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I went to sebring for the first time this weekend. What an incredible race(s)! I've been to Le Mans a bunch of times and while Sebring is unique to itself, the vibe is very much the same. Endurance racing fans are the best, and endurance racing is the best.
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Mar 19, 2023 17:45
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:36 |
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SlowBloke posted:ACO has started a ticket resale portal for people to offload their tickets so, if you want to attempt to get one, you can try now. Good to know. I think my group is covered, but we may need to grab an extra.
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Apr 1, 2023 22:31
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coconono posted:The race marshalls are volunteers? What a racket Race marshalls are traditionally always volunteers. I'm sure there's plenty of side benefits, but mostly it's people who are passionate about motorsports and willing to give their free time to making sure it continues to function.
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Apr 8, 2023 19:46
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coconono posted:Idk it’s a place of business to me. You pay your workers one way or another. What's a place business? The SCCA, BMMC, BARC, etc? I thought they were clubs.
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Apr 8, 2023 21:23
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coconono posted:Still biz to me. I'm pretty sure that unless you're writing letters and attending your monthly SCCA club meetings to get on a soapbox about fair pay for marshalls, you give significantly less of a poo poo about it than the people actually doing the work.
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Apr 8, 2023 23:16
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Speaking of motorcycles, looks like I'll be going to Spa for the 24h EWC motos June 16-18. What's the better camping area, camping yellow or camping green?
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May 1, 2023 01:18
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First I need to ask: do you have an extra entry ticket? Does anyone? Does anyone know anyone? We're one short because we picked up an extra person but didn't pick up an extra ticket. Race week, race weekend, anything.
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May 5, 2023 17:59
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With basic access you'll have access to the whole village area, as well as Mulsanne and Arnage. Arnage is just about walkable I'd say, though it will take a while. If you have a bike or scooter or something it's more manageable. There are shuttle busses to those areas, but expect lineups to be immense. There are lots of free seating areas to watch the race from, I recommend some sort of folding chair though. Everyone there will have them so if you're sitting on the grass or dirt, you'll won't be able to see over them. Personal favourite areas to watch from in the village are on the other side of the big food block opposite the Guinness tent (or whatever they're calling it this year). It gets crowded but if you can claim a place there it's a good vantage point of the braking zones up to the Dunlop bridge. Either side of the track on down the hill from Dunlop have good sightlines and are pretty popular. The north side gets some cover from trees. At night you can access the public stands opposite the pits which is a great place to watch the cars fly down the pit straight as well as the goings on in the garages. You can get a good view from the inside of Ford chicane, but it's a bit of a long walk there and back, since there's no way to get to the other side of the track. I've only been down there at night, so I don't know how busy it is during daylight. Porsche curves is alright, it's high up, but you really only get to see the one corner and I don't think there's a screen there. The travel destinations campground on the outside Porsche curves used to have public access but now it's cut off unless you're staying there. Definitely bring sunscreen, bring water (plastic bottles), though they may check to make sure it's not 1.5l of vodka or something. There's plenty of places to get food, water, and beer etc at the village, so as long as you've got money you'll be OK. Lineups can be long at toilets and food places around mealtimes, but there's usually some tucked away toilets just far enough from the beer that they don't get as busy.
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May 5, 2023 18:14
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I'm not like a veteran or anything, but I've been going for about 10 years now minus covid.
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May 5, 2023 18:15
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Oh if you need to hit decathlon for camping stuff, go to one outside of greater le mans if you can because anything near the track close to race weekend will be gutted.
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May 5, 2023 18:17
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SlowBloke posted:Thankfully i have a decathlon in my town, i'll have to play tetris with the suitcase and mountaineering backpack(which i hope inoui won't throw a hissy fit on, they looks as bad as ryan air on bags) to fit a folding chair into it. If you're fine being on your feet/standing for most of the day, you can get away with not having a folding chair. If you can get one of those compact lightweight Helinox (or store brand equivalent) chairs, it'll be less of a burden to slog around like a full sized chair. I can't remember if I brought one last year. I don't think I did, as I was travelling as light as possible. Barring any digital communications, anyone there this year is welcome to come to Tetre Rouge bar Sunday after the race. I'll be sat up on the wall by the tunnel watching everyone leave, getting drunk, as is tradition. E- in years past, relying on messaging apps has been hit and miss. Maybe they've upgraded the cellular infrastructure around the track, but you're sharing a tower with hundreds of thousands of people sending "I'm here where are you" a million times during the race and as a result, message delivery can be quite delayed. It's still better than nothing though, just bear it in mind. Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 20:00 on May 5, 2023 |
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May 5, 2023 19:56
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SlowBloke posted:My problem is that i'm traveling by train (green ticket, FML) so luggage room is a luxury, i'll go see if i can find a foldable chair small enough to fit in my luggage while being able to fit my girth. Otherwise plan b is my usual backpacking combo of yoga mat and beach towels which can fit easily. That's a good plan B, or maybe even plan A since you can use it to have a lie down and nap.
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May 5, 2023 20:08
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algebra testes posted:All I know about Le Mans I read in an issue of Motorsport Magazine where it seemed to heavily imply you must buy a Gulf Porsche jacket and fall asleep on the grass to the sound of the cars racing by in the night. This tracks. Also I have been informed that we did bring chairs last year and used them about 50% of the time. They were the compact style.
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May 6, 2023 01:07
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MazeOfTzeentch posted:The 296 won one of the N24 qualifying races too so it wasn't its first win but first major endurance win for sure.  I want to meet these people who think the N24 is a lesser race that would be made better by making it a GT3 spec race, so that I might look upon them with disdain.
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May 22, 2023 03:22
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Pvt. Public posted:Well, this sucks but life has conspired against me making it this year. Where would one go to sell a pair of Le Mans tickets? I've got 2x T18 grandstand/full week GEs. Me too pls! Sent you a backup pm. I only need one GE ticket but if the grandstand is part of the bundle I'll pay for it. Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 21:16 on May 28, 2023 |
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May 28, 2023 21:14
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SlowBloke posted:Finger prince, if you guys just need admission, i could buy the grandstand+ge full week from private and sell you my green full week admission. Yeah I'm cool with that. I'll be taking the train from Paris. I bought a regular ticket, but my ticketless friend I'm trying to find one for is coming with so I'll have a train ticket to show them.
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May 29, 2023 07:25
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I'm rescinding my 3rd dibs on Pvt. Public's tickets - my friend can't make it anymore.
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May 30, 2023 05:22
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SlowBloke posted:Slight off topic, where can I find a reliable weather service that covers lemans? I am starting to pack stuff and apple weather is showing rains during the weekend but i'd like another opinion before committing to hard rain kit. Weather Underground and/or Windy are my go-to weather apps in general. I don't pay for Windy premium so if I need hourly forecast I'll use WU.
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May 31, 2023 20:36
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SlowBloke posted:The closer we get to the event the worse they plan for the weekend. Weather underground show rain on Friday and tropical monsoons on Saturday and Sunday, Accuweather is a tad less apocalyptic but it still shows rains on the weekend. I'd love to avoid spending the race in the rented apartment due to adverse weather. Better living through Gore Tex. Get thineself to decathlon!
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Jun 5, 2023 14:31
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I finally made it. I've been awake for going on 30 hours straight. I binged the entire series on Last Of Us on the airplane and felt like one of those zombies until I had a shower and a beer and some food that wasn't in baguette form. Now I'm going to pass out for, God willing, 12 hours. But I'm here! gently caress it can be a ballache getting here though.
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Jun 7, 2023 19:57
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SlowBloke posted:My dude, I’m doing 1400km all over trains to be there, I feel that you would literally melt in my shoes. I did half that last year. Flew in to Frankfurt and got the train. Took like 4 hours just to get to the German border. DB is terrible. This year I decided to fly from Frankfurt to Nantes and get the train from there, which was delayed an hour, and then the train from Nantes was delayed an hour. So did I save any time? Yes but not really. Ideally I'd fly direct in to CDG and get the TGV train that stops at the airport, but there's no direct flights from Vancouver to Paris (on the day I was flying).
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Jun 8, 2023 05:41
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Just scored an ACO grandstand ticket so looks like I've got a place to watch the start from now!
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Jun 9, 2023 18:08
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https://i.imgur.com/deTbJsv.mp4
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Jun 9, 2023 19:59
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Everyone loooves the Nascar! (and they know it too)
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Jun 10, 2023 15:14
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That's me. I'm up on the wall. Looks like they're routing all the traffic down Mulsanne instead of under the bridge though, so no cool cars coming through right now.
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Jun 11, 2023 16:47
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Oh now they're coming. Trickling, anyway.
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Jun 11, 2023 16:51
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SlowBloke posted:Ok we are at opposite ends, I’m by the serving table. I'm wearing yellow pants and a white shirt and sitting with my mate in a pfaff shirt
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Jun 11, 2023 16:55
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LMDhold my beer
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Jun 11, 2023 23:34
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iospace posted:I am pleasantly surprised that the NASCAR finished. I was half expecting it to end up in the wall, half expecting a massive drive train failure. That was far more engine starts than that drive train normally goes through (they leave the engine on in the pits normally), far more gear changes than it would experience ever (which is probably why it failed compared to the other parts of it), and by far more miles than any NASCAR drive train has ever done in 24 hours. It was a massive accomplishment. Look at all the DNFs, from teams that actually have wet weather practice and experience. They interviewed one of the team members on RLM who said one of the drivers had only done 3 wet races in his career. The fact that they finished and didn't stuff it into a wall is amazing and awesome to see.
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Jun 12, 2023 00:06
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In addition: get the Setram app so you can skip buying tram tickets at the kiosks. Trams were super overloaded this year just because of the huge numbers. Normally they're just rammed. Don't assume you can rely on Uber. Setram also has ebikes for rent that you stash in their lockers located around the city (and at the track entrance). I need to figure out how that works for next time because that's pretty handy. Mobile data at the track is sketchy at best with so many people. WhatsApp/Signal/etc messages can end up delayed or not sent. SMS is more reliable. You won't be able to stream RLM, so make sure you get an FM radio with euro tuning if it's digital (NA FM radios can't tune to 91.2) There is public wifi, but connecting to it is an ordeal and might not work.
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Jun 12, 2023 09:20
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smackfu posted:How does watching these endurance races work in person? Do you go for the first day/evening, then leave, then come back for the morning/afternoon? It kinda works however you feel like it, which is kind of what makes it special. At least with the 24hr races, you can come and go as you need to. The event continues on regardless. You miss stuff, get caught up on things by people who saw it, you have a nap, eat some food, go for a wander, and all the time it's just ongoing and you can jump back in any time. The first couple and last couple of hours are dedicated watch times, the rest is "I feel like going on the ferris wheel" or "Hey want to go down to Arnage?" or "let's check out the concert", etc, and checking out the action around the track in between. Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Jun 12, 2023 |
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Jun 12, 2023 15:09
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Arcella posted:There’s spigots like you’d attach a hose to! Yeah, there's a bunch of spigots all over the place. The trackside beer is mostly water too.
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Jun 12, 2023 16:38
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X-postFinger Prince posted:Last minute - anyone want to go to Spa-Francorchamps for the 24h of motos this weekend?
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Jun 13, 2023 13:50
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Here's the fireworks and drones celebration from Le Mans. First time I've ever seen a drone show in person - it's really spectacular! Not sure how well the video and a 2d screen will capture it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CDYuvtjMPA Apologies for the finger, it goes away eventually. Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jun 18, 2023 |
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Jun 18, 2023 02:09
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Bit of cars whizzing past action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm1lOawTL_s
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Jun 18, 2023 03:10
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SlowBloke posted:It's still nice, thank you. I got scared by the adverse weather that day and didn't make it for the show. This was from the Friday night concert. They did the same show on Saturday night, from what I could see, but I was down at Mulsanne then.
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Jun 18, 2023 16:25
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My friend who was at Le Mans with me is at the Glen rn. Track access is... quite good?  
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Jun 25, 2023 19:03
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SlowBloke posted:Thankfully the number of flying tires has been low, so no risk of eating debris. It seems a bit haphazard to not even chain the service accesses. 
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Jun 25, 2023 19:13
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tater_salad posted:The goodwood coverage I watched a little of kinda made me a bit mad because they kept talking about lame crap to stop dead air.. I just wanted to hear each of the cool cars make real neat car noises. https://youtube.com/@19Bozzy92 For all your cool car noises needs.
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Jul 17, 2023 03:24
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:36 |
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Do you think we'll ever see the Audi diesels in historic/support races, or do you think VAG memory-holed anything related to diesel and they'll never see light of day again?
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Jul 18, 2023 00:25
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