Tick Tock The siren song of Sebring didn’t quite catch me this time, however, I felt like I was almost there thanks to efforts of a number of friends. Our favorite official timing person dropped us a note… and who could have a better view of how it all played out other than Chris Syfert. |
Kerry Morse |
View from the Timing Stand – Sebring 2004 Now that I am back in the official timing department for the first time since 1997, my view has changed and it’s a good view. One disadvantage at Sebring was that Kerry was not on site to deliver a good cup of tea while I was working. Sebring provided beautiful weather for the entire weekend and a crowd that looked larger than two years ago at the 50th Anniversary event. My view from the third floor of the tower (all 55 steps up) showed every square foot of the place occupied by campers and partiers from Thursday on. During the first hour of the race, one of our timing crew was dispatched to replace a battery on remote transponder decoder unit. He was gone for nearly an hour and a half. We thought maybe he had been captured in Green Park. Upon his return, he said it would have been quicker to walk. There was no room to turn his car around from turn 7 and had to back most of the way back to the tower. My assignment of maintaining the driver database is very different from what I’ve done the last six seasons in pit lane with Panoz Motorsports and JML Panoz. It’s an interesting view, tied closely to the latest technology in the scoring world. The multi-driver aspect of the ALMS adds another dimension to the timing from what most series have to deal with. It’s also exciting to brainstorm even more upgrades in the future. The other fun part of the job is that my radio has direct communications with all the other officials. The pit marshals are all relieved that they don’t have relay messages from me to Marty any more! Speaking of Marty, he made some notably good calls, most ironic was the one where he penalized a car for contact with another car – and the victim of the hit was Jan Magnussen. It was great to get a chance to visit with many of my former Panoz teammates. Dewain Rice and Al Wickenrider were with the official IMSA staff. Andy Waldrep, Paul Caves, Luke Dudman, Kent Moon and Scotty Naish were helping run the Panoz Batmobile for Larbre Competition. They hoped for a top ten finish for the car and fought through lots of challenges to finish ninth overall. They set their fastest race lap two or three laps from the end while chasing and claiming an overall position from a Job Porsche. I had a momentary visit with Don Panoz who looks terrific after his Australian vacation. The race was not a classic close finish as the Audi’s ran as well as ever to clearly lead the field. The joke around the paddock was that the winning team is pronounced AUDI uk, with the emphasis on the German components of the team. In any case, they are doing an excellent job. I also had a brief conversation with Donnie Wilson, now advising Pratt & Miller on the best use of their new Michelin tires. He was very enthused about his new assignment and the team was showing once again that they are the class of GTS. All in all, I think I have found the best assignment for me this year. I miss being in pit lane, but there are advantages to being upstairs. The timing crew is well run and makes the working environment very good. See you all at Mid-Ohio. |
Chris Syfert |
