Thanks for all of the nice comments!
How long did it take? I've been working on this layout off and on for maybe three years.
Cost for the grandstand materials? Not too much, maybe $75 or so. Mainly it was time. The weird thing is, when you really get down to it & want to find good, clear photographs or plans of the facilities at Le Mans they're hard to find. 95% of the photos are of the cars, with maybe a bit of the pits or grandstands in the background. I used that to my advantage though, because if I can't find good photographs neither can anyone else (to tell me I did it wrong). In reality the grandstands/pits are not really that acurate, but they're close enough for the time/resources I have to devote to the layout.
The figures are 1/87 figures I bougt off ebay. About $25 for 300 prepainted (from China). Again, they're not too good if you look real close but I think they're at least OK.