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Charles d'Anjou
Beyond R. Berengere
Old Houses on a Gallo-Roman Wall
RestaurantRob47's new Le Mans Page
I went to The Le Mans 24 hour race for motorcycles in 1996,riding down through England and going through The Channel Tunnel.
It was April and very cold, so i had the thermal gear on under my leathers and big coat.
Winter drawers on as they say..!!!!
The race is held on the Bugatti circuit, which is a 4.3 km. track within the classic 13.6 km. 24 hour car race circuit. It shares the start and finish line and the famous climb up the hill under the Dunlop bridge with the car circuit before turning off before the Mulsanne straight.
There are several different classes of bike eligible to enter. Superbike, which runs under regulations similar to World Superbikes, 750cc fours, 1000cc twins etc. Stocksport which is for basically road bikes ( although often much modified), such as Kawasaki ZX9R and Honda Fireblades.
Accidents and mechanical problems are common events, but if the rider can push the bike back to the pits then it can be repaired and sent out again.
Even the most ardent race fan is not going to sit for 24 hours watching the race so the organizers lay on a variety of distractions. Part of the un-used car track is used for a "run what you brung" drag strip where you can race in pairs to settle all those " my bike is faster than yours" arguments. There is a fun fair, a bull fight (for fun, not blood), bungee jumping and in the evening a rock concert. In the "village" in the center of the track there are dozens of trade stalls where you can buy virtually any thing to do with motorcycling, often at a big discount.
Most spectators camp at the circuit and the whole area becomes a huge campsite. If it rains, and it often does, large areas become very boggy so camp near a hard surfaced road. At night it can get very cold so grab a pile of firewood and get a good fire going.
IT WAS FREEEZING WHEN I WENT SO I GOT A HOTEL ROOM !
On the other hand when the sun comes out it gets very hot very quickly so don't forget the factor 20.
The race is held around Easter time (April) each year and the track is less than 150 miles from the channel coast.
For more info. try
http://www.lemans-aco.com/24h_mans/aco_gb.html or
http://www.24h-le-mans.com
CHECK OUT TRAVELOGUE FOR PICTURES OF RACE BIKES......
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