It’s been a while… (a decade actually!)

[Chr1sch]

Hi folks,

It’s unbelievably been 10 yrs since I went to LeMans last and had agreed over the weekend to make the homage this year to mark 10yrs since I went with my late Dad in his Westfield.

However, I’m clearly very ignorant. We went for over 10 yrs since the late 90’s and always just bought a ticket at the gate. Is this now impossible and all tickets are sold in advance? (I’m not bothered about grandstands etc but do want to see the sat/sun action)

Apologies if this is a dumb question, I’m pretty gutted if this is indeed the case

Cheers
Chris

[FredericRobinson]

Chr1sch said:

Hi folks,

It’s unbelievably been 10 yrs since I went to LeMans last and had agreed over the weekend to make the homage this year to mark 10yrs since I went with my late Dad in his Westfield.

However, I’m clearly very ignorant. We went for over 10 yrs since the late 90’s and always just bought a ticket at the gate. Is this now impossible and all tickets are sold in advance? (I’m not bothered about grandstands etc but do want to see the sat/sun action)

Apologies if this is a dumb question, I’m pretty gutted if this is indeed the case

Cheers
Chris

It sells out pretty much immediately these days, there’s always tickets going on here though, and the ACO have an official resale site.
If you haven’t been for 15 years or so you’ll find the camping situation very different, all the old sites which were close to the action have either gone or are massively reduced, sounds like camping might not be a consideration though?

[TwinKam]

Try the agencies too, eg 1st Tickets, Team Langoustine etc

[Chr1sch]

Wow ok thanks. What a shame! I think we’ll do the Classic instead

[Chr1sch]

FredericRobinson said:

Chr1sch said:

Hi folks,

It’s unbelievably been 10 yrs since I went to LeMans last and had agreed over the weekend to make the homage this year to mark 10yrs since I went with my late Dad in his Westfield.

However, I’m clearly very ignorant. We went for over 10 yrs since the late 90’s and always just bought a ticket at the gate. Is this now impossible and all tickets are sold in advance? (I’m not bothered about grandstands etc but do want to see the sat/sun action)

Apologies if this is a dumb question, I’m pretty gutted if this is indeed the case

Cheers
Chris

It sells out pretty much immediately these days, there’s always tickets going on here though, and the ACO have an official resale site.
If you haven’t been for 15 years or so you’ll find the camping situation very different, all the old sites which were close to the action have either gone or are massively reduced, sounds like camping might not be a consideration though?

We always stayed at a Chateau outside the circuit which seems to be as it was which is a relief

[FredericRobinson]

Chr1sch said:

Wow ok thanks. What a shame! I think we’ll do the Classic instead

You’ll be able to get tickets, it’s substantially more crowded, difficult to get around etc than you’ll remember though, if you haven’t got a grandstand you’d be best to find a spot well before the start of the race and not consider moving for the first few hours

[davidd]

Brian at 1st tickets has some available last week, you'll probably get a package if you are quick.

I missed 10 years from the mid 90's and, it was very different when I get back in 2007, but the changes in the last few years have been huge.

[Chr1sch]

davidd said:

Brian at 1st tickets has some available last week, you'll probably get a package if you are quick.

I missed 10 years from the mid 90's and, it was very different when I get back in 2007, but the changes in the last few years have been huge.

Thanks. Changes for the better or worse?

[Chr1sch]

FredericRobinson said:

Chr1sch said:

Wow ok thanks. What a shame! I think we’ll do the Classic instead

You’ll be able to get tickets, it’s substantially more crowded, difficult to get around etc than you’ll remember though, if you haven’t got a grandstand you’d be best to find a spot well before the start of the race and not consider moving for the first few hours

Are you referring to the classic or 24hr?

I did the classic in 2014 last and it was great

[FredericRobinson]

Chr1sch said:

Are you referring to the classic or 24hr?

I did the classic in 2014 last and it was great

The 24

[davidd]

Chr1sch said:

Thanks. Changes for the better or worse?

It great, just different. A lot more corporate, and more people but there are more places to eat (more ££ obvs).

No strippers and the woman with no arms and legs has gone;)

[Vette_1978]

davidd said:

and the woman with no arms and legs has gone;)

She's still there, just in a really small tent.

[MiniMan64]

I went for the first time last year for the first time in about a decade and the biggest difference was the amount of people, truly insane how much busier it was.

I can remember sitting on fairly empty tribunes in the middle of the night watching pit stops, this year we could still barely get into them gone midnight. Moving around was a tricky and busy process for most of the race.

[Chr1sch]

davidd said:

Chr1sch said:

Thanks. Changes for the better or worse?

It great, just different. A lot more corporate, and more people but there are more places to eat (more ££ obvs).

No strippers and the woman with no arms and legs has gone;)

Ahh the good old days. I fondly remember quad bikes in the trees as a kid with seemingly no health and safety too

[Strasse]

This might give you a flavour of the modern LM24.
https://www.le-mans-guide.co.uk/the-le-mans-experi...

LM has changed - it is corporate! There are many "Fan Zones" and fewer places you can see the circuit from as a normal punter BUT the racing has improved significantly since the Audi/Porsche/Toyota LMP1 days. The Hyperpole Qualifying is successful and you can walk/run/peddle the whole circuit for a few hours on Friday pm (or you could last year).

Still worth going but very different from pre-COVID

[Strasse]

This might give you a flavour of the modern LM24.
https://www.le-mans-guide.co.uk/the-le-mans-experi...

LM has changed - it is corporate! There are many "Fan Zones" and fewer places you can see the circuit from as a normal punter BUT the racing has improved significantly since the Audi/Porsche/Toyota LMP1 days. The Hyperpole Qualifying is successful and you can walk/run/peddle the whole circuit for a few hours on Friday pm (or you could last year).

Still worth going but very different from pre-COVID