News

23-06-16 Le Mans is over for another year, great fun but it seems to get harder each year. Myself, two mates and son Joe went down to Le Mans in a nice camper van and as usual we get all the way and miss a turn off for the circuit every time. Not to worry got nicely set up in Masion Blanche on the Friday afternoon so off for a few beers. Met up with another mate who went down on the Thursday, he was pretty hungover and was living in a one man tent. Now I think a camper van is roughing it and that had comfy bunks, a toilet, fridge, cooker etc. There is no way on Earth at my age I would live in a one man tent for three nights. More on that later. So off we go, we already downed a few on the way there, fortunately our driver, Shorty (he is short, sorry vertically challenged), doesnt mind doing all the driving, while we criticize his driving all the way there (and back). Usually to the refrain of "do you c..ts want to f..king drive" ah such fun. We wander up through the stalls of T shirts, hats, toys, books and even slot cars. Not wasting our money on this rubbish. Go up to our favourite bar is, with the incredibly grumpy frenchman, replaced by a champagne bar ffs. Now I consider myself a very cultured person but I cannot stand champagne, horrid stuff. So after 5 seconds of standing there off to a lovely new bar in the village area about a hundred yards away. They sold four different beers (all more expensive than the old place) they also sold wines and guiness and cooked nice big steaks as well. Not quite sure what animals but they looked and smelt good. So we sat under a big parasol drinking our beer. After a while Shorty and our mate Mark decided they would walk back over to what is home until Sunday, about a 10 minute walk away, and 20 to Marks luxury one main residence. About three minutes after they left it started pissing down, we thought this was very funny as we sat in the dry with a beer. We gave it a few minutes and phoned Shorty to see if by any chance they got wet. Oh yes, Shorty was not too bad thanks to a water proof jacket but Mark was soaked to the skin and had another ten minutes to walk, not my idea of fun. So my son, my mate and I stayed in the dry slowly getting more drunk. After a while the rain stopped and we walked back to the camper, eating churros in what was now a lovely sunny evening. Saturday arrives and after a breakfast of bacon, sausage and headache tablets, off we go, more beer and a sit in the grandstand for the race. I am sitting there when all of a sudden all of these American cars come past including the 61 Corvette and to my utter amazement a Cunningham C4R. Was the beer playing with my mind, no there was an Americans at Le Mans exhibition (more on this later). So all gets ready for the start of the race and the build up is all pretty good, lots going on. The start is always exciting to watch with the cars going off behind the pace car and a few minutes later coming into sight the pace car pulling off and they power up and off they go for 24 hours. Except this year a few minutes before the start the heavens opened so the start of the race was done under a safety car, which sort of gets a bit boring. In the end the sky cleared and off they went. We watched a few laps and then back to the important stuff. Later we went to find the American exhibition which did not disappoint. There was the Cunningham so out came the camera, never though I would see one in the flesh so to speak. Also the beautiful Corvette, GT40s and Cobra among others all really special. As the evening drew in we wondered up to the Esses and watched the cars swoop down from Dunlop bridge, lights ablaze. The Corvettes and the Astons always make the best noise, the burble of a V8. Oh yes we had more beer, there was a better choice of food this year, Hogroast, Hot Dogs, Burgers, steaks etc. I guess the veggies are a bit boned though. But I love meat so I dont care. Also it did not start to rain again so it stayed a nice evening. The sound of racing cars in the back ground as you slowly get more drunk. Saturday night is quite rowdy with lots of BBQs and a good party atmosphere and obviously a lot of sore heads on Sunday morning. We set off for home about 7 Sunday morning, not that bothered who won. For me it is always the Corvettes as they make the best noise. No slot car news this week but hopefully plenty next week. The track is still up for sale it would be great to see it go to a good home.