{"id":460526,"date":"2005-07-01T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2005-07-01T22:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=83098"},"modified":"2024-12-08T15:30:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T15:30:41","slug":"le-mans-the-hard-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/le-mans-the-hard-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Le Mans\u2014The Hard Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Porsche called me and asked if I\u2019d drive a factory car\u2014a cheater 924 Turbo\u2014at Le Mans in 1982. I said, \u201cOK, but what do you mean by cheater?\u201d \u201cWell, you know, there\u2019s not really a class for it\u2014it\u2019s gonna run in the GT class\u2014but they\u2019ve made a really good engine and we think it can win. So would you go to Weissach and be there a couple of weeks before the race and test it at the factory test track and then we\u2019ll go down to Le Mans and race the car?\u201d I said, \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I packed up and went over and got a room at the Holiday Inn in Zuffenhausen and stayed there for two weeks. Every day I\u2019d call the race department and ask if the car was ready for testing. And every day they said, \u201cNot yet. Call back.\u201d So I made them rent me this big Mercedes and I\u2019d drive all over Germany during the day and then I\u2019d come back and call them the next morning, \u201cCan I come over and test?\u201d But \u201cNo\u201d was always the response.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n