HAHA!  Das war gut!    bin mit dir einer Meinung...

That was good, Werner!  I couldn't agree more...

@ termie:
I don't have any problem with teams wanting to clear certain rules or the legality of certain car parts or teams being penalised for breaking the rules (as long as the penalty is within certain limits).
My problem with the "diffuser-gate" in F1 is that they have brought it to a personal level, which is IMO disgusting. Ferrari slamming the man who helped them to win several championships is very much below the belt, not only for the man himself but for F1 fans, as well... I haven't met any F1 fans yet who are not fed up with all the F1 politics and mud-slinging.

I think, if F1 continues this way (with all the strict rules, standardised parts, freezing nearly all development, stupid politics, expensive race tickets, the "abyss" between the teams and the fans, etc.), it could be a good chance for the endurance series to attract more spectators and fans, but only if the teams and officials reduce the political matters to the minimum and fight their battles on the race tracks. LMS, ALMS and Le Mans could be very interesting even for motorsport fans who don't know anything else but F1. There are many different cars, all looking great, one better than the other, there's good contact between several teams and their fans. Endurance racing seems more human. The ticket prices and all the events are very fan friendly, too.
The biggest problem of endurance racing is the bad LMS and Le Mans coverage. It was a big mistake to sign that contract with Eurosport... MotorsTV did a great job in the past. Eurosport are nowhere in comparison to MotorsTV.

Thank you very much for the info, Termie! 

My hope is that, due to the economic crisis, there will be some people who cancel their booking and there will be one or two hotel or guest rooms left somewhere. I wrote to nearly all hotels in LM, and have received some answers already. For example, a lady at H. Anjou was so kind and gave me the contact address of the German agency which booked the entire hotel. Now I'm waiting for their answer, too.

The 2003 and the 2005-2007 official posters looked much nicer, IMO. My personal favourite is the 2005 poster. This year's is not something I would want to see on my wall... 

I just hope they won't handle the whole case like the moronic wannabe politicians in F1... I mean the disgusting mud-slinging at court and in the media.

They only have the same engines  BrawnGP are using their own gearbox as far as I know.

I thought, it would take some time. I've just checked my account and it's getting even weirder... It says the money hasn't arrived yet. But it's been debited from my bank account two weeks ago, on the same day as the money for the club membership. Maybe I should contact the ticket office...

Thanks a lot, LM 

here's a little taste of it  interesting read... 

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_5188987,00.html

It's weird... I ordered my ticket on the same day as my Club24 membership. I received the membership card days ago, but still no sign of my ticket. 

you never know...  there's rumour in the Austrian media about McLaren and Mercedes to part ways... I have no idea if there's any truth behind it or if it's just a journalist's rant.

LOL!!!   

The Finns? HA! That's nothing! You should - or rather shouldn't - meet some of the Polish guys!  
In 2006 one of them nearly broke my ribs and knocked me out after the race, in 2007 we didn't see the race because of them as they were standing on their seats all the time. Last year I rather kept out of their way. This year they will have an own grandstand, but I'm not sure if they will use it. Many fans had problems with them, since Kuby started to race. Of course, most of the Polish fans are ok, but there are couple of troublemakers... The Finns were only a little loud last year, when they arrived back at the hotel around 4 a.m...  There are not as many Finnish fans at the Hungarian GP nowadays as in the past though...

Apart from the Polish gorillas in 2006, my worst experience with foreign guys was couple of years ago, when a bunch of drunk British guys went mad and demolished half of the floor in the hotel where I stayed. It wasn't at a race weekend, so they were not fans, just tourists. I had an exam at university in Roman law the next day. Unnecessary to say that I failed. I've been told later that the hotel had to renovate couple of rooms because of them.

It seems, every nation has its black sheep. I guess, being an idiot doesn't depend on nationality...  

I thought, you're not  I spoke in general terms...

Thanks for everything, guys  It seems I managed to find the best forum with lots of nice people.

I think, I'll stay in town this year and will hopefully join you for camping next year.    Like I said, I have never been to Le Mans before and it seems a nice place, so I'd like to explore the town, as well.   



As for the Hungaroring, I prefer to stay in Budapest, in a hotel in the city centre. I usually meet fellow fans and friends in the city, and staying at a campsite or guesthouse near the circuit would only cause problems. If you're lucky enough you can even bump into team staff and drivers. There are also couple of nice places where you can eat out and go out in the evening with friends.


Speaking of eating: How much money will I need for food & drink per day in LM and at the track respectively? I'm not a big eater, especially not if there are more exciting things around.   
I invested in a Club24 membership. On the website they say something about catering, too. Does anyone have any experience with it?

LOL!  I'm sure, camping wouldn't be boring... 
BTW: I don't have any problems with gay guys... It's their life and at least, we have one thing common: we both prefer men   

Thank you guys, but for my first time in Le Mans, I'd rather stay in a hotel or a guesthouse. 
I won't travel by car, I'll take a flight from Budapest to Paris and the train from there to Le Mans. I don't really want to carry an entire camping equipment across Europe... To tell you the truth, I don't even have a tent. 
I will also need electricity to recharge the batteries of my camera, and I want to take a laptop with me, too, so I can write on-site reports for Hungarian motorsport fans. You know, endurance racing is not widely known in Hungary (yet) and my intention is to change this sad fact. 
I'm going to Le Mans by myself and I think, spending 8 nights in a tent in the middle of a campsite full of drunk guys is not really the safest thing to do for a lady who travels on her own... 
So no camping for me this year, but hopefully I can convince some fans to join me next year and camping won't be a problem anymore...