Orbit Racing - Le Mans race preview

smart strategy

Orbit Racing returns to the 24 Heures du Mans with a custom plan.  Leo 
Hindery of New York, Peter Baron of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Marc Lieb of Germany 
will drive the No. 87 YES Network Porsche in the June 14/15 endurance race in 
Le Mans, France.  Hindery and Baron drove together at Le Mans last year, 
starting fifth and finishing seventh.  They believe their experience will prove 
valuable in setting this year's race strategy.

"The first time we came to le Mans, we treated it as if it was the Daytona 
24, and it's much different," Hindery said.  "Daytona starts at 1, much earlier 
in the year.  It gets dark earlier and stays dark longer.  In Le Mans, we 
start at 4, it's light until about 10:15, then by 4:30 in the morning, you see sun 
again.  So we can be more clever about how we stint the drivers.  

"Last year, we were more traditional, and there's a lot of nuance to this 
race that you figure out the second time.  We're better-prepared all around.  I 
think we all know how to calm down a little better, get a little more rest.  I 
think we'll do pretty well this year."

set for 24

Lieb is a rookie at Le Mans, but he knows the importance of setting up the 
car for 24 hours on the long 13.65-km course.

"The most important thing is to work on the race setup to make the car easy 
to drive for 24 hours," he explained.  "It is important to have a setup which 
is not hard for the tires, so that the tires last for a stint and double stints 
for the night.  Le Mans is surprisingly hard for the tires - I wasn't 
expecting that!  And the car has to be drivable for every driver."

Heavy rain is possible, but Lieb said it's not a factor in car setup: "You 
try to make it as good as possible under dry conditions.  The changes you have 
to do for the rain are much easier and you can do them quickly during a pit 
stop."

fan friends

Baron started an Orbit Racing tradition at Le Mans last year, catapulting 
team t-shirts across pit lane to fans in the grandstand.  He's back this year 
with more treats.

"We want to be the most fan-friendly team," he said.  "Le Mans is the 
highlight of our racing year.  Not only do we enjoy the race, but all the events that 
surround it.  Because the race is so special for us, we want to make it 
special for the fans, too.  

"Last year, we used a giant slingshot and launched a thousand t-shirts into 
the stands across pit lane.  The fans told us we were one of the few teams that 
stood outside their pit area signing autograph cards.  We also let kids sit 
in the race car.  We have more shirts this year - kid sizes, too - and 
thousands of autograph cards.  We're ready!"