Words & Photography by Raj Hunjan
The annual pilgrimage to the 24 hours of Le Mans is a journey undertaken by around 90,000 people from the UK each year. This was my third trip with a group of friends who always travel together and stay in a privately run campsite called Airtrack; which is now owned by Thomas Cook. It is located close to the pits, within the circuit so everything is within walking distance. The sound of the cars comes from every direction as they race round the 8.5 mile track. The site has 24 hour security so cars and belongings are safe throughout the weekend. There is a decent restaurant, well stocked bar, big screens to watch the action unfold on track and most importantly hot showers which are cleaned after every use.
We normally have three or four family pitches linked together so it allows us to set up our own small marquee complete with gas stoves. We also take large family tents with separate sleeping compartments which cope with the weather better should it turn wet. This year we were blessed with perfect weather throughout, a first for me! In previous years it has rained several times during the weekend. We travel down on the Thursday morning, this year we got the 7:40am DFDS ferry from Dover to Calais, which takes around two hours to make the crossing.
The previous day involves us traveling to a friends house in Sonning to clean and sticker up the cars, strategically pack them and gently wind in to our trip with a beer and takeaway. This year we decided to take a van, which allowed us to pack a full size fridge and more bicycles. Having a bike to get round speeds up your viewing time massively; walking between viewing points and the campsite can become tiresome, especially in the heat of the day or if it is raining.
We stick to the toll routes on the way down, obeying the speed limit most of the way, traveling via Rouen. The route is usually lined with Police and photographers, especially at toll booth exits so beware of gunning it as the barriers lift! The traffic is normally at a standstill in and around LeMans for much of the weekend. Not only is the race a pilgrimage for us Brits but also the French and neighboring countries. We normally skirt around the edge of Le Mans and enter the circuit area by the MMA Arena, which is close to our campsite. Security checks when entering the circuit perimeter were beefed up this year, most likely in light of recent terror incidents in the country as well as in the UK.
Upon arrival at Airtrack we are issued with wristbands. These are essentially our tickets to enter the campsite; without them the guards on the entrance gate will not let you enter. This tough security allows those with supercars to camp without worrying about their cars, the people that stay within the site have all been traveling for a number of years and I’ve never heard of an incident of damage or theft in Airtrack. It takes us around two hours to setup our campsite, we work as a team to get setup. In terms of setup, ours is relatively low key, some bring full satellite with large screens, others have projectors. I have also seen driving simulators complete with race chairs and pedals to compete against each other on the track in virtual reality. The site is located in the trees, rather than a open field as you may have assumed. This has the added bonus of providing much needed shelter during rain and in the sun too.
Every year we turn up on Thursday afternoon and are greeted by the sound of the whole racecar field out in force busy practicing ahead of the race. As a returning spectator it feels like a homecoming as soon as you hear the highly tuned engines wailing in the distance on the Mulsanne Straight. Once the campsite is all ready and we’ve eaten (which usually consists of a curry, chilli or bolognaise that has been cooked at home by our diligent leader Dion), we head over to the shopping promenade behind the pits. The area is alive with race fans looking for their favourite teams merchandise and drooling over static LeMan display cars like the Porsche 911 RSR, Ford GT and Corvette C7.R. Once we’ve had our fill of perusing the latest Team Corvette hats & jackets we head in to one of the bars, more than likely the Guinness Tent, which not only serves great drinks but also has great music and a super atmosphere. A night qualifying session starts at 10pm on Thursday, which gives you a chance to see the cars with all their bright light systems on the side notifying you of their race number, class and position (if in the top 3). Seeing their brakes glow red hot into the entry of a corner is mesmerising.
Friday morning is a chance to get up and head out to see the teams and cars in the pits, which is open to all general admission holders from 10am until 8pm. The section of the track from the pit exit up to the Dunlop bridge at the highest point on the track is also open for fans to walk up on the tarmac that will see cars battling in four classes of racing over 24 hours. This year a group of us decided to attempt to cycle around the track on Friday morning, as most is open for road use. We ended up cycling the circuit backwards, starting from the Porsche curves and heading all the way down the Mulsanne Straight and its two chicanes. The ride was a revelation, it gave us a true sense of the scale of the track, I struggle to comprehend the speed required to cover the distance in well under 4 minutes.
On Friday afternoon the drivers parade visits the city of LeMans. I’ve never witnessed this, for me Friday afternoon is a chance to head on over to the entrances of the public camping areas, where others congregate to witness what is aptly dubbed as ‘Mad Friday’. Previous years have seen sports cars as they drive round the surrounding roads, revving their engines and accelerate at speed to please the petrolhead crowds formed on the pavement. Some are flagged down and requested to rev their engines to applause. Sadly recent violent incidents in the UK and France (as well as elsewhere) have led to Police cracking down on people congregating and cars stopping to rev their engines for the crowds. Whilst this is a shame, it is probably for the best as I did witness a few near misses with over exuberant drivers as they raced past the crowds lining the pavements.
This year Porsche GT3 Cup race cars from a number of national championships came together to race on the morning of the 24 hour race, 61 essentially identical cars. Watching their racing was the best way to start the day, there was drama and action throughout the field right up until the last corner.
For the 24 hour race start we always congregate in same place, just below the Dunlop bridge. We get there two hours before the start of race, to secure plenty of seating space for the group. That time is filled with watching parades of BMW sportscar, stunt airplanes and the competitors making their way to the grid.
This year we fortunately had access to the Ford hospitality suite on the Mulsanne Straight. The venue is a great place to watch the cars racing at night as they slow for the first chicane. The sound of the cars in close proximity, running through their gears as they scrub off speed for the right left hander is etched on my mind. I watched their brake discs light up for hours before the facility closed at midnight.
As I hoped, I awoke to a clear sky for the sunrise during the race, a first for my LeMans adventures. There was a golden hour of photography from 5.15 am to 6.15am, where pictures taken on my camera have come out the best of all my shots from the race over the years.
After the sun was properly up I cycled back to the camp in 5 minutes (so convenient!) and freshened up before having a snooze in the tent and then breakfast. This was followed by more exploring of the different parts of the circuit and I was fortunate enough to bump in to Magnus Walker close to the pit exit, just like the rest of us he was just taking in the race cars from lots of different spots.
We found a great place to watch the end of the race this year, a small roof terrace bar next to an outdoor karting track on the approach to the Ford Chicane. I was stunned by the finale, if you were writing a film for a plot you wouldn’t have been able to get away with the amount of drama offered up this year. Porsche won LMP1 in style, at one point being classified as 56 out of 57 after a hybrid system failure and working relentlessly though the night to make up the gap, to retake the lead in the last hour of the race. In total they had spent over two hours in the pits! One of the best moments of the LeMans race is being let out on the circuit to see the podium celebrations on the start/finish straight.
Sadly this wan’t the year for Toyota, after their shocking retirement on the penultimate lap last year while in the lead, they couldn’t keep their cars running for the full 24 hours competitively. Hopefully next year they will come back and put a stop to Porsche dominance in LMP1 class racing, this being the third year they have won the race.
The final night was filled with partying and drinking, before an early morning to eat and pack up the campsite before 10am. We set off and headed back to Calais and made it in time for our 5.00 pm ferry. Sadly the ferry had been cancelled and we had been put on to the 6.30pm instead. Every year we have missed the ferry we booked, so it wasn’t a surprise that this year was no different.
Post LeMans blues is a genuine condition, all of my fellow travelers feel glum on return to the UK to go back to the normal routine of work and family life. Every year we’ve alleviated this feeling by starting our planning for next years adventure. Taking sympathy, my partner Fi suggested we combine the trip with a visit to Paul Ricard for the F1, a new addition to the calendar and one weekend after LeMans 2018!
