[LM24] (Glass bottle) Beer Ban?

[Nordic]

There are sketchy reports that there may be glass bottle ban on the campsites in affect this year.

Tins etc seem to be allowed.

I predict a riot if true, maybe someone can confirm or deny!!

[Simmi]

Yikes no more beer mountains then? I heard it was a trackside ban?

[broadrun96]

Guessing the prevalence of beer in cans isn't as big in Europe as here in the US? Budweiser has their metal 'bottles' and for a couple years Miller and Coors had plastic bottles just for the glass ban at most beaches and parks. Usually drink bottled stuff myself but for any kind of camping I only bring cans; have seen too many people cut on busted bottles in my life to even consider them.
But this does make me wonder, if beer in a bottle is banned what kind of rule do they have in place for wine bottles? Or should everyone switch to the college party favorite of box wine?

[GT6]

yep all the other forums are going on about this, i think it relates to taking glass into the circuit rather than the campsites however for those campsite within the circuit like TR and MB this could be a problem, several years ago they tried it for a few days the abandoned it after failing to enforce the rules properly.

[Gilles lives!]

It seems they are imposing it at the Houx campsite and probably those inside the circuit.
The warnings about glass bottles have been on your entrance tickets for years now, with huge fines for those who break the rules, I can never recollect them being imposed though ?

[GT6]

well on the way down we will by cans of beer and barrels of wine rather than bottles, once we see what the situation is like we can get futher supplies on thursday

[Kpy]

Very definitely a ban on glass containers within the circuit limits only. So doesn't apply to Bleu, Beausejour etc. Currently being strictly applied at Houx - cars are all being seached and not allowed in with glass bottles.
I can see traffic chaos later in the week if they keep this up.
There's nothing to stop you decanting wine and spirits into plastic bottles - and bottled water's very cheap in France.
Bers up champagne celebrations on Houx and MB though

[Nordic]

Storm in a tea cup, and maybe will be better without all the broken bottles etc.

Take cans and wine boxes and it wont be an issue. Mind you as I am the Annexe thats outside the the track anyway so I can drink as many stubbies as i want!

[nobster]

We just have to buy cans then, no problem, a beer is still a beer!

[GT6]

I think it will be no problem for those on campsites outside the ticket area but for hose of us inside we will have to make alternative arrangements

[bernard b]

thanks for bringing that up

expect to have Pineau Des Charentes in a Iced Tea plastic bottle on saturday meeting

[GT6]

bernard, i am sure it will taste wonderful in whatever container it comes in

[Aysedasi]

Personally, I'm not that fussed about a beer ban, although I've had a few glasses, it wouldn't be the end of the world for some to actually experience the race in something other than a drunken stupor...... For many this is a motor race, not a drinking competition.....

[bernard b]

quick report about all this "ban":
last night, no search (or even ask) for beers at camping entrance (expo), same at the gates at the main entrance

[Aysedasi]

Good to see you yesterday Bernard - even without any beer!

[ujoint]

If you are still worried about a beer ban now, you probably haven't had enough beer yet. Get movin. Your at the race and you should know by now how to get around any minor restrictions like that. No worry to the hardcore fan. lol.

Just a thought, have a friend pass the beer in through the fence to another friend??? IMO. Course I am not there and the only restriction on beer in my space is how much the refrigerator will hold. Answer: More than I will drink.

This stupid post is meant as a little humor for those in attendance al La Sarthe plus a complete waste of internet bandwidth and electrons. Enjoy.

One envious at home spectator.

mike

[marcosgt]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

For a tiny minority this is a motor race, not a drinking competition.....

Corrected

I can understand the consternation, though.

I used to buy two or three crates of beer to bring home from Le Mans (drinking a few bottles and a couple of bottles of wine over the weekend) and I'd hate to have them taken away!

Also, from memory, although there was some beer in the Hypermarkets in cans, the vast majority (especially the cheaper stuff) was in 25cl glass bottles. I suspect they'll sell out of cans very quickly.

Regarding a glass bottle ban in the spectator areas, wasn't this introduced years ago? I'm sure it was so the last few years I went, because it was getting very dangerous at one point. My father, not a doddery old geezer at the time, took a tumble on a discarded bottle some years ago and cut himself quite badly (on the concrete of the terracing opposite the pits).

M.

[Piglet]

The problem is not so much at the "circuit" itself I suspect, it's the fact that some of the campsites, MB, Houx etc. are classed as being "inside the circuit" so you need a GA ticket to get into them.

As predicted thought whatever ban the ACO started with, they've got bored of it by Wednesday so it all seems to be OK!

[Aysedasi]

Well, hopefully this problem is not now going to bother our world leaders, so the summit in Geneva can probably be called off......

Get a life people......

[Simmi]

Not sure if anyone can confirm. My friend told me the local authorities were pushing for a complete ban on alcohol trackside but the ACO appealed this. So instead they enforced an old law about glass bottles. Just what I heard...

It seems like the ban started out quite strict (our car got searched on Tues) but lapsed as time went on. A full alcohol ban would actually have started a riot!

[wewantourdarbyback]

http://radiolemans.0157.org/content/booze-le-mans

[vincegail]

I had 'an amount to work with' stocked in my fridge and partytent, and backup crates of bottles of belgium's finest ale in my car from sunday onwards. Past several times through the gates at the campsites, no problem. On tuesday they confiscated the backup. I was not able to drink it on the campsite, but at the gate was no problem. I asked for them back on thursday, and drove with them to the swimming pool. Freshened up, and put the crates in a few carton boxes and a big bag in my friends car. He smuggled them back in. We're warned for next year, I think!

[nobster]

We never had any trouble with getting our beer into Houx campsite, a few cars we saw were being checked but maybe we were lucky...

[isynge]

Driving in and out of the Tertre Rouge entrance and into the campsite on Thurs/Fri/Sat didn't result in any searches of car, questions about whether we were carrying alcohol, or any similar issues.

No checks were carried out going onto T5 Dunlop grandstand.

It did seem that there were fewer glass bottles on show trackside, but by no means were there none around.

Given, as others have said, there's very seldom anything approaching trouble at Le Mans, I like to think this has been something of a storm in a teacup and a common sense approach will persevere into 2012. I imagine they'll keep the wording of the glass ban on tickets, just like it's been there for years, just to cover themselves, but right now I'm not losing a huge amount of sleep over it.

[wewantourdarbyback]

Originally Posted by nobster

We never had any trouble with getting our beer into Houx campsite, a few cars we saw were being checked but maybe we were lucky...

We were checked, although it took the poor bloke quite a while to get through to us he was checking for glass, he had to tap my rear window for an example for us to realise.