French GP at Magny Cours, anyone been ? | FerrariChat
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French GP at Magny Cours, anyone been ?

Discussion in 'F1' started by Chicko, Jun 23, 2006.

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  1. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
    2,085
    Scotland, Singapore.
    #1 Chicko, Jun 23, 2006
    Hey, just thought i would ask a few questions to anyone on here that might have been to Magny Cours for a GP? its only 3 weeks now, and yes i know there is the 2 north american races before the french, but i thought i might as well ask now !

    1. whats Nevers, the nearest town to the track like? restaurants, bars, nightlife, etc ?

    2. has anyone experienced the campsites? or even seen them ?

    3. is anyone else going this year from Fchat ? its the 100th year off the French GP, and there is many extra events over the weekend, for example, Roger Waters from Pink Floyd is playing Darkside of the moon live, etc !

    thanks..

    charlie
     
  2. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
    7,821
    Central Texas
    #2 jknight, Jun 23, 2006
    We went a couple years ago. It's basically out in the middle of no-where with Nevers being nearest. We stayed in Montlucon (beautiful city) as the hotels in Nevers are booked very early. Can't tell you anything about campsites. We had fantastic seats at the Adelaide hairpin and could see most of the track - seats were pricey but that's the name of the game with most F1 venues. The parking for our seat section (we purchased parking pass with tickets well in advance of event) was very convenient to the track entrance. This particular circuit is one of the more time consuming to reach for us - flying into CDG then driving to Magny Cours - it took 3.5 hours just to get from CDG to SE of Paris!

    Carol
     
  3. ScuderiaRossa

    ScuderiaRossa Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 22, 2001
    2,230
    #3 ScuderiaRossa, Jun 23, 2006
    We attended back in '96, the year MSs crankshaft flew out the rear of the car on the first lap! Caught a train from Paris at 6 am to make it to the race on time. We sat on the earth embankment seating at the hairpin; not bad, but a grandstand would have been better.

    Pretty cool spot because you can see much of the track from the hairpin.
     
  4. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
    2,085
    Scotland, Singapore.
    #4 Chicko, Jun 23, 2006

    Our tickets are for the Adelaide hairpin, grandstand L :) I have read that u can see 70% of the track from there! is that true or is it just the organizers being a tad optimistic?
     
  5. greyboxer

    greyboxer F1 World Champ

    Dec 8, 2004
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    #5 greyboxer, Jun 23, 2006
    The French Grand Prix concert stars Roger Waters nearly ran me over on his bicycle last week and he is playing with Nick Mason who keeps his cars under the Ten Tenths banner - the point of this drivel is that the similarly named http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=21 is a UK based site that may be better placed to help you enjoy your trip more !
     
  6. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
    2,085
    Scotland, Singapore.
    #6 Chicko, Jun 23, 2006
    oh thanks, anthor racing site to add to my bookmarks :) Can i ask, was roger on a motor bike or a bike-cycle ? where did this take place, do u live near him ?
     
  7. greyboxer

    greyboxer F1 World Champ

    Dec 8, 2004
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    #7 greyboxer, Jun 23, 2006
    London Bicycle Footpath - of course......
     
  8. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
    7,821
    Central Texas
    #8 jknight, Jun 23, 2006
    Don't know about it being exactly 70% but you do have a good view of a large portion of the track - much better than at any other venue we've attended. You have no view of the start/finish but you do see the cars briefly at the far end of the track, then down long straights both approaching and departing the hairpin, then around a curve to the left and the cars then come up a straight to the left of the stands and around a curve to the right taking them out of sight in the direction of the start line. It's some good viewing. Enjoy!!!
    John
     
  9. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
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    Scotland, Singapore.
    #9 Chicko, Jun 23, 2006
    Thanks for the info, sounds like the view will be better then any off the other races i have attended, with only being able to see a small section clearly being the norm !!!
     
  10. tatcat

    tatcat F1 World Champ
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    #10 tatcat, Jun 23, 2006
    rent a rv and camp at the track.
     
  11. spirot

    spirot F1 World Champ

    Dec 12, 2005
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    #11 spirot, Jun 23, 2006
    Stay in Paris, take the train... the track is in the middle of nowhere...
     
  12. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
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    Scotland, Singapore.
    #12 Chicko, Jun 28, 2006
    Staying in paris is out of the question for us. We have 3 day tickets and it's 2 hours plues on the train from Paris to Nevers ans anthor 25 mins by road to the track from Nevers. So it would be pointless to stay in paris !
     
  13. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
    7,821
    Central Texas
    #13 jknight, Jun 28, 2006
    As I mentioned in a prior post, we stayed in Montlucon - was a very easy, nice drive from the circuit - we "commuted" from there on Saturday and Sunday - stayed at the Sheraton at CDG Sunday night.

    Carol
     
  14. iceburns288

    iceburns288 Formula 3

    Jun 19, 2004
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    Charles M.
    #14 iceburns288, Mar 20, 2007
    Bringing an old thread back...

    I will be in Germany on a school exchange trip until late June. I will (hopefully) be in a French study program in Paris starting... July 2. The race at Magny Cours this year is July 1! I lucked out, because I'll miss both Canadian and United States GPs while in Germany, and I had planned to go to one of those and thought I wouldn't be able to see a race this year.
    How easy would it be for a 17-18 year old kid to get a room near the track and maybe take a bus to the track each day in the weekend? When the track day is over will there be something else for me to do ;)?

    Thanks :)
     
  15. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
    2,085
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    #15 Chicko, Mar 20, 2007
    Hey, one of the races i went to last year was French Gp, i really enjoyed the place. The Circuit is very compact, Grandstand "L" had great views and the weather was perfect for the whole time, tho my buddys found it to hot in the mid afternoon!!

    We Flew from the UK to paris, then got the train that took around 2 hours from Paris to Nevers, the track was is a 20 min taxi from the centre of Nevers.

    All 4 of us camped at the track, taking little more then bell tents, sleeping bags and lots Beer.
    The camping gound is massive, i would guess there was 60,000+ people staying there by sat night, the atmosphere was fantastic, and if u turn up on foot its free. Within 10 mins of putting our tents up we had become friends with a group of french people and then a group of fin's that were set up right next to us. This helped us out alot, as they had fridges (cold beer) and barbeques (burnt food), and were more then happy for us to use them..

    if u dont fancy camping at the track (the only real way to experience euro F1 race) u might still be able to get a room in Nevers and get a taxi to the track each day.

    Any questions feel free to ask!
     
  16. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
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    #16 Chicko, Mar 20, 2007
  17. iceburns288

    iceburns288 Formula 3

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    Charles M.
    #17 iceburns288, Mar 24, 2007
    My sister and I are going, and we will be 17 and 19. Is there a place we can stay outside of the city with the right public transportation to get us to the track (or Magny Cours)? Or is taxi the only way? We might not be able to afford a taxi to and from the track every day.
     
  18. Chicko

    Chicko Formula 3

    May 3, 2005
    2,085
    Scotland, Singapore.
    #18 Chicko, Mar 24, 2007
    I have no idea about any public transport that passes near the track. The track is on it out on its own, and its not even on a major road, the nearest town is Nevers. But the taxi's were not expensive, its only a 20 min ride...
     
  19. Senna1994

    Senna1994 F1 World Champ

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    #19 Senna1994, Mar 24, 2007
    Hey Carol, thanks for the information, though I have never been to this track, I have heard exactly what you posted. But your posts are always excellent. Except for Massa, just kidding.
     
  20. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
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    Central Texas
    #20 jknight, Mar 25, 2007
    Thanks for the very nice comment Tony - greatly appreciated. Well Massa . . . . . . Have a great rest of the weekend.

    Carol
     

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