Even though race cars of today are very modern, the success or failure of a race depends on the drivers. To fight at the highest levels of motorsport, everyone needs to be the best they can be, from the driver who makes a mistake to the engineer who makes an evil plan or the supplier who makes a lousy part. It’s not hard to picture how hard endurance running is in real life. Most of the time, you must figure out how long the race is: 4, 6, 12, or 24 hours. The race gets more challenging as it goes on longer. It’s hard to understand how hard these long runs are on team members’ bodies and minds—the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 allowed me to see something unique. When Cadillac Racing returned to Le Mans after 20 years, many people were excited to see them. I saw how an organisation works that has a real chance of winning the overall race. The team behind two of the three Cadillac Hypercars, Chip Ganassi Racing, is used to getting things right away. This was done when the Ford GT won the LM GTE Pro class in 2016. Oliver Gavin, who has won his class at Le Mans five times, said of the No. 3 Cadillac team, “These guys will be here for the whole 24 hours, ready to go every 20 to 30 minutes and jump into action if something unexpected stops them.” “Food will be brought to them, and they’ll try to take short naps during the race.” During the race weekend, Gavin was my chaperone, but he felt more like a babysitter than a chaperone. The British racing driver has won 51 races with Corvette Racing alone, five IMSA titles, and five American Le Mans championships. This makes him one of the most successful endurance racers in the world. He is 50 years old as well. The person loves the number 5 more than any other number. When Gavin led him into the Cadillac garage on the main square of the Circuit de la Sarthe, it was like walking into a dinner at the Vatican with the Pope. Everyone approached him to say hello, give him a high five, or talk. Gavin showed me around the garage of the No. 3 Cadillac after his fans—most of whom were former teammates from General Motors racing—had left. He told me to stay put. We had only been in the 24-hour race for two or three hours, but the garage’s layout had changed significantly from the previous day. The way they felt stayed the same. I saw how quickly Cadillac, Ganassi, GM Powertrain, and Dallara fixed the No. 3 after it caught fire on Thursday during qualifying. Here, you can find more information about this tremendous job. The cars were on the track, the mechanics were taking a break, and the engineers were paying close attention to the screens. Gavin motioned for them to follow him and pointed to a thick red line drawn on the floor that said not to cross it. On the line, there was the word “PIT LANE.” By the rules, that was where the hot pit started, and the garage stopped. The well-known race track was put 30 feet past that line. The third Cadillac might be the best known of the three. It’s also driven by some well-known names, like Renger van der Zande, who won an IMSA race; Sébastien Bourdais, who won four IndyCar championships; and Scott Dixon, who won the Indianapolis 500 and is currently the driver with the most wins in IndyCar. The pit stop request had just been sent to the car by radio, so the team in the garage was getting ready. A team member with a dolly full of tires came out of nowhere, like tiny ants working on their nest. On the other side of the garage, where the tire ovens were, I could feel the heat coming from them. Others started changing their tools and putting on their helmets to prepare for the stop. The tire changers did squats and stretches while the team’s trainer led them through a wrong workout video from the 1970s. Seeing grown men squat while wearing race suits, helmets, and masks was funny. The lollipop man quickly got out of the box and started waving his sign at the driver coming toward him. The No. 3 only got gas and tires during its pit stop, shown in the video below. In endurance races, pit stops can take many different forms. A car stops to get gas, sometimes to change its tires, and sometimes to do both. There will sometimes be a car change. These are just the breaks that were planned. In rare cases, a car must return to the pits before the crew can pull it into the shed and fix it. This could take a few minutes or several laps and require a complete engine switch or just some bodywork for looks. Every time a car is called into the pits, a specific set of things must happen. During a race, a prototype’s pit stop in the Hypercar class usually takes between 55 and 65 seconds, but the real work starts a lap or two before the car comes in and is done when the vehicle is back on track safely. Boxes, boxes, boxes Gavin told me that the engineers and planners in the garage were always keeping an eye on the car, the speeds of the other drivers, and the weather. After they’ve thought about the best time, it’s time to talk to the driver. In Gavin’s words, this is how the process works: From the pit box, the team alerts the driver. The driver checks messages from the pit. The crew and driver discuss what needs to be done (fuel, tires, a new driver, etc.). The pit team gets any tools or parts required for the stop. As they prepare for the stop on the inner track, the driver pulls out FIA-approved gear like cool shirts, drink bottles, helmet air intakes, and other possible restrictions. The driver tells the crowd that the car is now in the pit lane. The driver turns on the pit speed restriction with the steering wheel. Pit workers set up The person selling lollipops waves a sign so that the driver can see where their box is. If there’s no engine, the car stops. A team member puts a grounding cable on the car’s wheel to keep fuel fumes from catching fire from static electricity. The process of getting fuel starts. The glass is cleaned, the bodywork is checked, and the water bottle for the driver is refilled. If necessary, change the driver. The ship is now entire again. The car is now ready to leave the box and return to the race, maybe with new tires and a different driver. Only a driver change, driver service (water, etc.), or an eye inspection by the team or other team partners (Michelin, Dallara, GM) are allowed during a gas fill-up. When a full-service stop happens, the process starts again after the gas nozzle is removed from the car. The movie below, shot around 5 a.m., shows how this format works. Cars are raised with the help of hydraulic jacks. Four people with two-wheel guns start the process of changing a tire. A wheel gun mechanic takes the wheel nut off. The tire changer puts on a new tire instead of the old one. The tech makes the wheel nut tighter. The electric motor of the hypercar starts when the hydraulic jacks are dropped. Lollipop Man raises the sign to show that the release is done. The electric power makes the car roll away, and the gas V8 engine starts. It’s a significant sum of money. And this pattern can happen about once an hour throughout a 24-hour time. If something goes wrong, like when heavy rain destroys a part of the track for Dixon, the team has to put in more time and work. I always think about timing and rhythm because I play drums. Even a pit stop has a beat, proving that everything does. Watch as the people changing the tires run from one side of the car to the other and almost simultaneously fire their guns. Even though two people are working on opposite sides of the vehicle in the full-stop video above, you can still hear both wheel guns firing simultaneously. I watched more than 20 pit stops between the Cadillac and Corvette race teams over 24 hours, and I never got tired of it. Especially when there were fewer people around at night. Bright lights bounced off the car and the crew members’ helmets, making the scene look even more impressive. The most memorable thing about a pit stop at Le Mans is how the mechanics move around the car with tools and tires like they are in a dance. While this is happening, there are TV teams around them, the show’s producers are waiting for them to make a mistake, and stupid journalists like me are taking pictures of them like they are a circus act. While waiting for the car, their faces showed concentration and discipline. On the other hand, when they finished a job as a group, their faces showed excitement. It is unbelievable because it is something that a computer can’t do. Even with all the technology we have today, things still need people with a lot of knowledge to make them work. Cadillac and Ganassi came in third with the No. 2 car, missing the overall title by only one place. The number three came in fourth, just behind the number two. GM felt better after Corvette Racing won its ninth Le Mans race. Everyone knows that Gavin was happy.
