Cheers, guys.
Sorry, BackRoader
This year is the first time I've ever been to Magny Cours, due to the swap with Le Mans.
Last time I went to Le Mans was a couple of years ago and I've been going on and off nearly every year to Endurance races in France since '99. Each time I go I'll be standing somewhere at silly o'clock wondering WTF I'm doing....
Magny Cours is tiny compared to Le Mans, lacks some of the general Le Mans atmosphere], has no covered grandstand like Le Mans, which is useful for somewhere to hide in when its freezing cold and raining in the middle of the night. Camping ain't my idea of fun, I know some people who used to camp, but they used to get washed away some years! The secure bike parking was no where near as secure as Le Mans.
But, it has the footbridge over the start/finish straight, makes a great racket at night with the bikes passing underneath. Standing where the track has three 'lanes' watching and listening is quite something, one of those trippy zen moments. The usual mix of the walking dead and friendly peeps.
Far, far prefer 24 hour racing to anything else, but I'll watch anything with a screaming engine.
What I would have loved to experienced is the Paul Ricard races in the 80/90s. I made it to the last one in '99 which was fooking incredible racing up the side of the 'hill' .. the crowd stoning the marshals to get some cement dust down.. etc etc..
Was nice to see some 'old farts' giving it some, Steve Plater etc
