Saturday, June 13, 2009

Le Mans, Day 2






Le Mans, Day 2

It is a rainy morning, thankfully the Ferrari tent seems un-affected. there are no leaks, the food is hot and there is unlimited self serve espresso. I left caffeine behind years ago but always seem to relapse in France. When in Rome and all that. Yesterday was my first day at 24 hour endurance race. The race, to be clear will not start until Saturday, and like all events of this caliber, requires un-fathomable preparation. The people here are the best at what they do in the world. And this is already and exhausting experience. We are, all of us pushing to be the best we can in whatever capacity we are employed. And as much as we are being treated well, quarters are cramped. As I write, Patrick is giving an interview to a French fan club and I have been moved to the bathroom. It’s a nice bathroom, and I am sitting on a (closed) toilet writing. Last night I was up ‘till midnight working on files, up @ 6:30 to upload them to the site and @ 3:30, there are 10 hours left in my day. Practice starts @ 6:00 and runs to midnight. I should see my pillow sometime around 1:00.
An element of this team that I had no way of anticipating is the Dempsy factor. He is a HUGE star and in so being attracts an incredible amount of attention. Media as well as public, it seems sometimes to never end, like the rain. The rain that has washed everything since our arrival Monday afternoon. The good news is that it is supposed to stop by Friday night and be nice Saturday and Sunday. Time will of course tell and we are all, soaked as we are, ready for sun. In my position I am observing and in so doing find my self standing around watching everyone who truly has something to do that relates directly to the task at hand, that of racing cars.
As for the pictures, we shall see. I feel like I’ve shot a lot of the same stuff already and am looking forward to loud Ferrari’s and the smell of racing fuel. The intensity will no doubt increase and this will be good for pictures. One thing I have been amazed by is the level of patience Patrick has for the demands that are constantly being made of him. And now it is time for the team meeting, mandatory, like the rain.

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