There are cities in which it is possible to run car races on streets and roads, whether nearby or distant from the city center: from Daytona Beach to Marrakech, from Pau to Bucharest, from recent Baku to Vila Real or Hong Kong.
There are few that manage, considering their size, to balance a relevant historical past with hospitable offerings, delivering at the same time cultural events of excellence, from gastronomy to tourism, from music to scenic arts and movies, keeping a built-in tradition in motor sports, bringing together the world elite, from teams to pilots, from builders to engineers – not forgetting royalty, jet-set figures and movie stars.
In this last group we could perhaps choose just three places: La Sarthe (internationally known by the name of the town of Le Mans), Monaco and Macau.
Monaco is an all-city track just over 3 km long in a tiny town (2.02 km2). La Sarthe is the largest circuit of all, and although it has varied over the years, due to the changes that have been introduced, it is approximately 13.626 km long, just over twice the length of Macau (6.276 km).
If, due to the growth of the city, Macau is currently a totally urban circuit, La Sarthe cannot truly be considered as such, since the circuit is semi-permanent, not passing through central areas of the town. Evidence for this lies in the fact that to reach the circuit, one rides to the stations at end of only two lines, blue and red, of the Tramway (the most modern public transport) – to Guetteloupe-Pôle Sainé Sud and Antares-MMArena. Known internationally as La Sarthe, the track uses private and public roads, part of the Bugatti Circuit and national roads.
The nature of the events held at each of these tracks is different, corresponding to different categories of motorsport (Monaco with F1, F2, F3 and promotion single-seaters and some GT cars, Touring and Classics races; Macau with F3, the GTs and the Touring cars, and the French track with the cream of World Endurance and GTs from all over the world.
Despite all these differences, there are certain similarities and dissimilarities between La Sarthe and Macau to underline; some elements that have cut through the doldrums of the last decade, helping project toward the future.
In both cities, we find an important religious heritage, each with its own scale and in its own place — Cathedral of Saint Julien/Ruins of Saint Paul, Notre-Dame de La Couture, L’Église Sainte -Jeanne-d’Arc, Notre Dame du Pré, Saint-Bênoit, La Visitation or the Chapelle de L’Oratoire, on the one hand, and on the other multiple Catholic and Chinese temples (Sé, São Domingos, Santo António, Santo Agostinho, São Lourenço, São Lázaro, Madre de Deus or the Ermida da Guia next to the Temple of A-Má, Kun Iam Tong, Pao Kong, and I Leng). It is possible to find evidence of a secular coexistence between different peoples over centuries as these were lands of passage and settlement of people from the most diverse areas, which continued for one reason or another throughout the 20th century. They were places of encounter in realms from literature to poetry, from cinema to painting, music and theater.
Mans and Macau: Some 20 years apart
The city of Le Mans celebrates its 90th-race edition this weekend. Over the years Le Mans has become no longer just the 24-hour race, now including other events. A small permanent circuit has been established where it is possible to see the Motorcycling World Championship, truck races or to take car racing driving courses. While for many years Macau welcomed track marshals from Portugal and Hong Kong, even recently at Le Mans there have been volunteers from the Estoril Motor Sports Commissioners Club, and from other parts of the world, working together towards a car race that has gained worldwide recognition and branched out far beyond the racing weekend.
Le Mans became a two-week extended festival that brings cars and drivers into the city and its historic center, in the biggest car show of all.
Residents and thousands of visitors who flock here annually engage with the fabulous machines. The women and men who ‘fly’ through the Haunaudières at more than 300km/hour, bend to the limit in places as mythical as Mulsanne, Indianapolis or Arnage, dive in Dunlop towards La Chapelle, and pit all their driving skills passing the Ford chicanes or Tertre Rouge.
Unlike Macau, where there is also a museum, in Le Mans it is possible to visit the circuit at night, during the 24-hour race: the city center is full of visitors, persons nourished by world and culture, members of the numerous clubs venerating motorsport coming from all over, who are in the city to remember past races, see old and new friends, revisit memories of other times when many of them were participants. They taste the best delicacies and wines of the Loire Valley, drive their showy cars, offering them for the driver´s parade, while sculptured women meander all their prestige and charm. The summer aromas of their tanned skins brought on by the hours spent on the track or walking around the historic center. Multiple musical performances, both publicly organized and spontaneous, take to stages.
A galaxy of star ambassadors
Le Mans also has at its service a choir of ambassadors coming from the most diverse areas. These are the people who help build and design the city, its diversity, its industry, its arts, its hospitality. Best proof that the city does not rely only on motor racing events, lies in managing to have people such as Chinese Qi Jianhong (CEO of Spark Roll Group) and Jackie Chan, footballer Didier Drogba, photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, conductor Claire Gibault, pilots Derek Bell, Jacky Ickx and Sébastien Bourdais, singer-songwriter Emmanuel Moire, trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin-Vary, Diana Higbee or world-renowned physician and researcher Bénédicte Haettich.
Forever immortalized on the screen by names like Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Patrick Dempsey or Michael Fassbender, the city of Le Mans and Macau share much more than the pages of Jean Graton’s books.
But here, where the city without casinos is used for the world famous driver´s parade, and city center serves to welcome all those who arrive, weighing and technical checks of the vehicles in the days before the big event are done in the city center, among thousands of fans. Here, we find a sporting and historical heritage that is permanently renewed and cared for, and where private accommodation for foreigners is freely available and encouraged for those for whom there would never be enough hotels. Camping around the circuit is another solution.
Le Mans is an organized, clean and welcoming city in the smallest details, offering friendliness, gardens and green spaces to serve the wellbeing of residents and visitors; where the air is pure and calm and squirrels and different birds walk happily among the visitors. At the same time you can taste a Gamay Saint-Romain without fearing the visit of rodents, cockroaches or mosquitoes. Here, there is no onslaught of any nauseating smell of garbage containers or highly polluted river water, nor are the mermaids at risk of splattering their luminous dresses on the city’s filthy and greasy sidewalks.
Here is proof, after all, that to build and maintain a friendly and glamorous city, you don’t need casinos and astronomical funds disbursing commissions to third parties. Nor is there a requirement to guarantee safety on the streets by inundating them with video cameras and multiple regulations, prohibitions, and blue lines.
To have a healthy and organized city, just some enlightened and well prepared people are needed, from anywhere in the world and speaking as many languages as possible, along with some common sense, intelligence and organizational skills. These are the talented individuals who know how to receive visitors without absurdities, and who are able to offer a lot of freedom of access, privacy, peace, quiet and, above all, well-being to their residents.
