Friday track access by car

[t1grm]

Just checking the program and I see there is practice scheduled for Friday. Do they not open the track to public cars on a Friday anymore? I've not been since 2018. I guess they got tired of policing the various impromptu car meets that popped up around the track on Friday? I used to enjoy the one by the restaurant on Mulsanne before the first chicane. Another step in the sanitation of the event.

[Rhino678]

The track is open for you to walk, run, cycle round. No cars. Was brilliant last year. Still have the car show at Mulsanne but you have to park and walk

[//j17]

Due to the increased amount of track action (and lower priority of the D338 vs. the N138) the public road sections are now closed for much longer periods of time. I don't know but would guess the public roads will be closed Wednesday-Sunday looking at the schedule.

If you think about it from the point the track goes quiet after qualifying we spectators are done for the day - but the service staff probably have another hours work to swap the public road sections from 'race' to 'road' configuration, an hour then then have to repeat going the other way before anything can happen on track. From memory Le Mans was just the main race + 1 support race, so you only needed time for 2 sets of practice/qualifying sessions, and the track was 'dead' from midnight on Thursday until warm-up at 8/9am Saturday. These days we have the main race, Porsche Carrera Cup support race, Ferrari Challenge support race, 2x Road to Le Mans support races, with some of those support race sessions on the Friday. As a result if they were still opening/closing the public sections that's even more early mornings/late nights for those service staff.

And every time it becomes a 'road' you have people dropping all sorts of st on it - I can well remember driving north up the Mulsanne when setting off home one Monday a few years back, to pay my respects at Simonsen's tree...following a brimmed lorry slopping diesel out of its tank with every bump.

When the Mulsanne was the N138 it was the main road between Alencon and Tours so had to be open whenever possible. That's now the A28 though and the N138 just the D338 that can keep it closed longer so why wouldn't you?


(And it saves the headaches of policing the Mulsanne/Arnage roads)

[Smitters]

The were chatting about this last night on RLM. I think the main factor was cost/admin. The actual activity of opening and then re-closing the roads for one day made no sense. No doubt the sanitisation of the event is a beneficial byproduct, but that's OK by me. If I want to see utter morons in their cars I only have to go to the local out of town shopping car-park meet. Le Mans was no different, just the morons had more money.