Chapter 13

It’s Race Day!

The “bomb” goes off at 5:30am, signaling the beginning of the day’s festivities.  The race won’t begin for another six and a half hours, but already, at each gate, there are lines of eager racing fans ready to experience the great spectacle that is the Indianapolis 500 mile race.  The mad rush begins, as attendees enter the gates and begin sprinting through tunnels in order to stake out prime viewing spots atop the spectator mounds that ring the inside of the track’s turns.

At 6:00am, in the Lotus Fan Force United team garage, and most likely in the garage of every other team that is working on final race day preparations, the televisions are tuned to the GP2 race in Monaco.  We’re all race fans, after all.  We may not be able to watch any of that race, but it is the ideal background noise for a busy team.  Naturally, in the garage of the Lotus brand ambassador, there is much talk of Conor Daly’s crash in the Lotus Racing GP3 car at Monaco.  Along those same lines, we all watch the 8:00am start of the Monaco Grand Prix, where fellow Lotus-runner, Roman Grosjean, is caught up in a spin at the start, ending his race before it could even begin.  We’ll share in similar frustrations in just a few hours.

Much as was the case in Lotus’ Indianapolis 500 debut on Thursday, May 30 in 1963, when two of the Lotus cars took the green flag as part of the field of 33, two Lotus-powered cars will start the 96th Indianapolis 500.  On that day, Jim Clark and Dan Gurney would score 2^nd and 7^th place finishes in their Lotus machines.  Lotus’ re-debut in the world’s most famous race would not go nearly as well. 

With the teams arriving so early on race day, the multi-hour wait until the gridding of the cars and the beginning of pre-race festivities is difficult.  Jean arrives at the garage for final strategy sessions and final pre-race preparations before returning to his home away from home at the racetrack to be with family, close compatriots, and his thoughts.  Though it is widely suggested that his day in the car will be short, Jean (and the team) prepares to race the full 500 miles.   

Finally, the time comes to move the #64 FP Journe Watches machine to the racetrack, and to place it at its location on the starting grid.  It is an extremely warm day in Indianapolis.  The IndyCar series chaplain joins the team for a group prayer.  Experienced team members, with years of experience at Indy go about their business.  Team owners and sponsors that are experiencing the pre-race festivities at Indy from this perspective for the first time are soaking in the traditions and the flood of emotions that accompanies the realization of long-held dreams.    

The team’s Indy Lights driver, Armaan Ebrahim, takes in the sights and sounds, as he fully expects to be an Indy 500 starter himself in the not-too-distant future.  It is Armaan’s full-season Indy Lights program that was ultimately responsible for the Fan Force United team to be in a position to put together the 500 effort for Jean Alesi, quickly building a very good team from a vastly experienced and well-respected base.

This author, with emotion breaking in to his voice, leans over to tell team co-owner (and Indy 500 veteran) Tyce Carlson that it was 27 years ago that his father had first fielded a car at Indy, also realizing a dream, and that it had started from the same spot (33^rd). 

Though the wait had been long, the pomp and the pageantry of the pre-race ceremonies flew by in a way that did not seem possible.  It now seemed that the hours before the race were nothing more than a few minutes.  The bands had marched and played, driver introductions had been made, prayers were prayed, planes had flown overhead, drivers were strapped in to their machines, songs were sung, and balloons floated skyward.  Whereas in the lead-up to the race time had practically stood still, these events seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.  Finally, a voice gave the command to start engines.

Goosebumps.  Chills.  Butterflies.  A nervous glance skyward.  A silent prayer.

It is 87 degrees when the race begins.  The track temperature is 120 degrees.  There are no clouds in the sky, and a late May Indiana sun burns down on the hundreds of thousands in attendance. 

The parade and pace laps are completed and the green flag flies.  You can almost hear nervous team members audibly exhale after a clean trip through turn one.  Early on, Jean picks up a position, passing Simona deSilvestro in the other Lotus-powered machine.  One of today’s goals is to be “first in class,” and Jean is on his way to doing that, at the least.  Unfortunately, Jean is not able to maintain the pace of the rest of the field, falling just outside what is known as the 105% rule, meaning that he is called in to the pits on Lap 10, just a lap or two ahead of the time when he is expected to be lapped by the race leaders.  The team makes the adjustments that are possible, preparing to return Jean to the Speedway.  That is what their driver wants.  He is a proud and intense competitor.  It is hoped that they can pick up some positions through attrition, while also allowing Jean to gain Indy experience for his hoped-for return engagement in 2013, while also gathering valuable data for the development of the Lotus engine.

The team is informed that they are not going to be allowed to continue in the race.  In response, there is intense lobbying to allow Jean to return to the track, indicating that to this point the #64 car has not been in anybody’s way, and that they are most assuredly here to race.  All of this, of course, was to no avail.  Initially, Jean is scored in 32^nd place, thus another goal is achieved.  However, Jean is penalized for not answering the black flag in a timely manner, and is penalized two laps.  So even though his on-track performance had him at least one spot better, the penalty ends up placing him 33^rd.  A bit of insult to injury, it seems.

Though being parked early is not entirely unexpected, it is still a significant disappointment to a team and driver that had worked so incredibly hard.  Nobody wanted to “start and park.”  That was never the plan, and nobody was here just to collect a paycheck.  This team put in nearly 900 miles of practice laps.  This team put its car and driver on the track all but one day that the track was open for practice (including two days of ROP).  This team prepared to run 500 miles and to do all that it could to best represent themselves, their partners (Lotus), and their sponsors (FP Journe Watches, Jonathan Byrd’s, AMG, Breeden Legal, West Point Financial, Keco Coatings), while honoring the sport and the event around which we order our calendars and our lives. 

There is a media crush in the pit once Jean is officially retired from the race.  Jean patiently speaks to television and radio reporters, exuding class and confidence in the face of what we know is monumental frustration, looking ahead to next year and speaking quite favorably of the team that has worked so very diligently for him.    

At the very least, even if we were slow from the outset, let it be said that from the car that many thought to be the most beautiful car at the track this year, to the team gear that so many have expressed the desire to own, we looked good doing it.

To be concluded…     

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