2002 SEASON :::
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Johnny O's Le Mans
Race Report:
Perhaps the coolest feeling in any drivers career. It is four minutes to go…just one more lap…and you have won the 24 hours of Le Mans…for the third time. As the lap begins, you notice all of the crew, standing out on the wall, waving American flags, and you know that they are going nuts. You are in formation with the other Corvette, just behind the two Cadillacs. You are going pretty slow compared to what you have been going, as all of the flaggers are lining the race track, waving all of their flags. You are a bit worried that one might get too close. As you enter the Porsche curves, you have just enough room to squeeze your car through the people, and you notice that all of the fans…hundreds of thousands…are cheering. When finally you cross start finish, well the emotion is incredible. You are honored, you are proud…and you are amazingly tired and sore. But without a doubt, the best part… by a long shot, is standing on the top step of the podium, and seeing them raise the American flag and play the national anthem. Winning at Le Mans is a team deal…and the Pratt and Miller boys are the best. That flag gets raised in honor of them, the incredible effort that they put in, and the talent they possess. Incredible.
 The week of the race was actually very tough for me as I was fighting a very bad cold. On Wednesday I couldn’t even talk, and was worried about how I would communicate during the race. Luckily, Doug Fehan, the team manager, excused me from all non driving duties, so I had the opportunity to get a lot of rest.
It’s a funny thing, but even though we have had great fortune with the number 3/63 car, both Ron and I have never really been able to find its sweet spot in terms of set up. There is always something that neither of us is particularly crazy about…usually it’s just a bit to snappy at turn in. But for this race, man or engineers Steve Cole and Doug Louth got it perfect for us. About as nicely balanced a car as we have had.
The race really came down to us battling the Pro-Drive Ferrari. They had a very good driver line-up, and without a doubt the car is a rocket ship. At the start of the race, they took off…and after a few hours we found ourselves running in second, but wondering if they were going to keep up their pace. They were pushing very hard judging by their lap times, whereas we were leaving just a little in reserve, knowing that we would have to beat them on endurance rather than on speed.
It was about 4:30 in the morning…I had my helmet on and was ready to get in the car, when Fehan came up to me and said “welcome to P-1…the Ferrari is out.” Man, sweet words to anyone and from that point on it was just a matter of doing nice clean laps, and looking after the car. Sure there was 11.5 hours to go, but you just knew, from the way the car was running, that the race was going to be ours.
 With huge support and coaching from Cole…who was on the radio with us…we put in a trouble free second half of the race. I think we ended up 3 laps on the 64 car, who but for a few minor problems which the crew did an excellent job of fixing, would have been right there with us. So another one/two finish for the Pratt and Miller boys with the Corvette. I can honestly say that Gary Pratt has built and runs the finest team I’ve been able to work with…and the records show that.
So although home now and a bit sore, I am already looking forward to two weeks from now and Mid-Ohio. I suspect that again the Saleen will be strong there, and know that the Oliver Garden Ferrari will also be tough. But once again it seems like Ron and I are on a roll….and it will have to be one killer effort that is going to beat us.
Johnny O
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