They race all day....... |
The Le Mans 24 hour race for motorcycles was first run in 1978. I
immediately became hooked by the whole affair and since then it has
been an annual trip.
The race is held on the Bugatti circuit, which is a 4.3 km. track
within the classic 13.6 km. 24 hour car race circuit. It shares the
start and finish line and the famous climb up the hill under the
Dunlop bridge with the car circuit before turning off before the
Mulsanne straight.
There are several different classes of bike eligible to enter. Formula
EWC, which runs under regulations similar to World Superbikes, 1000cc
fours, 1200cc twins etc. Superstock which is for basically road bikes
( although often much modified), such as Kawasaki ZX10R and Honda Fireblades.
Finally if your machine doesn't fit into any of these categories there
is the Experimental class, for machines that don't fit into the other
classes but are considered to be be of technical interest.
In Britain endurance racing has a relatively small following, but
it has a huge number of fans on mainland Europe. Riders such as 5
times winner Alex Vieira, although virtually unheard of in England,
command a huge continental following and people still reminisce about
the all dominating partnership of Christian Leon, Jean-Claude
Chemarin and the Honda RCB in the late 1970's.
Despite this apparent French strangle-hold on the race
British riders have been very successful over the years. Roger
Burnett, Carl Fogerty, Terry Rymer and Chris Walker have all won the
event and Brian Morrison has chalked up 3 victories.
As you can see from the calibre of the riders this is not an event
where old men ride around carefully for 24 hours, the racing is fast
and furious and is often more like a short circuit sprint than an
endurance race. Accidents and mechanical problems are common events,
but if the rider can push the bike back to the pits then it can be
repaired and sent out again. These repairs can be anything from a
bent footrest to a compleat engine rebuild, but in a 24 hour race
there is plenty of time to make up for time lost in the pits.
Even the most ardent race fan is not going to sit for 24 hours
watching the race so the organizers lay on a variety of distractions.
Part of the un-used car track is used for a "run what you
brung" drag strip where you can race in pairs to settle all
those " my bike is faster than yours" arguments. There is a
fun fair, a bull fight (for fun, not blood), bungee jumping and in
the evening a rock concert. In the "village" in the center
of the track there are dozens of trade stalls where you can buy
virtually any thing to do with motorcycling, often at a big discount.
Most spectators camp at the circuit and the whole area becomes a
huge campsite. If it rains, and it often does, large areas become
very boggy so camp near a hard surfaced road. At night it can get
very cold so grab a pile of firewood and get a good fire going. On
the other hand when the sun comes out it gets very hot very quickly
so don't forget the factor 20.
The race has moved date from time to time but now it's
back in it's original April slot and the track is less than 150 miles
from the channel coast.
For more info. try
http://www.lemans.org/
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