Coronavirus in the Sarthe

[lowdrag]

I don't see this being mentioned under the Le Mans section but it is best you know what the situation is here. We are lucky in that in the main the virus seems to have passed us by. In the Mayenne, north of us, it is far more common than here and there has been a recent resurgence. Rounded off, 600,000 people live in the Sarthe, and since the end of lockdown 15 people have died of the disease and 182 tested positive. Only one death has been reported here in the last month. So life here goes on. At the classic car meet last Sunday I reckon less than 50% of people were wearing masks. If coming to the race, be careful because it is far more likely that the percentage of those infected amongst the visitors will be higher than the locals. People are worried about a resurgence here, but to date there seems to be no sign of it happening. If things change, I'll let you know.

So, having posted this morning, the local paper publishes a statement from the Health Minister to say that since the disease is on the increase again masks will be obligatory "in all public places" as from 1/8/20. That I take to mean all camping sites and the circuit. So, any restaurant, or bar, or shop will require you to wear one. If seen by the police, an immediate fine will be payable. Now, they will probably be lenient but please don't shoot the messenger.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 15th July 10:24

[PD1]

Thanks for the update.

[gt6]

Thanks for the update, i think the campsites will all be a little emptier than usual but face masks will be required. Still two months to go, but suspect the ACO will issue further instructions soon.

[wsn03]

Hard to say thanks for the update- you've made me more depressed

However...it appears the Russians have some good news regarding vaccine development.

My expectations for this years race is just to see the race and hopefully some good food in restaurants that haven't gone bust

[Revhappychappy]

Like many I've been following the news about the big race with interest and some confusion.

As the ACO continue to press ahead with organising the event for what some sources have said could be up to 50000 spectators the below is still being shown on the French Government website.



I was hoping that an announcement may have been made yesterday following the Bastille Day interview with the President but I don't believe anything was mentioned.

[lowdrag]

I wasn't going to mention that, given the news I had already posted was bad enough already. Yes, the limit of 5,000 still applies and we are now R+ and not R-, so I fear lockdown in some shape or form may return. The ACO announced a potential attendance of 60,000 recently, but no ticket sales after 29/6/20. But, ACO members have the right to 46,000 tickets, all those with parking or camping already paid have the right to buy two tickets. That seems to me to be far superior to 60,000, and I haven't mentioned all the press, caterers, etc etc plus each marshal has two free guest tickets. And just the marshals alone will account for 2,500 if they get a quorum, but it seems very unlikely. All we can do is wait I'm afraid.

[LawrieC]

As I've said before, there's still a couple of months to go, and a lot will happen in that time. In the UK, we've seen the number of cases go down dramatically, and we're now looking at flare-ups, like you'd get if you put 50,000 people from all over Europe together.

Shame there was no Bastille day announcement to give us a clue, but there' still a couple of months to go!