and joyful occasion; having a ride on top of vintage cars, giving away postcards or gifts. The drivers love it as much as the fans do, which usually leads to drivers jumping out the cars to give autographs or selfies to the crazy spectators before chasing the still mobile open-tops to repeat the process again.
Then the biggest day however comes on Saturday morning when thousands of cars dive into the circuit. This year we found ourselves stuck in traffic when there was only 500 metres to the main gate despite leaving hotel at 8am, which cost us half an hour.
In the traffic you just have to keep patient and enjoy the view from the window. Fans and journalists alike had breakfast at the back of vans, or slept in cars parked in the street. It was indeed the most economical way you could afford a trip to Le Mans given local hotels raised their rate almost three-fold. In the end, it seems a time travel back to the Great Depression. If a girl chooses to accompany you in such an environment and is still with you at the end of the weekend, you should marry her as soon as possible!
The atmosphere gets madder and madder when the clocks point to 3pm on Saturday. The long starting grid procedure begins two hours ahead of the flag being dropped, however, as a consequence of the checking-system not being as strict as that in Formula 1, quite a lot of people not wearing the appropriate wrist band allowing you to access the grid. Gathered around the LMP1 cars at the front with cameramen, journalists are throngs of fans crowding together. Until that moment, you realize the disorder of the Monaco grid on Sunday is nothing in comparison.
It was indeed difficult for non-French speakers to understand how the Marshals of Le Mans operate. It’s important to heed the wise words of FIA WEC media delegate Jeff Carter: “Do NOT argue with marshals. You can NOT defeat them”.
Veteran Le Mans reporters suggest don’t visit the starting grid at all in the interests of preserving your own ‘energy saving mode’.
More or less, the world eventually returned to peace when the flag fell and we were left to focus on pure competition; a two-horse race this time: three Porsches at the front and three Audis hanging in arrears.
Meanwhile it was as much an endurance challenge on track as it was for anyone in the media centre. The most difficult time hitting as the clock struck midnight. If you decided to stay at the circuit, you had to find a way to keep awake and follow the race. So I went to the fans’ village to check what the fans were doing to kill time.
There was a big screen at the square, but instead of showing the race I was greeted with a rugby match, remembering last year people gathered here to watch 2014 World Cup.
Michelin, which just confirmed to submit its bid to become the sole F1 tyre supplier from 2017 with 18-inch size tyres, provided simulation drives while the leading automobile racing game Forza Motorsport had a showroom holding online completion. Of course, the majority of the crowd were either shopping for souvenirs or drinking beer… Sometimes both. It’s hard to imagine another event that continuously provides alcohol for 24 hours!
Leaving the village, I rented a bicycle from the Porsche Media Lounge and headed to the camp site near Porsche Curves, as a Chinese group containing 35 people travelling all the way from the mainland and 15 students studying in France were based there.
Down the road, passing Toyota’s, Audi’s and Michelin’s exhibition buildings, it was not surprising to see people behaving oddly or taking selfies with whatever phone or pod they had on hand. However, it was more bizarre that on the track exit road, drunk folks gathered to sing, dance and sleep on the ground. Unfortunately it was too difficult to find the group given the absence of light… That - and I’d failed to record their location.