Le Mans (pre-qualifying)2000... the Great Gunnar Saga!!
By: Tim Pendergast

Chateau we stayed in

At the Sebring Historics, in March, Kevin Jeannette offered me a job doing all of the logistical planning for Gunnar Racing. This would include the much expanded schedule of historic and pro racing. The first big project would be going to Le Mans. I would also be able to do all of the HSR races. I thought this sounded good, and accepted the job. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and wouldn't have turned it down for anything. Kevin entered into a partnership with Alex Job at the 12 Hours of Sebring, in March of this year, to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is, of course, the grand daddy of all endurance races. There was an appearance by Gunnar Racing, once before, in exactly the kind of car you'd expect Kevin "Mr. Porsche Racing" to crew on, a Ferrari 512BB/L, with Preston Henn. We are making a more proper attempt this year, we have entered a Porsche 996 GT3R. This is the same car that we ran in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Tim arriving in France 3 days before the rest of the team (minor sightseeing stop when he took wrong turn)

Kevin told me that our French contact/liaison would be Francois Migault. I was to deal with him to help with any questions I might have for making our experience in France happen. This was all news to me. I was to make arrangements for racing in a country I had never been to, in a language that I didn't speak, dealing with a sanctioning organization known for being one of the most difficult in the world, (right up there with Bernie Eccelstone, I was told). What I wasn't prepared for was this Francois Migault character. I had heard the name before but wasn't aware that he's a racing hero in France, having finished 2nd at Le Mans driving for Matra, in 1974, and 3rd driving for Rondeau in 1982. He also drove in F-1 for BRM, and Graham Hill. He now lives in Le Mans with his lovely wife, Fabien, and their dog, Indy. What a contact to have.

I went over four days before the rest of the team, to make sure all the necessary arrangements were made. All seamed okay, as the rest of the team arrived. Our first night in the Chateau (18th century castle) we were staying in, brought mixed reviews from the team. References to the Kenilworth Lodge were brought up, as well as the camp from the "Friday the 13th" movies. I tried to explain how there weren't any Holiday Inns in central France, but not everyone believed me. The big surprise was when we woke up in the morning to shower, only to find they had bath tubs, with spray hoses, and no curtains, now known as taking "a bashow".

Dinner at Le Mans Legends Cafe for the team

After growing up around sportscar racing, going to Le Mans was always a dream. Now I was here, working for a team, with some old friends. Walking around in the pits was almost surreal. I also got to drive around the public roads that make up the circuit, but not the parts in front of the pits. That would come on Thursday afternoon, in the car with Francois, Gunnar, and Martin. This guy just drove between the barricades blocking the public from the permanent "Bugatti Circuit", which includes the pits, Dunlop bridge, and turns behind the pits right before the esses, rejoining right by the Ford Chicane. This was a truly amazing experience.

Team photo in pits on Saturday morning

The first large hurdle was scrutineering. I don't ever want to hear anything at another HSR race, because you haven't a clue what a hassle it can be. We only had to go back and fix four things to make the car legal. Our garage partners weren't as lucky, they didn't make it in, and they had an automatic entry into the race. All went well at the pre-qualifying day,Sunday, with the exception of a broken stub axle, which happened as we were pulling out of the garage, at the start of our 1st of two on track sessions. Fifteen minutes later, all was fixed, and off we went. You don't get a true feeling for how long the track is, until your car goes out, and you stand there waiting for it to come around. I've been to most of the race tracks in the US, and nothing compares to how long it takes for the cars to get around, (approx. 4 min, 33 sec). All three of our drivers,(Gunnar Jeannette, Michael Lauer, and Michael Brockman),got a chance to drive in the first 2 hour session, then we had a 4 hour period until our next time out.

Gunnar (our ace young driver) in line at scrutineering (not an easy process)

Short lunch break, in the Sebring Cafe, and back to work on the car. I have never had food at a race track, other than in the VIP Hospitality area at the Monterey Historics, this good. Choices of roasted duck, baked fish, or steak, with fresh veggies, potatoes, bread, and wine or beer, in the Sebring Cafe. They don't have food that good anywhere in the whole town of Sebring, let alone at the track. I wish Don Panoz would take notice of this. It was also pretty inexpensive.

The afternoon session went much better, as the drivers got more acquainted with the track. Gunnar ended up fastest, breaking into the sub 4 min 30 second range. The other drivers were right there, only a touch above the 4:30 range, well inside of the times set by the competition. We are happy to be going back in June for the race, and feel we will be in the middle of the GT car field. The biggest thing in endurance racing, is to be around at the end of the race. We are relying on the car to help in that respect, as Porsche has an excellent finishing record at La Sarthe.