called in circle-track racing) and got a great run out of the Mulsanne Kink. Then just before cresting the hill after the Kink, Balto suddenly emerged from Kline's slipstream. As Kline continued battling the wind created by his car's movement through the air ahead, Balto had less air resistance to ward off. By the time they cleared the hill, Balto was clearly alongside the Jaguar of his countryman. Jeff, however, was having none of it and tried to close the door. But that was a very dangerous thing to do considering the incredible speeds the cars were doing at this point. If Balto did get forced onto the gravel lining the shoulders of the road, he could easily lose control, spin, and crash heavily. Not only could he go into a spin, but Jeff could be collected as well. The two cars did rub fenders and trade paint, but fortunately, no damage resulted from that. Jeff hugged the right-hand side of the road in order to defend the inside line going into the Mulsanne Corner. By doing so, he hoped to force Balto to go the long way around the outside through the tight right-hander. As they came out of the corner, Jeff tried to force Balto onto the grass by taking the normal line on the exit. Balto, however, was having none of that, and he countered by steering back onto the track. Unfortunately, Balto's right front corner made contact with Jeff's left rear corner, turning the Jaguar onto the grass after the exit of the corner. Unlike his previous pass attempts on his fellow American, this time Balto's overtaking attempt was successful. Behind him, the Jaguar spun as Kline tried to get back onto the pavement. The track announcer and the radio commentators for Radio Le Mans got caught by surprise when they saw the incident play out on the television monitors. "Kline's looped it!" John Hindhaugh of Radio Le Mans exclaimed. "Jeff Kline has spun at the exit of Mulsanne Corner! He was in a very heated battle for the overall lead with Balto Wolf, and he has now lost out big time in that battle." "What happened. Balto?" Kurt Schwartz asked his driver. "Are you okay?" "I'm alright," Balto replied. "I just held my line coming out of Mulsanne and the Jaguar just tried to put me in the weeds!" "Is the car okay?" Kurt asked again. "So far, it feels okay," Balto responded. The car was still drivable. The big worry was that the left front fender may have been knocked in, causing it to rub against the tire. If left untreated, such damage could result in a tire failure. Balto drove carefully through Indianapolis and Arnage corners after the contact to make sure that the car was still in one piece. Everything checked out just fine for him. "Did the Jaguar get going again?" Balto asked his crew. "It's still running, but it's a long way back, Balto," Rhinehold Joest answered back. "Maintain your lead, but ease up a bit so that you can make to your next scheduled pit stop." "Got it," Balto shot back. Balto drove the remaining laps before his pit stop as normal. The stop itself was routine, but include checking the left front tire for damage caused by the fender possibly rubbing it. No such damage was found, and after the fuel tank was filled and the tires changed, Balto returned to the track. As the second half of Balto's first run in the car wore on, dusk began to set in. This would create a hazard on the run from Mulsanne to Indianapolis. Because that run down Route D338 ran west, it ran virtually right into the setting sun. Drivers would be nearly blinded by the glare from the onset of dusk until night fully set in. Luckily for Balto, his run would end while there was still daylight. Plus he was wearing dark goggles, so glare wouldn't be as big an issue. When it came time for his nighttime stint, he had a pair of clear goggles to switch over to. One interesting feature about this race for these cars was that the pit boards used to provide vital information to the drivers like intervals between cars ahead and behind, when to pit, etc., were positioned not along the pit wall, but at Mulsanne Corner. The cars would be going to fast along the pit straight for the drivers to read the info on the pit board, so the best idea was to position the pit boards at the slowest corner on the track, which was Mulsanne. Arnage would have been another good position, as it is also a slow corner. Interestingly, Balto had suggested that his car's pit board be positioned there to avoid all the crowding at Mulsanne Corner. That was one of a few suggestions of his that was actually taken seriously. And that's where his pit board was eventually placed. The other reason why he decided Arnage would be the better location was because it was closer to the pits, meaning that a "pit this lap" message would be fresher in his memory. It worked the first time around for him. His seatmates took a while to warm up to that idea, but they eventually liked it, too. Sure enough, Balto made it back to the pits safely for his second stop, during which he would had the car back over to Bob Wollek at the end of lap 90. A few laps earlier, on lap 86, the #3 Jaguar XJR-9LM retired from the race due to sustained damage from an off that Jeff Kline had while chasing Balto Wolf back down. Before heading back into the garage, Balto helped Bob buckle in, just as Hans had help him buckle in when he began his first stint. The stop went according to plan, with the driver and tires changed, the fuel tank refilled, and before long, Bob was back out on the track and still in the lead. Balto had done what he had hoped to do, build a sufficient cushion of a lead over his adversaries during his time in the car, so that when it came time to make a pit stop, the car would return to the race in the lead. Which is exactly what he managed to pull off. "Good job out there, Balto," Reinhold told his driver after he went back into the garage. "The nearest opponent is just coming onto he pit straight right now. You managed to get us quite a lead out there." "You sure managed to sock it to 'em out there," Kurt said after he walked over to where his driver and their boss were standing. "That was some driving you pulled off out there," Hans added. "I told you guys I wouldn't disappoint you out there," Balto responded to their comments. After all the talk subsided, Balto immediately went over to see Jenna. As usual, she greeted him with a kiss and a hug. "Sounds like you did really good out there," said Jenna. "Sure did," Balto said, backing up what she heard from Reinhold, Hans, and Kurt.   Chapter 13: Nighttime is the right time(?)   Dusk at Le Mans typically last until past 10:00 PM. Nighttime fully sets in as late as 11:00. The best place to be for nighttime at Le Mans is at the Esses, watching the cars shriek down from the Dunlop Bridge, belching fire in the form of unburned fuel igniting in the exhaust pipe and disc brakes glowing like hot neon used to light up signs on the Las Vegas strip. It was about that time when Jenna headed down there with her camera to take some pictures. Balto, meanwhile, stayed behind with the team up in the garage. His next stint was due to start around 11:30 PM, so he couldn't go with her and expect to be back in time. Balto had told Jenna about how breathtaking the view is at the Esses in the dark of night. From the way Balto described it, it sounded like quite an awe-inspiring sight, and after hearing about that, she couldn't wait to go there and see it for herself. Now was her chance to experience it. Sure enough, Hans brought the #9 Joest Racing Porsche 962C into the pits on schedule to hand the car over to Balto. The stop was routine and went according to plan. After less than a minute on pit road, Balto was back in the race. Seconds later, the pale pink #9 962C rocketed down the hill towards the Esses. As it passed under the light from a light pole, Jenna managed to get a snapshot of the car as it passed by. And judging by what she saw in the view finder - exhaust belching raw flame, brake discs/rotors glowing - what she saw was timeless. During C1 qualifying, Jenna even went down to the Kink for some good shots during the dusk hours. Watching the cars coming streaking through that horror at 240 mph (the Mercedes C9s reached 401 km/h, or 249 mph) truly was a sight to behold. Back out on the track, Balto held a comfortable lead of more than half a minute over his nearest adversary, the #63 Sauber Mercedes C9, back in the hands of Stanley Dickens. Balto's seatmates had gone into fuel-saving mode during their latest stints to make sure that their 2,550 liter supply of fuel would last until the checkered flag. Balto had also been advised to go into fuel-conservation mode, which he did. With the lead that he had, he could afford to do so. Although Balto would still go foot-to-the-floor on the straights, he would shift at slightly lower revs, brake a tad earlier and less forcefully, downshifting at lower revs under braking, and more carefully re-applying the throttle after cornering were all the measures he used to help save fuel. "How are my times looking?" Balto asked his crew. "Looking good, Balto," Kurt replied. "You're lead has stabilized at 31 seconds on the dot." "You're in good shape so far, Balto," Reinhold added. "You've already done enough fuel saving for this run." "Thanks guys," Balto put in. It was almost midnight when Balto started another lap, although he felt the car's handling to be a little erratic through the Dunlop Curve and Chicane, Esses, and Tertre Rouge. The hint was obvious: there were small raindrops on the windshield. "Guys, when did they say the rain might arrive?" Balto asked, sounding very concerned. "We don't know," Reinhold responded.

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