Paul Ricard

Does anyone have any tips on where to stay during race weekend? We're thinking of a two week holiday down that way, so perhaps Bandol to make it wife friendly for a two week stay, then keeping fingers crossed for public transport from there to the track? Any tips? I was too young back in 1990 to remember and I imagine things have changed a lot in the intervening years... Is Le Castellet itself worth a look?

I'm thinking about it too

South-France is a very popular holiday destination in the summer months, so it could be crowded on the nearby beaches

I'd recommend Marseille because it isn't that far from Le Castellet, but Nice,Saint-Tropez,Cannes and even Monaco aren't really far either and are worth a visit if you're staying the in region

 

but also be aware that in the very same region in South-France there are often forest fires in the summer months

Do we have any Provence residents here that might know how the grandstand setup will be for the GP. 

 

The general structure is available here: 

 

 

It sort of implies that only the start/finish and the Virage du Pont grandstands will be covered, but from a viewing point of view Sainte Baume or Le Beausset would be better.

 

My skin needs the cover though so I wonder if anyone closer to the site can confirm or deny the setup?

 

 

Tickets now available.

Making a week af Castellet and surroundings for the whole family. Lot of nostalgia for me as I was at the last French GP (with out the kids). Cannot afford seated places for a family of 4 for the weekend, so it wlll be general admission for us.. will still love it!! Hoping for grand summer weather. 

Looks like we can expect organisational teething problems...

 

I'm heading out to Provence tomorrow for a month, still no ticket... Apparently it's an e-ticket so hopefully it will arrive when I'm over there.

 

There will be no car parking at the track. Busses were announced (literally two weeks ago!) from 6 local-ish towns (though not the one we're staying in...) which leave at 08:30 in the morning and cost €60 per person per day - considering we are living about 9 miles from the track there is no way we're paying that; I think we'll get a taxi which worked very well in the past elsewhere (e.g. Spa from Verviers where it was cheaper and faster for four people than the bus...).

 

I am braced for this year being a bit tricky logistically.

It gets dumber and dumber. Liberty have just announced the F1 'festival' in Marseille to coincide with the Grand Prix. And it literally coincides with the first day of practice, guaranteeing no contemporary drivers can attend.

 

https://www.crash.ne...tival-host-city

 

Still no ticket either...

One week to go... still no ticket... at least they are now saying we don't need to print it (as I have no access to a printer in France and don't particularly wish to buy one...)

Couldn't organise a root in a  brothel .... much or europe is amazing but the disorganisation would drive me insane. 

 

I went to Monza once and the main exit gate that led to the train station was about 10 feet wide. Seriously. Clueless. 

Monza was far better organised than Ricard. Total **** show.

Monza was far better organised than Ricard. Total **** show.

what happened?

what happened?

 

Crud, Tennis explains in this thread on Racing Comments.

 

https://forums.autos...at-paul-ricard/

Fun though, and an incredibly fantastic part of the world. I’ll probably go again, as I like to spend as much time S possible there. But my wife has no interest in goin again, at least until they sort all of the problems out (and there are many...)

The track is ok, and far better overall than say, Magny Cours which was a dump in the middle of nowhere. The chicane is a site fire overtaking spot and the race itself was pretty decent. It’s not the best by any means but it does at least have its own character and is far more interesting a track than many on the calendar.

A pretty cosmopolitan crowd too, no doubt due to the location making it attractive for holidays. Give it two years once the organisers have got it sorted and I think it will be fairly decent. You are a long way from the track when spectating which is quite annoying.

Many of the classics are not great for fairly simple reasons - trees destroying the line of site (hello Monza) or too long a lap (hello Spa) but they can still have a lot of atmosphere which Ricard will never have in the same way. But I am really glad I went. That’s 19 Grands Prix for me now, number 20 tomorrow... maybe Austria or Hungary next year for a quick weekend visit, not been to either.