Hi, This year is a bit of an odd year as far as Le Mans Classic goes. A combination of factors have led the organizers - Peter Auto - to have two editions back-to-back in 2022 and 2023 when they usually take place once every two years. 2023 is the centenary of the first Le Mans race. And it will be celebrated big both at the 24H and the Le Mans Classic. If some of you are planning on attending and looking for accommodation, I know of a chateau 40 min away from the race track that still has rooms and lodges available, perfect for groups from 4 up to 20. You can reach out directly. Talking to the organizers last week, they are preparing dazzling races and displays. There should be quite a few of the original winners of the first 24H. If you come with your Ferrari, classic or other supercar, you also have a chance to park inside as 'individual collector'. But there is no time to waste as apparently, out of the 8,500 cars expected from clubs and individual collectors, they already have 5,000 registered. I thought I would take some time to share the latest I heard on this event, as it is not to be missed. Last year edition saw a record attendance of 200,000 and there is no doubt this year with the centenary will set a new record! I hope some of you will get the chance to enjoy!
A fabulous event every time and for the centennial it will be even better. It blows Goodwood and Monterey week right out of the water. No comparison.
LE MANS CLASSIC 2023 - 29 June to 2 July https://www.lemansclassic.com/en/ Peter Auto YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterautoracing/videos Le Mans Classic 2022 .
Just booked a B&B out in the country for the event, about 45 minutes away. Haven't been to Europe or taken an actual vacation since 2016; the centenary-year Classic appears too good to pass up...really looking forward to this.
Sounds exactly like what we did last Saturday (B-B HOTEL ALENCON NORD). Hope the hotel is not too shabby. Tickets for some grandstands seems to become limited already.
B&B Hotels are very simple the sort where you get a code for your door not a key but they are clean, ok for your purpose since you will strictly just sleep there. Anyone else I advise to stay southwest of Le Mans in the opposite direction of Paris so as to be away from the main traffic flow; I stayed several times at the castle of the late Francois Migault's family and that was perfect, about 20kms SW of the track with fun roads and zero traffic Chinetti and NART, the Scandia 333SP team etc stayed there. I almost ran over Andy Evans' young son on his bike in the middle of the road there. I go as a journalist with media pass so spend halt the time in the press center which is very nice and the other half in the pits, out by the side of the track, in the club paddocks (8000 classics gather there from all over Europe!). Note that you will walk many kilometers through the weekend as the place is huge, the track is over 8 miles long and while most of it is not accessible to the public the area around pit and paddock covers many acres. I tend to arrive on the Friday and after a busy day, sleep about 4 hours in the car so as to not waste time in traffic, the first night near the paddock and after another intense day the second one at Arnage. The Arnage Indianapolis forest section is wonderful for viewing because they arrive flat out from Mulsanne, fly through a fast curve then slow down for the very technical banked medium speed Indianapolis curve then a burst of acceleration to Arnage the slowest corner of LM (about 50mph) with overtaking quite common there, then reaccelerate flat out into the distance towards the Porsche curves 2kms away. It is also the most intact time warp part of the track so you get a sense of time travel, specially at night. I watch there till 4am, magic. Then on Sunday I leave an hour before the end to beat the crowds, I tend to stay in a four star castle hotel on the Loire (80 minutes south) with a nice pool: last summer I stayed at Chateau de Choiseul in Amboise and I wasn't the only one with that idea as a new F8 with Le Mans parking passes was parked next to my car on Monday morning. It felt sooo good to stay there after roughing it, great cosy room, swimming pool and fantastic gournet dinner https://www.grandesetapes.com/chateau-hotel-choiseul-amboise/ Here some photos from Indianapolis curve as the sun set and after, they are just horrible cell phone photos but give you the atmosphere at that spot, my favorite moment of the weekend as the cars howl through the forest like beasts. Why is it far better than Monterey? Monterey is about concours, posing and auctions, greedculation I call it with 90% of the people not going to Laguna for the races...whereas LMC is about racing and passion. I never want to miss another LMC and might never go back to Monterey.
I already booked a few months ago, staying on from attending the Chinon Classic the weekend before. I have a grandstand seat in the pit grandstand, basic hospitality, parking on the Bugatti Circuit, laps of teh circuit on Friday morning and staying at a small AirBnB 30 minutes south of the circuit. Hope we might manage to meet Marc Sonnery Nembo1777
Yesterday morning I almost bought a pair of early bird admission/paddock/grandstand tickets, but held off as I wasn't sure if my gf wanted to go...then last night early bird was sold out. One potential accommodation had its availability disappear while I was on the site, as someone just booked it while I was looking at it. I did find what appears to be a nice B&B for a good price about 45 min west of the circuit; I don't envy people that wait much longer to book. I should've bought the early bird passes, but the site said they're available til 1500 are sold or til sometime in May - I didn't think they'd be gone before the end of January!
Thank you for that write-up. Would you say it's not worth it to get the passes including a grandstand seat? I know for myself I think I'd like to have a spot like in the photos you posted, rather than up in the nosebleed seats. But I've not been to Le Mans before so I don't know what would be best. Might you have any advice?
I have been to LM countless times since 1980 and only once got a free grandstand seat across the pits (in 85 I think) and did not find it much use. The fun is to move around trackside from the last chicane to Tertre rouge just before the Mulsanne straight and everywhere in between. The racing cars have paddocks that are open to the public: categories by era and you see them up close. There are countless vendors of models, books, memorabilia, clothing, car "art" in the paddock village. there is period music and dancing as well evenings. The small permanent Bugatti circuit within the 8 mile Le Mans course is used as parking display area for the car clubs, the Artcurial auction and some manufacturer displays with more vendors as well. There are food stands everywhere though lines can get a bit long. You will walk many miles so be prepared. A good break which I usually take on the saturday night is to drive to the nearby village of Arnage for a drink and dinner. Lots of Brits there consuming industrial quantities of beer. Don't expect it to be quiet as it is full of fans and cars do burnouts in the main street right in front of the restaurants with people cheering! There is a good friendly family atmosphere. The Arnage Indianapolis section, the best in my view, you get to by car, plenty of parking. With a press pass I get in but not sure if that requires a different ticket; the website will tell you. In the 80's I used to trek at night through the forest and fields through hedges until I got to the three mile/five kilometer Mulsanne straight (real name les Hunaudieres) and recall in 1989, the last year before the chicanes, the Mercedes doing near 400ph/250mph: mind blowing. Your self preservation instinct made you stay far from the guardrail, deep within the trees in case of an aircraft scale crash. Marshals used to turn a blind eye as long as you stayed a couple of feet away from the rails...Nowadays there is much more security and that would not be possible. Here some grainy but evocative amateur footage from the side of les Hunaudieres in 1988, a place where these people were not supposed to be; mind your ears!
I agree about walking around the circuit, though when I was last there in 2018 blisters on my feet meant that a grandstand seat was a blessing!
Yep you need comfortable shoes, not new: well run in. One year I the early 90's at Sebring I had everything wrong on, hard city shoes and a shirt that did not breathe, like an oven, killed my feet and nearly passed out from heat shock in a restaurant. Once I cooled down and put sneakers and a cotton shirt on all was well and I walked miles along the track.
I've only been once, in 2014, but would love to go again. A fantastic event! Had been to the Sebring 12 Hours and Daytona many times but not Le Mans. The place is huge, and I barely scratched the surface. Spent plenty of time in the open paddock, Tetre Rouge, a little on the main straight opposite the pits, and had a reserved seat in stands just past the Dunlop bridge. We stayed at a hotel where the Corvette team usually stays for the real 24 Hours - it was just a short drive to the track. After the races we had the best lightly fried chicken sandwich in a sidewalk cafe in the village of Arnage and watched the parade of cars. I'm a huge fan of Chick-Fil-A, but I've got to say that that fried chicken sandwich in Arnage was the best ever! Here are a few images from our visit: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have been to all Le Mans Classic editions and do exactly the same as you! I prefer to camp on-site since I avoid traffic jams but it can be rough (dust, noise and sometimes poor showers), ideally in Le Houx campsite where all racers are sleeping. A camping-site filled with 250LMs, SWB and exotic support cars (Enzo etc..) is always a good idea! Organisers such as Travel Destination or classic-car-tours are good ways to do Le Mans if you go for the first time. Same with some classic car clubs who have a dedicated parking space indoor and sometimes offer a full package for the whole WE. Be cautious with the free laps on Sat. morning, they are filled with hundreds of cars and can be dangerous as some inexperienced drivers think themselves as pro drivers. Le Mans track is mostly surrounded by walls, so an accident can quickly happen. If you have never been, don't miss out the fantastic Le Mans Museum just outside the main entrance, and last, if you travel nearby, grab a beer, lunch, dinner or even better, try to sleep at the legendary Hotel de France in La Chartre s/le Loir. Sleeping where Stirling Moss and Carol Shelby were playing cards and slept in period is priceless! The parking lot is always filled with amazing historic cars, no less than genuine 250 GTOs not so long ago! Last, the food within the track is unfortunately almost always very bad and pricy given its poor quality.
During Le Mans Classic, plenty of them yes. Grandstand seats are not compulsory tbh, they are very good for the start, but that's almost it. You also have giant screens now, so it is quite easy not to miss he action wherever you are.
We have had our Group C Spice accepted, fingers are crossed we get our Lola accepted in Plateau 6. Went last year for the first time, lived up to ALL the hype, an amazing event on and off the track!. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hello, with all your experience, you may have some tips for me. We are planning the LMC in a roadtrip that we take with a camper. So far i had thought of 2 options, but there might be other options. Option 1: camping nearby and take the bike to the track Pro is mostly that my girlfriend isn’t obliged to be bothered by everything surrounding the race. Con are going to the the camper for sleeping or eating etc costs more time option 2: campsite within the circuit-area Pro’s and con’s obviously the other way round. And I am uncertain about the campsite on the circuit, as it states the pitches are 35m2 where our camper is 7,5m long.
Always have loved the spice in period and now again in historic racing! What kind of engine does your spice have? Thosee with the Chevrolet engines make an incredible deep sound.
We have the 6.5L Chev in this Spice, also have a Camel Light C2 Spice with a V6 Buick. Also we did get our DFV Lola accepted to Plateau 6. Going to be an epic week! Image Unavailable, Please Login
