Evening with a Legend: Mario Andretti

• Mario, let’s start off by talking about your “Road to LeMans” – your first visit was in 1966, with a Holman Moody Ford GT40 MkII, with co-driver Lucien Bianchi. Tell us about that first trip to LeMans. How did racing at LeMans compare to everything you’d done up to that point? And what was it like driving the GT40?
• You returned to LeMans in 1967, this time in another GT40 (MkIV), and unfortunately in the middle of the night there was a bit of a mistake made in the pits… what happened? 
• After the incident in 1967, you didn’t return to LeMans until after completing your seasons in Formula 1. How had LeMans changed by 1982. 
• You were also racing with Michael in a Mirage M12 Ford. Was this one of the earlier/maybe earliest events where you and Micheal co-drove together? What was that like?
• In 1988 you returned, with Michael and your nephew John, this time in a Porsche 962. Compared to the open wheel cars you’d been driving; how did the 962 differ? Describe what it was like?
• You returned 3 more times back-to-back from 1995-1997 with the Courage Team – How had LeMans changed by the ‘90s?
• And finally in 2006, at the age of 60, you attempted the race one more time driving for Panoz in the LMP-1 Roadster S – again, we have huge jumps in technology and changes to the circuit – your thoughts? 
• What do you feel is the most challenging part of driving at the 24 hours of LeMans?
• What’s next for Mario Andretti? And Andretti Autosport as part of the future of LeMans? 

and much, much more!

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Evening with the Legend is a series of presentations exclusive to Legends of the Famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, giving us an opportunity to bring a piece of Le Mans to you. By sharing stories and highlights of the big event, you get a chance to become part of the Legend of Le Mans, with guests from different eras of over 100 years of racing.

Crew Chief Eric: Tonight, we have an opportunity to bring a piece of Lamar to you, sharing in the legend of Lamar with guests from different eras. of over a hundred years of racing. And as your host, I’m delighted to introduce a racing icon considered by many to be the greatest race car driver in the history of the sport.

Born in Italy, emigrating to the United States and beginning his career racing stock cars in Pennsylvania at the age of 19, he won races in sports car, [00:01:00] sprint car, stock car, formula cars. On ovals, road courses, drag strips, on the dirt, and on the pavement. His achievements are legendary. The world watched as he won the Daytona 500, the Indy 500, and ultimately the Formula One World Championship, an unprecedented trifecta.

Mario Andretti took the checkered flag 111 times during his career, a career that stretched five decades and across six continents, and includes nine That’s right. Nine entries in the famed 24 hours of Le Mans. And with that, I’m your host, Crew Chief Eric from the Motoring Podcast Network, welcoming everyone to this evening with a legend.

And so without further ado, Mario, welcome to the show.

Mario Andretti: Thank you, Eric. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Crew Chief Eric: Well Mario, let’s start off by talking about your road to Le Mans. Your first visit was in 1966 with the Holman Moody Ford GT40 Mark II with co driver Lucien Bianchi. So tell us about that first trip to Le Mans.

How did racing at Le Mans [00:02:00] compare to everything you’d done on the road up until that point.

Mario Andretti: First of all, I really look forward to doing Le Mans. At that point, I had only done one long distance race, which was a Daytona 500 in 66 with Ferrari, but the opportunity to go to Le Mans with Ford, there was a big, big effort there.

Their objective was obviously to win it, you know, and they did finally. So anyway, I welcomed the idea, and Lucien Bianchi was quite the veteran of Valon Dess racing, and he and I became very, very close friends, you know, over the time. The experience was good, but we didn’t finish.

Crew Chief Eric: The GT40, it was still new, it was evolving, we’ve all seen the movie Ford versus Ferrari.

Was it a lot like that, going to Le Mans with that car?

Mario Andretti: Well, I had done a lot of testing. Uh, I was part of the testing team. So I was involved in, uh, all of the running that was done. So I had a pretty good feel for the car, except that, as I said, that in [00:03:00] that particular event, they put in the, well, no, no, actually there was one later that where they put in the wrong pads, you know, on the side.

Crew Chief Eric: Oh, we’ll talk about that.

Mario Andretti: Yeah. And actually in 66. I think we had an engine issue, but I felt comfortable. I felt that we had a good shot of doing well. I mean, because again, I felt good in the car, you know, and the following year, Bruce McClaren and I won the 12 hour, so I was familiar. It’s not that I didn’t have extensive road racing experience, but I was, when I was coming on pretty good in the testing, you know, my speed was, was actually comparable to anyone there.

Crew Chief Eric: So would you say that first trip Lamar was intimidating? That was probably the longest lap you’d ever driven, right? On any course, or had you done other courses like the Nuremberg ring or something like that up until that point?

Mario Andretti: No, no, that was for me. That was the first. And yeah, it can be intimidating if you let it be intimidating.

It’s just that obviously any potential negative. out of your mind, no question. You approach it the way you should approach [00:04:00] any, any new experience, if you will. I felt that we had a great team behind us. There was plenty of time to get familiar with the course. Yes, I’ve been challenging, daunting, high speed.

Yes, all of that, all of those things that we, you know, I love because, uh, I mean, I used to do the Banking at Daytona, you know, flat at 220 miles an hour. So the speed was not a factor, but anything, any new experience is daunting, no question. And again, the fact that I really, really look forward to it, I think makes a big difference.

So I embraced it in the most positive way.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, you brought it up, Mario. Le Mans 1967, that was your second trip to the famed 24 Hours, and you hinted at it. There was a bit of a mistake made in the pits in the middle of the night. So what happened? Describe it for us.

Mario Andretti: Yeah, it was Aleutian Bianchi, uh, and I, and again against Zangerni and, and A.

J. Foyt. I was in the same stint as A. J. Foyt, and I thought that I probably [00:05:00] could do a bit better. Uh, I had, you know, more experience with the car and I was putting up quite a bit of distance between us. And especially it was wet and part of the stint, actually I did two stints at that point, then when I handed the car.

To Lucian, he didn’t know that we had a break issue, but we knew how to deal with it. And there was a lot of vibration, but we had to live with it up to a certain point. But he was not aware of that. I had almost a lap advantage on AJ at that point when Lucian took over. Then I’m still sitting at the wall because I was pretty well spent in those daunting two stints.

And all of a sudden he comes in. And he’s discussing the situation with one of the mechanics, like, you know, like during practice, I said, you know, there’s a race going on, but he wanted the brake pads changed, which that was not going to change anything. It was that the disc needed to be [00:06:00] changed, but it wasn’t the time.

That’s what I’m saying. But since he asked for something. All of a sudden the change in the pads and I was a bit upset. So I pulled him out. I said, I’m going back in and of course full load of fuel. And, uh, unbeknownst to me later on, I’m coming over the rise, going to the down lump chicane and breaking the car, just, just turn to the right.

That’s it. So we crashed and it was all over. Actually, I busted some ribs and whatever. That was the race that was unfortunate. Later on, when they gather all the pieces together, they found out that one of the pads on the right front was put on backwards, metal to metal, uh, since the disc was cracked, it caught and with a full load of fuel.

We still run, you know, a lot of fuel in those days and it took the wheel right out of my hands. And then we went, I went into the dirt bank and basically destroyed the front of the car.

Crew Chief Eric: So after that incident in 1967, you didn’t return to Le Mans until after [00:07:00] completing your seasons in Formula One. We’re talking a gap of 1967 all the way up to 1982.

So let’s talk about how Lamar evolved during that time period. When you returned, what was it like, you know, walking down the paddock into pit lane? How had Lamar changed since 1967?

Mario Andretti: You know, obviously, Things evolve, you know, that everything just changes for the better, if you will. It’d be, you know, the infrastructure is different and the cars, rules and all those things, it’s not that I had been away from the sport.

So I was changing with that. I expected things to be different. Of course, I felt quite comfortable in that situation as well, because. We were with a Kramer Porsche, great experience team and so on and so forth. And Felipe was a third driver, you know, very good. And of course it was, uh, Michael was his second experience, but the first experience we never got to start.

You know, well, it’s a long story there. We were on a grid and they said the car was [00:08:00] illegal. So anyway, so I had a little bit of everything as far as experiences there.

Crew Chief Eric: That was with the Mirage M12 Ford?

Mario Andretti: Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Crew Chief Eric: And in 82, that was still pre bus stop, pre chicane on the Molson. So you were able to go full tilt down the straightaway.

Mario Andretti: Full tilt. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: So did you guys make it through qualifying in 82? You just didn’t make it to the grid?

Mario Andretti: Yeah, we made it through qualifying. We were on a grid. We were ready to start and all of a sudden, you know, one of the marshals come here and he’s pulling me out of the car. And I said, what’s going on?

But anyway, one thing led to another that they deemed our car illegal because they said that some of the, uh, oil coolers, intakes, so forth, were changed from qualifying to the race. So I was not aware of any of that. So they pulled us out of the race. That would have been Michael’s debut. My son Michael’s debut at the time.

Crew Chief Eric: And that would have also been the first time that you guys co drove together.

Mario Andretti: Indeed. [00:09:00] Indeed. Yes. Yes.

Crew Chief Eric: But not the last time.

Mario Andretti: Not the last

Crew Chief Eric: time. 1982, if I do my math right, and I was doing some research on this, a Porsche 924 GTR Carrera took your place. I’m wondering if that was one of our previous legends that were on the show.

Maybe that was the Jim Busby, Doc Bundy team that took your spot after the car was disqualified. Cause I heard a little bit of that story as well.

Mario Andretti: Well, I suppose that was it, but I wasn’t too interested in that.

Crew Chief Eric: Speaking of that, you know, you’ve talked about the breakdowns and the pads and the disqualifications, all these situations with the car.

And one of the biggest themes that has come up with other guests on this program is mechanical sympathy. So would you say that’s maybe one of the most important parts about endurance racing, especially racing at Le Mans?

Mario Andretti: No question. You know, it’s a mouthful when you say 24 hours, the mechanical side plays, and this is when.

Porsche comes in or Ferrari, the renowned reliability they always had and as a driver, that’s where you [00:10:00] want it to be in, quite honestly, either one. The record is insurmountable, you know, the Porsche, especially a Le Mans. Yeah, to have that opportunity, you know, it was a lot of pleasure because we finished third, but we were just behind the full factory team, which they won too.

Actually, they had Trouble right at the end at one, I think it was determined that one or two laps, we would have won that race because they’re both has a turbocharger problem and nevertheless, uh, on a podium was, it was a good beginning with my son, Michael, alongside and of course, uh, it was a good podium.

Crew Chief Eric: So the last time you and I got together, we talked about how you helped. Team Lotus and Colin Chapman developed ground effects in the Type 79. And you saw that technology carry through into the sports car and endurance world, especially at Le Mans. Here we are in the eighties moving into 1988, where you mentioned earlier, you were running the Porsche 962 with Michael and your nephew, [00:11:00] John.

And so these were full ground effect cars. And so I want to take a moment to kind of compare and contrast the 962 To everything else you driven up into that point, because a lot of us hold the 9 62 in massive regard is probably one of the most legendary endurance cars of all time. So I’m going to walk us through that experience and that technology change from the Lotus 79 and what you helped develop.

To that point in 1988, almost 10 years later,

Mario Andretti: well, obviously you learn more, you know, you develop and all of a sudden with the sports car, you have a lot more square inch area to deal with as far as your diffusers and so on and so forth. So even though obviously it’s regulated, if you will, the diffuser access and so forth, but still no ground effect downforce is what drivers we love because, you know, you have more speed through the corner.

That’s the whole objective. To me, all the drivers, I’m sure, we welcomed that feature, no question. The unfortunate thing, everybody else had it, too. [00:12:00] You know, so all you did is just go faster, which is great. I remember clearly that getting away from Le Mans at Daytona, I was, Michael and I, We’re the first ones to drive a 962 because usually Le Mans was a 956, you know, 962 was for us because that single turbocharger for him.

So, and, uh, we were the first ones actually, I was on Polo Daytona and we had a gearbox issue. Actually, I was at the infancy of ground effects for Porsche because the 962 at the beginning was like a lot of air cooling in the engine and so for qualifying, it just blocked the air intakes underneath and you gain tremendous amount of downforce obviously because of that, but in a race.

They had to obviously keep that open. So in the race, it was, it was not the same, but here at the beginning and so on and so forth, the 962, it was full, full downforce, the maximum [00:13:00] that could be allowed under the rules. And, uh, it was an awesome car to drive. Absolutely.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, I have a very specific question from Neil here.

So this goes back to the 1988 race, you against the factory Porsche team with Stuck Bell and Ludwig in the car. They were the expected winners. What were you, Michael and John told to do? Like, was this still a time of team orders and rank and file and things like that? Were you told to take it easy? You just had to bring the car home.

What was the plan? And did you feel like you could beat the Jaguars?

Mario Andretti: Well, we felt that we could beat the Jaguars, but there was a strange rule in place in 1988. There was a maximum amount of fuel that you could burn for, you know, with any car. Kind of was a stupid rule, but that’s it. You had to go by it.

Quite honestly, the engineer, Mr. Singer, Herbert Singer, I loved the man. I really did. And I think he liked us and he knew that we would obey. And there was no order as far as, you know, who does [00:14:00] whatever. It’s just that who just follows the strategy. He said, if by one in the morning, it said, you’re on, on a, on a fuel mark.

He said, no deficit. You probably have a chance to win the race there. That the big competition was with the Jaguars and our teammates were in deficit of fuel, something like actually. Five or seven liters, which can mean you have to stay in the pits for that long, like for maybe 30 seconds, sometimes a minute, you know, because you won’t have fuel to finish.

And we were right on. And then what happened? We lost an injector. We went on five cylinders, you know, obviously not a disappointment, you know, with a Porsche, here we go. And we, from one in the morning to the finish, we had to go five cylinders. We lost the cylinders and we still finished. We finished sixth and what helped us.

To stay somewhat competitive with [00:15:00] the rain for at least three or four hours, which helped, but at Lamont, especially straight line, we lost tremendous amount of straight line speed, obviously, and that’s, that’s a big penalty there. So, you know, going back to the question, do we have any orders? Okay. There were no orders at all that I know because going in, you never know what’s going to happen.

If there was going to be an order, it was going to be maybe toward the end or something, you know, because of points. But, you know, we did what we needed to do as far as, uh, the stain right within that allowed fuel burn and so forth. And we were right on it. I had all the faith in the world and, uh, Mr.

Singer because, uh, you know, his experience and, uh, uh, Another I know that he liked us as well.

Crew Chief Eric: And what’s great about this time period here in the late 80s, especially early 90s, you’re still running an IndyCar or cart, whichever name you want to use at that time. So if you compare your IndyCar [00:16:00] to the 962, maybe it’s apples and oranges.

And I want to ask which one did you like better, but were they similar in a way to drive or were they just totally different animals?

Mario Andretti: Absolutely, totally different animals. I mean, you talk about the weight factor, the size. When you go from one discipline to the other, usually there’s a lot of, you know, adaptation that you have to deal with to be able to extract everything out of it.

So, you cannot compare a sports car with an open wheel with a single seater. You just cannot compare that. The sports prototypes are a lot of fun. I mean, I enjoyed it. I mean, every bit about it. It’s not to be compared with a single seater.

Crew Chief Eric: 1988 is the second to last year of the open straightaway, the open Mulsanne as we jump your story forward.

You return to Lamont in the 90s 3 times in a row, 95 96 and 97 with the courage team outside of that major change. And let’s talk about the lap itself. What else about Lamont had [00:17:00] changed from the 80s? Into the mid nineties.

Mario Andretti: When were the Porsche curves introduced? I’m trying to think because that was a huge, huge change.

Their white house corner, I think it was called, was eliminated, which, uh, you were going through a narrow bridge and all that sort of thing that was very dangerous part, probably the most dangerous part of the lot, you know, before the change that I don’t remember exactly when, but I’m glad that I had the opportunity to drive that too.

You know, as a comparison to the course.

Crew Chief Eric: So the 90s, the Courage team, three in a row, what happened?

Mario Andretti: The first one there, we, uh, we obviously, we should have won that one. I made a mistake very close to the beginning. The car that I wanted to overtake was a car in front, it was really quite slow in the wet.

Hans Stuck was one of the drivers there and I was surprised, you know, that he was that slow, but I figured, okay, it’s Hans Stuck, he’ll know that I’m coming up to overtake him. I was a bit too anxious, I should have [00:18:00] waited. 2DS is there, and he pushed me in the grass, and I spun and hit the guardrail with the left side, and of course, you know, bent.

You know, body wasn’t as bad, but there was a wishbone that needed to be changed, and unfortunately, they were not really ready for it, so it took a lot longer than we thought. I felt the responsibility to really get a lot of the time back, and I was driving like a man possessed, especially at night. And there was a time when it was, uh, it was some wet driving and again, I got back, you know, more, uh, almost all the time that, that we had, it’s still plenty of time to go.

And then Bob Wallach had a problem. He spawned something on a bush curve. So we lost some more time there. And then. And we were recovering, but we needed a few more laps. At the end, we were about four minutes behind, and we couldn’t recover that, because obviously our car was quicker than the [00:19:00] McLaren’s that won.

The only thing I can tell you, I had a lot of fun, because I, I drove my butt off, and I love that, because that, you know, we had nothing to lose, and I was qualifying every lap. And, uh, I remember one of my guys, you know, J. F. Thorman, was on the side, he said, Oh, unbelievable, Alex, you’re running, you’re turning, you know.

So that part was fun, but we missed out. We finished second, but first, first in class. So I can claim. I won Le Mans. If you win class, you still win, right?

Crew Chief Eric: That’s true.

Mario Andretti: And I have a trophy upstairs to prove it. So it should have been overall, obviously. But a win is a win. I probably had more fun than if we would have just cruised around and, you know, and won that way.

Crew Chief Eric: Outside of the other changes to the track with the addition of the chicane bus stop there on the Mulsanne, did you like that addition? You know, slowing the cars down a bit instead of what you were used to, the full [00:20:00] bore down the straightaway all the way down the Mulsanne corner?

Mario Andretti: I liked it because it was another breaking point for overtaking whatever and quite honestly made it a little more technical because the chicane at the Mulsanne, you know, I think was really, it’s well done.

It’s not a Mickey Mouse chicane, you know, it’s like a proper corner. So I think it was needed because, you know, you love the high speed, but something happens and so forth. You know, before that, again, we were reaching, you know, 220, 230 miles an hour, done this straight away. I know I did that one in the morning or something with a mark two, we were about 235 miles an hour way back when

Crew Chief Eric: those speeds were absolutely unbelievable.

When you look at the nine seventeens and the GT forties, all these cars doing 200 plus mile an hour. It’s absolutely incredible.

Mario Andretti: Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: Again, back to back to back three years in a row. So 96 and 97, you’re back with the courage team. Any significant stories you can share with us about 96 and 97.

Mario Andretti: It’s crazy that [00:21:00] I didn’t have a lot of luck there for some reason, I think in 96, I think it was 96, uh, we were running quite well.

What did we do? I tried to out break into the Indianapolis corner, uh, one of the Porsches. And, uh, like the fronts, I went into the sandbox. That was embarrassing. That was embarrassing. Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: So you mentioned luck. And one of my predecessors on this program used to bring up, when talking to the Le Mans legends, he had this saying that was, Le Mans chooses its winner.

You don’t get to choose the winner. Whether you win Lamont’s or not. Do you feel that that’s true? Is there a certain bit of, I don’t know, mystique or superstition there that Lamont’s chooses its winner?

Mario Andretti: Well, to this winner, I mean, in a sense, because of so much can happen in a 24 hour period. In my situation, like, you know, I said, okay, I was unlucky.

Some of it, I brought the unlock. I brought on myself quite honestly, because I must admit that many times I was Caught up in a moment that, [00:22:00] uh, I could have let things go, but my specialty was not long distance. I’m only thinking of the moment. I said, Oh, gosh, why did I push that? And this was a one stupid mistake that I, I would like to have another crack at, you know?

So I follow my sword when, when, when I need to, you know, and some of the situation I brought on myself, quite honestly. The fact is, my competitive spirit, you know, was, I mean, a little bit too aggressive there for long distance. But, you know, I guess I was going about to change for some reason. I’m looking at the results here in, in, in my nine.

There were a lot of DNFs here. Nevertheless, I got quite a bit of satisfaction out of it, out of my time there, just being at Le Mans, I just love, love driving that course, I just truly did.

Crew Chief Eric: And what’s really fun about this discussion, nine times at Le Mans, we’ve only talked about eight of them so far, and I held the best one for last, because if it isn’t, Incredible enough until this [00:23:00] point and people, I’m sure searching and Googling like, Oh, Mario’s time at Lamont race results.

You’re looking at as well from the time. But in 2000, it’s not that long ago. You returned to Lamont at the age of 60 and attempted the race 1 more time. And I find that just mind blowing because how many professional drivers can say I returned to the track at that age and competed in the 24 hours. So this time you partner with pain knows in the L.

M. P. 1 Roadster s. Mhm. And when you look at the, again, mid nineties to the two thousands, it’s another jump from the last time you went to Lamont. So the circuit has changed again. It has evolved. So I want to get your thoughts on that ninth entry at Lamont. What was going through your head at 60 years old, looking back over that time.

Mario Andretti: Well, here again, you know, I just, uh, I look forward to that. As you can see, that was actually my very last professional race of my career. Uh, you know, driving with David Brabham and John Magnuson, I think it was actually a great opportunity to be with those two [00:24:00] drivers. And, uh, there’s two things that happened.

One, the left front tire blew up on me once along the way, and that’s going into Indianapolis, actually. But I didn’t crash, you know, fortunately did some damage, you know, to the body because of the high speed got in the grass a bit, but I brought it back to the pits and then at night I was really, really running well, actually.

They were very happy, the competitive times that we were doing. And then there was a crash, I think was one of the GT Porsches. There were a lot of bits on the track and I was just coming in to change, you know, at the end of my stint, and it was something in the middle of the track that went underneath the oil filter somehow stood out outside of the body underneath.

And it caught the oil filter. I felt something drag, but I had no idea. And then what now? I think it was David that took over. They were ready to go. They were all happy and all of a sudden smoke. They didn’t know what it was and they, you know, [00:25:00] lost time there to change the oil filter or whatever. So we lost quite a bit of time there and that’s why we finished about 16th or something.

Crew Chief Eric: For our listeners who have never been to Lamar before, they may only be familiar with watching the race on television, right? The actual dedicated 24 hours of Lamar, but the race itself is more than just the spectacle, you know, over the Saturday and Sunday, it takes place over the entire week, sometimes longer there’s testing, there’s night practice, there’s scrimmages, qualifiers, all this kind of thing.

And so that adds to the stress level. Of every pro driver into the car. I mean, by the time you run the 24 hours, and in some cases, the cars already run the 24 hours. By the time you get to the race, thinking about Lamont holistically, what do you feel is the most challenging part of driving Lamont?

Mario Andretti: Well, it’s the physical side to be able to stay sharp.

Physically, you’re, you’re basically spent nowadays. That’s why in those days there were three driver, but I already drove it. We were two drivers, you know, at the beginning, but three drivers, it was actually [00:26:00] quite a relief. And now they have four drivers, which, uh, I think it’s a, it’s a good idea as long as all four are up to the same level.

Yeah. I mean, it’s the physical side of it. No question about it. And as you said, there’s a lot of activity. I mean, if you pull the short straw, sometimes they say, okay, you’re going to do the morning warmup at nine in the morning. So you have to get up at seven and then you have to stay up 24 hours, which is a race starts at two in the afternoon or something.

So you get the little extra. And, and, uh, I think I, uh, I do the shorts twice. I think I had to do that. So as you can see, like I said, from a physical level, yeah. You really have to prepare properly and that’s what it’s about. I mean, it’s, uh, it’s equal for everyone, but that’s the other challenge that you have, not just the mechanical challenge.

Are you sure in the world don’t want to leave anything on the table just because you’re tired or because, uh, You know, you’re not functioning a hundred percent. So that’s a matter of pride. So that’s one thing that can tell you [00:27:00] clearly, I don’t think I’ve given up an ounce in that respect. That was a real challenge, you know, to be right on.

And again, that’s another one of those things he had paid a lot of attention to. Stay hydrated, all the things.

Crew Chief Eric: And I’m glad you brought up the physical side of racing, because multiple of our audience had either sent in a question like that, or even posted it here in the chat. And they wanted to know about the physical fitness part.

You know, if you think about it today, all these pro drivers, they have simulators and reaction time testing and physical trainers and strict diets and teams of people. You were jumping from discipline to car to races all over the world. And so for you. Was it just another day at the office or how were you keeping yourself physically prepared, even mentally prepared for all these races, especially for the 24 hour Le Mans?

Mario Andretti: Well, Eric, you have to realize what you’re up against, you know, and you prepare accordingly and you know, what’s going to be daunting, you know, whether it’s any long distance race is that long distance and you better be up [00:28:00] for it. As you said, we, we had some, uh, professional help even in those days. As far as, uh, you know, people making sure that we have the, you know, the proper meals and whatever and all of that and stay hydrated and, and then we will have somebody to do some massaging or whatever.

There was even one of the races, we had a hyperbaric chamber where you could go in and take a bit of a nap, but I’m claustrophobic, so I couldn’t use that. I was in there and I was going crazy. So Anyway, but usually the teams, you know, they have professionals, you know, to help you along that, that area.

Crew Chief Eric: Another thing that comes up when discussing the 24 hour Le Mans and how demanding it can be for a driver are the weather conditions. It is so variable. There’s other tracks, Spa, Watkins Glen, the Nurburgring are like this too, where you could be at one side of the track, it’s completely dry. And on the other side, it’s downpouring and everything in between.

But Le Mans also has this added bonus. [00:29:00] Of hitting around the summer solstice is the longest day of the year with the shortest amount of nighttime driving in all those conditions. Obviously, every driver wants to drive the perfect lap when it’s sunny in the middle of the day without the sun in their eyes, but talk about driving in the wet and talk about driving at night.

How bad is it at Lamont?

Mario Andretti: I’m glad you mentioned that actually, because. You know, even going back to, um, 95, I made the most of that at night. It was, uh, quite a few hours of wet and I stayed in the car because the worst thing to do is to be, you know, to interrupt the stint and put a fresh driver in there in the middle of the night.

Whoever starts the part drive most of the night. And that’s where I made up tremendous amount of time. You figure, oh man, it’s daunting. In a way, you never know what’s going to happen, and the visibility factor and everything. But I, I said, this is an opportunity. That’s why I was making time like crazy.

Especially I could see when, um, [00:30:00] even in our own class, when, uh, they would have a driver change. It takes two, three laps for the individual to get acquainted with the conditions, if you will. I can tell you one thing, the breaking point at the end of Molson, most of the time you couldn’t even see, you know, where the breaking point, and there was a church steeple on the right beyond the trees, and it was like a bit foggy and messy, you know.

And I was judging myself to that church steeple, and I could go probably another, maybe, uh, 100 meters or so. And then definitely, you know, that was my breaking point. I said, if that church ever moves, I’m done.

That church really, really helped me because I didn’t have to hunt for it. That’s awesome. Yeah. I can still see it.

Crew Chief Eric: So a question from our audience that falls right in line with this. Matthew asks, did you find noticeable differences in your [00:31:00] ability to stay sharp for the whole race throughout your entire career there at Lamont?

Mario Andretti: You know, you know, your own self, you know, as far as what you can do and how you can extend yourself and, and you’d be surprised. How, you know, obviously toward the end of the race, obviously you’re pretty spent, but as soon as you get in the car and all of the thing that requires, you know, the speed up, you just wake right up.

I mean, your senses just sharpen up immediately and you just go, to be honest with you. And there was some other race, one race that I thought that, you know, uh, how can I go back in, in a cockpit? It was at Sebring with Bruce McLaren, you know, because, well, anyway, it was one of the hardest races of my life.

But you back in, maybe you just somehow your senses just pick right up and you go, then you die again when you come out. It’s just, you know, it’s what it is. It’s adrenaline. All of a sudden, you’re living on pure adrenaline. At that point, [00:32:00] there’s a story about my life to, you know, my long career. When I actually came out of the cockpit officially, I had some issues, issues that I Could not understand.

And I was under the temptation of a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who, by me telling him stories about my life, my career, he says, I have it now. He says, uh, the most part of your life, he said, you, you’ve been in an adrenaline junkie and your senses, your body thinks you’re dead. Believe it or not, it took me like five years to kind of start reclaiming myself.

And it’s, uh, when I got in the cockpit again to test at Indianapolis for, uh, Tony Kanaan, I was going to have to qualify for him in, uh, 2003, just as I’m in the car in the first run, all of a sudden, I just resuscitated. I mean, I was in, in my element again, and I realizing what was been happening all [00:33:00] my life, but it’s, it’s amazing how your body just gets attuned to something and it sort of helps you deal with that.

But then if you change it dramatically, like I did, all of a sudden, you know, your senses are somewhat, I don’t know, I mean, confused, if you will. And that’s what’s happening. It’s something that was interesting, you know, talking with this professor, but he was right. He said, it’d probably take you two, three, four years, you know, to just get back to what you, you know, you’re okay again.

Crew Chief Eric: You mentioned earlier about switching between disciplines, and we highlighted the fact that there were gaps between your entries at Lamar. And so when you think about it, Coming into the sixties, you had done tons of oval tracks, stock car, sprint car. And you brought that knowledge and that experience with you to Lamar.

And then you go back and then formula one happens. And then you bring that to Lamar and then you go back and IndyCar. And you know, you, you have this leapfrog in between, even though you brought a ton of experience with you to Lamar. What did Lamont teach [00:34:00] you and what did you take back to those other disciplines of racing every time you went back sort of to your day job?

Mario Andretti: Well, I’ll tell you what it teaches you. It teaches you along this is that you’d be surprised sometime when you, you start more, you know, relaxing to some degree, how you start doing the perfect lap. And you’re still quick and you take less out of the car, especially in those days where reliability factor was a big, big, big thing.

And even the short, especially the short races, you know, to be able to just get to that zone. Long distance race, the beautiful thing about it, between stints, you think about this and that, a lot of things, then you go back. And you’re trying this, you have the luxury to try so many things. And you said to yourself, I’m going to try to do the perfect lap.

Come off the same revs where I want, because you always feel when you have good acceleration off the corner. You see it, you see that at the end of the straightaway and all that. You [00:35:00] just measure yourself. There’s always something that you learn. And yes, and in long distance, as I say, you have the luxury to keep trying and trying different things every time you’re in a car.

Maybe it’s just small nuances, not big changes, but those are the things that make all the difference, you know, and in the end. So, uh, no question. I mean, that it’s a great, great test bed for, for any driver. You know, if you really try to pay attention to a lot of things.

Crew Chief Eric: So Scott asks, what is your favorite corner or section of the Sartre?

Do you have a favorite track outside of all of the ones that we’ve already talked about?

Mario Andretti: People ask that often, you know, what’s your favorite corner, this and that. And, uh, I don’t have a favorite corner, you know, and it’s just that I think, quite honestly, Slight bit of banking. You could really lean into the front going into Indianapolis.

You know, that’s what they call Indianapolis, you know, and I sort of like that. I really tried to measure myself a deep. I could go into it and [00:36:00] just take advantage of what it can. But other than that, I like all the corners.

Crew Chief Eric: So there’s no least favorite at Lamar.

Mario Andretti: No least favorite, quite honestly.

Crew Chief Eric: One of the most popular questions from our audience of all the mail ins that we got, I kind of summarized it and created one question for you.

You’ve driven a long list of cars over your career. Which was your favorite or most memorable and why?

Mario Andretti: I’ll give you a short answer to that. Every car that I could win a race with. That’s it. That’s all I can tell you. Nothing that can top that. People ask me the same thing about what’s your favorite track, any track I want to race.

That’s it. That’s the ultimate, the only objective you have, you know, as a race driver to win, and that’s your memory. That’s the golden memory. And, uh, you fall in love with the car you’re in because. It gave you that. It gave you the opportunity and so yes, that’s the only way I can put it.

Crew Chief Eric: So that leads into another one.

By May, what was the best [00:37:00] racing moment in your career?

Mario Andretti: I must say because of what really drew me to the sport, what attracted me as a young age, a young teenager. The day that I clinched the Formula One World Championship. You know, I’ve been fortunate when, you know, as you say, premier races like, you know, the Indy 500 and all that, and even winning the Indy 500 was a great day, but my thing was winning the championship, you know, the national championship, because that’s Encompasses the whole season, you know, so I won four of those and the winning world championship and another championship, the third track championship, all of those, you know, but, you know, to answer your question, the favorite moment that, uh, obviously really, really brought it all together for me was, uh, When the ultimate dream for me started, and that’s winning the world championship.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, Mario, we are heading into our wrap up segment here, and I’m gonna morph Christopher’s question into [00:38:00] my question, which is sort of along the lines of, if you go back to Le Mans, and if you’re a fan now, would you just watch the race? But we’ll take it a little further and say, if someone asks you today, why should I go or watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans, what would you say to them?

Mario Andretti: I’m gonna watch it from the hotel. No television. Well, you see what I mean? It’s that to watch it there, when you’ve been in a car, done that, to be honest with you, I’m not a good spectator. If I had one of my own, maybe driving, if you will, you know, then it’s a different story, you know, but just to go watch.

I watch, you know, just periodically during the race and be interested. But if you were in a car, you’ve done that. Watching is not really my, my rodeo.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, you’ve seen a lot of change in the last 58 years since your first Le Mans, so what are some of the highlights that you would say that have come out of Le Mans since your very, very first trip there that you would communicate to somebody that [00:39:00] maybe is interested for the first time?

Mario Andretti: What’s beautiful today is the reliability of the cars due to the Proper rules today, barring mistakes or something usually have the best chance of finishing than ever before. And that’s why the races are daunting because, uh, all the top competitors, you know, can be right there. Fighting hard. That’s the beauty of today’s long distance sports car racing and the way actually some of the U S races, it seems to run in himself, you know, they have different ruling when the yellow come out, you regroup and all that.

If you have problems. Along the way, you have a chance to recoup and, and, you know, I’m doing the yellow. That’s a good thing, obviously, uh, you never feel you’re totally out of the race that way. The races are as competitive as ever because of this, and that’s why even from a spectator standpoint, you know that there’s so much to look forward to, because most of your favorites will still be there at the [00:40:00] end, and uh, that’s a, that’s a great thing, that’s a plus.

Crew Chief Eric: So our final question, Mario, I’ve been waiting to ask this since the last time we got together. Do you have a car for me? That’s the answer, right? You hinted at going after some records even at your spry age of 85 years old now, right?

Mario Andretti: Oh,

Crew Chief Eric: four, four,

Mario Andretti: four.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, there you go. Almost, right? So what’s next, Mario?

And let’s add to that. What’s next for Andretti Autospart as part of the future of Le Mans?

Mario Andretti: Well, they obviously they’re going to be there this year, and that’s another chapter for Andretti Global, if you will. Now, I’m very proud of my son, Michael. He wants to be part of all the major disciplines in our sport.

That’s certainly one of them. So, um, yeah, we’re all excited about that. And because of that, one of these days I might be there as well. So.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, before I do the outro, I want to pass the baton quickly to ACO USA President David Lowe. Do you have any parting words for Mario before I close out?

David Lowe: [00:41:00] All right. It was certainly an honor and a pleasure to have you on.

I know the members were very, very excited and looked forward to this for quite some time. So it was very gracious of you to share your time with us this evening. so much.

Mario Andretti: Well, my pleasure. I enjoy that. You know, this always brings back some fun memories for sure.

Crew Chief Eric: Mario Andretti remains one of the greatest ambassadors and one of the most respected voices in motorsport.

You can follow Mario on social media by finding him on Twitter at Mario Andretti, on Instagram at Andretti Mario, and on Facebook at Mario Andretti Official. Be sure to visit his official website at marioandretti. com for more updates on what’s next for Mario. And on behalf of everyone here and those listening at home, thank you for sharing your stories with us.

Because it doesn’t get bigger in racing than a name Mario Andretti. A name everyone knows, past, present, and future petrolheads alike. Someone all of us can relate to. So we hope you enjoyed this presentation and look forward to more Evenings [00:42:00] with a Legend throughout the season. With that, thank you, Mario.

Thank you.

Mario Andretti: Grazie

Crew Chief Eric: mille. Arrivederci, as they say, right? Arrivederci.

Mario Andretti: Thank you. Thank you.

Crew Chief Eric: This episode has been brought to you by the Automobile Club of the West and the ACO USA. From the awe inspiring speed demons that have graced the track to the courageous drivers who have pushed the limits of endurance, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an automotive spectacle like no other. For over a century, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has urged manufacturers to innovate for the benefit of future motorists, and it’s a celebration of the relentless pursuit of speed and excellence in the world of motorsports.

To learn more about or to become a member of the ACO USA, look no further than www. lemans. org, click on English in the upper right corner, and then click on the ACO members tab for [00:43:00] club offers. Once you’ve become a member, you can follow all the action on the Facebook group, ACO USA members club, and become part of the legend with future evening with the legend meetups.

Hello, hello, hello, hello.

Crew Chief Eric: This episode has been brought to you by Grand Touring Motorsports as part of our Motoring Podcast Network. For more episodes like this, tune in each week for more exciting and educational content from organizations like The Exotic Car Marketplace, The Motoring Historian, Brake Fix, and many others.

If you’d like to support Grand Touring Motorsports and the Motoring Podcast Network, sign up for one of our many sponsorship tiers at www. patreon. com forward slash gt motorsports. Please note that the content, opinions, and materials presented and expressed in this episode are those of its creator, and this episode has been published with their consent.

If you have any inquiries about this program, please contact the creators of this episode via email or [00:44:00] social media as mentioned in the

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