Sixth Gear

Last week was movie night in the Ledoux household and Linda wanted to watch the movie Julie & Julia.   I mean heck, sometimes, as a guy - you have to take a hit for the team…. For those of you that haven’t seen it, it’s fun story about a Brooklyn, NY woman that is drifting in life until she decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s book over the course of 1 year…..and blog about it.

What was fascinating to me about the movie was how much momentum and notoriety her efforts gain from the blog.  The blog led to interviews with the New York Times, dinners with famous writers, chefs and even some communication via third party to Julia Childs herself.   Segue to reality.

GodStone Ranch with the 'Angels

Yesterday morning we were sitting at breakfast when GodStone Ranch racer John McCutchen came over to introduce himself.    (He’s running a Pratt & Miller Corvette this year…a formidibly competitive car). He said that he had watched our efforts as a team last year and was inspired by us to mount his own effort for Texas Heart Institute.

The introduction caught me completely off guard as I was fairly certain only a handful of people had dialed into what we had undertaken last year.   In fact, as we’ve battled so hard this year to muster an entry, I was beginning to believe that the number of people was smaller than I had expected.   It’s been beyond trying and everyone around me has been wondering why I can’t put this down…..and then something like this happens.

I find I’m taken by the humanity of the participants in this event.   It’s like little else I’ve been involved in so far.   Certainly at the other events, people are friendly, many very genuine but here, for some reason, the vibe is so so different.   Particularly this year.

Cold, Rainy & CLOSED paddock

Apparently we are feeling the effects of global warming as the loss of the polar ice cap.   I have a friend that tells me they are the ‘batteries’ to our global weather and help keep things evenly balanced.   Probably not a great topic considering our undertaking.

So moving right along, as we sit in the trailer…waiting for the weather to change, we contemplate the ways we can use the time to prepare for our undertaking in just 21 days.

We did 90 minutes of video replay discussions with multi-champion Andy Lally.   This was a great learning experience and I took a great deal from the discussion.  Next we suited up and heading across the arctic howl from the trailer to the garage to practice our driver

Ledoux Driver Change

change proceedure.   This was great as we all got to learn the nuances and idiosyncracies of buckling into the car fast.  This is an important part of our race as it is a place where we can better control our outcome and have a BIG impact on our overall laps completed.   We lose roughly 1/2 lap on our way in and then another 1/2 lap on our way back out of a pit stop.   2 minutes in the pit would cost another lap meaning the car loses 2 laps per pit.   If we’re inefficient in the pit and have to return, it may take 10-12hours to drive back a 2 lap (4 minute) deficit.

Currently, I sit in the trailer trying to get some feeling back in my feet and listening to the Flying Lizard guys talk thru their testing session with Patrick Long, Seth Neiman & Jorg Bergmeister…..I think I’ll stroll down the stairs to hang for a few moment with 2001 Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte……..such a ho - hum day.

Driver change practice

Loose Bruce
Rolex GT #18
Guardian Angel Motorsports
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