14 votes

Anyone watching the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend?

I watch it every year, though it's not ideal to follow from the Pacific time zone of the United States.

My daughter and I always get up super early on Sunday morning (6 AM) to watch the last hour of the race. My dad has started coming over to our house to watch the last hour with us, too.

11 comments

  1. EsteeBestee
    Link
    Hell yeah I will be! It's one of my favorite races of the year, it's nice to have a race on as background noise for a full day (and of course I'm plopping my ass down during the first few and last...

    Hell yeah I will be! It's one of my favorite races of the year, it's nice to have a race on as background noise for a full day (and of course I'm plopping my ass down during the first few and last few hours)!

    4 votes
  2. [2]
    ChingShih
    Link
    I'll try to watch it. I've never sat through an entire one, but I've caught the beginning and ends of Le Mans in the past. As others have said I think it'll be good to have on while doing other...

    I'll try to watch it. I've never sat through an entire one, but I've caught the beginning and ends of Le Mans in the past. As others have said I think it'll be good to have on while doing other things, but I've also been playing GT7 a bit lately and so I'm looking forward to comparing reality with my virtual experiences. :P

    4 votes
    1. RobotOverlord525
      Link Parent
      I love how racing games give you a better feel for a track. It always sucks to watch a race at a track I've never "driven" on.

      I love how racing games give you a better feel for a track. It always sucks to watch a race at a track I've never "driven" on.

      4 votes
  3. [2]
    artvandelay
    (edited )
    Link
    I'll be trying my best haha. Being based in the PST zone, the race starts at 7am on Saturday and I've got plans for a good chunk of the day so I'll be missing the start, the finish, and parts of...

    I'll be trying my best haha. Being based in the PST zone, the race starts at 7am on Saturday and I've got plans for a good chunk of the day so I'll be missing the start, the finish, and parts of the middle sadly. Looking forward to see how Porsche, Cadillac and Ferrari hold up.

    4 votes
    1. RobotOverlord525
      Link Parent
      Yeah, that always kills me. A long time ago, I used to get up whenever I got up and just watch the replay of the last hour. But then that option was dropped from Motor Trend On Demand so I started...

      Yeah, that always kills me. A long time ago, I used to get up whenever I got up and just watch the replay of the last hour. But then that option was dropped from Motor Trend On Demand so I started my "getting up at 6 AM" tradition. This year, with it being available on Max, I technically could have done that again, but I like having the live timing available. Especially because the broadcast usually ignores the GT class(es). I was rooting for the Iron Dames, but they almost never showed them!

  4. [4]
    JCPhoenix
    Link
    Yup, I'll try to watch it. I love 24hr endurance races. Probably be my 2nd or 3rd time watching Le Mans. I tried to watch Nurburgring a couple weekends ago, but they had serious fog that halted...

    Yup, I'll try to watch it. I love 24hr endurance races.

    Probably be my 2nd or 3rd time watching Le Mans. I tried to watch Nurburgring a couple weekends ago, but they had serious fog that halted the race and they eventually cancelled it early. I don't necessarily "watch" watch the whole thing; I'll put it on my TV and then toss it on another monitor on my computer.

    My goal this weekend is to actually stay up for the whole thing. I've yet to do that for any 24hrs race =/

    3 votes
    1. [3]
      RobotOverlord525
      Link Parent
      Brave! I've never even tried! I usually go to bed with about 7-8 hours left to go and then get up again at 6 AM for the last hour. What really sucks is that for most of the time I'm awake, it's...

      My goal this weekend is to actually stay up for the whole thing. I've yet to do that for any 24hrs race =/

      Brave! I've never even tried! I usually go to bed with about 7-8 hours left to go and then get up again at 6 AM for the last hour.

      What really sucks is that for most of the time I'm awake, it's dark in France.

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        JCPhoenix
        Link Parent
        I stayed awake for 22 of 24hrs this year; new personal best. Ended up falling asleep at my computer desk between 4:00hrs-2:00hrs mark (5:00a-7:00a for me). Good race, glad it more or less came...

        I stayed awake for 22 of 24hrs this year; new personal best. Ended up falling asleep at my computer desk between 4:00hrs-2:00hrs mark (5:00a-7:00a for me).

        Good race, glad it more or less came down to the wire! But I'm going to bed now, at 9:20a lol.

        1 vote
        1. RobotOverlord525
          Link Parent
          Whoa! Nicely done! In retrospect, I suppose you could have slept through that very, very lengthy safety car period. Sounds like you got pretty close. My daughter managed to make it downstairs for...

          Whoa! Nicely done!

          In retrospect, I suppose you could have slept through that very, very lengthy safety car period. Sounds like you got pretty close.

          My daughter managed to make it downstairs for the last hour but fell asleep on the couch shortly afterward. She later told me that she was disappointed that she missed the end of the race. But I don't blame her. Friday night she had a "last day of school" slumber party with four other girls — she was exhausted.

          1 vote
  5. [2]
    ChingShih
    Link
    I'd never paid much attention to how much effort the pit crew puts into cleaning the car when it comes in. They hop on top of the hood and scrub the windshield to make sure visibility is good, but...

    I'd never paid much attention to how much effort the pit crew puts into cleaning the car when it comes in. They hop on top of the hood and scrub the windshield to make sure visibility is good, but at the same time three other crew members are cleaning off bits of hot rubber from any surface critical for aerodynamic performance. Amazing.

    2 votes
    1. RobotOverlord525
      Link Parent
      Oh, yeah. There was a point after the restart where the #7 Toyota had to come back in the pits because the windshield was so dirty the driver couldn't see through it. The car number and position...

      Oh, yeah. There was a point after the restart where the #7 Toyota had to come back in the pits because the windshield was so dirty the driver couldn't see through it.

      The car number and position indicators also have to be clean, presumably because of FIA/ACO regulations. I suppose that affects safety as well, insofar as the corner workers need to know which car they are looking at.

      1 vote