ACO Member Jérôme Lechêne volunteers in the Race Control office as a liaison with the rapid intervention team, a position of paramount importance!

Club ACO

During this special event called "Blown Away in San Diego" on 5 August, five American drivers who have previously participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans joined 40 Club ACO members in San Diego, California for a day on legendary yacht, the America!

An extraordinary outing was organised in San Diego on 5 August by U.S. Club ACO administrator David Lowe. The day united&nbsp;five members of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Drivers&nbsp;Club &ndash; Harley Cluxton&nbsp;(Drivers Club representative in the U.S.),&nbsp;Jim Busby,&nbsp;Steve Earle, Rick Knoop and&nbsp;Margie Smith-Hass &ndash; as well as around 40 Club ACO members.

The&nbsp;programme included Happy Hour&nbsp;on an&nbsp;extremely special yacht, the&nbsp;America, a replica of the very first boat&nbsp;to win the Americas Cup, in 1851. Owner&nbsp;Troy Sears gave all those in attendance a one-of-a-kind evening with a&nbsp;spectacular view of&nbsp;San Diego Bay before heading to a dinner at the San Diego&nbsp;Yacht Club!.&nbsp;

Club ACO – A very special day for 24 Hours drivers and club members in San Diego

Every year, Ludovic Blay comes from Le Havre to Le Mans to be at the 24 Hours. For the past two years he has volunteered his help at La Chapelle Member area.

Ludovic Blay loves motorsport. All motorsport. &ldquo;I watch Formula One, NASCAR, the WEC and therefore the 24 Hours of Le Mans!&rdquo; For years he watched the race on television, but Le Havre, where he lives, is not so far from Le Mans, and seven years ago he came to watch &ldquo;for real&rdquo; and joined Club ACO at the same time. &ldquo;I naturally joined the club that organises the race.&rdquo;

Watching the race as a Member is great, but &ldquo;volunteering is even better!&rdquo; Last year, Ludovic distributed the fan packs to La Chapelle area attendees.

Being a risk management consultant, this year he has taken on a quality control role, ensuring the best possible user experience at the circuit&rsquo;s biggest member area. &ldquo;I keep an eye on safety aspects and footfall to keep things running smoothly. I report any issues to the relevant person.&rdquo;

Club ACO - Meet the volunteers: Ludovic Blay, user experience quality

It is rare to see a volunteer working in the Race Control office, but indeed that is&nbsp;area local&nbsp;J&eacute;r&ocirc;me Lech&ecirc;ne&#39;s post&nbsp;during the 24 Hours of Le Mans! He joined Club ACO in 1995 and volunteered in 2002 with the rapid intervention team, a troop of&nbsp;motorcyclists that criss-cross&nbsp;the circuit during events to assist the marshals.&nbsp;

In 2015, he was approached by the head of track safety to develop a database&nbsp;for the race. IT specialist&nbsp;J&eacute;r&ocirc;me Lech&ecirc;ne: &quot;[It&#39;s] software where race facts are referenced. The goal is for race directors to have specific data in real time.&quot;

After a stint in track intervention, he joined Race Control in 2018 as a liaison with the rapid intervention team with which he had initially worked!

Club ACO – Meet the volunteers: Jérôme Lechêne in Race Control

Jean-Louis Combeau has been an ACO Member since 2013, founding the "Info Course" team as a volunteer. The service collects all data and statistics on the drivers, teams and races of the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

Jean-Louis Combeau, originally from&nbsp;P&eacute;rigord, has dreamed about the 24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans since childhood.&nbsp;He first came to the&nbsp;circuit in 1972 while employed by IBM.

Combo collaborated&nbsp;with the official speaker at that&nbsp;time,&nbsp;Jean-Charles Laurens. He worked to provide various&nbsp;race results and statistics on the commentator&#39;s monitors. After Laurens passed away in&nbsp;1983, Combo decided to form a team charged with the same responsibility.&nbsp;

His mission was accomplished in&nbsp;1985 with the creation of &quot;Info Course.&quot; The service&#39;s 20&nbsp;volunteers are entrusted during the year with&nbsp;gathering technical information on the drivers, the teams and the like. During the 24 Hours of Le Mans, they collect race facts, best times and all other relevant&nbsp;stats. Their work is extremely&nbsp;painstaking and incredibly valuable to commentators.

ACO Universe

Club ACO – Meet the volunteers: Jérôme Lechêne in Race Control

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Club ACO – A very special day for 24 Hours drivers and club members in San Diego

Club ACO - Meet the volunteers: Ludovic Blay, user experience quality

Club ACO – Meet the volunteers: Jérôme Lechêne in Race Control

Club ACO – Meet the volunteers: Jean-Louis Combeau at "Info Course"