Driving in europe.... Le Mans!
 

Evenin all,

Im going to be taking the scoob to France in a week or so to Le Mans, and wondered if any of you had any tips for driving abroad... never done it b4 so not sure what to expect... i hear the French cops have a hard-on for british drivers so i'll certainly be watchin my speed... But apart from having all my docs with me, and puttin on beam deflectors is there anything else i need to do / watch out for??

Anybody else going btw??

chris

Post-it note on the steering wheel or dash saying 'drive on the right'!


It's fine when you remember, but the next morning it's too easy to forget until you meet someone head on, wondering why they're flashing!

lol, yeah that might be a good idea actually... got a trustworthy passenger with me so overtaking and stuff should be alright...!
I also heard that if someone flashes you at a junction it means DONT go... that could be ummm, interesting...

I've been for the past 9 years, and one of the best tips i can give is to leave on the Monday if you can, after the race on Sunday it'll take you at least an hour probably two just to get of the your campsite/car park, and every route out of LeMans is swarming with police who take great delight in relieving (sp?)you of 500 euros for speeding offences.

Another tip is a must, try to get yourself upto the armco on the Mulsanne straight i've only done it twice, but it's something i will never forget.

Have a good one;)




Where are you camping?

hmm, not much chance of us getting away on the monday... getting the night crossing back from Caen on sunday evening... best leave loads of time then!

lol, was hoping to get a bit of action down the Mulsanne, gotta have eagle eyes for them piggies though... ;)

we're camping in BaseJour... were pretty lucky actually, only got the tickets etc about a month ago, i hear they normally sell out pretty quick... cant wait!! :) :)

hmmm, thats a point... how likely am i to be able to find super unleaded over there?
is it as abundant as on these shores or do they use stoopid low octane stuff?

All of the large services have SUL 98 PON(RON)

where abouts do you camp normally then?
heard anything good/bad about BaseJour?...

IIRC the non-manned Petrol pumps will only except French Credit Cards :(

Stick to the Motorways/toll type roads ;) the "A" green sign posted roads will add hours to the Journey :mad:

Speed detectors are a big no no :eek: VERY big fines :(


Tony

Ps

The roundabouts inner Campsites get very entertaining at night :cool:

Tube of silicone sealant to hold the Beer Bottle wall together :D

A few more tips

If you decide to have a drive down the Mulsanne when it is open to traffic once again watch out for the Gendarmes as they are ALL over the place down there - it is a must do on the Friday though and there is usually an unnofficial car show parked up.

Also if they do stop you for anything you have a 98% chance of being breathalysed so be aware especially if you over did it the night before.

They no longer allow you to spectate down the Mulsanne :( We had a go last year but once again they have Gendarmes in the woods to apprehend those trying.

Take a trip out to Arnage at some point - awesome corner and great place to watch and there is a free bus service that leaves from just outside the main gate.

Best places to shop are the Carrefour or (my preference) the Super U

There is a Scoobynet equivalent for Le Mans regulars, and like here we try to help out

http://www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/index.php

Above all have a good time

T -7 days to departure :D

Robin

make sure you have a warning triangle, first aid kit, and spare bulb kit for your car, as these are required by French law, if you get stopped, they may look to see if you've got them.

Watch out on the approach to the many roundabouts on the way into Le Mans, the police like to set up radar traps and relieve you of your hard earned. Too fast and they like to remove your licence. At one point they were talking about liasing with British police to ensure you get points on your licence here for offences over there, but I don;t think it ever took off.

Enjoy, its a good event, make sure you're near the start/finish line for the start, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end last time I was there.

Dave

thanx for all the info guys, much useful!

i cant wait, tis gonna be great... think we'll try an evening sneak attack in the woods... worth trying to get a view down the Mulsanne i reckons... should be able to get some cracking photos...
if we get caught is it just a case of a slapped wrist, or something more serious?

Another tip - don't stop at zebra crossings (even if someone is waiting to cross). I did in Paris once - had about 50 million people start beeping me :)

If it's your first time you'll be blown away, it's an awesome weekend.

If you're there on the Friday try and make it out onto the circuit. In the morning there's a meet up at the Indianapolis and Arnage corners that is quite simply the best car show you'll ever see. The hardware on display is stunning.

Friday Lunchtime in Arnage village is also worth trying out.

Whatever happens you'll love it.

A word of warning though. Once you've gone once you'll be hooked and looking to book next year's trip ASAP.

If driving in convoy, take small handheld radios so you are in contact with each other. Then the lead car can advise the others of suitable overtaking opportunities such as round blind bends by checking the road for them. You have got to have confidence in each other and be in constant communication during the overtake but you get a lot of respect from the french and get to the campsites quick. Last year we were helping a friend in a 1950's Alvis and he was overtaking a hord of cars whilst driving on the wrong side of the road for over 3 miles. The TVR club were suitable embarrassed

It's not a good idea to take photos on the mulsanne, 1) would you like it if someone fired a flush off at you as you try to spot your braking point a 200mph? 2) the marshalls would spot you in seconds and inform the police.

Point 1 was actually done by my older but not wiser brother in 97 :cuckoo: after a few to many bottles of pop:)

Never got caught so i'm not sure what the penalty is, knowing the french its probably a fine, that goes straight in the back pocket;).

aaah wouldnt use a flash mate, be too far away from the cars for it to have any effect apart from dulling the picture.... long exposures and the like!

i'll probably bottle it and not do it anyway, not risking fines...

;)

Driving in France is a doddle, and great fun.
We took the Scooby last year and covered just over 3000 miles in a couple of weeks.
Got done for speeding once - 75 in a 60 kind of thing, got 100Euro fine thats all, they cant put points onto your licence but they can charge you whatever they feel like it seems so be careful.
Personally I prefer all the smaller roads to the toll's and depending which ones you take they can almost as quick, sometimes quicker.
Have fun.

Hi again Chris,

There are a lot of CRS at Le Mans (riot control force :( type of police) and these are guys NOT to be messed with. You will easily spot them with their CRS logos on their uniform. It is likely to be this type of police patrolling the Mulsanne to stop us getting there. I doubt the penalty is too severe - never found out, but the CRS have reputation for being a little 'rough'.

They are so determined to stop you seeing anything on the Mulsanne that they even put screens up in front of the Chinese restaurant so you can't view from there (oh happy days eating sweet and sour pork whilst cars scream past at 200+ MPH or even better in the wet they used to brake for the kink just outside the window...).

We are in Beausejour as well (second year running), it is a good friendly site though a fair hike from the circuit. We had toilets and showers last year, but the facilities can be unpredicatable at Le Mans (I am taking a solar shower just in case).

You should be able to spot us, camper van with 'Bobblehat Racing' down the side, we should be flying Aston Martin flags and I will either have my Scooby (WR1) or '67 Sunbeam Tiger (lime green colour), not decided which yet. If you need any help when you get there come and find us, or just pop over for a beer - there should be some interesting goings on with a microwave in our next door neighbours camp, well worth seeing if last years display was anything to go by.

Have a safe journey,

Robin

Hi Chris,

Only me,

This should give you an idea about Beausejour

http://www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/ind...;threadid=3710

and

http://www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/ind...;threadid=3105

You'd never know I didn't have enough work to do today would you?

Cheers

Hi Robin,

Cool, cheers for that.. i think i'll not bother dicing with the CRS... specially as its my first time, play it safe ah... ;)

Campsite sounds good... im not afraid of a little walking, maybe the alcohol will wear off a bit in between stops :) I might pop down and see ya, especially if you;ve got your scoob, that will remind me! although no doubt the sunbeam will stand out... im taking my classic-shape silver WRX...

yeah i know what you mean about doing work... ive just found some pics of the campsite on clubarnage, hmmm oh well home time in < an hour.


thanks again for the info, see ya...

chris

BTW a couple of friends, Greg and Ali are also going, He had a scoob now a Lotus ;)

Heres a pic of a Beer Wall
http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/T5NYW463857768.jpg

Tony

haha nice!!
only 3 of us going so i doubt we will be able to compete with a beer mountain like that!
can but tryy though....
hope to see some of you there... :)

Don't forget to wave to the broken down TVRs on the way home! :)

THAT ROUNDABOUT !!!
 

Some pic's of last years race brill at night I like to hang it out on the bends but I think this bloke took it tad to far lol:D


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...y662/Naked.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...2/DSCN0120.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...2/DSCN0088.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...2/DSCN0075.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...2/26f50805.jpg

The Start/Finish line got me tingling last year as well.
http://www.californear.com/pics/lemans/4.jpg

http://www.californear.com/pics/lemans/12.jpg

Oops
http://www.californear.com/pics/lemans/16.jpg

But made the finish
http://www.californear.com/pics/lemans/41.jpg

Track invasion
http://www.californear.com/pics/lemans/45.jpg

Me being threatened with arrest on my yearly Go-ped lap attempt.
http://www.californear.com/pics/lemans/46.jpg