Petit Le Mans: The Experience.

So Russel, Jon, and I both took a lot of pics at Petit so we decided to split it for two post one being the "experience" post the other filled with all the race porn you could ever hope for. I wanted to do the experience post because there is a lot more to Petit that sitting around taking pictures of cars, which is what everybody normal sees. So I decided to dive a little deeper into Le Mans and show what it really means to go to a race and stay for 3 days.

See Petit LeMans isnt just going to a race. Its like traveling to Mecca for gear heads. Its something that every gear head must do before there time is up.

And believe me there a lot of people who make there way to this automotive mecca every year.

This was our home away from home. Sleeping just 50 feet away from the track. Trust me there is no better nap than when you have 20 500hp plus cars going by. This camp site is where you eat, drink, sleep, drink more, set things on fire, hide from cops, dodge old creepers, party, cook bacon, watch cars, talk cars, hang with good friends,drink some more, sleep. repeat....for three days...

Some people had some pretty clever race stands.

The vendor area had some pretty rare cars on display like this Fisher Karma.  It was cool to see one in  real life.

 an Audi Quattro! Wow this car would of blown my mind in the 1980's. Hell it still does.

Some pretty baller BMW's around.

Jaguar had a pretty big display for the 50th of the E-type. Yep still one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

CTS-V Wagon OMG BBQ!! You cant see it in this pic but the sparkle in the paint is made with bits of glass to make it extra bling. It really does jump out at you when you see it in real life.

 Nissan had a pretty badass display.

Complete with an old Le Mans car.

Jon, amazingly, somehow, after helping me and Russ buss finish a bottle of Jack got up insanely early and got some great pics of the paddock area before is was totally swamped with people.

and got some pretty close shots.

Aston Martin...007... Gulf paint scheme. It couldn't be any better than this.

 Who needs a 458 when you can have a Ferrari Vespa!!!!

Now for some paddock shots, some of these cars were truly mind blowing. Lots and lots and lots of money put into these cars and I say money well spent!!

The coolest part about Petit is that they let you walk around all day in the paddocks and near the pits to check out the cars up close. At one point before the main race they let you out onto the track and its insane!! Never seen so many people in that small of an area.

The Audi team seemed pretty relaxed. Im guessing they have done this before.

There car however was intense.

The best part about Lemans is the relaxed atmosphere of the whole event. A lot like a Nascar race but most everyone is super relaxed, super nice, and willing to let you borrow a fire extinguisher if need be. Its the kind of place where you can hang with older people and and let them borrow your beer funnel while they cook beef brisket for everyone in a mile radius. Want to stand on my RV and watch the race? Sure, just bring some beer. That's the whole event... just hanging with 3000 of your closet friends in the middle of the woods, with cars racing by for 3 days. 

Well thats it for now. Thanks for looking, stay tuned for the next part: The race!!!