Sorry to repeat myself but this was my post on the 'Golden Era' thread. Werner....great minds think alike!
I have never been one for complaining formally; usually a few days after any bother, whether on holiday or otherwise, I run out of steam and move on.
My LM experience this year was disappointing and disheartening. To save a lot of verbiage the problems were:
Theft on campsites
the pretence of security
the appalling food available at the circuit
the lack of sufficient sanitary provision for campers
drunken yobs
corporate influence
the obstructed views of the cars
the loss of promenading opportunities, (ie Arnage corner on Friday)
the use of the 'safety car' to sanitise all of the challenge that the elements posed
The ACO rely on the income from Brits, Dutch, Danes etc., to finance the events at La Sarthe. Without the punters they are nothing. Unless we go,(to the 24hrs, Classic etc.), the ACO itself will collapse, and corporate sponsorship will only want to support the race as long as there is a 'public' to advertise their products to and feel more important than.
My experience with a thief at 5am on Sunday morning mentioned by others on another thread was demonstrative of so much that is going wrong. We can't go around simply beating crims up, these days you are as likely to get stabbed for your trouble, there were four working together in my particular instance. However; when you point out the crim to security staff, you expect them to do something about it, (they watched as he 'tried' a few other tents with his three mates), rather than standing around smoking Gitane and watching the race. The 'security' on the campsites was a sham and ironically some of the crims used, "only security" as their excuse when caught in the act.
The Police of any description were not interested in my complaint at all! 'Private land' they said!
The crime has turned into an epidemic, we can only take sensible personal precautions, the ACO haveto act professionally, or any respect they still retain will be diluted and then lost, as I fear will the race.
The cost of employing Police inside the circuit would be an expense, however; they have the professional skills and the authority to act summarily. When the cost is spread between all of those who attend it would be minimal expense per head, and what a fantastic relief it would be for us all to know that matters were in safe hands. It would be a cost that I would be happy to suffer.
Can I implore those who speak of providing our own security, to think again? We will be accussed of being vigilanties, someone will get hurt and the damn crims might even sue or bring their mates back.
On the subject of changes to come, I have heard the following from a very reliable source.
ACO are intending to insist that all camping is in tents provided by them,at considerable expense, as with their experiments this year at various locations with Quecha rabbit hutches. No personal cooking facilities will be allowed inside the circuit perimeter; unless inside a caravan/motorhome etc. which will have their own site, probably BSJ. They will restrict grandstand seating to all but corpoates in Durand and ACO tribunes.
What a bloody disaster! We are representative of so many of the ordinary folks who attend simply to enjoy themselves, why don't we complain by letter/petition to the ACO? I have no doubt that were we to contact all of those with whom we have a link that they would support such a move and the numbers would be substantial. As a group we are powerful, our economic input to La Sarthe should not be underestimated and without us there is no race.
On the up side the DfH party was as good as ever and the auction a great success.
We need to act soon or lose our excuse to escape the apron strings (of home and work) for a day or two.
How about it?
Doug, otherwise known as Mr Grumpy!
