What to take and what to leave behind

Staying at the campsites around the race track for several days requires some planning and equipment. Approaches to this topic are different: Some people do it basic with just a small tent and a sleeping bag, but the trend in the last years was more towards luxury setups with mobile bars, fridges, swimming pools, draught beer equipment and others. This chapter is a collection of what some CA Members have taken with them in the past and it can help you to compile your own equipment list. The list is by no means complete, essentials like underwear and trousers are not listed and the food & drinks of course will depend entirely on your individual taste.

As far as clothes are concerned, just be prepared for everything! Race week is always in summer in the middle of June and the last 20 years have seen some incredibly hot weekends with 35+ degrees Celsius, but it can also be quite miserable with just 10-15 degrees at night and plenty of rain, sometimes both within just a couple of days.

Take it easy, if you’ve forgotten something at home you can still stock up using the local supermarkets and shops, see the respective chapter of this guide for addresses.

• Valid Passport
• Tickets you already have (ferry, aire accueil, enceinte generale, tribunes etc)
• Cash Euros and/or a valid credit card
• Your brain
• Solid common sense and a joyous spirit
• Something to sleep in: tent, caravan, mobile home
• Sleeping bag
• The CA Guide to the 24h of Le Mans

• Valid EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) and/or travel insurance
• Folding chairs and table
• TV and mobile satellite dish, every 2 years the race week overlaps with the footie world cup or European cup
• Generator with extension lead and gang socket
• Chain and padlocks - to prevent some itinerant low life stealing the genny.
• Hose and fittings to divert water to your campsite and to damp down the dusty tracks on some campsites
• Cable ties and speed tape in case something moves and it shouldn’t
• Pocket FM radio with earphones to listen to Radio Le Mans
• Extra tent pegs, on some campsites the ground is rock solid
• Mallet for tent pegs - don't use the bottom of a glass bottle, one CA member still has scars…
• Tape & poles to rope off your pitch
• Tent Light
• Water Holder
• Rucksack to carry beer/camera/phone/binoculars/condoms etc around the circuit
• Club Arnage T-Shirt and stickers
• Charge all electronics

• See chapter “Driving in France”

• Big BBQ and charcoal
• Cookers & fuel
• Draught beer system including cooling and carbon gas container for the professional beer drinkers
• You favourite English, Italian, German or whatever food & beverages in case you can’t handle the French stuff
• Some fruit, after several days’ diet of burger meat, bacon and other BBQ items you may see people fighting for an apple…
• Tooth picks, in case your BBQ meat is a little tough…
• Bottle Opener
• Bread Knife
• Plastic Bags
• Plastic Cups
• Glasses
• Mug
• Lighter
• Matches
• Cool Box
• Skewers for BBQ kebabs
• Kitchen foil for lining the BBQ
• A melon (for filling with vodka)
• Sauce/Frying Pans
• Cocktail Sticks
• Knife/Fork/Spoon Set, Can Opener

• Sun Screen and/or wide brimmed hat, it can get very hot, and under canvas, there is little or no respite, Sun-tan lotion
• Toilet Paper, the public loos are sometimes out-of-stock…
• Large can of deodorant and wet wipes – showers are few and far between
• Hangover pills, more hangover pills and a hammer to bash your thumb with so the pain in your head goes away
• Immodium
• Binoculars
• Ear plugs/defenders if you want to sleep
• Swimming trunks, useful if you go for a shower and a good cr*p (not necessarily in that order).
• Bum bag to carry around money, credit cards, keys and more condoms
• Ticket holder thingy for round your neck
• Autosport Le Mans guide available on the Thursday prior to race week
• Long range water pump guns, have some fun with your campsite neighbors
• Megaphone
• Lighter
• Mobile phone & charger & phone car plug
• First Aid Kit
• Penknife, Torch, Table Lamp, Batteries
• Camera/Film
• Alarm Clock
• Playing Cards
• Tel No/Addresses
• Sewing Kit
• Talcum Powder, nothing worse than chaffing nuts at Tertre Rouge at 3.00 am
• Whitewall tire - for burning on Sunday night
• Fireworks, buy big, big bangers
• Some helmets for the fallout of other people’s fireworks
• Bicycle, if you’ve got enough space for it, great to cruise between different parts of the race track, e.g. to Arnage

• Impatience and bad temper, don’t ruin everyone's week by being miserable all the time
• Expensive clothes and shoes
• Little children
• The desire to sleep
• Any hang-ups
• Sweetcorn - not good when the queue for the bogs is a mile long
• Any thought of remaining sober