Jalopnik’s first ever 25-hour party went off without a hitch, which is more than I can say for Toyota. The LeManstravaganza, presented by Porsche, brought hundreds of people together to watch the festivities and a surprising number actually stuck around for the whole damn thing. Here’s what you missed if you weren’t here.
Outside, people lined up and got to see a new Porsche Panamera S in a lovely blue color, courtesy of Manhattan Motor Cars.
But the real fun was to be found up our stairwell and just behind these doors.
At check-in everyone got their passport that would prove they stuck around for the whole show. This guy has the right idea about caffeinating early and often.
Here’s what the passport looked like.
We had an insane breakfast spread. Those little dishes on the right are filled with Nutella french toast. To the left of that is regular french toast and a marscarpone-stuffed french toast.
BACON!
For those who wanted to watch the race, we had the race.
There was also Forza 6 for people who wanted to race themselves. One of these guys works for Lexus and another one once slept in an RV with us once. Guess which one is which!
We had Lego.
And more Lego!
This family came all the way from Arizona (via the Montreal Grand Prix)! I hope my daughter ends up as awesome. Props to mom, as well, for starting the puzzle.
We did a live Q&A with a Brembo engineer working on the Ford GT team.
The LUUUUUUUUUNCH. Those are ribs. They were tasty. That’s pulled pork. Those are buns.
AND FRIED CHICKEN.
There was a discussion of the various cars and classes.
There was more puzzling.
And, speaking of puzzling, why is there a Camping World Truck Series race on this TV?
There’s Stef, Ballaban, and new Jalopnik writer Kristen. It’s at this point I have to admit that Ballaban beat me at Forza and is a racing god per our agreement.
(Editor’s Note: Can confirm, I am the greatest that ever was and ever will be – M.B.)
Jerk.
Then the pizza arrived!
And the drinking began. Followed by trivia.
This team was great.
This team was Autoblog > Jalopnik, Those Commie Bastards. They lost to...
The Freudian Blips! They got a prize pack provided by our good friends at Blipshift.
A little more pizza later and people started to crash.
First went Stef.
So we employed the late night ice cream sundae bar. But that only worked for so long.
Three people slept in Nick Denton’s office. There were people canoodling on couches around 4 AM, although others powered through.
The reward for staying the whole time were these awesome, limited-edition Blipshift shirts featuring the Porsche 919, which was set to come in second place. But wait...
TFW when shit blows up with a few minutes to go!
Shout out to all the people who stayed up with us! It was an awesome group.
Shout out to Victor, Kat, Alex, Mollie, and Justin (and Eric, who took most of these photos)! Big shout out as well to our friends at Porsche who visited, the rest of the staff, caterers, and Taryn who helped set all this up.
Shout out to the Jalopnik crew.
I only have one regret...
We didn’t finish that damn puzzle. Next year!