Speed Secrets Inc

Description

Ross Bentley is in Le Mans for the 24 hour race. He is coaching Team Seattle's Ferrari 430 entry's drivers Don Kitch Jr., Joe Foster and Patrick Dempsey. Ross sends his reports back from Le Mans where he finds out coaching a driver who is an international movie and TV star adds some interesting twists... Friday, June 12 - Le Mans Bonjoir. It's noon on Friday and it's the first time I've had a few minutes to myself since getting off the plane in Paris last Sunday morning. I'm sitting amongst the souvenir tents writing on my iPhone. Practice on Wednesday evening was from 6 to midnight - 6 hours straight, all but one lap of which was run in the rain. Not the ideal conditions for our drivers to learn an 8 mile track. You would think 6 hours would be lots, but that adds up to less than 25 laps for each of the 3 drivers. Qualifying was last night from 7 to 9 and 10 to midnight. Each driver needs to qualify here, within 115% of the fastest car in the class, and that's not an easy thing to do at this big and fast track. While our drivers did do that, they barely did it. To be fair it's a lot to learn in 35 laps or so of total time on the track. Le Mans is bigger than Indy - bigger track, as many spectators (now that Indy is not what it once was), and internationally known. While they do some things very well, they could sure use a lesson in how to get traffic in and out of the circuit. What a zoo! Fortunately I have my GPS to help find some back roads in from our chateau. When I had an Australian woman's voice programmed to give verbal directions, I called her Shiela. When I changed to a British accented woman, I called her Liz. Now I have an American woman's accent, and I call her June Cleaver ("Those were lovely directions you gave me, Mrs. Cleaver", I tell her) Having Patrick Dempsey as a driver is crazy. He's a bigger star in Europe than in North America, I'm told. From what I've seen I believe it. At the tech inspection and media event in downtown Le Mans on Tuesday it got scary. The crowd began pushing to get to Patrick and people began falling... When he was leaving, we got him, Joe and Don (drivers) into a van and people were banging on the side of it and screaming while it drove through the crowd. It reminded me of a scene of the Beatles being moved around. At the end of the parade through Le Mans tonight I've been designated to drive the non-descript car up a side street and have him jump in the back. We're doing that about half a block before the end. Then I get to do some of the most important driving of my life! And they actually have French undercover police walking along the parade route near him at all times. I guess they don't want a repeat of the incident at the French Open last week, where that crazy guy ran out onto the court trying to attack Federer. On another note, I was driving Donna and Sienna (Don's wife and daighter) into the track yesterday afternoon. We had to drive through all the drunken spectators, tents, and other riffraff. It's quite a sight to see - as wild and crazy as anything I've ever seen at a race track. Maybe worse than Indy or Sebring even. And there must be 200,000 people here already.

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