Hello from New York!

[JNans]

Hello everyone, my name is Joel, age 22, just graduating college. One semester left. I have been a sportscar and Le Mans fan all my life.

I'm from Upstate NY, Syracuse to be specific. I'm sure you will all ask how it is in NYC, however I'm actually about a 6 hour drive from there. It is fun to visit every now and then.

Given my location, I have been going to Watkins Glen for the 6 Hours just about every year since the Camel Continental days, in 1991. In 2001, I began attending ALMS races at Mosport Park, then Mid-Ohio along with Lime Rock Park. I will be attending the race at Lime Rock again this summer.

Needless to say, my father has been kind enough to give me his frequent flyer miles for a trip to France for the summer of 2010 as a graduation gift. I will be traveling with my girlfriend (going to college to be a French teacher), and I am planning on attending the race next year. We are also planning on touring Paris, as well as other places in the area, however I am most excited about the race, of course.

I have read the great Club Arnage guide, it has really helped me out and given me a general idea about getting to and enjoying the race. I do have a few questions though:

1) Would it be worth it to join the ACO and Club24 if I am only buying two race tickets, two grandstand tickets, and one camping pass? I cannot find ticket prices on the race website, although it is still pretty early for this information to be posted, given that the race was last weekend. Also, how far in advance should we book our tickets? EDIT: Looks like I need to send in my order form ASAP. It appears that the link to the order form that is listed in the CA guide is no longer working. Does anyone have a copy of the order form PDF that they would be willing to upload? Much appreciated!

2) After reading the guide, it seems that the Houx campground is the ideal spot for us to stay, especially being newbies to the race - we wouldn't be getting to the track until Friday, and the reserved pitches makes Houx appealing to us. It also looks pretty nice based on the pictures. Does anyone have any other recommendations for me to look into?

3) Regarding the tents and camping supplies available at Carrefour - are these items expensive? We will be trying to travel light as we won't have a car to keep things in, so a tent plus sleeping bags would be throw-away items once the race is over.


Thanks!

-Joel Nans

[DelBoy]

Hi Joel, welcome to CA.

Always great to have a new face, especially as you appear to have been following endurance racing since the age of 3!!

To answer some of your questions:

1    From a financial perspective, it would not be worth you joining the ACO.  This year membership cost €97, and you would save €30 on entry tickets and 10% on the camping ticket (say €8 ).  See page 107 of the Guide for more details of the other membership benefits.  Entry tickets were €62 this year and camping Houx €80.  They may go up a euro or two next year, but they have never had a major hike in price from one year to the next.  There will be a new on-line booking system for next year - this will commence 'sometime in September' - you, like all of us, will have to watch the ACO website to see when it comes on-stream.  Knowing the ACO, expect total chaos at that time.


2    Campsites - almost all the sites now have marked and numbered pitches.  Houx is the most expensive, but it does have electric hook-ups - but this of course would not be relevant to you.  I was on Houx myself this year for the first time since 1991, and whilst I got a good pitch, there are some areas of the site which are pretty poor (no grass, bad position etc), but it does have a lot of trees and is probably one of the 'prettiest'.  Also, being inside the circuit perimeter, security is very good.  It is only a 5-10 min walk from there to the village/grandstands.  It is also very close to the tram terminus, which I expect you will take from Le Mans train station (see pp 56-57 of the Guide)

3    Cant really comment on the price of the camping equipment in the supermarkets except to say that it depends on the currency exchange rate - which currently is p1ss-poor for us in the UK.  Someone else hopefully will post here of the general price of things, and you'll have to work out the price in $.

It's probable that whichever campsite you stay in, you will have some good neighbours who will help you out .

Hope this helps

Del

[pool pugilist]

Hi Joel..Welcome

I think Del has covered most things, in regard to camping passes, tickets etc we tend to use a ticket agent, Brian at www.1st-tickets.co.uk is very good, you may pay a little more but you are guarenteed your requested campsite and grandstand etc, with the ACO its more of a lottery.

I too dont know the exact price for camping kit but Id say an over the top budget for tent, air bed and 2 sleeping bags is going to be no more than 150 Euros.

Regards

Paul

[NorwayNick]

Hi Joel

Welcome to the forum.

I needed to find some camping gear for my friend this year and found if you headed away from the track a fw miles the camping equipment had ok prices, we managed a small 2 man tent air bed sleeping bag for 100 euros

i would not waste the money on the ACO you wont make the money back unless you buy your full allocation of tickets and you usually end up with something different to what you ordered. Better of using a ticket agent and paying the little extra to get what you want. Blue Nord is also a very good campsite and i think better placed for access to the grandstand areas of the track.

regards Nick

[JNans]

Thanks everyone, you are all a great help.

Another question - I noticed on a lot of the ticket sales websites that camping tickets are priced "per car" or "per person per car." What do you do if you are just walking in by foot?

Thanks again
-Joel

[Snoring Rhino]

Thanks everyone, you are all a great help.

Another question - I noticed on a lot of the ticket sales websites that camping tickets are priced "per car" or "per person per car." What do you do if you are just walking in by foot?

Thanks again
-Joel

You used to be able to walk in and pitch up, now with allocated numbered pitches it doesnt happen (unless your french and they seem to make up their own rules). the camping ticket will give you a pitch of about 35m2 and you can park a car or whatever on it and cram as many people on as you like, if they like sleeping standing up all your buddies can come (track entry tickets are seperate), or just you and your lady can enjoy the wide open vista of your personal 35m2 french estate for the weekend.

[JNans]

OK, I understand. To clarify - I cannot just walk from the tram station to my campsite? I must enter via car? Hmm... this puts me in a tight spot as I was not planning on renting a car for our trip. I would imagine other people have camped at the track before without entering by car - how did you do it?

Thanks again!

-Joel

[NorwayNick]

No you can still walk in but you must have a valid numbered pitch camping ticket with you to be allowed to walk in with camping gear

Nick

[JNans]

No you can still walk in but you must have a valid numbered pitch camping ticket with you to be allowed to walk in with camping gear

Nick

Understood, thank you!

[Lord Pig-Pen]

Blue Nord was jolly good fun this year and gave excellent access to the grandstands and village.
It was also quite quiet and peaceful so you and your lady could have a nice relaxing time

[Fran]

Blue Nord was jolly good fun this year and gave excellent access to the grandstands and village.
It was also quite quiet and peaceful so you and your lady could have a nice relaxing time

And there was me worrying that it might have lost some of its refinement and quiet charms.  What could I have been thinking!   

F