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Le Mans

tones

tones

Tones deaf
The starting grid:

www.24h-lemans.com

The starting grid now set for the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans! | 24h-lemans.com

With a record number of Hypercars (23), a hotly contested LMP2 class and the LMGT3s making their début, all the racing classes are seemingly wide open. It was tough trying to work out the pecking order before the first practice sessions but now, after four free practice sessions, qualifying and...
www.24h-lemans.com www.24h-lemans.com

Porsche, Cadillac and 2 Ferraris in the top four positions, Toyotas well down the grid. With more manufacturers coming in, perhaps a new golden age of sports car racing is in the offing.
 
My god, don't even know why i was up ,but it was on free view, so i watched from 1am to 4am, ish, they was under the safety car all that time, the rain was horrendous, then i went to the loo, came back and the something else was on, could not find it after that, what weather,
I did see the wheel come of one of the cars, after it had been in the pits,
 
graystoke4 said:
My god, don't even know why i was up ,but it was on free view, so i watched from 1am to 4am, ish, they was under the safety car all that time, the rain was horrendous, then i went to the loo, came back and the something else was on, could not find it after that, what weather,
I did see the wheel come of one of the cars, after it had been in the pits,
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There was a major crash in the early hours and it took them 2 hours to get the barriers rebuilt.
 
cobbers said:
OK - about 18 or whatever - pedant.
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Well, it's no different to people saying that a driver was only 5 seconds behind the leader at the end of an F1 race, when there were safety cars and the leader had backed off with ten laps remaining.
Anyway, I was at a regional BMX championship meeting yesterday, £3 entry, well over 200 entrants, male and female riders of all social and ethnic backgrounds, ages 4 to 60s, no time for boredom over the course of 5 hours or so.

I'd love to go to Le Mans, but the sight of all the high fencing etc just puts me right off.

Isn't it about time someone came up with barriers that can be quickly replaced in say 10 minutes? Safety cars have almost singlehandedly ruined my enjoyment of motorsport.
 
Came back on the shuttle yesterday and there were loads of good cars about from the weekend in Le Mans.

They all seem to be unable to find a second gear in the terminal so whizz round noisily sounding rather lovely.

1500 miles over the last week and we really enjoyed French hospitality.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
I'd love to go to Le Mans, but the sight of all the high fencing etc just puts me right off.
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Been 4 times I think - last time was 90 (Jaguar) - at that time there was a walkway above the pitlane and you could look right down onto what was going on I remember a Nissan coming in during the evening I think ,and when they took the engine cover off you could clearly see a broken damper - that's how close you could get.
 
cobbers said:
Been 4 times I think - last time was 90 (Jaguar) - at that time there was a walkway above the pitlane and you could look right down onto what was going on I remember a Nissan coming in during the evening I think ,and when they took the engine cover off you could clearly see a broken damper - that's how close you could get.
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1987 European Touring Car Championship at Donington, qualifying. I wandered into the pitlane and found myself stood next to Mark Thatcher. I was only 23 and knew nothing about him, so he lived!

But yep, even events like Goodwood’s Revival and Festival of Speed appear to get more and more restrictive as time goes by. I find myself wanting nothing to do with it, especially as I feel shortchanged while paying for rich boys to enjoy themselves.
Brands Hatch being almost useless for photography means I only go there once a year now, and Snetterton… ruined. Better for photography at one spot maybe, but what a monotonous spectator experience.

I really do need to invent a time machine and pop back to 1986 to see more Group B rallying, Group C sportcars with ‘that straight”, more F1 with silly power and archaic aero n tyres… Even the touring car racing was awesome back then.

However, saying all that, congrats to Ferrari, the whole of the Ferrari team, for a huge achievement. (Ford… c’mon!)
 
BTC with TWR XJ120's and SD1's - but you only need 2 cars for a good race - Will never forget Mallory Park and a battle between an Aston special and BMW M1 - the rest of the field just got left behind , pick the right spot there and you could see almost the whole circuit.
 
I would have went to the NW200 quite often, Circuit of Ireland Rally a couple of times and was 'lucky' enough to be working in the IOM (91-96) and got to see parts of the TT, Manx GP and the Manx Rally.
Whilst the atmosphere and craic was great, particularly for the TT I actually prefer watching it on TV nowadays, the onboard cameras really relate the sensation of speed.
I love seeing the classic racing at Goodwood but generally the TV coverage isn't great.
 
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