay?

Jonny,
I usually fax the form, post them a copy and also e-mail my requirements, that way you've got most bases covered.

I hope you get to fulfill your wish list, our man JPChenet can probably arrange a meeting with Jonny Herbert, and I can only wish you the best of luck with drinking beer from Ms Ickx's V*gina.

I may have misread that last bit...
H

[BigH]

a different sort of poo bar.

Strange isn't it, how these things happen? The above phrase suddenly reminded of my old (loopy, and sadly long departed) Grandma.

When we used to ask her what vegetables there was to go with the Sunday roast, she would reply "ars*nips!" When we had plucked up enough courage to ask what these were, she would tell us that they were "just like a different sort of parsnip". Can't say it did wonders for a young lads appetite.
H