2Old4forza Meet-up At Petit Lemans Oct 16-19, 2013
2Old4forza Meet-up At Petit Lemans Oct 16-19, 2013
Ok gang. I'm starting this thread up super early this year. hopefully this will give everyone plenty of time to get their shit together & come party with us at Road Atlanta. So, without any further adieu, here's all the details....
What is Petit Lemans?
The Petit Le Mans (French for little Le Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.
The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz and first run on October 10, 1998 as part of the IMSA season. The 1999 edition was one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. This year will mark the 2nd Annual Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, which
connects the races in North America, Europe and Asia.
The Petit Le Mans covers a maximum of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) (which is approximately 394 laps) or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever comes first; only once, in the rain-stopped 2009 race, has the leading team failed to complete 1,000 miles (1,600 km). In addition to the overall race, teams of two or three drivers per car compete for class victories in four different classes of cars, two for Le Mans prototypes and two for grand tourer cars. Class winners of this event receive an automatic invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
When:
Wed Oct 16, 2013-Saturday Oct 19, 2013
Where:
Road Atlanta
Braselton GA
Click here to visit the ALMS event page
Click here to visit the Road Atlanta page for ticket info.
I will update this thread as the event draws closer & more details are finalized.
So who's going?
By the way...It looks like the grand Am series is running Road Atlanta on April 20th. I think I may try to make that one too if anyone is interested.
Click here for ticket info.
Who's going so far:
Petit Lemans Oct 16-19
Jcotter
Dean1268
Heliosgli16v (2o2p handle:Sherb)
Desmopilot
Grand Am Apr 20:
JCotter
Oh, and it should be mentioned that this will be the last race ever of the American Lemans Series (ALMS) as we know it..gif "157")
Starting in 2014, for better or worse, they will be running a new ALMS/Rolex merged series. I for one am not happy about it, but it is what it is.
Purchasing tickets as soon as I get my tax return. Dragging the old man with me.
2013 is going to be a good year. First V8 Supercars in May, then Petit in October..gif "151")
I plan on going to the GrandAm race in addition to Petit. I am undecided as to whether I am going to camp out or just drive in for race day. I will decide soon.
I'm planning on driving down on Friday & camping in the car lol.
Tickets ordered. The old man is going to be renting a small RV for the weekend...
Going to be a grand weekend of race cars, BBQs & "camping".
Well jel!
Glad you already counted me as in. Cause you know I'll be there. Me and the Barth. For those that haven't attended before, this is the one to see. The most racing for your hard earned $$$. And the camping location that Dean locks down every year is boss.
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Fuck yeah Ted. I'm crashing in your bus lol.
I have a sister who lives not quite an hour away. She just had another baby and I have never seen her new house. This might just be a great excuse to visit my sister and then head over for the race. I have never been to a race in my life. My boys would absolutely love something like this.
It's a fairly cheap weekend too H2. We'd love to see you there. The more, the merrier.
Cotter, whats the word on Drift Atlanta? You going to come down?
Just an FYI there is no camping at the track for Drift Atlanta. Too many hooligans. :) You are welcome to stay at the house this time.
I dunno now bro. I've blown a lot of money here the past couple of weeks & bills are coming due. May have to miss out. Then again, If I find myself flush the week before the race, I may still show up. I might take you up on the crash spot. If I do make it, I'll probably come down the night before, then frive home after the event.
Totally understand. So you know. The Drift competition is an evening event. I think the final starts at 4:00. So you could probably come down Sat. Chrash that night at the house and head home Sun Morn.
Well hell, that's even better if ya ask me. that means I won't have to work all day friday & then drive all the way down there.
Hi Dean!.gif "17")
@H2Daddy - The Petit is just about the best bang for your buck in big league racing. The race alone is almost 10 hours, and then there is practice, quals, support races, etc. Another bonus, Road Atlanta is a great track for spectators. You can get within 10 or 15 feet of the cars as they are racing. The walking and elevation will kill you, but it is worth it. I am bringing a pedal bike this year. You and your boys would love it. If this is gonna be your first race, you couldn't pick a better one. Weather is great that time of year too.
Ok, I just decided I'm going to this one. Not sure of the dates yet, but I'm available all week. Driving down from Chattanooga area, camping, bringing my pedal bike(s). The wife will be out of town so it's PARTY TIME!!!
Glad to hear Bob. You won't be disappointed.
I just noticed no alcoholic beverages allowed into the facility. WTF???
They don't checkcoolers bob. Bring what you want. You're not supposed to buld a fire either, but thye are pretty loose oon enforecement unless you're having a bonfire lol.
Hey Bob,
The no alcohol rule is a county law. I have spoken with Road Atlanta staff in the past and they have told me point blank they do not enforce it during Petit. It does give law enforcement something to fall back on for people acting like douches but that is rare at Petit, compared to something like Sebring.
We have had Sheriffs walk through are campsite when we have had huge bottles of Bourbon sitting out and they have never said anything. As a rule though, be discreet when entering the facility and you should be fine.
Looking forward to meeting you at the race.
Dean
So I am assuming that you can park inside since campers are allowed? Are you allowed to enter and leave again on a daily basis? I plan on staying at my sister's place and was just wondering on the parking situation.
I could be mistaken, but I believe infield parking requires purchase of a camping ticket. Dean can answer this one I'm sure. you can leave & return, but there will be so many people, you may want to bring a traffic cone to leave in your spot if you do want to leave.
One other thing...there will be so many people/cars there, that you won't be able to drive to different vantage points around the track, bring bicycles or plan on renting a golf cart. Walking is murder because it's all uphill or down, there's not a level piece of ground in the whole place lol.
So it sounds like I need to park outside and bike or golf cart in. Do they rent golf carts there? My wife's uncle has a golf cart he would let me borrow but then I would have to borrow a trailer and haul the thing down behind the minivan. Might just be easier to bike or rent down there if they have that option.
Ted was mostly right. However, there is free parking outside the facility. As mentioned, during the week days getting around the track is pretty easy. By Sat. morning you are pretty much walking (or biking if so inclined). Golf carts are availble to rent, but it is pricy. We did it 2 years ago and I believe it was $450 for a 4 passanger/3 days.
They do not have it listed this year but this is the company that Road Atlanta typically works with on carts. http://www.midfloridagolfcars.com/. You may want to contact them to verify they will be at Petit and get current pricing. I have heard you can walk up and rent carts from them (maybe at good price) on Race Day, since all of the support race teams have turned theirs in on Friday. (With Petit being an all day event there aren't any support races on Sat.)
@Ted - Sgt. Steve Cronic has been sadly absent from the RA events I've attended so far this year, but I expect to see him in all his humourless glory come Petit. The Indy thing was too funny. Glad it turned out OK. Was it a hoax? Sounds like Mark and Dave had a good time. Isn't Dave a trip?
Cheers,
Dean
Call me when you get there & I 'll drive out & bring you in if you want. I'll be parked on the inside in the Focus. they have cart rentals there. It's probably best to reserveone though. dean has a link to the rental compny I think. I'm sure he'll be along shortly 7 post it up for ya.
I'm just gonna throw in some rumor and speculation until Dean shows up to set this straight.
Disclaimer - I could be way off
I think that the free parking across the street at the Lanier Speedway is gone. I believe that you now have to buy a parking pass @ $50. Last year parking was fairly easy to come by right by the camp on weekdays, but not so much Saturday for the race. Filled in pretty good. I'm sure we could hold at least one spot "in" the camp so you could drive in. Just remember that it's a M.F. madhouse in there on race day. As I type this, I seem to remember Dean picking up one of his autox buddies last year so he could come in for the evening. So maybe there is free parking? If there is, it wouldn't be terrible to put a pedal bike in your car so you could park in the free lot (if there is one) and then ride in/out. That said, I am lazy, and I would just pay the $50 to drive in. Renting a golf cart is pretty pricey. We did that two years ago. Last year when we wanted to go somewhere, we'd just talk Dean into piling us into his turbo wagon and he'd cart us around. Hope that helped answer something until Dean weighs in.
@Dean - Sgt. Steve Cronic does not appreciate you breaking the Hall County alcohol ordanices. He's gonna get you. He's gonna get you real good. Oh, and aren't you happy that Mark, Dave, and I all survived the Indy 500 bomb scare? I was really worried. I'd have hated for Mark and his dad to drive all that way just to get blowed up in Indy. Yeehaw.
Ok, good to know the booze rules are lax. The "All cars subject to search" statement got my attention. I NEVER consent to searches, and neither should you. :-)
The bomb scare was a total hoax. Here's the story I have so far...Someone drove into the Coke Lot (for those that don't know, the Coke Lot is an all grass parking lot at least 100 acres in size that used to be owned by the CocaCola Bottling Co. and was later purchased by Indianpolis Motor Speedway. It serves as a parking and camping lot for events held @ the IMS. During the 500, it is FULL of campers. On average there are 100,000+ people there and it gets out of control. Wild wild west. Crowd rules. It's a mess, but a lot of fun.) and was throwing IEDs out of their car. IMS employees saw one come out the window and land. So, they called in the Speedway police, the Marion County Bomb Squad, Indiana State Police, and the FBI. They closed off the entrance to the Coke Lot and taped off a blast area. Mark's car was in the blast area so they would not let him and his dad take the car and leave. So, Mark called me to find out where we were in the lot and while I was talking to him, we got evacuated from out camp. A vehicle matching the description of the one throwing "devices" out the windows was three camps down from us. Then they saw something in that campsite that aparently looked like a "device". Long story short, they found nothing and must have used 10 rolls of caution tape securing the area. The "pipe with wires sticking out of it" they found at the entrance to the lot was fake. My guess is one of the drunks in the lot, and like I said, there are a hundred thousand to choose from, thought it would be a real funny joke. Pics below. For a while they were really adamant about no photography, so I couldn't get pics of the FBI or the guy in the bomb disposal gear. All in all, it was a lot of fun.
Dave is a hoot! He has the best stories about racing and such!
Barth looks pretty good with the fancy new decals, eh?
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Got some questions about the event:
1. Are there showers for campers?
2. Is reasonably priced food available on site?
3. Is ice available?
4. How hard do they clamp down on partying? ;-)
5. Assuming I get there Wed morning soon after the gates open what are my chances of getting a good, flat tent site?
i'm really looking forward to this.