Le Mans Classic 2022

obviously pictures will be required!

I may be driving something rather special with a good friend if all goes to plan - don't want to jinx things so more if & when I know it's 'on'!

Just over a week to go - I'd better start packing my kit 

Ah - That's a shame I think fer4l is hoping to cross the water for the event 

Lets hope that the same disease does not effect either of you for Goodwood Revival 

I was asked if I would like to get involved by one of my fellow club members - Richard owns a nice collection of classics along with a couple of fast moderns - amongst his collection of Jowetts is a 1953 Jupiter in race trim which he has now campaigned for several years 



The planned 2020 Classic was shelved due to the pandemic - Its a biannual event and 2022 would have been the next staging of the classic 



First we had to get there which was undertaken by means of a stopover in Rouen once we had crossed the channel and ventured for a couple of hours into France - upon arrival at the circuit the following day we were then held within a holding area before being allocated our area within the 'Houx' - this is as close as we going to get to our pit location but its about a mile away 



It takes several hours before our row is called - once through the gate you are escorted to your pitch / parking area by scooter escort 



Our pitch is poor - more sand than grass - pretty unlevel for tents with my tent right on the edge of a drainage ditch - Previous occupants had held a fire with timber pallets hence nails were spread throughout the area and guaranteed that at least one of us would end up with a puncture - worse than this though on the other side of the ditch & less than 30 metres away is a power generator which runs 24 / 7 and its bloody noisy    It was raining whilst attempting to establish our base camp too which didn't help - Accepted that it is what it is we went off site and located a suitable eatery - Its Wednesday and we need to get the car into the pits and through scrutineering tomorrow



Some of the larger teams & especially some of the race support companies work through the night to unload their clients cars & establish their bases - some of these are huge in scale - I counted one German race support team with 12 client cars - this results in 2 articulated covered car transporters, These double up as office & staff accommodation - another articulated unit with a double deck fully fitted workshop & spares package - an external catering facility for the staff - Two covered single car transporters along with a 20 ton rigid truck that just carried the wheels & tyres for the cars that they were supporting 



Other smaller teams also worked on to establish their bases 





There is a wide range of competition cars ranging from 1923 through to 1981 these are split up in six Plateaus / Grids - we are in Plateau 2 -1949 to 1956 - Alongside the classic Lemans races are further grid entry races 'Jaguar Classic Challenge' which fields predominantly E Types alongside a few C & D types and a few XK 120 / 140's 'Porsche Classic Race' - Virtually all 911 based race with the exception of a couple of 904's & again a couple of 914/6's There was also a field of 1980 / 1990's era group C cars racing for good measure  

I'm going to have cover the thread in several posts - With 700 race cars in attendance alongside some 8,500 classics on display there is a lot more to come yet and I might have just taught myself how to upload & post video too   


 

Our car is pretty lightweight at little over 700kg and runs a 1500cc water cooled flat 4 / boxer engine 



And here's a quick clip of it running 

So with scrutineering out of the way on Thursday morning along with some final checks we now have pretty much a free day - my pics are a random overview of the event - many race cars but equally many classic road cars - Our first race is not until 1700 hours on Friday - First off a wonder around our own pits and a view of just some the cars that we are up against 



Rare 1949 Skoda Sport - An original Lemans car that raced in 1950 and was neighbour to us in the pits and entered by a Czechoslovakian team 



Equally rare 1957 Panhard DB HBR5 with gullwing bodywork - 2 cylinder 851cc 2 stroke 



One of 2 Aston Martin DB2 Sports that were in our grid 



1955 Maserati 300S - with twice the under bonnet grunt as our little Jupiter - none the less we were very much playing tag with this car through the corners 



1957 Frazer Nash Lemans - was deeply pored over by the scrutineers



Jaguar XK 120 - one of 5 reserve cars in our grid 



1953 Lancia Aurelia B20 



Along with a younger version from 1956



1953 Fiat 8V - V8 but still only 1996cc 



Cooper T39 - 1955



1951 Allard J2 - V8 5.5 litre 



The ex Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar XK120 OTS 



1955 Osca MT4



1957 AC Ace - Bristol Lemans 



1950 Cadillac 'Le Monstre' Type 61 Spyder 


More to follow later 

A look around Plateau / Grid 1 - this hosts cars from 1923 through to 1939



1931 Bentley Blower 



Talbot AV105 - Set up correctly these Talbots tend to lead the race 



1939 Talbot-Lago T26 



1924 Alfa Romeo 8C 



With a later 8C version from 1934 fitted with a Zagato Lemans body 



And yet a third from 1932 - These are a brave entry - on the open market the 8C sell's for circa £2 + million 



Aston / Lagonda looks but Talbot in make - A model 90 from 1930



1933 Riley MPH 



It wouldn't be Classic Lemans without Bugatti's in attendance & racing - this is a Type 57S built in 1937  

So that's a brief overview of the early cars - much more to come yet from the grids and none race cars