Is Le Mans Classic now the biggest historic race in the world?

The 2018 edition of Le Mans Clbadic had the highest attendance of the history of the event, helped by the best time of recent years, more races than ever and the biggest Grids never known – with the majority of races close The addition of a 70th anniversary celebration Porsche race, joining the Jaguar Clbadic Challenge, the Group C race and the new demonstration of the Global Endurance Legend for the GT and the prototypes of the 1990s and 2000s, wrapped program before the traditional start of 16 hours of the six plateau races.

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The infield areas of the event have also grown considerably, bringing more club displays, more vendors and more entertainment, with live music and no shortage of bars. The paddocks are divided into grid entrances, and there is a continual movement of cars and service vehicles around the site, mixing with the spectators with chaotic effects

And these service vehicles … requisitioned personnel carriers To move pilots and VIPs around, a huge fleet of private VW Type 2 transporters continues around paddock areas for pilots to jump in and out of. Then there are the old buses, the Citroën Meharis, the gendarmes on the BMW clbadic motorcycles and the swarms of scooters that add to the madness.

All this creates a frenetic and exciting atmosphere. see next to the Mulsanne straight line, or at legendary corners such as Tertre Rouge, Arnage and Indianapolis – but you might be surprised how few actually do it.

A handful of big screens welcomed fans of this other sports event, the World Cup – in sprawling club areas, the Aston Martin Owners Club drew a large crowd of Britons for its big screen showing the match England vs Sweden.

Much more importantly … these six races are divided by age, with clbades in each plateau which makes the grids very varied. The Plateau 1, for cars from 1923-1939, sees special decreases of Riley against Bentley and Lagondas – and a 1925 Excelsior that even dominates the Bentley.

In the Plateau 2, the 1949-1956 Jaguar C- and D-types rankings against the first Porsche 356, and more exotic machines like Maserati 250S, mixing with generic entries such as Skoda and Deutsch-Bonnet.

Plateau 3 brings Ferrari 250 GT, Lister Jaguars, D-Types Long nose, Maserati Birdcages and Lotus Elites, with outrageously noisy Corvette, Saab 93B screaming two-stroke and Morgans and Big Healeys fighting fiercely.

For Plateau 4, the performance differentials of the 1962-65 machines really increase. Cobras, early GT40s, Ferrari 250LMs, Bizzarrinis, E-types and Elans, MGB, Alpines and other heroes.

But it's on Plateau 5 that the excitement really goes up. The Lola T70, GT40 and Porsche 917 dominate, but Panteras, the delightful Healey SR2 and the phenomenal Ligier JS 3 DFV all gave a good show, especially late on Saturday night.

Plateau 6 is for 1972-81, and although the Ferrari 512 BBs, BMW M1 Procars and Porsche 935 are the most recognizable, they have been hard-pressed by the open Chevrons and Lolas.

So an incredible event, surely considered the highlight of the 2018 historic race calendar comes the end of the season. The next is 2020 – and we recommend heading to the Clbadic rather than the 24 Hours of Le Mans if you have to choose between the two.

Results of the final race here.