I just got back from the Detroit Grand Prix (DBIGP). I was invited to do volunteer fire/rescue for the race weekend by the Detroit Region SCCA. Friday was practice for both IMSA (American LeMans Series) and IRL (Indy Racing League). The IMSA race was Saturday, with several Porsche teams running, including Flying Lizard. The Sunday show was all IRL, with a Porsche RS Spyder beating the Audi Diesel for a change.
I worked the pit area all weekend. I started out in a Panoz IMSA pit, until they blew an engine and retired. I also started with the Panasonic/Honda IRL pit. They ended up fifth on Sunday, thanks to lots of crashing by others.
When the Panoz blew up, I was able to slide down to where I really wanted to work - Flying Lizard with their two 997 GT3s (#44 & #45) entered. This was even better, because the Porsche factory had sent Patrick Long to the Lizards to team up with Law in the #44 car. Long seemed to get along well with the Lizards. At one point, the cars and starting drivers were on display in grid for interviews and PR stuff. Law was the starting driver for #44, so he was out there. Word came back to the pits that the media wanted 'the short guy' (Long). The team needed to get 'the short guy' over there. This was all taken in good fun and is an example of the spirit in the Lizard pit.
This is highly professional and competitive racing. The crews and drivers are amazing to watch up close. I was able to share a unique experience with the team. We watched the track video feed together as VanOverbeek's (Lizard's #45) car burned up on the track. The driver was not injured due to quick fire rescue response and solid safety systems, but the car was totally destroyed. Long took over the #44 car shortly after #45's crash and drove to second place behind a Ferrari.
At lunchtime on Saturday, I walked over to the Porsche Platz, but was not real impressed. There were about twenty Porsches and a tent where they were having a Q&A session with someone from Porsche Cars N.A. On two or three days, the Porsches got to do some parade laps. That's all I saw. Maybe there was a hospitality tent, but I didn't see it.
Terry Feichtenbiner
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My Detroit Grand Prix Experience
It was a beautiful cool Saturday morning just a little before 7am and I'm getting out the 930. I'm all set. I packed a small cooler with drinks and snacks that I ended up not needing. The Porsche Platz had plenty of drinks. I took some long pants for a pit tour, if I'm so lucky. I'll even throw in a couple of fold up chairs, just in case. Well, maybe the car might get dirty so I added a bottle of quick detailer and a couple of rags. Now I'm all set except where is my passenger? I just do a few little things as I anxiously wait for Wayne Walter from the RSR Region. I had an extra set of tickets and since he's been so kind to help me with many projects on the car and lift I gave him first shot at them. I think he was more excited then me about the day that lay ahead.
I hear something off in the quiet morning distance. Sounds awful familiar to an air cooled flat six. It kept getting louder so I knew Wayne wasn't far off. As he came down the street his car sounded sweet! Wayne pulled in the driveway with his SC and we make small talk and I showed him a couple of things I had been working on and might as well ask his opinion since he's right there. It's not long and we are getting belted in for our journey.
I fire up the 930 and off we go to Okemos Collection to meet Terril Whitney & Charlie Hagen. We pull in and Terril is the only one there. A few minutes pass and Charlie pulls in with a look on his face like he's just seen a ghost. Terril and I see mud on his hood and of course I inquiry about it because I thought he was cleaning his car the night before. It turns out that Charlie almost hit a deer just down the road from his house and the mud on the hood was from the hooves of the running scared deer. Way too close for comfort, but Charlie says he's ready to go but needs coffee from McDonald's.
We all get in our cars and swing through McDonald's on our way to the expressway. The on ramp was a blast. I step on the gas and as the lag disappears and the boost starts to climb. The car hurls you past the legal limit quickly. But I'm not loosing anyone because there isn't any traffic. I'm leading the group and set a nice cruising speed with the radar detector fired up.
Since we have special parking on Belle Island it's very easy in and out. We cross the bridge onto the island and park at the Porsche Platz. We sign in and get the updated schedule for drawings and meet and greets.
Terril took off to his seat and Wayne and I started off by walking around the grounds to see what was for sale and what was on display. There was an Audi R8 they were letting people sit in and mess with. It was pretty cool. A couple hours go by and we head back to the tent to hear from Uwe Brettel (President, PCNA) talk. Then they did a drawing for a pit tour.
After the speech we went across the pedestrian bridge to tour the paddock. This was really neat to see the different cars, tools, and watch them work. It really wasn't as crowded as I thought it was going to be. We walked around there for quite a while and got lunch on the infield while we watched the practice laps. After lunch we headed back to the tent to hear Romain Dumas talk and try for another pit tour.
Romain gave a good speech and calmly answered all of the questions people asked. When there weren't any more questions to be answered he then calmly walked from the tent and around the corner where he broke out into a full run. It was really nice he could take time out of his busy schedule to talk to us. Then they did another drawing for the pit tour. Again, no luck. They also gave out a set of tires for the furthest distance traveled. Also, there was a driver's meeting for the parade laps after the race.
Charlie and Terril headed for their seats to watch the race. Wayne and I crashed the media area looking for a friend of mine. Never did find them so we wondered around the paddock while watching the race through the fence. I did make it to my seat a couple of times for a short while.
Wayne and I set out to find the Porsche Chalet. It was way back by the fountain. Wayne didn't have a Chalet ticket so I just went in for a little while to see what it was about. They gave me a gift bag with all kinds of goodies. I should've come here first thing in the morning for program, schedule, food, etc. They even had pit tours that I missed on. Darn! Oh well, maybe next year.
The race was getting close to the end so Wayne and I head back to the Porsche Platz tent to watch the end of the race. There was about 10minutes left of the race when we got there. The tent started to fill up the closer the end got. The last four minutes and the last few laps were very intense. It was a battle between Audi and Porsche. Audi was leading and Porsche made a move and took the lead. The tent cheered! Then the Audi regained the lead and the tent moaned no! As the clock ticked away Porsche retook the lead and again everyone was cheering! There was even a little contact between Porsche and Audi as the Porsche was taking the lead. Porsche won the race using the number 7 RS Spyder being driven by no other then Romain Dumas himself. How neat to have the driver that talked to us today win the race. Everyone in the tent was cheering and celebrating.
However, now is not the time to loose focus because we have our parade laps to do. Immediately following the race we head out to the cars. The lead car was Porsche Cayenne. They took us down to turn six to let us on the track. That was simply an awesome experience to be able to drive the actual circuit. It was slow, but there were a few times and curves that were spirited. After the 3 laps they took us back out the way we came in. Wayne and I went back to the tent to meet up with Terril. They wouldn't let Charlie turn back in so he headed for home. Terril followed us out and somehow as we were getting on the expressway Terril got stopped by a light and he never caught back up.
In conclusion, this was an absolute blast. Traffic leaving wasn't bad at all. It was a smooth drive home. Wayne and I talked all the way home about going next year. I got home around 8pm. I told my wife about it and she even wants to go next year. If you have never been to a Porsche Platz you should seriously consider going. You wouldn't regret it.
Written by: William Campbell
Photos Courtesy of Charlie Hagen:
