2013 Le Mans 24 Hrs (Jun 23, My Night In A Front Straight Grandstand)

It was lightly raining as I walked from the Dunlop Grandstand down the hill to the ACO Stand 18, which I arrived at around 4 am Sunday morning. By now I was cold, wet, and very tired. Luckily I had an ACO membership which enabled me access to the private restrooms and food area in the ACO Stand 18. I highly recommend getting membership to the ACO before you purchase your Le Mans tickets, since it gives you an early reservation opportunity and access to the private ACO areas near the Dunlop Bridge and Stand 18. After grabbing some coffee and a sandwich I sat myself down at a table near one of the closed-circuit TVs to watch the race, with a few dozen other tired fans in the room. After finishing my coffee and sandwich I grabbed my photo gear and went up to Stand 18 and found a seat opposite the Audi and Aston Martin pits, where I watched some early morning pit stop action. Hope you like the photos.After grabbing a few photos I was getting ready to take a nap, then looked up in the sky and noticed the sky was getting lighter. One part of me said “get some sleep”, but the other part of me said, “you better get ready to go to the Dunlop Bridge for some shots as the sun is rising”. The “one more shot” part of me won, so I grabbed my camera bag and headed out of the grandstand. It was now around 6 am.

View of the front straight towards the Dunlop Curves from ACO Stand 18 early Sunday morning (Canon SL1, 40mm f2.8L, 64mm, f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 1000)

The Audi and Aston Martin pits early Sunday morning from the ACO Stand 18 (Canon SL1, 40mm f2.8L, 64mm, f/2.8, 1/60, ISO 2000)

An Aston Martin pit crew catching up with some sleep early Sunday morning (Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 300mm f2.8L IS II with 1.4x extender III, 420mm, f/4, 1/800, ISO 3200)