Le Mans; anyone going this year?

I think this has to be the year. Any thoughts/advice on how to do this cheap? I'm thinking just 5 days; get there, hang out for a bit, watch the race, hit a wine region on Monday, fly out of Paris on Tuesday. Can you crash at the track?

Le Mans on the cheap? I wonder if that's even possible. Anybody done it?

People camp in areas based on country during the race.

There's camping all over the place. Usually with Brits on top of it.

I put in to be one of the corner marshals so we will see where that goes. In talking with the marshals, The best way is to fly into paris and take the train down. You may also check london and do 2 train rides. You may be able to get a cheaper flight into heathrow. As Keith said, camping is all over so that isn't an issue.

I will piggy on this thread because my wife suggested we go this year. The idea would be go to the race and then spend another week or so traveling around Europe.

She is not going to want to camp. I think we are little less price sensitive. My initial look through the web found a few companies out of the UK offering packages with tickets and accommodations. Does anyone have experience with or knowledge about these?

Been thinking about doing this for years, and have the money set aside, just need to figure out when the time is right.

When the time is right, here is a great guide from Jalopnik: A Jalop's Guide to Attending the 24 Hours of Le Mans

In reply to Longwolf:

Thanks for posting that story.

Normally I'd spend more time in France but this needs to be a quick visit. As such I want to keep it cheap.

My suggestion for accommodation without camping is the Flexotels put up by Travel Destinations. Little flat-pack temporary hotel rooms - pretty clever. It's where we stayed when we went to the Le Mans Classic a few years back. Easy walk to the track entrance but quiet enough that you can sleep with cars on the track. It's simple - your room has two single beds and enough power for lights and to charge a cellphone. There are showers and flush toilets on-site. But it's secure, clean, dry, comfortable and the staff is eager to help. Not quite the same party as camping in a field beside your car, but a good way to see the race and there is a communal area for hanging out.

Give them a call or email to find out prices without the ferry tickets - obviously you won't need those.
http://lemansrace.com/accommodation/travel-destinations-flexotel-village/

Those are pretty cool Keith. Not a bad way to see the races.

I know if I get chosen, I'll have my backpacking gear in my luggage and just sleep in the marshals compound. It's all under 25 LBS so it'll travel easy.

I won't know till March though probably.

In reply to bmw88rider:

Will you be working world challenge at COTA this year?

Yeah. Saturday and Sunday only though. Got to save my vacation time at work in Case I get selected for LeMans.

Pretty cool event this year especially Saturday with the Blancpain GT series doing the 6 hour enduro saturday night. So there will be 9 hours of racing Saturday with that and the WC guys. They just posted the schedules on the WC website.