A convoy of Aston Martins with both Guests and top performing managers left Grange Welwyn on a warm June morning for
the annual trip to France to enjoy Le Mans 24 hour endurance race. After a leisurely drive, stopping for lunch at the Michelin Star Auberge Monior Des Saules in Rouen, the party arrived at the Grange Châteaux to be greeted by the Grange hosts, along with the obligatory champagne. After a quick change all guests were transported to the track to watch the night practice session before returning to the Châteaux for a midnight BBQ.
Day 2 gave the guests the opportunity to test drive the latest models on offer from Aston Martin around a carefully planned test route. This is an event that is greatly enjoyed by the guests with the locals cheering as the cars drive passed. After lunch was the Grange ‘24 Minutes’ which is hotly contested on a local Karting track. As the rain came down, last year’s winner, Mark Lavery, was knocked of the podium all together, with Simon Moulton taking the winners position. I think there may be a new rule next year that gives ex-pro drivers a fairly big handicap!
Day 3 & 4- The main event. Helicopters transferred the guests from the Grange Chateaux to the race track at La Sarthe where hospitality was transferred to our hosts for the weekend, Aston Martin Racing.
Overall as in previous years, the trip was a great success, although not so good in the final standings with three of the four Aston Martin Racing cars entered retiring. The Chateaux is already booked for 2016.