Reportage : Vive la France

Just come there, take a deep breath and enjoy this spectacular atmosphere – the charm that the always magnificent vintage car Grand Prix at the Nürburgring lacks every summer, the motorist finds at the Le Mans Classic, which takes place every two years. Of course, the classic event, which is being held for the tenth time, benefits from the fantastic race track – unique in the world. You can still feel the increasingly hybridizing smell of petrol from current Le Mans cars, because the 24 hour race of Le Mans is not even over three weeks – the asphalt of the Sarthe circuit is shaking without one of the around 8,000 classic cars having driven a meter at the classic event is.

Jerome Cloup and his wife always come to the Le Mans Classic as exhibitors. “The atmosphere here is simply unique. People love cars and especially sports cars,” smiles Jerome, who draws pictures of sports cars that are well worth seeing, “just like we do. Of course, the great weather makes the first event after Corona particularly nice this time.” The up to 200,000 fans do not come from all over Europe, because compared to other classic car and racing events, French is not only spoken loudly and unperturbed here from the hundreds of loudspeakers, one lives it. Most visitors come to the Le Mans Classics with their own classics, sometimes driving more than 1,000 kilometers. Nevertheless, most travel from their home country of France, neighboring England and Belgium and the Netherlands to the high-speed circuit in the French no man’s land of Le Mans – just under two hours southwest of Paris. Le Mans, a must-see city, is the starting point of France’s breadbasket. There is not much here in the region apart from the incomparable race track that every motorsport fan should have visited at least once. This also applies to the organization of the Le Mans Classics, because these are a real show. The programme: colorful, varied, exciting. The fans and participants: crazy about cars, in love with classic cars and more bizarre than ever.

You travel on your own – at best with your classic car – to the Sarthe region, throw out the 150-euro throw tent next to your 200,000-euro Bentley Bentayga, scramble onto the roof structure of your G-Class and take on campers and tiny wet rooms a long weekend that simply inspires. The shuttle vehicles between the individual stations are neat Citroen 2CV, Meharis, old VW Bullys or Willy Jeeps with war paint. On the Sarthe, you quickly notice that the subject of the Second World War is dealt with in a more relaxed manner than in other regions of Europe. Here a Dixie band pulls through the Le Mans Classic Village, there touring cars roar for the next race, while Charles in his hairdressing salon cuts customers’ hair in high-speed. Everyone pays what they like. Racing veterans Karl Wendlinger or Klaus Ludwig, just about to have a casual talk at the Mercedes stand, put on their helmets and jump into the cockpit of gullwings and co – there are a few show laps for the fans to join in on 70 years of the Mercedes SL French fries, strawberries, champagne and caviar in large or small sizes – everyone as he likes.

Meanwhile, the spectacular Group C racers that intoxicated the motorsport world between 1982 and 1993 with speeds in excess of 360 km/h are thundering down the Hunaudieres straight. Where else can you see and hear the 1991 winning Mazda 787 in racing? Where else would a horde of Jaguar XJR silk-cut cars thunder over the start and finish while a historic Mercedes 300 SLS plows through the Indianapolis curve with its dim lights at night? Performance-enhanced six, eight and twelve-cylinder engines roar, roar and splutter almost around the clock, and the Porsche 356, Ferrari Daytona, BMW 3.0 CSL or Jaguar D-Type are presented at fast show laps and even more exciting races. A feast for almost all the senses, because the package of vehicles, audience and race track is simply incomparable and the organizer, with his experience of the 24-hour race, knows how to celebrate an event with its very French character.