Le Mans 2007

So its 2007, who will be there this year?

This will be my 4th time, not taking the coupe this time though. Karting Nord again for us, about 12 (RS6, SLK, Crossfire, BMW 330ci, Mini Cooper S)

Going with the LEC (Lotus Elan Club) guys.
Taking the coupe, me and bro.
My dad in his Elan.

Can't remember the campsite!
Promise to post more details later!

Third Le Mans in Total. 2005 was the best so far.
If other coupe people are going am up for a meet at some point although knowing Le Mans probably a bit difficult to organise

Argh! Have been for 3 years in a row, but due to house purchase and a planned 3 week trip to Thailand in April, looks as though Le Mans is out this year! Well gutted! Was looking through my pics from last year last night actually, couldn't believe that the footage my mate took on his mobile phone of me driving up and under the Dunlop, down to the Mulsanne (where it was already blocked) and then back again over the start/finish got wiped!

And why didn't I take a pic of the Coop under the bridge?!

Have a great time to all who are off again this year - make sure you post some good pics/vids up

As mentioned above, not sure about arranging a meet, from experience its like hearding cats

There is usually a good meet of people up at Arnarge on the track Friday morning / lunch. Nice cars and burnouts.

Plenty of time to organise.

I'll be there! got my camping ticket sorted for Houx Annexe again,
Will be going down in either C70 T5 or a Ford S-Max.

I might pop over for a couple of hours this year, although I prefer the other meetings to the 24-hours.

I might be going with some work colleagues

im going this year! (yay)
le mans was the reason i bought a coupe in the first place. driving down to dover at a fair speed at about 4 am, and got completely skinned by a coupe! at that point i just thought 'i want what hes having!' so just before i have to sell it due to buying our first place im gonna take it down there for its intended purpose.
were going from the west (plymouth roscoff) and down from there. we'll be on the thursday overnight crossing and probably stay in bleu nord.

craig

I'll be at bleu nord also!!

sweet will try to meet up perhaps?
obviously i have the sprint blue 20vt.
feel free to come and share a beer, (cant say they,ll be cold though!)

craig

have you done bleu nord before? been reading some bits about it on http://www.beermountain.com but it doesnt seem that recent

craig

have you done bleu nord before? been reading some bits about it on http://www.beermountain.com but it doesnt seem that recent

craig

I am there for my first time, gonna be a bit smelly tho as i cannot fit alot of stuff into the car. On some field somewhere, cant be more specific cos i have not arranged it

Go to Houx Annexe if you can. The best campsite by far.

Nah never did Nord before but apparently its OK.

Will be up for meeting up if the poor old green one gets there

sweet. got some grief from some people on the beermountain website until i came up with some sarcy comments! (being a hairdesser has it advantages....quality putdowns!

Are you sure you want to take italian machinery that far?

Lets be honest after the service and by the time they have renewed everything on the car you may find you wont be able to afford LM unless you have a nice bank manager

they started going on about german reliability and the like so i hit back with

you lot need to stop taking the pi$$ i will be in bleu nord until sunday morning if you want to come and look at the cheapest fastest prettiest fwd around! i'd love to come and look at your boring german box, but there will be sooooooooo many i couldnt see the wood for the trees!!
i thought it was a good un!

craig

My Coupe got me down there for 3 years in a row, not a problem. Some good constant cruising speeds in some really hot temperatures, but she kept her cool and performed well!

I'm going :-)the coop isn't :-(. B+B in Arnage (although I don't know why we bother really). If you see a bunch of nutters on little 40cc scooters ( e bay thingy ) give us a wave Also guaranteed to see us for dawn breakfast at Tertre Rouge.

I'm going - think its Karting Nord we are staying in, but not sure as I haven't booked it.

Leaving the Skoda at home, will be passenger/co-driving a F355 Spider with a T350 and a Brera making up our little convoy.

Nah its gotta be done.
Saftey check/service first.
But this is why I have the car! If it doesnt make it, i'll be in the rac van lol!

Yeah fair one! At least the Fiat represents something a bit different rather than, "lets all by volkswagens"

god im sooooooooooo excited! my nights are spent looking through all forums that are connected to le mans! sad or what?

craig

If 2005 wa anything to go by it will be awesome.
Arriving on the Wednesday to get a good pitch & soak up the Amospshere

I'm going again - in Beausejour again, with a car park pass for Blanc too so I get into any of the car parks around the track. Will be going in the Coupe, but need to get the air con fixed before then (at least I hope I will need it whilst there again, but preferably not as much as it was needed in '05).

'05 was a scorcher! my first year there and it was bloody hot. didnt help that we dorve a borrowed ford focus 1.6 auto that had a dodgey gearbox and couldnt find fifth the whole way back!!! 6 hours in that heat wasnt fun! should have made aircon a priority when getting my coupe!

craig

I was there in 04, 05 and 06, they were ALL scorchers!!! You can be pretty much guaranteed great weather, take the factor 38!!!

Snap - Only time it rained was wednesday afternoon last year. Nearly always rains just outside Calais on way down but never on site.

Take some shade as there is never any about!

smart tips guys. any idea as to how to get cold beers, rather than pay at the bars? can i get ice anywhere?

craig

I will be there making it my hat-trick year 05,06,07!!! Chatted to someone in 05 with a well sorted coupe in technopark - who was this man? I was in a blue 996 turbo bloody fast!!!

Oh and I have 4 spare camping passes (they will be on e.bay the week before!!!!)

Cold beer = dustbin from supermarket, fill with water and Ice block (from Supermarket)

We used to buy ice in the morning and beer would remain cold most of the day (really fill with beer in there!) lots of ice also! Keep in Shade!!!!!

good going wainy. how near is the nearest supermarket from bleu nord? thinking of getting a little fold up bike or somthing like it. for breakfast/ice runs! any idea?

craig

Wherever you are in a campsite around the circuit, the nearest supermarket is carrefour, where most of campers go.
Ask me on email if you don't know how to go there.
I know well this place, because i live around Le Mans, and I work in Technoparc.

There are a couple of markets around.

You will need a car to get some volume of ice and your food for the day. may I recommend a big pack of Pain o Chocolate for breaky and bread, cheese, meat for lunch and BBQ for evening!

I know there is some changes to the roads with the new metro / tram, holo can you give some advice?

Cold beer comes out of the fridge, just like at home.

Does help that my Dad takes his motorhome!!

Got my Houx Annexe ticket through this morning!
woohooo!

Only 6 weeks to go!!!

Because of the tram, it will be a bit more difficult to go to the city center. But it should be less difficult than 2006, because the main work for tram will be endend in the south part of the city (next to the circuit), before 24 heures du Mans.

Here is a map of the city with the new tram.

http://www.ville-lemans.fr/download.do?uuid=BB824E91-7F000001-643FF1D6-ABF7926B

Open: 2007 november
In 2008, Houx annexe will be next to a tram station (name Antares on the map): easy to go to the friday city center parade and the supermarket!

Shame the trams aren't finished this year - the French are taking almost as long as the British would to do a project like this!!

has anybody got there camping permits yet? bought mine off a guy on ebay. hes kept in touch and seems like a cool guy but im just getting a bit twitchy as they seem to be coming through thick and fast now and i havent heard from him, though i dont want to pester him unnecesarily (sp).
getting close now guys
also worth a look is this thread for any non ph readers
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=25&t=350900&i=0

craig

Think ours have come through, will have to check with the secretary.

The ambulance is staying on Karting Nord so will have to check them out. Looks quite a project!

I haven't had mine yet, but my surname bgins with S so is often late. I will have a spare camping permit for Beausejour which you can have at cost price if you need it.

andyps cheers chap! ill keep you in the loop. may need one after all. thinking of stickering the car up a bit now. thought maybe as i have a sprint bloo id put an orange stipe down the middle bit gulf racing colours (just the wrong tones) might be a giggle!

craig

Good News! There is a Band playing again this year.....


Bad News!
It's 'The Levellers'

Oi! Nothing wrong with the Levellers!

i dont mind them either! where does this bit happen?
its so soon know and im so excited! but still no tickets yet

craig

Last year The Charlatans played in the area just over the Dunlop bridge, so I'd assume it will be there?

tickets are in the post as we speak! bleu nord zone f? whatever that means.
also stickers arrived today. just prepping the coop for some hot vinyl action
dangerously close now chaps!

craig

just started to sticker up the coupe! looking good already and only got about a meter of sticker on!
big big thanks to neil at racegraphics. would recomend again and agian,. real enthusiast and lightning quick (ordered at 8.30 bank holiday monday am and they were ready to post by 10.00)
pics to follow......
anybody else stickering up?

craig

Stickering up on Tuesday night,

got our shirts through...
The back logo is on the car doors and the front logo on the rear of the cars

Shirt Back

Shirt Front

Close up Back

Shirt front close up


Getting excited now..3 more sleeps before we go (well Tuesday night is only going to be 3 hours at most!)

well ive done the coop now and am very happy
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d96/staffordsalon/DSC00177.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d96/staffordsalon/DSC00176.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d96/staffordsalon/DSC00173.jpg
cant wait. cant wait. cant wait!!!!
.
.
.
.
did i say i cant wait?

craig

Sweeeeeeet!!

Will look out for you, are you going to the PH car show at Arnage on Friday am?

Looks great craig - there was an intention to sticker mine, but time seems to have caught up with me and I still have an oil change to do, new plugs, strut brace to fit and the aircon radiator to replace. Working for about 12 hours tomorrow and setting off Wednesday morning so busy evening today!

Might try to get a couple of Pistonheads stickers though.

Will look out for you!

Ah last post on here before leaving most probably!
Coupe is being a bit naughty, probably needs a new thermostat, but won't be done before the trip, oh well!
I'll keep an eye out for the Sprint Blue!
Good Luck to everyone getting there (including the ambulance crew, lol! just read the above).

Between me and dad we must be mad, one fiat and one lotus to Le Mans...I wonder who'll call the RAC first!
Nah sure it will be fine!

hope we all have a good one. wish i was going sooner than friday but, ho hum. thanks for the cooments guys. well worth the effort i reckon. im in bleu nord as per my previous post so if ya wanna come and share a tepid stubby then give mw a shout.

craig

This is my last post before heading to Dover in the am.

Drive safe, have fun, will keep a look out and dont forget your brolly!

Will see the pictures up here when we come back!

Another last post before setting off - 6pm sailing with Speedferries tomorrow evening. I'm optimistic so the sun cream is going!!

Got a few stickers on the car - Pistonheads mainly so it is partly in the spirit so if you see a speed red with a few graphics say hello.

Back from another great weekend, despite the weather (it was a bit wet if you didn't know). Saw a few other coupes - sprint blue in Beausejour and a couple of green ones, including a French registered one parked in Arnage on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets ordered for next year already, can't wait

Lol! It never rains at Le Mans!

2001 anyone, pissed it down all weekend.

Another great Le Mans. Didn't see you craig, was busy drinking and watching and stuff.
Saw two coupes in total on my entire trip, including all the way back to Berkshire!
One silver one (French) was as lost as me, another quite nice example in Red (not sure about the spolier!)

Once I get the piccies back (still using the old roll film!) I'll post a link if theres some good ones...

we ended up blagging into bleu sud in the end as thats where our friends were. well great weekend except the weather sucked!
also saw another sprint blue in traffic. decided to wander over and have a chat despite the relentless rain, and he wouldnt even lower his window!!
can you belive it?
i wasnt backwards in coming forwards as to how i felt!

craig

Saw a dark coloured one in Karting Nord (on main road)a few times.

There were a few others spotted and an LE in the services on the way back (Black) but was too wet to get camera out.