Page 08 - Ayse's Le Mans Story 2022

Le Mans 2022 - Ayse's Story

Page 8 - Tuesday 7th June - Into the Circuit and the Museum

We left the Porsche Curves at about 12.30 to drive down in the hope of parking in the car park directly opposite. I had managed to park in here in both 2018 and 2019 when it was free access, but this year we were turned away (as you can see on the video on the previous page!). Once again, the ACO had decided to change 'the rules' and require tickets for this car park. With some clear reservations, the 'marshals' on the car park allowed us in so that we could turn around and head back down towards the main car parks. Unfortunately for us, we only had one Parking Blanc ticket, but when we got there that was closed as well, but we eventually managed to park for free in Bleu and made the lengthier than anticipated walk back up to the entrance opposite Parking Blanc, finally emerging onto the deserted 'tribunes' at 1.20. It's a strange sight that, seeing all the teams working on the cars in the garages with just a handful of people wandering the spectator area opposite.

We walked around the back of the grandstands checking out one of the model shops, one of the few outlets that was actually open. The French army had a display but Lauren and I managed to persuade him not to join up!

Naturally enough, we had to pay a visit to the most important building at the circuit so that James and I could check if the 'ecosystem' was alive and well. (Those who have been here before will know what this means!). With the Centenary celebrations next year, what chance that this building will still be there in 2023?

As we were here with nothing much else to do, we paid a relatively brief visit to the museum which was free to ticket holders. I didn't take many photographs as to be honest, we've done it all several times before, but we had been led to believe that the new Peugeot Hypercar would be in the museum, however it turned out to be elsewhere, so I had to photograph an 'old' one instead. We did make a trip to the ACO shop at the museum where a few souvenirs were bought...

Aysedasi's Le Mans