Close the roads to open up the pathway to passion!

On Wednesday 13^th June at 12:00 sharp the big swing gate closes off the road near the Tertre Rouge roundabout and the no. 338 main road is once again transformed into the Les Hunaudières straight divided up by two chicanes.

The same operation is carried out to close the RD140 leading to Arnage and the RD 139 leading to the Porsche corners, the link up with the permanent section of the big 24-hours circuit.

This road-closing operation carried out by around 30 of the Sarthe department road-traffic section agents lasts around three hours. It has to be done quickly to interfere as little as possible with road traffic in the vicinity of the circuit, which adjoins the Le Mans agglomeration unlike the majority of modern tracks implanted in the middle of nowhere so as not to cause noise pollution. But Le Mans wouldn’t be Le Mans without its circuit and its 24 Hours!

A large number of tasks have to be carried out before handing over the track to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest at 15:30 for the first practice session beginning at 16:00. The signs have to be taken down as the drivers don’t need to know that if they don’t turn right at Mulsanne they will head towards the town of Tours. The agents put in place deviations and in addition to the guardrail installed in certain places, they have to remove the line marker strips and replace them by others that mark the limits of the race track. The drivers know that they can’t cross them too often otherwise they will be given a rap on the knuckles by the stewards.

With the exception of the portion between Mulsanne and Arnage these roads are reopened to traffic on Friday, but at 3:30 on Saturday morning the tireless agents from the departmental council are back at work again before the start of the blue-riband endurance race on the world calendar. Returning the roads to their normal state begins as soon as the Le Mans 24 Hours are over. The next rendezvous for this eternal recommencement is the weekend of 7-8 July for the biennial event, Le Mans Classic, which also takes place on the big Le Mans circuit.