GT40 Club dinner at the Hotel de France

[Mike Pass]

Many apologies for taking so long to post the info and pics about the GT40 Enthusiasts Club Dinner at the Hotel de France. This is entirely due to me being a lazy bastard. As you will all no doubt know the Hotel de France in La Chartre sur Loire which is a few kilometres south of Le Mans was the base chosen by John Wyer to host the Ford works GT40 team. The location was chosen as it was away from the hustle of the track and yet reasonably near. In this comfortable and quiet location John Wyer could complete his comprehensive plan to win the race. There are many photos of the works cars at the hotel being worked on the alleyway and garages of the hotel and in the local garage back in the sixties. The cars were driven from the hotel to the track on the public roads.
The town kindly set aside the parking in the square outside the hotel for the club GT40s to park as you can see in the attached photos. The hotel is well into a big refurbishment but retains the wall with many photos from that time when GT40s ruled the roost at Le Mans. The room you can see in the dinner photos is the very room in which the invincible John Wyer planned his winning strategy. We discovered this and many other things about the events at the time as we were privileged to listen to a talk about the events that happened in the sixties by Maitland Cook who worked for the team at Le Mans and at the Hotel de France. This was a very interesting and informative insight into the team, the personnel and the things that went well and the things that went wrong.
All in all a very unique and enjoyable event and a pleasant break from the heat and bustle of the circuit. Many thanks once again to the hotel and the organisers.
Cheers
Mike

 

[Andrew Komosa]

Thank you Mike. "Yes", my wife Debbie and I, agree it was a most memorable evening and wish to thank the hotel's owner Martin and his wife, plus all the staff who made us most welcome. Great to speak to old GT40 friends again. Forgive me however, for disappearing for a wile in a Belgium Matra Djet and Martin's very own Metro 6R4. SMILE, SMILE, SMILE.. etc. Andrew

 

[Darren C]

I heartily agree - it was a wonderful evening - a great conclusion to a fantastic (if slightly wet) weekend.

Darren

 

[John Christian]

Thanks Mike for posting the pictures.

However I feel even more " sick as a parrot " for having to miss the whole event for reasons many of you know about.

Still, there's 2016 I suppose !

 

[Jimmy P]

Mike, thanks for taking the time to post this great event. Envy, they say, is a sin....so I'm a sinner because I envy the lot of you for what must have been an epic night. To attend an event like this with such historic details would have been one of those cherished times as a GT 40 owner.

 

[Jimmy P]

Isn't jealousy a sin also......I'm doomed!

 

[Paul Brameld]

GT40 Enthusiasts Club members will be able to read a full account of the dinner with unique photos of then & now in the next Club magazine, due out in the next few weeks.