Le Mans Is Way More Than 24 Hours of Racing

From Road & Track

So here we are, back at Le Mans for the second consecutive year, and man what a difference a year makes! Last year I made my Le Mans 24 Hour debut alongside Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 GTE. We arrived as a rookie team, with a rookie driver lineup, and a whole lot to learn. What we quickly learned is that Le Mans is different...

At Le Mans, there is so much to absorb, so much to figure out, and so little time to do it. After taking part in the event last year, I really understand the allure of this race much more than before. The challenge of the event is unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and as a result, the reward is that much more satisfying.

Last year, we ran a clean, consistent race, right on target for our pre-race strategy, and thanks to an excellent job by our team and a bit of good fortune, we managed to reach the podium in our first shot at Le Mans. It was a dream result by any of our standards, but unfortunately now we are a bit spoiled.

We are back this year with the same car, same team, and same driver lineup. The key difference, however, is that while last year we were just trying to survive, this year the objective is definitely to challenge for the win.

One of the most unique things about Le Mans is the scale of the entire event. Le Mans isn't just a 24-hour race, but rather a weeklong marathon of appearances and obligations with just a little bit of on-track practice time thrown in for good measure.

The week starts with 'scrutineering' in downtown Le Mans, where the cars, teams, and drivers all appear before the race officials for various inspections to ensure that everything conforms to the regulations of the race. While this sounds fairly trivial, the reality is that the process is anything but trivial.

From the drivers' standpoint, race licenses and documents are verified along with exhaustive equipment checks. All it takes is something as small as one incorrect certification sticker on any piece of equipment and you fail your inspection, which can seriously jeopardize your ability to participate in the race. The rules are complex and more of all they are rigidly enforced, so the scrutineering can be a very tense time for the entire team.

With a year of experience under our belts, we sailed through scrutineering relatively drama-free, and then moved on to the various media and photo opportunities which include an on-stage interview in front of a large crowd.

Last year, this was probably the most stressful part of the entire weekend for me, as someone tipped off the interviewer that I actually speak French, and he forced me to conduct the interview entirely in French with no preparation! I'm pleased to report it was much easier this year, as I was able to practice my French a bit beforehand.

Before leaving we took the traditional team picture with our Ferrari in the Place de la Republique, and just as we finished, almost as if it was scripted, the skies opened and the rain started to pour down. Bill, Townsend and I are all still fresh off the plane from the USA so we called it a night early and we will try to get some good rest to be ready for another busy day tomorrow.