2003 SEASON :::
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Le Mans Pre-qualifying 2003
There was a time, when pre-qualifying at Le Mans was truly special. Doing well then meant that you would make the race in June, and a poor performance meant that you would be watching it on TV. It was exciting for everyone as the day went on, and cars would go out on qualifying tires and really hang it out to make the race. As a driver it was brilliant, being put on the spot to lay down a great lap. But now, well it seems to me a bit of a silly endeavor as everyone there is pretty much already in the race, and the cost associated with this “test” day is huge. But I’m sure the local economy loves it, so I’d bet it is here to stay.
 At the drivers briefing on Saturday, we were all told that you could not go over the white lines that surround the circuit, and of course this quickly became a big controversy. To do this, you would be staying far away from the curbs, and not using all of the track, kind of against what we all have done since we started racing. We were told that if you did go over the lines that you would be black flagged and possibly excluded from the race. Not a great way to start things off for sure as you would not know by times if someone was being clean and following the new rule, or did their laps running the proper line. The time difference between the two would of course be significant, so as things stand now, we really don’t know where we are. All of us on the Corvette squad kept things pretty tidy and by the rules. OK , maybe we cheated a little towards the end of the day, but we did leave some on the table.
That said, the test went ok for us. I fear that this will be our most challenging Le Mans since I’ve been with the team. The Pro-drive Ferraris have really stepped up their program, and down the long straights there is no possible way that we can stay with them. Those straights add up to a lot of time on the watch, and although we are by far the best in the high speed corners, we do need to get better top speed.
The handling of the cars was really quite good, and as the day went on we improved things a fair amount. Like always, we played with tire compounds and I’m confident that we have something that will work well. The new sequential gearbox worked very well, and I don’t think we should have any issues with it. Everything else went well with the car, and I know that Ron, Frank and myself are feeling good about the reliability of our car. All of the crew did their usual great job, and I know that they are looking for a third win for us as much as we are. It should be quite an event when we go back in June.
Finally, after Pre-qualifying was over, we once again went and visited our military, this time at bases in Italy. It never ceases to amaze you at the quality of the men and women that serve our country with such honor and bravery. They truly are living examples of what is great about the USA, and the way they conduct themselves leaves you proud of the military and all that they do. To all of them, thanks for everything that you do.
Johnny O
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