LM Footage

Do any of you guys have photographic evidence from previous year's LM that you can upload to somewhere like Picasa or other online (private) forum ?

I'm trying to put together a montage of comedy moments over the years......

Meet The Gang

I thought I'd put together some photos which hopefully captured our nicknames/demeanour of the LM weekend of times gone by.....

JT

Obviously from the nasal vomit experience

KL

Ooo, Ooo (or similar monkey noises)

Chadders

Oh how sensible (well, most of the time)

Sniffer

She was a waitress in Tetre Rouge wasn't she ?

Pikey

Need I say more ?

Football at Le Mans

Do you think we can pick the game up on Lucy's Council House TV System?

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

FIFA World Cup European Qualifying

England v Andorra, Gp 6, 20:15

What does the system look for Astra?

Driving Attire pour Francais

Do we all own one of these for France?

Driving Attire pour Francais

Lucy...

Le Menu du Mans

I think the menu looks mighty fine for '09. Shepherds pie or jacket potato would be good, though. Desert is always king with me, rice pudding, syrup sponge, jam rolly polly......

Does Lucy come with a canopy....

Le Menu du Mans

Three weeks to go and it'll be our first night at Le Mans - who knows what changes will befall us this year..........will we all go into the same flat spin we encountered last year ?

To keep things on an even keel I've decided to propose the usual menu choices for you guys to comment upon (even you JT - tradition says that you reply at least once to the post-LM banter).

So, apart from the usual breakfast ensemble I have the following choices to suggest...

• Potato Hash (a firm favourite and likely to stay on Le Menu this year);
• Beef Rendang (a cheeky new entry from last year which appeared to be a winner!);
• Roast Beef dinner (care of Lucy's 'equipment' - would be rude not to !);
• Bangers and Mash (need I say more...........);
• Chilli (along with the now infamous Sniffer v Chadders jalapeno eating contest...);
• Chicken Curry;
• Any other suggestions?

Clearly it might be another 'spirit' year and I have a strong feeling the pissdergeist may make a shock re-appearance....

I await your formal comments fellow travellers......

I Love Lucy

Having just returned from visiting Lucy I can safely say I'm in love.......

They're providing oodles of extras including cleaning equipment, tissues (for you KL!!), tea towels, kitchen roll, towels, bedding, toilet roll, gas, fuel, pans, plates, cutlery, tea, coffee, sugar, milk - you name it, they seem to be providing it.

He's run me through all the features and operations and it all seems pretty straightforward and extremely well organised and put together.

I can also pick Lucy up when I want - which means I could collect her either Monday evening or Tuesday morning, well before the Cavaliers arrive at Sniffer Towers.

She's got around 2000 miles on her so she's effectively brand new and she's only going out this weekend and then she's got no more rentals until we have her.

The satellite TV system they've got on her is something else and it's very likely we'll be able to pick up all the French (or even Eurosport) satellite coverage of LM - I've almost got visions of the infamous 'going to LM but not seeing any live racing' year again!!!

I'll be running through my proposed menu options shortly as per usual to gain your feedback and agreement but with a proper oven the options are significantly wider.  We could even gain some time by procuring some pies (KL - that's your task) and cooking them enroute with mushy peas, onions, gravy, mash etc to avoid the historical obligatory stop in Reading for Sweeney Todd's delicacies !!

I'm going to have to lie down now as the effort of seeing Lucy in the metal has left me weak at the knees............

My Heart says... My Head says...

Having just come out of CACI’s Quarterly Board Meeting, I am board stiff…

So I thought now would be a good time to do a bit of head and heart searching about who will win at LM in 2009. You (should) all know that there are 4 classes racing each other; Prototypes and GTs, 2 classes for each.

1) LM Prototype 1 – the Big Boys – who will also battle it out for the overall win

Heart: Aston Martin, Lola, Gulf & 50 years of hurt...
Head: a Diesel, probably Audi, probably the Kristensen car (if it must be Peugeot, then let it be the Brabham car…)

2) LM Prototype 2

Heart: RML Lola Coupe with Mazda turbo engine – good “red, white & blue” British Bulldogs
Head: Porsche RS Spyder from the Danish Team Essex stable

3) LM GT1 – their last hurrah

Heart: Aston Martin, with a single DBR9 from Austria, or a surprise win for a Lambo (make that “total shock win of the year…”)
Head: Corvette 1-2-3-4 in class

4) LM GT2

Heart: Plucky (Lord) Brits in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, or (for a laugh) the Dutch Spyker
Head: One of the 10 Ferrari F430 GTs, most likely the Risi Competizione car

I’m sure you’ll all agree…

Winnie - more pics !

I'm going for a 'viewing' of Winnie on Friday this week but here are some further photos of the vehicle we're getting and some interior shots too.

The Layout

Push irons at Le Mans - Now there's a thought.......

The boys 'dorm'........

Tea for three ?  Or is it fore?(skins)

Wide angle shot

Sniffer's bed ? ;o)

TV/dish for satellite, porn, XBox 360 etc, etc.......

Hopefully this will be clean at the end of the week - cooking outside ?

Lucy looks a pretty thing, doesn't she ?  Wonder how fast she goes down the Mulsanne.....

Roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots, mash, gravy........??

Is that KL's porn on it already ??

The view ahead !!

Geek stuff...

Spurred on by Mr Sniffer, Sir, I’ve been prompted to put down some “amazing” facts about Le Mans, that I’m sure you, Dear Reader, will be astounded at…

a) This year will be the 18th trip to Le Mans, out of 77, so a 23% attendance record (and assuming I keep going, in 2016, I will have been going for more than half my life…)
b) Since 1998, when JT and KL joined us, it has been “Deutschland Uber Alles”, with 1x win for Porsche, 1x win for BMW, 8x wins for Audi and 1x win for Bentley (with an Audi engine…)
c) Neither have we seen much British success in the driver department, with only Allan McNish (2x) and Guy Smith (1x) in the 11 races we’ve all been at. This compares to 7x wins for Tom Kristensen alone, since 1998!
d) Also since 1998, we have seen the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th fastest Le Mans races of all time… The quality of the Audi vs. Pug scrap from last year is the fastest we’ve seen to date (and may well have broken the record if it wasn’t for the rain in the second 12 hours). 2009 will be slower as new aero/engine restrictor regs have been brought in

I’ll do a bit of head and heart analysis of the class war for the upcoming race in my next contribution!

Nasal Vomit - JT's Finest Hour - LM06

Words fail me trying to describe this.....

God Save King Louis

Clearly this is a thing of the past as the 'Cavalier tent' is history !!

Still one of the funniest moments ever - taken from the 'packing up period' of LM08.



JT's embarrassment coming soon :o)

A Blast from the Past..........

To get you in the mood for LM09 - some photographic evidence from 12 years ago.....more years to follow

Cavaliers do it in style....

New for 2009 - the most luxury yet !!!

After many years of threatening to increase the levels of comfort the Cavaliers have finally bitten the bullet and are bringing Winnie to Le Mans.....

A sample of the specification........

The Adria Coral represents true luxury in a 6 berth motorhome with everyone enjoying space and privacy. Enjoy real home from home comfort for families!

Equipped with Satellite TV/DVD  & CD player, cutlery, crockery, oven (how about a roast dinner on the menu this year?), grill, microwave, fully integrated kitchen, luxury washroom with separate shower, hotel quality interiors and comfy beds. Fully winter proofed, insulated and double glazed, along with gas fired central heating & cab air conditioning.

Fitted reversing camera, Camos Satellite Dome,Sat navigation and bike rack.

Self contained, the A576 DK motorhome incorporates rear bunk beds, with a further double bed above the cab and a flexible double middle section sleeping area.

Power assisted steering and powerful 2.2ltr Turbo diesel engines with cruise control makes the Coral very easy to drive and park.

Please Note - facilities are only available to Le Mans attendees with a fully intact foreskin.

Roll of Honour 2009

Assuming we all make it this year.......the scores on the doors are:

Pikey - 18

Sniffer - 17

Chadders - 14

JT/Bright Eyes - 12

TechSupport/Sydney 1K/King Louis - 12

Dr Dick - 4
DT - 4

J. Holmes - 4

Lofty -3

Sooty - 3

Neil - 2

Joey - 1.8

D'Arcy - 1

Dobby - 1

JimmyG - 1

Pie Boy - 1

Watkins Eddie - 1

BigMac - A big FAT Zero (although his camping gear scores 1)

The Mission...........

Without wanting to duplicate www.lm24.co.uk (a great website nonetheless !!) here is a reminder of  our Mission statement created oh so many years ago..........

“Our mission is quite simply getting to Le Mans and having a good time.  Sub-missions include; cold beer, quality food, comfort, ripping the piss out of each other and whinging about the lack of strippers.”

...and the Committee is as always (although subject to change for 2010 perhaps ?):

Chair:Mr Pikey, Sir

Deputy Chair: Mr Sniffer, Sir

Life President (wherever he is): Mad Mick

 

Almost There:

 

Mr Chadders, Sir

 

The Next Level Down:

 

Mr Taylor, Sir, aka1 “JT”, aka2 “Bright Eyes”

Mr Matthew, Sir, aka1 “TechSupport”, aka2 “Sydney 1k”, aka3 'King Louis'

 

The Rest:

 

Multiple Attendees:

Dr Dick

DT

Sooty

Lofty

J Holmes

Joey (still active when not abroad, “on business”)

Neil

One-off Wonders:

Big Mac

D’Arcy

Dobby

Jimmy G

Pie Boy

Watkins, Eddie

 

Every year (since 1992) we go to Le Mans for the 24 Hours motor race.  Why?  There are many reasons, but the key points are (in no particular order):

 

• It’s fast, exotic cars tanking around an 8.5 mile circuit for a whole day
• It’s checking out said cars on Friday lunchtime
• It’s 6 nights away from family and work commitments
• It’s no shaving for a week (nothing normal for Sniffer)
• It’s beer, beer and more beer (record set in 2004 was 60 “500ml can-equivalents” per person) and occasionally the odd bottle of champagne, red wine and tequila
• It’s falling asleep on the terraces 5 minutes in to the race
• It’s a fun fair (though getting tamer each year)
• It’s strippers (though the good folk of the ACO seem to have banished them)
• It’s tents, comfy chairs, airbeds, pillows, cool boxes and cold beer (it wasn’t always so, when I was a lad…).....but all set to change this year !!
• It’s scorchio, or pissing down with rain
• It’s “cheesy peas”, pizzas, raw steak and frites
• It’s Radio Le Mans, headphones (spot the Brit), baseball hats, sunglasses and grubby shorts
• It’s a mad scramble to watch England play football (every other year)
• It’s a load of Danes in a bar in LM town, cheering on TK
• It’s home of the “pissedergeist”
• It’s driving the circuit, post race and eating Chinese food on the Mulsanne
• It’s one gigantic firework party (a bit like downtown Baghdad during Operation “Shock and Awe”)
• It’s TVRs, Caterhams and old Lotuses, Ferraris and Porsches (in various states of repair along the Road to Le Mans)
• It’s turbo-nutter-bastard burnouts at Maison Blanche on the Friday afternoon
• It’s Hawaiian Tropic birds (and others), “do a poo”
• It’s Le Mans Steve and his rush to get home, before the end of the race
• It’s the TWATS – need I say more…
• It’s the great t-shirt debate
• It’s “me so horny, me love you long time…”
• It’s “who’s going to drop out this year?” or “who’s the last minute replacement?”
• It’s “don’t forget your passport” (Sniffer!)
• It’s Sniffer’s Mate (“grand, grand”), Ha’penny, Ronnie, “Mr Intolerable”, Father-and-Son-Look-Alike, The Chemical Brothers and Stacey…
• It’s coming down t’track, wi’t’lads
• It’s “see you next year…”

 

In short, it’s more than just the race; it’s the being there.  That’s why half a dozen vaguely intelligent men get all excited about spending a week in France every June!