LE MANS CLASSIC July 9th,10th &11th 2010

Hi De Hi Campers. !

Is anyone taking any campig gear, apart from a tent.
Like cooking/bbqing stuff, a plate, some english tea bags etc ???

little gas stove, kettle, mug, wine glass, bottle opener, chair, airbed, tent, inflaitable girlfriend

think thats it.......


Planning to stop off at the hypermarche and get some beer, a box of wine too

going to remember my coffee maker this time.....

I have 3 sachets of coffee if you forget again Mark
Decaf, so very healthy too.

enjoy,

i won't be there .... take lots of pics

What a great few days that was, well i was home in dublin again at 7am sunday morn, alas without my car, clutch went getting on the ferry at holyhead, so just managed to get it on, had to leave it at dublin docks when we got there
I think that last lap of Le Mans killed my clutch

Very nice to meet all you guys again, see you next time hopefully

ANOTHER great weekend away.
Fun, excitement and good spirits 24 hours a day.
Fells like we had no sleep, but 3-4 hours a day is pretty good actually.
Now I need a holiday to get ober it...... of to America later this morning.

Pics to follow.......

Thanks to Stephen for organising it and to everyone who came along. We had a fantastic weekend with a great bunch of like minded idiots! Hands up who's car didn't have a problem!

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who helped me with my gear linkage problem and Tony for the part. Cheers. My car ran faultlessly on the way back and we got home for about 12.30am.

Hope you get your car sorted Pat, good to meet you and mousey and the other new peeps I'd not met before.

Pity Mark fell ill on the last night. Hope you're well soon mate.

I'll post some pics and video as soon as I have them downloaded from various cameras and phones.

Top Weekend!

We would just like to echo the comments from Pat, Juzz & Simon, what a great weekend!!!! Next to no sleep, scorching heat, huge queues for cold showers, Werewolves stuck in tool sheds, all of the mechanical problems due to the heat, or the infamous “bush”, the platoon having to leave the mission one man down, (get well soon Mark), the stuff of legends.

A BIG THANKS to all who took part, hope to see you all again but someone please bring a shower!!!

Paul & Jen

What a great weekend,with great company and everybody helping when things got tough, which was quite often!! I hope Mark gets home soon,although I hear the hostpital has "some well fit blond nurses"

Fill me in ,,, what happened Mark !!

Mark was taken ill on the last night; he had pains and he thought it reminded him of when they thought he had kidney stones a few years earlier. Stephen and Jules got him to hospital on the Sunday night and he was kept in overnight, when we went to see him on Monday no decision had been made on what was wrong with him so we had to leave him there and drop his van off in the hospital car park. We brought his son Ricky home in Stephen's car.

Perhaps Stephen will update us when he hears more.

I have managed to haggle etyres down to £146.30, supplied, fitted and balanced for a replacement Bridgestone SO 2 – 16” x 245/45 to replace the one damaged in France.
Simon I checked out Camskill’s as you suggested but they didn’t have the Bridgestone’s but they do have good prices on the Toyo Proxes most of Alp’s on the trip had been fitted with, but 1 x Bridgestone is cheaper than 2 x Toyo’s!! But I will most definitely keep these tyres and Camskill in mind for the future.

My Venturi runs on the above size at the rear, but 16” x 205/60’s at the front and I did not find this size in the Toyo Proxes on Camskill or any other web sites, the nearest is 205/55’s, what are your thoughts on replacing 60 profile tyres with 55 profile, and out of curiosity what are the front tyre sizes on the GTA turbo/atmo and A610?

[stephendell]

OMG was this an eventful trip and a fantastic one despite the problems which were many!

CARS

Gearbox bush failures: x 3 = a new record for one trip.

Juzz - On the way there at Le Mans Peage. 2nd gear to campsite. Fixed at campsite.
Jules - On the way to hospital. Fixed at roadside by BMW dealer.
Me - Just after Calais Peage. 5th Gear to Eurotunnel. 3rd Gear all the way home.

Basically if you haven't changed this part on your car NOW you are asking for trouble.

Other breakdowns

Me - Aircon compressor seized at Le Mans peage just after Juzz's breakdown. Though it was game over but Mr Gordon had a GTA turbo belt which we were able to re-route bypassing the aircon compressor. I was very hot and very dirty

John & Me - A few ECU cutouts due to overheating.

Pat - Clutch KO on return to Irlenad.

Me - Clutch smoking in Eurotunnel train so much it set off the carriage fire alarms and we couldn't depart until they re-set the doors which wouldn't close.

Paul - Some sort of ignition niggles at petrol sation on route to Le Mans.

Other Niggles and Problems

Me - Wobbly wheels as per Le Mans Classic 2008. Image need to throw their wheel balancing machine away. They were better with the weights off.

Simon - Hit by flying object, gouged bonnet and aerial

Paul - Split in tyre sidewall possibly caused by flying object above

John - Numerous jump / push starts required.

Me - Hit and destroyed wooden box on way their. Hit and destroyed some sort of plastic undertray on way back.

Me - Paint (laquer) on rear bumper stripped by overpowerful Karcher jet wash.

Only undamaged car and/or without breakdown was Mr Hilliers Atmo!! Got a little hot though!

PEOPLE

Overheated - Everyone

A little unwashed - Everyone. 6 showers for several thousand people. At worst queues were nearly 100 for toilets and showers. Robbing Bas***ds)

Kidney problems & hospitalisation - Mr Garner - On Monday night. Mark is still there but is hoping to be able to discharge himself on Wednesday morning. Scans / Xrays showed a stone which is causing him trouble. Latest update is that it seems to have settled enough for him to drive home so he can get it sorted in the UK. French hospital was amazing. Mark was admitted and x-rayed within minutes. Clean and nice nurses!
Jules did a great impersonation of a mental.

I'm sure everyone wishes Mark a speedy recovery.

THE PLUS POINTS

Great weather (if a little too hot)
Three, yes THREE laps of the full 24H closed circuit, the first as fast as you wanted to go. Others busier with quick sections.
Amazing displays, racing and cars.
Fantastic company and general experience.

[BIG_MVS]

Sounds like a great if not smelly weekend

Hope Mark gets better soon, it's not nice spending time in any hospital so it must be even worse abroad.

Look forward to seeing the event pics in 2013 Steve