Many British fans of the 24 Hours of Le Mans are very familiar with the Classic British Welcome, which is held every year on the Friday before the race.
Drivers from all over the world gather with their classic cars in the village of Saint Saturnin (north of Le Mans) for an outdoor car show featuring over one thousand models. The event ends on the Friday afternoon as the prestigious cars head to Le Mans, where some are used for the parade of drivers.
This event is relatively recent (first edition held in 2001) and is the the work of some 140 volunteers of an association led by Stephane Auvrignon, its’ president.
The initial idea behind the association was to build an event for the local inhabitants related to the amazing collection of cars driving down to Le Mans and pausing in the village for a break. “Attendance is growing every year. We had over 5,000 visitors last year, two to three times the village population,” says Auvrignon.
Every year, the event is centred around a theme and with a guest of honour.
In the first years, the theme was based around a British car manufacturer. Since 2008, it has opened up to international manufacturers such as Ferrari, Corvette, and Porsche. But it’s back to Britain for the 2015 event, which will feature MG.
Auvrignon explains his choice: “MGs are popular and affordable with countless clubs in Europe. Furthermore, 2015 is a year of celebration for this brand: it will be eighty years since MG sent three works cars to race at Le Mans with a 100% female driver line-up finishing 1, 2, 3 in their class. More recently, it has been ten years since the RML MG-Lola EX264 won in the LMP2 class at Le Mans [with Thomas Erdos, Mike Newton and Warren Hughes at the wheel]. So there is much to celebrate!”
Past guests of honour have included such eminent endurance-racing personalities as Derek Bell, Johnny Herbert, Phil Hill and Doug Fehan. In 2015, the event will welcome no less than the nine-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Tom Kristensen. “We are obviously extremely proud to have ‘Mr Le Mans’ this year,”acknowledges Auvrignon.
Admission to the event is free of charge and also features the usual art and Le Mans memorabilia exhibitions. “We will also repeat the exhibition of pre-1970 motorbikes, which we introduced last year. The fans really loved it! ” says Auvrignon to DSC.
The Le Mans Classic British Welcome 2015 will be held in Saint Saturnin on Friday, 13 June 2015, between 9 am and 4 pm.
Mat Fernandez (@matlemans)
