RlyR IRL! - 2023 LeMans, 100th Anniversary - 10/06/2023

[Arwyn]

Dog fact of the Day!
Bon Anniversaire is French for happy birthday, and we call our LeMans event this because, yknow, the celebration of the club's birthday and Lemans is y'know... French
Where was I going with this...? Oh yeah...

The 24 Hours of Lemans celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2023... Which is a reasonably significant deal... a reasonably significant birthday if you will...

Welcome, to the Anniversaire of Bon Anniversaire

It's safe to say that a lot of Realish members enjoy Endurance racing. Many of us race in Endurance series, some even under the Realish banner, and previous meets in the before times were even held at the Silverstone leg of WEC

So, being as we're a community of people who at least are able to pretend to be responsible adults with jobs and cars and passports and such, why not enjoy a little trip to the continent for a weekend of racecars, camping, and the ByKolles Vanwall catching fire

Cost and Logistics

How much will it cost?
The only confirmed price I can find so far is £285 each, this covers entry to the arena, camping and ferry costs for Dover to Calais. Budget for that, plus fuel and toll roads

Can I get it cheaper?
Maybe, though probably not a lot cheaper. The most effective way is to have more people in your car and shared tents (2 people in a car is £285 each, wheras 4 people in a car is £222 each and more people to split fuel with) but when tickets go on sale (Usually €80) you may be able to get a better deal on camping. It sounds like it may be a faff though. The camp-sites run by the event are meant to be bare minimum camp experiences and aren't really run for profit unlike other local sites

Why must my journey involve a car?
Camping is 1 car per entry, which is one tent plot. I don't think there's provision to just like, rock up on foot? We'll see when tickets open though. Assume though that even if you fly to lemans you'll be getting picked up by whoever has space to get you on site

I am British, what do I need to visit Europe?
That's unfortunate You'll need at least 6 months left on your passport to be allowed to enter the Schengen Area, and may need to show travel insurance documents. Provided you're not driving, this is all you need

I am British and will be driving there, what does my car need?
Insurance that covers driving in Europe - All comp policies should have it, but it's worth checking
Beam Deflectors - Your headlights are designed to light up the verges on the left side of the road. When you're driving on the right, you will instead be dazzling french people. If one of those french people is a gendarme then a bad time will be had.
A UK sticker - Yes, not a GB one as was the norm for the past 100+ years, it changed because reasons in 2021. You can either have UK as one of the big black letters on a white oval classic style stickers/magnets, or as a sticker on your plate with a union flag on it.
A warning triangle - If you break down you put it behind your car
Hi-Vis for every passenger in your car - every passenger needs one and you have to be able to access them without leaving the car. The idea is that when you break down you put it on before wandering around in traffic
Misc other stuff - Look just buy a premade set from amazon
Breakdown Cover - I don't care if you don't drive a ropey 20 year old shitbox, mechanical failure comes at the worst possible times for us all, and you don't want to have to deal with getting recovered out of the blue by people on the other side of a language barrier


The Plan
It's like 2am at time of writing and 9 months away i'll do this later. We'll go see cars go fast for 24 hours and get very drunk

What I need from you
If you intend on coming, please reply with:
If you're driving and have space(s)/driving and won't have a space/will need to be a passenger
Where you're leaving from (will help for matching passengers to cars), including what airport works for you if you're coming from afar
Days you'd like to arrive/leave (You can arrive as early as thursday and leave as late as monday)

[Arwyn]

[Reserving for future potential use, probably RSVPs]

[jims709]

I will be driving, from Cambridgeshire and have space for 2 people, could pick people up from Stansted.
Probably Thursday through Monday but will decide later

[Arwyn]

I'll be driving! Depending on the car I take, I can take up to 3 passengers. I'd prefer to take the MG but if it's neccesary i'm happy to take the Volvo
I'll be leaving from Lincolnshire, and can collect people from Humberside or East Midlands airports
I want to arrive Thursday and Leave Monday, apparently traffic can be awful on Friday and Sunday so if I can stay extra days to avoid that then I will.

[camp_bell]

I'm still not sure what I'll try and do next year but for reference, a few people here went to Le Mans back in 2016 and had a bit of a mixed time of it. Obviously not to discourage anyone thinking of going but there are probably a few pitfalls in there you can avoid yourself if you go (especially since the 100th Anniversary will probably be huge).