PETIT LEMANS: 

My muscle aches have muscle aches...but wow what a time!

My first day at Road Atlanta started pretty nicely.

by Mylia Erikson

I got up and after a stop at McDonald's for breakfast and iced tea (Yes...I can't get over the fact that the McDonald's down in Georgia actually has good things to eat and drink. I never thought I would refer to a McDonald's as having very good tea. *shakes head* Bizarre) my boyfriend and I continued to the track. We watched the sun come over one end of the track and then took a picture or two of some things. After that, we proceeded to make our way to the Media Tower.

We sat in the Media office for awhile, watching the practice laps being run on the track in front of us as we both jotted down notes on our laptops.

It definitely was an amazing time. I watched some of my favorite cars on the track and loved feeling them go by. The Panoz is really throaty when it goes by and I love it. If it gives a good massage as it goes by, I wonder how it would feel to be riding inside of one as it went around the track.

I got to finally see the car my favorite road racer is driving. He's driving a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT this year. The car is powerful and I love the sound of it. I hope to get a closer look at the car today...and to get some pictures of the car. The car is very sleek and it seems to hug the ground as it speeds around the twists and turns of the track. It's main paint scheme is black with dark orange accents. I don't generally like orange on any vehicle, however, on this car, it looks less like the color and more like flames streaking up the hood and over the roof.

I finally understand what Ace meant every time he told me "Nothing in Atlanta is flat." He wasn't joking. There are slopes and hills all over the place. I had a love/hate relationship with one steep hill that Ace calls "The Bunny Slope". Let him laugh and call it whatever he wants. I do not see him making a trek up the one that he calls Mt Everest. *grins* He didn't want to walk up that one anymore than I did...however, it might have been nice to do a little bit of hiking near there. There were beautiful trees everywhere you looked. Much secluded areas, too.

The drivers there are really friendly and down to earth. On Wednesday, Ace and I were walking around and Randy Pobst came up to us as we were walking around. He just wanted to chat and say hello. The other drivers I've talked to seem to be just as nice, but that was the first time that a driver walked up to me instead of the other way around. Randy Pobst is the driver of one of the championship Audi teams in the Speed GT series. His car is an Audi RS 6 and in 2003 he won the Driver's Championship.

Thursday at the track was just an amazing time (although Ace kept telling me that it just gets better.) The sunrise was beautiful, as was the company. It was a pretty full day. We got to the track before 7 and didn't leave until after 9:30 that night. I was very worn out---and loving it all.

I think the highlight of my day was when I got to speak to two of the drivers from the Krohn-Barbour Racing Team---Tracy Krohn and David Brabham.

David Brabham has been my favorite ALMS driver for a couple of years, now. He was the one that I met two or three years ago at the one and only road race held in Washington, D.C. (The powers that be in D.C. decided that the noise of the race was not something they could accept and deal with.) Then, at Sebring in March, Ace was talking to him, and he asked about me.

Anyway, that afternoon we wandered down the paddock and into the Lamborghini garage. The crew were working on the cars, but they told Ace and I to come right in. We were talking with crew members and asking questions about the car, when this tall gentleman came up to us and we started chatting. The man was really nice and it seemed to make him happy that I was excited about the cars. A few minutes later, we discovered why my excitement made him happy. He was Tracy Krohn, driver of the number 6 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT---and Co-owner of Krohn-Barbour racing.

The Lamborghini team is a new manufacturer to join American Le Mans Series (ALMS) as they only introduced the cars in late June of this year. So, they are still working out things with the cars, but so far, it looks like they are coming along. While we were walking around and talking to Tracy, he invited us to hang out in the paddock while they did driver change drills.

The Petit Le Mans is what is called an endurance race. It lasts ten hours or 1000 miles---whichever comes first. Most teams have three drivers, to break up the stints in the car and preventing the drivers from getting over-tired. Since this is going to be the first endurance race the team has been involved in, they needed to practice driver changes to make sure everything went smoothly. Not every driver is the same size and they need to be comfortable while they are driving this course.

As we were getting ready to walk around some more, I spotted David Brabham in the second car garage and we stopped to talk to him. It was a very nice conversation. He remembered me and he was happy to hear that I was recovering nicely and that I was back at a race. We talked with him for quite awhile and as we were ready to leave (he had work he needed to do, too) he said that he expected to see us again.

So not a problem.

Thursday, we also watched a race from the Panoz Racing Series I love those cars...nothing sounds or feels quite the same as the ground rumbling beneath your feet due to a nicely roaring engine passing by on the track as you walk around it. This has happened a lot and I could definitely get used to living like this.

Thursday was a day of qualifying for the Speed Grand Touring Series and many practices for the ALMS guys---including a two hour night practice. It was great watching them on the track at night, but to my dismay, the two Lamborghinis spent most of that practice time in the Pits. I hope to find out today why my favorites were off the track last night.

I also had the chance to meet and talk with Bob Woodhouse. He drives a nicely painted Dodge Viper in the Speed Grand Touring Series. The car sounds like thunder and "Uncle Bob" is a very down to earth gentleman. I enjoyed talking to him about the car and then watching the car on the track.

Friday was a pretty busy day. I was moving around and doing so many things that time passed by so quickly. Before I knew it, it was time for the final race of the day.

It was a painful race to watch because I was rooting for Uncle Bob. His car spun off of a turn three times and when it went into a fourth spin, he regained control of the car and it went speeding down the track. Even though his car had sustained some damage from the spins through the gravel, he was starting to regain positions on the track. He kept moving closer to the front when the damage got to be too much and he ended up finishing down towards the bottom of the pack. The air splitter on the front of his Viper just couldn't hold itself together to finish the race in a good showing. Bob Woodhouse is a really good driver and to see his race end that way was a disappointment.

During most of that day, we walked up and down the garage areas and chatted with drivers and crew members.

Friday was also a day full of tech talks and autograph signings.

Starting at 12:00 PM, drivers set up shop in front of their haulers. They had Sharpies poised and many posters or snapshots of the cars to sign for the fans.

There were people everywhere and the lines for the Corvette drivers and the Audi drivers started forming about a half an hour to an hour before the session was to begin. There were people everywhere. In watching the drivers and crew with the fans during this, I got a few new insights, and an increased respect for these men and women.

For instance, I had liked Ron Fellows pretty well before, but I have more appreciation and respect for him now. There were tons of people that were in line at the Corvette garage. Now, I know three of the drivers by watching them: Ron Fellows, Max Papis, and Olivier Beretta. I have seen them all three drive in different races and in different series. I had heard of a fourth, Johnny O'Connell. Ron Fellows (I am told) I met at the DC race. He called me a sweetheart and signed my ALMS t-shirt.

There were tons of people lined up to talk to the Corvette drivers. The media representative went to Ron and the rest of the guys and said "Just stand up. You don't need to sign any more. I already told these people that they probably wouldn't be able to get anything signed."

Ron Fellows shook his head and continued to sign whatever he could get from people. "No, I'm not doing that to these people." Max Papis and Olivier Beretta followed his lead. Johnny O'Connell didn't, but his pen did run out of ink and he was shaking it to get it to write. So he did try.

Oh! The thing that made me even happier than I already was about the signing was watching Olivier Beretta signing Ace's Viper shirt. Beretta was the driver of the #91 Dodge Viper for Team ORECA at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2000. Beretta was impressed that Ace had the shirt and wanted to know where he had found it. Seeing the look on Ace's face as Olivier Beretta signed his shirt just really made my day. I wish I had gotten a photo of him signing it, however at the time I was answering something that Ron Fellows had said to me.

I can only imagine the hand cramps those guys have from signing so many posters, cards, shirts, etc. They never complained --- at least where fans could hear them. If they complained out of earshot, I don't hold it against them. Imagine the pain their hands were in---and then realize they had to go from there to the race track to qualify for the big race tomorrow. Johnny O'Connell had to go directly from the autograph session to climb into his car for a race. I can only be amazed that he was able to drive after signing so many autographs. See, the cars are all manual transmissions, and he is right-handed. Realizing that he did the signings and then went immediately into a race car earned him a lot of respect from me.

I think this is a very good example of why I am becoming a bigger road racing fan than I am a Nascar fan. The drivers here are all so friendly and they have no problem stopping to give a signature or to get a picture with you. They stop to talk to you and answer any question you have---or they just stop to chat. The drivers in ALMS are very accessible to both fans and media.

I didn't run into one rude driver the entire time that I had been here. Everyone I saw and spoke to there were cheerful and friendly...and I didn't get the feeling that it was fake, either. That's a very important thing to me. Don't be fake. The drivers and crews seem to enjoy being here and they enjoy the people, both media and fans.

I talked to the drivers of the very pretty blue and silver #71 Dodge Viper. The drivers there were in a pretty good mood, but they weren't the happiest because their car seems to have been giving them problems. Ace chatted with the team and wished them very much luck. They signed stuff for us and told us to enjoy our time at Road Atlanta.

The best place for me to be, however, was at the tables for the #5 and #6 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. I was able to talk to both Tracy and David and take good pictures of both of the drivers. I was disappointed to find out that there are no models of the race car, nor is there any merchandise for Krohn-Barbour Racing available for purchase. They are battling with Lamborghini to get permission to be allowed to distribute racing merchandise. (Unfortunately, I learned after returning to Maryland that Krohn*Barbour has discontinued the Lamborghini racing program. Owner Tracy Krohn cited failure to resolve differences with Lamborghini as one of the main reasons for their decision. Krohn*Barbour racing was led to believe they would be getting certain assistance and support from Lamborghini and that was never delivered. I was disappointed to hear that they wouldn't be racing the Murcielago next season, but I look forward to seeing what vehicles they do bring into ALMS. They were a wonderful team to watch, and they were nice people to hang out and discuss racing with.)

Friday's qualifying for the race was more exciting than I ever thought it could be. I expected the Audis to win positions 1-2-3 for the race as they often do. However, kick ass driving by James Weaver took the Pole away from the Audi at the last second.

I have never enjoyed watching qualifying as much as I did on Friday. It was exciting because positions shifted every single lap. Just when I thought I knew who was going to start well at the race, everything changed.

As for where the cars I was paying special attention to qualified:

#30 Lola B2K/40/Judd driven by Milka Duno, Robin Lindell and Clint Field --- Qualified 7th.
#4 Chevrolet Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta, and Jan Magnussen --- Qualified 9th.
#3 Chevrolet Corvette driven by Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell, and Max Papis --- Qualified 10th.
#63 Saleen S7R driven by Terry Borcheller, Joao Barbossa, and Johnny Mowlem --- Qualified 11th.
#71 Dodge Viper GTS-R driven by Tom Weickardt, F. Babini, and Jean Phillipe Belloc --- Qualified 13th.
#5 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT driven by David Brabham, Peter Kox, and Nic Jonsson --- Qualified 14th.
#6 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT driven by Tracy Kohn, Scott Maxwell, and Joe Fox --- Qualified 17th.
#50 Panoz Esperante GTLM driven by Gunnar Jeannette, Marino Franchitti, and Christophe Tinseau --- Qualified 26th.
#12 Riley and Scott Mk III driven by Melanie Patterson, Michael Lewis, and Tomy Drissi --- Qualified 35th.

Car #12 was moved to the back from it's original qualification run because they had to change a tire. In the ALMS races, you must start the race on the same tires that you ran qualifying on. If you change them, you are automatically moved to the back of the starting grid.

There were 35 cars that are in the running for the Petit Le Mans. Because it was an endurance race, I understood that not all of the cars were going to make it to the final flag. However, I didn't realize that one of my favorite cars would not make it to the final flag. After running third in class for approximately five hours, the #5 Lamborghini driven by Peter Kox got into some oil that another car was dumping all over the track. He hit the slick and went spinning into one of the gravel traps. He managed to get it started, but then turned the engine off while he waited for the safety crews to reach him and get the car out of the gravel. Unfortunately, the car didn't start again after that. About three hours later, I talked to Chris, a very nice and friendly official that we have chatted with a few times this week. She told us that David was giving people instructions on how to fix the car. There was a crew member holding the service manual over the fence and they were being given instructions on doing what needed to be done---and David Brabham was smack in the middle of it.

Then, later, we watched the end of the race and watched the cars line up in the pit lane. As Ace and I were talking and he was taking pictures (gotta love having Hot Pit access), I heard a familiar sound. I looked up and who was crossing the finish line but the #5 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT!

The damn car finished the race!!!

It was great! He went tearing down the front stretch (okay, it was more like ambling) ...and then pulled over to the side as the wrecker chased him. It looked like they were sending the cops after him! There were whirling lights coming from every direction. The car died and they helped restart the car, and then he turned around and took his place with the rest of the cars.

I can't put into words how happy it made me to see the car on the track and then lining up with the other cars during the festivities.

Afterwards, we gathered in the media office to take part in the press conferences with each of the winning teams. I have to admit that my favorite press conference was the one with Sascha Maassen of the Alex Job Racing Porsche team. He was just fun to listen to and he was cutting up during the entire conference---though not enough to disrupt it. He looked like he was having the time of his life---and even attempted to rap out some responses.

We left the track long after midnight and went to crash into light comas. When we woke up on Sunday morning, I was sad because I had enjoyed myself a lot that week and I didn't want to leave.

I am definitely looking forward to the next race I attend.

Mylia Erickson: A single mother who lives in Columbia Maryland, Mylia is a self confessed Racing addict spending as much time as possible watching it on TV. She's a car enthusiast who does all of her own work on her car, sometimes with the help of her boyfriend. In her spare time she's a writer and web designer.

photos courtesy of AJ Morning