having already driven one in the Sunbank 24 Hours of Daytona, the Grand Prix of Miami, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Nissan Grand Prix of Atlanta @ Road Atlanta. All four races were part of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship. All drives were with another team.
Under the back end of the car, a few of the mechanics were making suspension setting adjustments. The public road sections of the full Le Mans circuit were noticeably bumpy compared to the permanent circuit sections. The road irregularities were rather minor, but at the speeds the cars would be traveling, it wasn't all that uncommon for a driver to have to fight hard to keep his car off the wall.
Underneath the rear bodywork of the 962C lie a 3.0 liter turbocharged flat-6. It got the name "flat" engine because the pistons lay flat at a 180 degree angle from each other. Such an engine is also called a pancake, opposed, or boxer engine. The original Volkswagen Beetle was powered by such an engine. Porsche had long used the flat engine, as had Subaru.
The car itself had a closed cockpit, as was the norm for Group C and GTP cars. There were two doors, one on each side of the cockpit. The driver's side was on the right-hand side. The H-pattern manual shift lever was located to the driver's right. It was placed toward the windshield so that the driver wouldn't bump into it when climbing into and out of the car. With the Le Mans circuit running clockwise, and with the pits being on the inside, or right-hand side of the track, this made sense. Motorcycle-style sequential shifting - common in most forms of racing today - was not yet in widespread use.
"Okay, sir, hang on there, I think I fixed it!" one of the mechanics, who was doing some wiring work for the engine, called out to the team's race engineer. "I got it."
Suddenly, the wire sparked and shorted out. The team had been experiencing some mysterious misfire problems during recent testing at Weissach, Porsche's test track facility in Germany. The test ended up being cut short because of the misfire, which was later traced to a malfunctioning ECU (Electronic Control Unit) for the engine. The work currently being done was a precautionary checkup.
"Whoops!" said the mechanic doing the wiring work said.
"Well, that didn't work," added Kurt Schwarz, Balto's race engineer. "Come on guys, we gotta get this sorted out. I don't want Balto to arrive only to not have a car to drive."
"Alright, I think I got it this time," said the same mechanic doing the wiring. The engine came to life, then settled into an idle.
"Yes!" Kurt exclaimed, pumping his fists.
After a few tugs on the throttle mechanism by a mechanic, the engine was shut off. The wiring issue was solved for now. And not a minute too soon.
Just as the engine had come to life, Balto had pulled his Porsche 911 into the paddock. He and Jenna had found a local motel to spend the night at. It was near the circuit, so they didn't have too far to travel.
"Well, there it is," he said upon seeing the Joest Racing team hauler as he guided his car towards it to park it. After turning the engine off and pulling up the parking brake, he opened the door, stepped out of the car, shut it and locked it. Jenna soon followed.
The name Joest Racing, the Porsche emblem, and an image of the car donned the sides of the hauler. The hauler itself had enough room for two cars (the primary car and the backup car), all the tools and spare parts that might be needed, and that was about it except for the living quarters for the crew.
Joest Racing is based near Mannheim, Germany, and was no stranger to competing at Le Mans.
It took Balto and Jenna less than one minute to walk from the paddock where their car was parked to the garage area. His entry into the Joest garage didn't go unnoticed.
"Well, what do you know, everybody's here," Balto thought. He wasn't sure if all of those who said they were going to be there would actually be there.
"Hey!" one of the mechanics called out. "I don't believe it. The new guy made it."
"Yes, I did," Balto answered back.
"Balto Wolf," said Reinhold Joest as he approached his new driver, "welcome to Circuit de la Sarthe."
"Thank you, Mr. Joest," Balto replied as they shook hands.
"Seriously, you don't need to be so formal," Reinhold answered back. "You can call me Reinhold."
By now, Jenna had waited long enough before wanting Balto to introduce her to the boss.
"Ahem," she said, sounding a little impatient.
"Oh, sorry, Jenna," said Balto. He then turned to Reinhold and introduced the two to each other.
Jenna did regularly attend Balto's races, but this was her first time in the paddock at a track. That's right, she had never previously been in there where all the action that goes on behind the scenes takes place. It was a little bit intimidating for her at first. She was hoping that, eventually, she would feel comfortable among all the happenings in the garage. If Balto did get the drive with Joest Racing for Le Mans, she was hoping to be able to watch the race from the garage.
The Le Mans circuit had F1-style pit garages that faced directly out toward the pit lane, which allowed for easy access between the pit lane and the garage. The garage door was already open, and Balto took advantage by going out into the pit lane to get a good look at the immediate area of the circuit. The only part of the track visible from the pit area was the from the exit of the Ford chicane to the entry to the uphill, swooping Dunlop Curve, marked by a distinctive tire-shaped sign that said "Dunlop: La Passion Du Futur." Which translated meant "Dunlop: Driving to the Future."
It hadn't rained much in the Sarthe region lately, so the track was largely dry in the areas that Balto had already inspected, including the public road sections that he had already driven in order to reach the circuit.
While out there, Balto reached town and felt the surface of the pit road under his paws. The pit stalls were concrete surfaced, while the rest of the pits were tarmac. It was a little relief to be back at La Sarthe, although it was still a bit daunting for him in light of his crash last year.
After returning to the garage, Balto was introduced to his new race engineer, Kurt Schwarz, as well as to his seatmates, Hans and Bob as well as the other Joest drivers. Between Balto, Hans and Bob, the nationality lineup for car #9 was as follows: American, German, and French. Overall, the count was four Germans, four Frenchman, and Balto as the lone American in Joest's driver lineup.
The threesome were soon called over to the car. The plan was as follows: Hans and Bob, being more experienced, were to drive the car first to gather some data for the engineers to work off of. Then, Balto was to get his seat fitted and afterward, he'd get to drive the car.
Bob Wollek was the first one to step into the car to begin the test. Joest Racing wasn't the only team at the test session. Every team that had earned an entry spot on the grid was there in preparation for the big race, which was usually held on the 24th weekend of the year, and often near the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.
Around that time of year, the summer twilight lingers late into the evening, usually until well past eight o' clock at night. This was in stark contrast to the 24 Hours of Daytona, in which, due to being run in late January or early February, the winter night comes early and stays late. And even though the setting for the Daytona 24-hour is coastal Florida, the night can be bitter cold.
After the final checkup was complete, Bob hopped in the car and strapped in. After the car was lowered off the jacks, Bob depressed the clutch pedal, selected first gear, and the car rolled out of the garage and out into pit road. There were no pit road speed limits at the time, so once Bob was out in the acceleration lane of pit road (the section paved by tarmac), he pressed the accelerator and he car roared away out onto the track. He used the out lap to get the tires and brakes up to working temperature, but he was careful not to push too hard and risk damage to the car.
After three flying laps - a lap in which the pit lane was bypassed - Bob brought the car back in. His objective on those three laps was to gather some information and data for the engineers to work with. He achieved just that.
After the analysis was complete, Hans took his turn in the car. Hans would be doing five laps on the same set of tires to do tire wear monitoring over the course of a stint. Just like Bob, Hans used the out lap to warmup the tires and brakes.
Finally, it was Balto's turn at the wheel. The first thing that needed to be done was to get him fitted for the seat. In sports-car endurance racing, two or more drivers usually alternate behind the wheel. Sometimes, the drivers can be of considerably different sizes. In such cases, seat inserts are often used to make smaller drivers fit better without having to make seat belt adjustments. Often times, when choosing a driver lineup for a sports-car endurance race, driver size is an important part of the criteria. Any time spent making seat changes or belt adjustments in the pit lane is time lost on the track.
Balto would end up needing a seat insert, and the one he chose allowed him to fit in the seat without having to make any major belt adjustments. In order for the fitting to be done, he would have to get into his driving suit. Balto, however, played it smart and wore it to the track. So he was definitely ready on that front.
Balto's equipment consisted of the usual gear necessary for racers: fireproof underwear, driving suit, driving shoes, gloves, balaclava, and helmet. Because of his muzzle, Balto had to use an open-face helmet
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Pehaps I myself should try my hand at a racing fic now. Your fic really made me want to try one now.
Overall, great fic.