Le Mans 24 Hour Race

I have been to this event several times, in a variety of classic and not so classic cars: the last few times I took my old Ferrari 308 (the Magnum car) or Alfa Spider (similar to the one Dustin Hoffman drove in The Graduate), but the majority of the British contingent have classic British sports cars. It is traditional to stock up with supplies (i.e. Beer and in my case a tent due to lack of boot space) at a local Supermarche, then camp with the cars near the race track and try to build a wall round the tents and cars out of small empty French beer bottles.

Despite the beer-fuelled hoards the atmosphere is generally jovial and good-natured. There is plenty to do before and during the race (including watching the cars go round if you like that sort of thing) There are fairground attractions and plenty of places to eat and drink, although food quality is generally fairly low by French standards and toilet facilities are very sub-standard and if you want a shower at one of the camp-sites you may have to queue for a while.

Some people go to Le Mans 24 hr race to watch the cars and follow the various teams' performance and, even if you have been tempted by the culinary delights, Ferris wheel or dodgem cars, you can keep track of the progress on the local radio station which is broadcast in English for the benefit of their British guests.

There are usually some smaller races before the main event, but the actual 24 hour race is a fairly complex affair with several competitions between different classes of car all running on the same track at the same time: LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2. The LMP cars are purpose built racing cars with very high top-speeds and the GT cars look like normal roads cars: Corvettes, Aston Martins, Jaguar XKRs etc. and the rules change each year. The race consists of some sections of normal road, closed to traffic for the event and some sections of racetrack complete with grandstands, pit-lanes etc. The object of the race is to go as far as possible during the 24 hours, so this is as much about fuel efficiency, reliability and just staying awake as it is about speed. The drivers can be swapped during pit stops.

This is a fun event, a bit like The Glastonbury Festival, but with less music and mud, and more cars. I would only recommend camping at the racetrack if you can survive without the finer luxuries (like a shower or clean toilets) but it is possible to stay in an hotel a few miles away, if you book some time in advance.