MENU
HOME
YOUR HOST
RACING PEOPLE
MACAU GP
BIKE SET-UP
CJM RADIO
RACING LINKS
CONTACT
FORUM

FRONT PAGE ARCHIVES
WORLD ENDURANCE TEAMS
WORLD ENDURANCE ROUNDS

2011
MONZA

LE MANS 2005 - Fans Report!

I’d heard the stories, so a mate and I packed a tent; we loaded up the panniers and headed off to Le Mans for the 24 hour endurance race. Heavy rain for the last hour didn’t dampen our spirits. As we got to the circuit there was a bit of confusion as our school boy French couldn’t ascertain which one of the large queues of bikes to join. Eventually, we rolled into an already packed campsite looking for a nice quiet spot with some sort of view. Again, flexing the school boy French we negotiated our way into another packed camping area and finally settled for a spot perched on an embankment a stones’ throw from the track. Marvellous.

Setting up camp in the rain is never fun, but within an hour our home for the next 3 days was up and pretty dry on the inside.

We cracked open a bottle of cider (the nearby super markets weren’t selling beer during race weekend) and went for a wander. Thousands of fellow bikers had made the pilgrimage and some had been on the juice for a while already. Some camps were amazingly furnished with tables/chairs/generators and were complete with bikes (minus rear-wheel/swing-arm) set-up on metal frames surrounded by beer-swigging bikers. Bikes were being ridden around (without silencers) and bounced off their rev-limiters at every possible opportunity.

With darkness closing in, the glow of campfires could be seen all around the campsite and the noise was incredible, the continual revving of bikes and shot-gunning (flicking the kill switch) was echoing around the campsite. We passed a group of French men, one of them caressing the throttle of a bike as if it were a lady. The revs build and then drop, build again, then drop then the throttle is held fully open for near-on 10 seconds with the rev-limiter cutting in. Then, the key is turned and he walks away from the bike. This is to be the pattern of events for the next 3 days and nights.

With no sleep on the Friday night (thanks to an un-silenced SV1000 being a couple of pitches up from us) we crawled out of our tent as the race track came alive with race bikes practising. It was evident that a large number of our fellow campers had been up all night and the fires were still burning bright with an increasing number of green beer bottles appearing strewn across the camp.

We found a ‘short-cut’ (which had conveniently been cut through the wire fence) to the race track and caught our first glimpse of bikes going round and round. We walked almost the entire track checking out vantage points and getting our bearings.

We could feel the anticipation building around the track as the 3pm start time crept ever closer. We decided to head for the start/finish straight to see the famous ‘ear of corn’ (according to the program!) race start. As the count-down begins, we are almost opposite the 1st and 2nd placed Suzuki bikes as the riders dash across the track. As the bikes scream passed, the big screen shows a bike pressed nose first into the concrete wall. It appears that as the rider sped off, he failed to point the bike in the right direction!

We watch for about an hour as the bikes charge around the track, then we make tracks for a different view.

Late afternoon, we pass the evening’s band doing a sound check. A few locals are ‘dancing’ (if that’s what you want to call it) and security people have to clear the stage of a few potential stage-divers (though there is no one to catch them!).

As time passes it becomes more difficult to determine race order. Our school-boy French isn’t up to interpreting the running commentary. The (only) big screen is on the start/finish straight, so can be a bit of a trek just to determine what is happening.

At around 2am we go to the main stand to watch the pits. The pit crews are doing an amazing job of turning the bikes around as they come in for both scheduled and unscheduled stops. We saw one bike come in, much to the lone sleeping pit-crews’ surprise, and it’s then that you realise what an endurance race is all about. It’s not just the machinery that has to last the 24hrs, or the rider that has to stay so focused for their stint in the saddle, but also the supporting crews, who at a moments notice have to leap into action.

Returning to our tent, the campsite is still very much awake. Groups of people gather around bikes which are being thrashed. One bike finally gives in and the gathered crowd cheers as smoke pours from the exhaust and blown engine. The campsite fire-engine also makes an appearance as the industrial sized rubbish-skip is belching thick black smoke!

That night, we actually slept for a few hours. It was about 2 degrees and we both slept in all our clothes (including leathers, gloves, woolly hats and 3 pairs of socks). We surface and quickly return to the nearby racing action. We’d been ‘following’ the only V-twin in the race, an Aprilia (the one with Fred Bolley on board). I remember hearing its distinctive drone in the early hours but we fail to see/hear it.

After watching a couple of bikes entering the campsite via a hole which has been knocked through the pre-fab concrete wall, we return to the main straight to see that (amongst a few others) the front of the Aprilia pit has been closed. – (The Team Magic Box Aprilia, with riders Enjolras, Enault and ex-motocross rider Fred Bolley lasted 14 and a half hours, until 5:28 on the Sunday morning – Ed.)

As midday approaches, it’s amazing how hard the riders are still lapping. We decide to watch the race for the last couple of hours from the main straight. There is a flurry of action in the pits as bike 94 and the Suzuki teams are battling it out at the top with only a few seconds separating them. As 3pm approaches the noise levels increase and bike 94 crosses the line 20 seconds ahead of last years winning Suzook. Incredible. After 24hrs of racing a few seconds separates the top 2 places.

After watching the post-race celebrations we return to pack our bags. The previous nights temperature has got the better of us and we plan to head an hour north of Le Mans in search of a motel. On our way-out, the campsite looks like an aftermath of a war. Not only the rubbish, but burnt tents/clothes (where people couldn’t be bothered to pack) and we see a car on it’s roof, minus doors (they are on the ashes of a nearby fire). The clear-up operation is going to need a bit more than a few students litter picking! This event is not your normal sort of bike rally!

Our motel is a blessing. Basic, but warm and with a shower!

At breakfast we meet a couple of other brit-bikers. It’s their 11th visit!

In all, a real eye-opener. Would I go again? Yes. We booked our tickets in advance, though they are available on the gate at no extra cost, so next time I’d check the weather report for the weekend and hoon over if it looked good. It would be pretty miserable from a spectator’s point-of-view if you are in cold, wet leathers for 4 days. Also, I wouldn’t take the other half. Mine does enjoy bikes/racing/camping, but 4 days of noise, no sleep, no showers, being cold and eating crap will take it’s toll!

What are you waiting for???!!!

TONY RICHENS