Last year, our campsite got ransacked as we were away watching the finish line - all the stuff of value was locked in cars, but stupid things like chopping board, bread knives, fold up table, even a washing up bowl... got nicked. The "pikies" (or should I say, local opportunists) were caught in the act and moved on, but even when we got back half an hour after the end of the race, there were several French estate cars/pickups cruising round the campsite (Bleu Nord) helping themselves to anything that wasn't nailed down. They'd even dismantled our gazebo and were about to make off with it...
The issue I think was that there was no access control into the campsite - most of the time, the Controlleés were pretty good at only letting vehicles in that had the requisite camping permits, but I'm guessing the folk who were nicking stuff didn't have a permit [though there was one case of a couple of lads who were camping, and had been on a theft spree for the whole weekend, and their tent was like Aladdin's Cave when discovered].
SO. I emailed the ACO a few weeks ago:
Good afternoon,
I have 15 tickets for Camping Bleu Nord for the 24h du Mans this year, and will be camping with a large group as we have done for several years. Last year, when we returned to our camp site on Sunday after the finish of the race, a lot of our camping equipment had been stolen – and many other people near us had items stolen from their camp sites. Groups who were not camping, were driving around in their cars and vans, stealing from wherever they wanted. Some even were caught and, I believe, the police were called.
Security is quite good for several days before the race, and during the race: access marshals will only allow vehicles into the camp site if they are displaying a camping pass. Last year, however, any vehicle was allowed into the camp site as soon as the race finished, and this allowed a lot of theft from the camp sites of people who were staying on Sunday night.
I would like to request that this year, the access marshals should only allow vehicles displaying a camping permit, to access the camping site on Sunday afternoon/night.
Could you please let me know if this is the plan?
Thanks
Ewan
The response?
Dear Sir,
The 24 Heures campsites are extremely vast and despite the presence of security personnel who patrol these areas, together with controllers checking access points, we are unable to guarantee that there will be no thefts, in view of the large number of tents, campers and caravans on the sites.
We advise all those who camp under tents to lock away their belongings inside the boots of their vehicles, so as not to offer any temptation to ill-intentionned people.
Once the race has finished, a lot of the controllers are deployed by the traffic police. This would explain why you did not find so many controllers situated around the camping areas.
Yours faithfully.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
