nationality at the front, it was Great Britain (Jaguar) versus Germany (Mercedes and Porsche), and for drivers, it was USA (Jones) vs. France (Wollek & Schlesser) vs. Germany (Mass & Jelinski).
Word before the race was that rain was possible during the overnight hours. Rain is a common occurrence at Le Mans, and at night going down the Mulsanne Straight, it can result in blinding nighttime fog, making the Kink a brutal test for man and machine. Any crash there, especially in speeds in excess of 230 mph, would be pretty gruesome, as it could easily result in a fatality.
One of Balto's seatmates, Hans-Joachim Stuck, actually looked forward to making up time in the rain at night. He pulled it off last year, and Porsche might have one if not for a pit error that handed the race win to Jaguar, it's first with the XJR-9 after four years of trying with previous designs.
Balto had raced in the rain, but not at night, and was a little nervous about that prospect. Before Hans's first stint in the car, Balto sought some advice about night driving in the rain. Who better to learn from than one of the fastest sports car drivers in the business. In fact, Stuck and Wollek were among the fastest drivers that sports car racing had ever seen, so Wolf knew that he was in good company.
Before Hans began his first stint in the #9 Joest Porsche, Balto sought some advice on racing in the rain at night.
"Say, Hans," Balto asked. "Are the rumors true about the potential for rain tonight?"
"So far, it's just rumors," Hans replied.
"Hmm," Balto mumbled, sounding uneasy.
"Why do you ask?" Hans asked.
"I've never raced in the rain at night before," Balto responded. "Let alone at these speeds. I'm not sure what to expect."
"You know, I didn't know what to expect either when I first raced in the rain at night," Hans added. "And I've driven many of the great road racing circuits in both dry and wet weather. At night in the rain, the intensity level is bound to be lower than in daytime wet driving or nighttime dry driving. Even with the better grip of rain tires, between the reduced road adhesion and the lack of visibility, you can't afford to drive at 10/10ths. You've got to be content to back it down a little bit. Just bear all that in mind, and you'll do fine out there."
Rain tires, also called "wets," are typically of a softer compound than dry slick tires which have no grooves in the tread. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a high grip level and 1 being a low grip level, soft dry slicks were about a two, while full rain tires were an 8. But if used on a dry track, wet tires will be competely used up very shortly. They need water on the track to stay cooler longer in order to reduce wear rate and increase their longevity. In between slicks and wets are tires called inters, short for intermediates. These tires are best used when a track is damp but not thoroughly soaked. On the 1 to 10 grip scale, they rank at 5.
Before anyone knew it, the time had come for Stuck to begin his first stint in the car. While the fuel was going in and tires were being changed, Bob unbuckled his seat belts and climbed out. His next task was to help Hans buckle up and get the seat set up for him. Once all of that was taken care of, Hans restarted the engine (rules state that the engine must be turned off during a pit stop) and returned to the track.
Once back out on track, Hans was easily able to keep the #9 Porsche in the top 5 overall. And he easily held it there until his first pit stop at the wheel. On track, however, he was somewhat of a match for the #3 Jaguar, now in the hands of Irishman Derek Daly. He wasn't much of a threat to make a challenge for the lead, but he was never far off from potentially challenging for the lead and was definitely in a good position to capitalize. Even through the third round of pit stops, Hans kept in close contact with Derek. As was the case with Bob, Hans would be in the car for two fuel runs, after which Balto would take over for his first stint in the car.
Balto was long ready when it was time for him to take the wheel of the #9 Joest Porsche 962C. He waited at his car's pit stall with his driving suit on with the fireproof underwear on underneath, his helmet and seat insert in one paw and his gloves and balaclava in the other. Jenna was standing right next to him in the pit area. Both of them were wearing matching Porsche hats and similar, red-framed, dark sunglasses. She was wearing a pink tank top with her "swept away sweater" tied around her waist in case the night got to cool, fairly tight light blue jeans and red Converse high-top sneakers.
When Hans crossed the start finish line for his second pit-in-lap - a lap that ended in the pits - Balto started putting on his balaclava, helmet and gloves This way, he would be ready to strap in and take the wheel at the next pit stop.
"We're ready for you in the pit, Hans," Reinhold Joest called into his headset mike.
"Copy that," Hans answered back over the two-way radio.
The "ready" call was given while Hans was on the stretch between Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners. A minute later, he was in the pit entry.
"Here goes," Balto thought. This was his moment to strut his stuff in one of the biggest races on the planet.
"Good luck, Balto," Jenna said as she patted him on the back.
"Thank you, Jenna," Balto replied.
As usual, before he headed out to the car, Balto got his customary "good luck" kiss from Jenna, both of them managing to slip an "I love you" into the mix.
But when he got out to the pits, Balto's mindset shifted to the task that lie ahead. Having taken his seat insert with him, he put that in first before strapping himself in the car.
Balto would end up losing time in the pits largely because his nearest rivals ( fellow American Jeff Kline in the #3 Jaguar and Swede Stanley Dickens in the #63 Mercedes C9) had managed to gain time simultaneously. As a result he dropped to third behind the #3 Jaguar and the #63 Mercedes C9. Now the pressure was on him to get heat into the tires quickly and stay in touch with the leaders.
Once the tire pressures had built up from the heat, Balto was in full (concern for fuel consumption issues in mind) attack mode. As the run went on, he was gaining on the leaders at a rate that, although impressive, worried his boss that he was using up too much fuel and burning up the tires too fast.
"Don't run the car so hard, Balto, you're gonna melt the damn tires," Reinhold Joest called into the mike.
"Reinhold, I'm not going faster, everyone else is going slower!" Balto retorted.
Balto's race engineer, Kurt Schwartz, had been checking Balto's lap times in comparison with other in-class adversaries, especially the two leaders and those nearby in terms of track position.
"He's right," Kurt informed Reinhold as he moved the mike on his headset away from his mouth. "I ran a check on his lap times and compared them with the other C1 cars around him as far as track of position goes. He's not falling off the pace as much as everyone else. Especially the two ahead of him in the race."
Kurt then handed Reinhold his stat sheet with the comparison on it. After looking over, Rhinehold knew that his driver was telling the truth.
"Alright, Balto, Kurt confirmed what you told me," said Reinhold over the two-way radio. "You're doing great. You're running third, and you're gaining seven-tenths of a second a lap on the leader."
Balto was just less than four seconds adrift of Kline and only two adrift of Dickens when the confirmation call came through. Through the twisty sections, Balto would easily lose sight of the those ahead of him. But once on the straight stretches, they were back within sight. By now, Balto was right on Dickens's tail. He got a terrific run going out of the Dunlop Chicane, caught the slipstream, and made a terrific pass under braking for the Esses as he dove inside Dickens entering the first left-hand turn at the bottom of the hill. It was brave, clean, and the Porsche came out ahead of the Mercedes.
As they saw the overtaking maneuver on the monitors in the pit area, the Joest crew cheered their new recruit. Jenna's cheer, however, was probably the loudest of them all.
"Yeah!" she exclaimed with delight. "Way to go, Balto!"
"Great pass, Balto, great pass!" Reinhold Joest calmly exclaimed.
"Thank you, boss," Balto answered back just as he cleared Tertre Rouge and began rocketing down the Mulsanne Straight. Once ahead of the #63 C9, Balto began closing the gap to the #3 XJR-9LM of Jeff Kline.
As easy as Balto had it passing Stanley Dickens, he had a much harder time passing Jeff Kline, who seemed hell-bent on maintaining the overall race lead. Balto was running out of options and out of time before he'd have to pit for tires and fuel. Eventually, he decided that he had no choice but to force the issue. It was about 7:30 PM local time (9:30 AM Alaska Time), about half an hour into his first stint. He would have to pit within the next three to five laps. For the most part, at first it seemed all he was able to do was watch Kline's lines and hope for a mistake. Now, however, he knew it was time to take a chance, albeit a calculated one. Balto did believe in taking risks, but he believed in taking calculated risks. He believed one could intimidate by being crafty just as easily as you can by being crude.
With two laps until his first pit stop, Balto realized he had to be crude even three-and-a-half hours into the race. His best chance for a pass was under braking for Mulsanne Corner, at the end of the 3.5 mile long Mulsanne Straight. On that lap, he got in the slipstream (or draft as it is called in circle-track
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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.