Sixth Gear

Day 1 of January 2009 Rolex 24hr Practice - was a tough one.

The car looked great. All hands were on deck and we were ready to RUMBLE.

That’s when the snafu’s started. We were late to the grid and lost 15 minutes of our 105 minute track time. With 5 souls looking for some laps….that in and of itself hurts.

Dan Watkins led the charge and rolled out the team for the first few, uneventful laps. Unfortunately for Dan he quickly found that we were running out of revvs with about 1250 feet of straightaway left…AGAIN. This means the tranny is coming out....which translates into lost track time. uugh. The double uggh is that every 3rd lap brings this picture below: Notice the yellow flag depicted in the lower right hand corner?

The yellow flag denotes a yellow flag track condition which is frustrating as you can’t work into your groove. We’re also noticing that our chariot isn’t feeling a confidence inspiring as our beloved Toby.

Dave Quinlan is the next pilot and has a bumpy start out the gate. Some poor pit communication has Q storming Pit Out when the flagger is standing in the way with a red flag in hand…in other words, everyone stop. This results in a call to pit and quick lecture. Q is feeling what all of us were feeling at the time. ANXIETY. This has a stress level all it’s own and it sneaks up on you from no where. You go from desk jockey on Friday to ‘Professional Race Car Driver’ piloting a car that costs more than my first house just 12 hours later. There is huge pressure to perform and it’s hard to release that pressure and focus appropriately. Especially when you’re in a new car with a a new crew and you haven’t driven for 2 months.

2 laps later, Q meets with the tire wall in the bus stop. Really, really a big bummer. Early reports say he’s DEEP into the wall…then there are crackles on the radio that he’s able to drive the car back to the pits. My stomach falls as my mind works thru the time table of possible car repairs vs. run time available.

I decide to take off the helmet and return to the trailer for some snacks and attitude re-adjustment. The car rolls into the garage and they start to assess the damage.

It appears to be just a minor flesh wound and we’re quickly back on track with some time to spare in the run group. All in all - looking none the worse for wear.

Some days you’re the bug, some days you’re the windshield. Today left us feeling like we were the bug.

Loose Bruce
Rolex GT Car #63
www.guardianangelmotorsports.com