On 26th September the great actor Paul Newman sadly lost his battle with lung cancer. Whilst he was known around the world for his acting work, he was less well known for his passion for motorsport. Such was his love of the sport that he entered and came second in the 1972 running of the Le Mans 24 hours in a Porsche 935 and in 2000 completed the 1,000 mile / 10 hour Petit Le Mans near Atlanta, Georgia.
Previously this year, on the 21st August, the Lime Rock Park race track in Connecticut was hired for the day so that he could drive some of his cars for the final time and say goodbye to the sport. At the time it was said he wouldn’t live past September.
On the weekend of 4th October it was time for the 11th running of the Petit Le Mans race, and I found myself at the track with one of the teams who had entered. I’ll write more about the race experience in another post, because for now I want to concentrate on the tributes made to Paul Newman.
As you entered the circuit, the first part of the track you see is the magnificent turn 10.
Trackside advertising hoarding tribute
As a gesture, they had his initials on the advertising boards all round the track. Then, each car had his initials as a decal somewhere in the bodywork.
Car decals on nose piece
Before the race started, the main tribute took place. First of all a minutes silence was observed. From where I was stood in the pit lane, everyone was on their feet and I have no reason to doubt that everyone one of the 130,000 crowd gave their respects. Even mechanics working on cars prior to the race stopped what they were doing.
Then the rumble of an old Porsche GT1 engine was heard and then a car came out onto the track and did a single, solitary lap. It was a truly magnificent sound of an old race car doing what it does best – racing. I didn’t take a picture of it as it went past, more so because I didn’t think it would be appropriate.
Later on I went scouting round the paddock and found it proudly sat on the asphalt -
PLN GT1 Porsche
There are times when as an outsider to the USA I’ve scorned at its patriotism on occasion, but I can honestly say I was proud to be there to witness those tributes that weekend and to be part of a great race that celebrated his life as a race car driver.
Paul Leonard Newman – 26th January 1925 to 26th September 2008.
Actor, race car driver and humanitarian. May you rest in peace.
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