Road Atlanta

It ocurred to me that I’d not yet written about my trip to America in October with the race team.

Road Atlanta is set in the red clay of Georgia, about 70 minutes drive north east from Atlanta. The race track is known for not only its picturesque setting and striking red clay surroundings, but also the high speeds that cars can reach as well as the speed that they can carry through some of the corners.

One of the highlights of the sportscar racing calendar is Petit Le Mans. As one of the final two races of the American Le Mans series a few of the European teams come over for the race. It was with one of these teams that I attended the race.

I got to Road Atlanta early one morning, having successfully negotiated my way out of the Hertz office smack bang in the middle of downtown Atlanta. Rather than hire a sensible car, I thought that I’d take advantage of the (to me) very low gas prices and hire a large 4×4. The guy serving me was very worried, especially when I asked if it was the largest they had. It turned out to be some big Toyota lump powered by a lazy V8. As I headed north I came up behind a convoy of Corvettes, so took a guess that they were going off to the track and followed them off the interstate and right to the circuit entrance.

At the entrance there is a Will Call office where you can pick up reserved tickets etc. I wandered over to the team sign on window, signed all the disclaimers and five minutes later had my paddock pass, car parking permit and instructions on where to go and park the car. I always appreciate the convenience of paddock parking as it means you can dump your car as close to the pits as possible.

Now to be in what is called the ‘hot pits’ at Road Atlanta you must wear fireproof overalls. My race suit is fireproof and subtely black so I wore that along with my racing boots as they are also fireproof. When you are stood 1m away from barrels of race fuel and fuelling pumps, you always want to ensure that in the event of fire you won’t burn. My race suit is made up of four layers and therefore is quite heavy, being black it also sucks heat in. After an hour in the sun it is quite uncomfortable, after a day it is unbearable, after two days well frankly it just stinks to high heaven.

Rather than go into great detail about the race, let me just say that we were off the pace and qualified poorly, worked our way the running order in the race before various mechanical issues ended the race early. Very disappointing to say the least, especially given all the hard work by everybody on the team in the build up to the race.

With a chunk of the race left, I went for a wander and sat at the famous turn 10 to watch the last hour of the race, before heading back to the hotel we were all staying at. However with no rest for the wicked, we were back at the track early the next morning to load the transporter with the cars and get them on their way to west coast for the final race of the season. It does not take long to break down a mobile pit garage and within a few hours the transporter was on its way. We then headed off by car to the Mall of Georgia for some shopping en route to the airport. I had one of the chief mechanics and a very famous racing driver with me, never have I been so nervous driving before. After 20 minutes shopping we retired to a local bar for a few beers and then back to the airport so we could all catch our respective flights.

Of all the races I’ve been to, either as a spectator or as a participant, this one was by far the most exciting and the most fun. I’m looking forward to going back in 2009 already and am even more keen now to race there myself one year.

The legend of one man

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.