LM24 A Funny Thing Happened To Me At Le Mans

billkirbywofb · 18 Jun 2007, 03:49 (Ref:1940449)

When you have a several day long sporting event like Le Mans, there has to be a number of funny things that happened to the 10/Tenths members who went to the event. So for the enjoyment of those of us who could not make it - what was your funniest story from this years race. (Extra credit given for embarrassing circumstances)

zac510 · 18 Jun 2007, 12:10 (Ref:1940736)

Frenchmen urinating on their bikes to 'prevent rust' . Handlebar grips don't rust, fellas

brielga · 18 Jun 2007, 12:39 (Ref:1940751)

Maybe not funny, in fact not funny at all but the number of aggressive drunk Danish fans is increasing year after year and really starting to taint the traditional friendly atmosphere in and around Le Mans, especially after driver's parade and also late night during the race. I have nothing against the use and abuse of alcohol but I am targetting the alcohol driven aggressive behavior here.

**PascaLM** · 18 Jun 2007, 12:55 (Ref:1940759)

Quote:

Originally Posted by brielga

Maybe not funny, in fact not funny at all but the number of aggressive drunk Danish fans is increasing year after year and really starting to taint the traditional friendly atmosphere in and around Le Mans, especially after driver's parade and also late night during the race. I have nothing against the use and abuse of alcohol but I am targetting the alcohol driven aggressive behavior here.

I agree, the abuse of alcool can make guys agressive, whatever they are Danish, French, British...
But within 24 times I went to LM (yes, these were my 24th 24H

), I have never seen a fight or big troubles between people.

zac510 · 18 Jun 2007, 13:00 (Ref:1940762)

That reminds me of a fight I almost saw on Thursday 1st practice!
There was a fellow standing on the stairs (not very polite) at the front of the Dunlop chicane stand. When it started raining he pulled out an enormous umbrella which blocked the view of the people behind him. They proceeded to hurl water from their bottles at him which, unsurprisingly, bounced straight off of his umbrella! He continued to stand there in complete oblivion to what was going on.

**PascaLM** · 18 Jun 2007, 13:03 (Ref:1940764)

I really like the English who brings each year his small teddybear which is in a small armchair. Does anyone know him ?
All the regulars of the Lagache (ex Michelin) grandstand appreciate this nice fellow.

**PascaLM** · 18 Jun 2007, 13:07 (Ref:1940767)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zac510

That reminds me of a fight I almost saw on Thursday 1st practice!
There was a fellow standing on the stairs (not very polite) at the front of the Dunlop chicane stand. When it started raining he pulled out an enormous umbrella which blocked the view of the people behind him. They proceeded to hurl water from their bottles at him which, unsurprisingly, bounced straight off of his umbrella! He continued to stand there in complete oblivion to what was going on.

Yes, sometimes behaviors that disturb the viewing can make people a bit nervous.

kdr · 18 Jun 2007, 14:18 (Ref:1940805)

this thread is going well.

ah well lets see...well i was in the paddock taking pictures of this really cute looking female talking on her mobile phone and so oblivious to me. i'm thinking good job...i'll get away with this without anyone knowing, when over the top of truswell et al on my radio headphones i hear cheering. i look up and theres around 50 people looking over the wall at the end of the new village. so i give thumbs up and gracefully depart. hey she was cute..!

MulsanneMike · 18 Jun 2007, 14:33 (Ref:1940812)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdr

this thread is going well.

ah well lets see...well i was in the paddock taking pictures of this really cute looking female talking on her mobile phone and so oblivious to me. i'm thinking good job...i'll get away with this without anyone knowing, when over the top of truswell et al on my radio headphones i hear cheering. i look up and theres around 50 people looking over the wall at the end of the new village. so i give thumbs up and gracefully depart. hey she was cute..!

And no pictures to share?

kdr · 18 Jun 2007, 15:15 (Ref:1940822)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MulsanneMike

And no pictures to share?

i'm sure the good lady wouldn't like her image uploaded for all us lot on TT to view!

i'll tell you what else was really funny down at le mans this year...at one point we were in a hurry to get into the circuit in our car, but as we came up to the checkpoint we found a 55 seater coach in front of us in the queue, and the security man had to go on board and with his little machine scan the tickets/passes of all 55 passengers....man that was funny...

billkirbywofb · 18 Jun 2007, 16:22 (Ref:1940871)

Rather than start a new thread, let's expand this a bit by including any funny things that happened to us who had to watch the race by TV or over the net from afar. (Now saying that the funniest thing was running out of Buffalo Hot Wings at 2:15 in the morning is not funny - thats a disaster

)

Francesco · 18 Jun 2007, 19:13 (Ref:1940999)

i remember at my only LM (for now) in 2005... i was going near the guard-rail at dunlops to have some night shots... i noticed some people screaming at me after the barrier and they where all "aston fans" who were shouting bad words at me :-) i was there with a full cap+short Corvette suit ahahhaha

oh and a strange british man who was speaking with the wife of one of those russian drivers (russian age-convers bank-cirtek back in 2005), he asked me a cigarette and he went to one of the ospitality and he came out with a bottle of champagne

Alan Green · 19 Jun 2007, 00:50 (Ref:1941232)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zac510

That reminds me of a fight I almost saw on Thursday 1st practice!
There was a fellow standing on the stairs (not very polite) at the front of the Dunlop chicane stand. When it started raining he pulled out an enormous umbrella which blocked the view of the people behind him. They proceeded to hurl water from their bottles at him which, unsurprisingly, bounced straight off of his umbrella! He continued to stand there in complete oblivion to what was going on.

Fortunately, the ladies checking the passes at the stairwell in front of us going to/from tribune 20 were excellent at keeping people off the steps and blocking views throughout the race. Very good work given the conditions.

Funniest thing we saw was a kitcar being deposited at Calais by a French recovery lorry. The driver got out, fiddled under the bonnet, started it up, drove onto the ferry, drove off again at Dover, and straight onto to a waiting British recovery lorry. Excellent MPG for the trip and a car to blat around in while you're there!

Al.

johnh875 · 19 Jun 2007, 00:51 (Ref:1941233)

Quote:

Originally Posted by PascaLM

I really like the English who brings each year his small teddybear which is in a small armchair. Does anyone know him ?
All the regulars of the Lagache (ex Michelin) grandstand appreciate this nice fellow.

Mr Bean?

paul-collins · 19 Jun 2007, 13:41 (Ref:1941704)

Our tickets for Tribune 14 were clearly marked "stairway 2" which apart from the start of the race was blocked off. We had to use stairways 1 or 3 all day and keep kicking our fellow tribune patrons in the shins while going to get beer and food.

Our group only forgot to pack a few things; good thing the Super U in Arnage is well stocked with sous-vêtements.

TheNewBob · 20 Jun 2007, 00:24 (Ref:1942156)

Hmmm funny things... There was quite a cheer when a French policeman was walking to stop a little bit of trouble on Friday night at Houx Annexe, only to giggle and give a thumbs up when the British offender started chanting and worshipping Thierry Henry. The offender was very drunk and could barely stand up - which was enough of a cue later on for someone to pull his shorts right down...

As for me, I was being very cautious not to emulate myself at Donington Park last year, which meant going up and down mounds and banks rather carefully to make sure I didn't fall flat on my face whilst carrying bags!

djb · 20 Jun 2007, 02:16 (Ref:1942193)

neither funny nor embarassing, but you can picture me at my best friends house, on his couch with two sets of earphones, one for the tv so I wouldn't bother anyone asleep in the house in the middle of the night watching the Speed coverage of the race , and the other set of headphones from a wireless set I brought from home so I could hook it up to his computer and then listen to RLM when the tv coverage wasn't on/ or when the commentary was boring--I actually often went tv visuals and RLM sound.

My friends wife has made jokes for years about us watching cars going "round and round and round and round" (with beaucoup rolling of the eyes), and so I think this added more fodder to her "you guys are nuts" comments...

ps, while the Speed coverage was okay, David Hobbs wasn't there this year and I found the commentary substandard to RLM. RLM really does have the most interesting interviews and generally knows what is going on better than the tv guys. I get the impression that drivers that have been around know that doing a tv "soundbite" is just that, and that for radio and RLM, they aren't going to get asked a stupid regular old question and also that more time will be given to them so that they can answer more fully (and to a more knowledgeable fanbase also). I'm a real radio fan, and so enjoyed lying in the dark with RLM in my ears--pps, I was glad for all of you there that it didn't rain during the night, it's bad enough being in it during the day, but that night must have been cool (down to 9c I think). That said, must have been pretty darn wet towards the end!

AMICALEMANS · 20 Jun 2007, 06:46 (Ref:1942270)

I did find english people with some weird cars on friday between Mulsanne and Arnage... Was they too drunk to be there ?

Bramzel · 20 Jun 2007, 08:13 (Ref:1942302)

As I missed this year, I have to pull up one from last year. We were watching the freaky friday on the road behind the main grandstand, where all the guys were showing off their rides. A Viper RT/10 passed, a Ferrari 550, a 928 did a nice burnout, and then a buttnaked drunk frenchmen in a wheel chair :P Quite the surprise I can tell you, and it was hilarious.

old man · 20 Jun 2007, 10:31 (Ref:1942399)

Did anybody get breathalised? I was returning to our digs with a wealthy friend in a 997 turbo when we were pulled over but he was OK, minimal drinker. The owners at our digs told us that there were new laws in force for LM this year and confiscation of the car and arrest is the penalty, wait 'till Monday to be brought before a judge for fine and ban!! Not sure when you get your car back if caught.

I had a pass for P12 in the middle of the circuit, took hours to get in and even longer to get out at 1.00am, if offered one turn it down!!

dj choc ice · 20 Jun 2007, 16:02 (Ref:1942633)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bramzel

As I missed this year, I have to pull up one from last year. We were watching the freaky friday on the road behind the main grandstand, where all the guys were showing off their rides. A Viper RT/10 passed, a Ferrari 550, a 928 did a nice burnout, and then a buttnaked drunk frenchmen in a wheel chair :P Quite the surprise I can tell you, and it was hilarious.

i can remember the naked french bloke, man that was funny, you cant get any more random than that!

bernard b · 20 Jun 2007, 17:34 (Ref:1942713)

when arriving in Carrefour on friday morning, Reinhold Joest was just going out of it
not sure he went to buy beer or merguez, maybe just to see the Audi R8R exposed in there

nobster · 20 Jun 2007, 18:09 (Ref:1942749)

For me it was the drunken English bloke who was diving in puddles at the camping Houx. Sometimes he flew in the air for more then two meters before landing in the mud. He even wanted to dive down from a van! totally insane fellow!!!

isynge · 20 Jun 2007, 18:15 (Ref:1942762)

Possibly a bit mild on the humour stakes but pulling into my space in the Expo carpark next to a group of British Boxsters/911s in my utterly unsporty company car (a Toyota Prius) it was quite entertaining hearing the owners of German exotica being utterly taken aback by the silence of the electric motor - and not realising that Belgian plates don't necessarily mean the driver doesn't speak English...

Never thouht taking an absurd eco-car to Le Mans would evoke anything other than abuse from my fellow attendees...

dj4monie · 20 Jun 2007, 22:00 (Ref:1942941)

I thought German and French were the main speech in Belgium...

Where I was it was French

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