Back from the 2007 Le Mans 24 hour. The itself race was… okay. Diesels won & you can read enough to make your eyes bleed elsewhere on the Net about whether this is a good thing, bad thing, next big thing & so on. I have to say that the event seems to be getting increasingly ‘Chavvy’ & there were numerous ‘organised’ Stag parties present with nobody interested in cars at all really (& that’s coming from me! lol). No problem there until this manifests itself as a lack of respect for the cars & owners; emptying gallons of water into an open car is criminal damage & wouldn’t be tolerated elsewhere (I’d like to think). Ditto kicking someone’s car just because they won’t do a burn-out for you & your mates (& there still seems to be plenty of drivers who are happy to do that kind of thing). Has Le Mans become too accessible, with the wrong kind of people attending? Surely there are more interesting places to go & get pissed if that’s the only thing on your mind… Pricing people out doesn’t work (just look at horse racing in the UK) & penalises car enthusiasts who don’t have a lot of disposable income. Besides, I can only just afford to go myself – after fuel, travel, accommodation & beer money there is nothing left for repairs caused by other people. Sorry… rant over.

Despite not being as relaxed as in previous years & prompting some pondering as to what to do in 2008, I ultimately enjoyed myself once again. The race was only a minor part of the experience. The journey, the company, the accommodation, the food ‘n’ booze & the ‘incidents’… these are the things that define Le Mans for me, & that makes 2007 a success!