[DeTomaso] LeMans Classic Track Experience

[Kirby Schrader]

For 'normal' temperatures that the human body can withstand, a quick
conversion is to just double the degrees C and add 30 for the temp in
F. For temperatures below and above, use the 'real' formula below.

Remember that at -40, they are equal.
:-)



On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 14:22, LS <lashdeep at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Jim, great write-up.
>
> For a quick and fun temp conversion, I always use C= 5/9 * (F-32)
>
> You can isolate out F if you have the Centigrade temp in the equation.
>
> LS
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> ----- Original Message ----
> From: J B Reardon <jbreardon at yahoo.com>
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Sent: Fri, August 13, 2010 2:42:46 PM
> Subject: [DeTomaso] LeMans Classic Track Experience
>
> Charles McCall gave a lengthy description of the 2010 Classic Tour. I wanted to
> add this fairly long description of my experience at the track and how the race
> is organized.
> I posted some picture to my album.
> I was on LeMans Classic Tour and wanted to be a participant rather than just a
> spectator at the race. I decided to pursue to possibility of being a worker at
> the race. I had worked many races in the US as a licensed SCCA worker. In my
> racing travels I had met groups of workers who come to the US from England and
> France to work races. I decided to see if I could work at the LeMans in France.
> The local SCCA was very helpful in giving leads as to who to contact. Most
> people said they did not help but they did by giving me some more insight into
> the international racing process. I found out that the Automobile Club de
> l'Ouest  (ACO) puts on the race. This the Wikipedia definition:
> The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (Automobile Club of the West - referring to the
> western region of France), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest
> automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing
> enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organising entity behind the
> annual Le Mans 24 Hours race. The ACO also lobbies on behalf of French drivers
> on such issues as road building and maintenance, the availability of driving
> schools and road safety classes, and the incorporation of technical innovations
> into new vehicles. It also runs a roadside assistance service for its members.
>
> The easy part was to fill out an application on the ACO web site. Several
> e-mails were sent back and forth trying to satisfy the ACO requirements. I sent
> them copies of my membership and worker license.  I followed up a letter from
> the SCCA saying that I was a member in good standing.  The ACO was very
> accommodating as worker registration had already been closed a month. I did not
> hear back from them and it was time to leave for France so I thought it was not
> going to happen.  I am now on the tour in France. I sent them an e-mail asking
> what was my status. They said that I was on the schedule as a pit marshal. That
> was good but I did not find out until later that they mailed credentials,
> parking and admission passes and worker information to my house. Once at the
> track I was looking for a registration desk and I did not see one. I went to
> several offices tying to get information, which if I spoke good French would
> have been very helpful. However,  I
> think that even a French speaker who is unfamiliar with racing would also have a
> problem. I was on the list so they were very gratious to give me a do over and
> made another credential pack.. The next day I had to go across the street to the
> Expo Center, a big fairground complex, to get my credentials.
>
> All the pit marshals had to attend a briefing a room under the grandstands. The
> French are very punctual, everything started and ended on time. First thing we
> did was check in then everybody shook hands with one another. Then a 25 minute
> speech by the chief, Alan Tannier, as to what and how the various assignments
> were to be performed. The chief introduced me to the group as the American who
> came all that way to work the race.  I stood up and they gave me a warm welcome
> and some jokes at my expense. I was originally scheduled to work Pit-out. The
> worker chief reorganized the schedule to accommodate me and workers who had
> cancelled.  I was paired with , Charles Queguiner, an IT professor at University
> of Rennes, who spoke pretty good English. We were assigned to the grid. I was
> happy with that I certainly did not want to be in a situation in the pit lane
> where safety would be compromised. Everyone worked a total of eight hours and
> had two day shifts and
> one night shift.
> After the meeting the Chief  took me on the grand tour of race control and
> pit/stands control. It was quite impressive with monitors watching every corner
> of the track. I was introduced to the race director Daneil Poissenot. People
> were showing what their jobs were, what kind of information they were recording
> on the computers and so forth. Everyone I came in contact with was very
> accomodating.
>
>
> Le Mans is a huge facility with two tracks, the permanent Bigatti course which
> is 4185m 2.51 miles. The other is a temporary course for the Classic and 24-hour
> course, which is 13629m 8.177 miles. Many large grandstands, suites, long pit
> and paddock areas. Charles took me on a tour pointing out safety issues and
> points of interest. He showed me the tunnels under the track for workers use,
> where safety equipment was located etc. There is an ACO worker café in the
> grandstands. I saw many interesting things such as the Porsche, fitted with a
> camera to film the Le Mans movie.
>
> The Classic is a huge event for car enthusiasts and drew people from all over
> Europe. There were 94 car club corrals and some where subdivided. Ford had 7
> model lines such GT40, Mustangs. Capri etc. DeTomaso had their own corral.
>
>
> While the dollar was at a very favorable exchange rate the prices were still
> high. There were many merchandise, food and drink vendors, and hospitality areas
> willing to take your money. The drink vendors were very busy as it was hot all
> weekend. Must have been in the upper 80s f /30-34c. I did not know for sure as I
> did not find anyone who knew the Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion. Even the
> British do centigrade.  I was reminded that the British were going metric, inch
> by inch.
>
> Prior to the 4pm start of the race, people could buy two laps on the track.
> There were several time periods available and a large number of people took
> advantage of the opportunity to drive this famous track. I would consider the
> laps as hot laps rather than pace laps. I was able to hitch a ride with Roland
> Jaeckel in a DeTomaso Longchamps and on the straights we did a very respectable
> 200km 120mph and we did 3 laps. His experience driving the autobahn was evident.
> It was chaotic as there were fast cars and slow cars. There did not seem to be
> anything to control the pace. It seemed the rule was to drive as fast as you
> wanted to, traffic permitting.  The drivers had to be very aware of traffic
> around them, the course flagers could only watch as the high speed traffic jam
> passed them.
>
> The Le Mans Classic is a historic race with cars that actually raced in the 24
> hr race. The Classic is not an endurance race but runs 24 hour starting 4pm
> Saturday to 4pm Sunday. The format was that each of the six groups got three 90
> min sessions which totals 24 hrs. Each group got two day and one night session.
> Actual track sessions are 43 minutes as they did track maintenance between
> groups.  Grids and the years of the cars:
> Grid 1 1923-1939
> Grid 2 1949-1956
> Grid 3 1957-1961
> Grid 4 1962-1965
> Grid 5 1966-1971
> Grid 6 1972-1979
>
> What my job on the grid was to record the number on the drivers wristband and
> the car, check for safety items, glove, helmet inspection sticker. There are
> strict rules about how long a driver can race and there has to have more than
> one driver during the race. The car then grids based on race times. This process
> repeated for each session.
>
> The Classic Race started at 4pm Saturday with grid 3. The race order were grids
> 3,4,5,6,1and 2. The race ended at 4pm Sunday with grid 2 on the track. The
> weekend was a great experience.
>
> Jim Reardon
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