[DeTomaso] Report from France--day 4

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

We had a *fantastic* day yesterday--perfect weather!   We left the hotel 
after a leisurely breakfast at 10:00 a.m. and drove a few miles to a 
world-class karting track (by far the best I've ever seen) way out in the forests 
outside a small village.   After getting divided into teams of two, with the 
teams fairly evenly divided between USA and Europe, we got down to work.

We had 17 teams, with each team of two sharing a single kart.   We got 20 
minutes of practice/qualifing, shared among the two drivers, and then a 60 
minute (!) enduro race!   The karts were equipped with transponders for 
accurate accounting.

Roland Jackel set a blistering pole pace, and I was second, about .050 
seconds behind.   It was shaping up to be a titanic race!   The fastest drivers 
of each pair were seated in the karts first, and the driver changes were at 
the team's discretion.

When the flag dropped, I quickly went backwards, coming onto the long 
straight back in 4th position.   I was determined to make good, and had a 
strategy in mind, for I had found that I was faster than just about everyone on the 
final corner.  Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten that our practice 
kart had broken on the last lap of practice and we'd swapped over to a new 
one with ice-cold tires.   A total lack of judgement saw me coming into 'my' 
corner intent on passing at least two people, and instead flying over the 
rumble strips and backwards through the gravel!

IDIOT!!!!!

Almost the whole field got past me before I rejoined the track, and then 
began a tear to try to claw my way up to the front.   I was able to pass about 
seven people before it was time to hand the kart over to my more-than-able 
partner, Jim Reardon.

We got balked during our pitstop by the kart in front, whose pit stop was 
delayed because the two drivers had to share a single watermelon-sized 
helmet, and we lost a few positions.   Once Jim got back on track, he continued to 
move forward, repassing several people who had passed us in the pits.   It 
was then my turn again, and I was able to make a pass for third position--we 
were on the podum after coming from almost last place!

Jim did the final stint, and saw an opportunity for second place.   
Unfortunately he got a bit crossed up under braking and spun, rejoining in fourth 
place, where we finished.   Still, it was a great drive and we both felt 
great about our respective performances.   My consolation was that Iset the fast 
time of the day, the only driver to dip into the 42-second bracket.   (And 
Lori set the fast time among the women, and was something like 7th overall I 
think).

But the real fast guys were Mikael Hass and Janne Maki-Petaja.   Instead of 
going balls-out and flying into the rocks, instead they cut consistant, 
smooth, fast laptimes, and deservedly wound up on the top of the podum; Roland 
Jackel and Richard Kift (Julian's brother) were a close second, and Julian 
and John McNamee were third.

Afterwards we all enjoyed a great lunch, and told each other lies about how 
much faster we were, and would have been, if not for this, or that...:>)

Then we had a delightful drive through the countryside to our next hotel in 
the town of Loches, where another Pantera (based in Holland, although the 
owners currently live in Malaysia!) and a Ford GT from Ireland were waiting 
for us when we arrived.

Dinner was another spectacularly drawn-out affair, lasting some four hours 
and ending at midnight.

Great times!!!

Mike