The seventh Le Mans Classic was another big hit with a total of 110 000 spectators present. Three weeks after a record Le Mans 24 Hours, this fantastic retrospective of the greatest endurance race in the world has consolidated its success.
This weekend the weather in the Sarthe wasn’t all that great. However, this didn’t put off the spectators who flocked to the famous Le Mans circuit in large numbers, and the attendance figure didn’t fall compared to the 109 000 spectators who watched the event in 2012, the first time that the 100 000-barrier had been broken in the history of Le Mans Classic (96 250 in 2010).
This repeat success in 2014 proves that the joint Le Mans Classic organisers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and Peter Auto, have got it right.
The recipe consists of a few vital ingredients:
High-quality grids giving rise to battles between 450 cars in the hands of more than 1 000 drivers, including seven former Le Mans 24-Hours winners, on the big Le Mans 24-Hours circuit,
- Some 8000 fantastic cars on display around the Bugatti circuit, the setting for a mouth-watering gathering of historic and exceptional cars,
- Very popular sideshows like the race for children Little Big Mans with almost 100 cars,
- The new drive-in cinema for more entertainment in the evenings,
- An auction held by Artcurial Motorcars whose overall sales figure was 13 million euros,
- An increasingly comprehensive and diversified village full of carefully selected entertainment, side shows and exhibitions to immerse the visitor in the magic of the history of the motor car,
- The accessibility and proximity of the men and their machines for the public.
Three weeks after the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours record crowd of 263 300 spectators who attended the 82nd running of the most famous endurance race in the world, Le Mans Classic has confirmed its status as the second-biggest event organised at the ACO circuit.
Thus, less than a month afterwards no fewer than 373 300 fans came to the Le Mans circuit united by their common passion for the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2012, the combined figure for the two events was 349 000 people and in 2010, 334 400.
The chapter of the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, whether that of the blue riband event itself or of the retrospective, is now closed. In two weeks the Le Mans Bugatti circuit will host the sixth leg of the Coupes de France Promosport Moto 2014 before the big endurance race for two wheelers, the 37th 24 Heures Moto on 20-21 September.
The eighth Le Mans Classic will take place in 2016.