Monday 5th March
In the morning, many of the teams and drivers set about trying to get to Lime Rock Park, CT. Franklin's Mom and Dad picked up Franklin and Pig Pen once they were up and ready, and drove there by car, arriving there by 2:30pm. They were the first to arrive, and they watched cars driving round it, whilst Franklin and Pig Pen studied the track, its corners and what to do about them. The Top 10 Party bus left at noon, with Peppermint Patty, Morag, José Peterson, Rerun, Lucy, Sally, Patty Swanson, Schroeder and Cormac. Charlie Brown, Linus, and Pierre carpooled with Marcie and 5 in the Team Cherokee Jeep, where they talked about the championship, and their chances. Charlie Brown also raised an important question.
"Why were we invited to do this?" Charlie Brown asked, "I know we all wanted to do it, but none of us ever applied for the letter to arrive at our doorstep."
"I don't know for sure." Marcie replied. "I don't think any of us actually know. Morag asked me the same question last Friday. It doesn't really make sense. You could ask her about it, if that helps."
"I will, when I next get the chance." Charlie Brown replied. Shermy and Violet travelled with Eudora in the Polestar Inc. Volvo XC90, whilst Harold Angel, Violette, and Frieda all went in the Bonn Auto Team Principal's Wife's Opel Astra.
The Party bus arrived at the circuit at 5pm, and they were surprised to see Franklin and Pig Pen had already arrived. The Jeep Cherokee arrived half an hour later, with the Polestar Volvo arriving at 6pm. The Opel Astra made it at 6:30.
Having lounged around for most of the day, at 5 pm, Joe Agate and Thibault Rhodes took Team Sky's private jet to Connecticut, but because of the connections, Joe and Thibault didn't arrive until 8pm, where they found out most of the drivers were eating dinner at a nearby hotel. This didn't bother them though, they were living the life.
On Tuesday 6th, the teams, the cars, the crew, and the motorhomes with them, arrived.
Thursday 8th Press Conference.
On Thursday morning, five seemingly random drivers were chosen to participate in a press conference with reporters. These drivers were, Frieda Rich, Pig Pen, Patricia Reichardt, Marcie Johnson, and Patricia Swanson.
I: Frieda, you spent much of your last race at the back, will you be hoping for a better race this weekend?
Frieda: for sure, I would like to get a decent points finish this weekend, but to do that, I'm gonna need a good race and a good qualifying.
I: Pig Pen, you had a decent race last time out, how do you see yourself continuing your good run of results?
Pig Pen: Well, I have a good car, good focus, and a lot of confidence, so I think I can do well.
I: Peppermint Patty, you won the last race, are you looking to win again?
Peppermint Patty: Yes of course. I think everyone's looking to win though, so I have to stay sharp.
I: Marcie, you came close to scoring last time out, how do you plan on getting into the points this time around?
Marcie: Well, it helps to qualify in a good position so we'll see how it goes from there.
I: Patty, you had a good qualifying, but not such a good race. How do you plan on having a good race this weekend?
Patty: well, a good qualifying is key to a good race, so I will try my best, as usual.
I: Thank you.
Saturday 10th
With the drivers having already had practice at Lime Rock Park, everyone knew that the race and the qualifying would be quite a challenge, as qualifying got underway. Lucy Van Pelt was the first to head out, in her Earth Power Honda, setting a benchmark of 0:49.832. This time proved a challenge to beat, as both Patty Swanson and José Peterson found out, failing to set a clean lap time. Violette Honfleur set a 0:47.855 to go fastest, before Peppermint Patty went a tenth faster, despite almost binning it into the wall on her final lap. Thibault set a hare-brained 0.50.027, before Sally Brown set a sublime 0:47.233, to go fastest by half a second. Morag cut that time down by another 3 tenths, before Schroeder set a 0:46.450, faster by another half a second.
Joe Agate slid into the wall on his first lap, but continued to set a 0:55.130. Charlie Brown looked to impress this time around, and he set a respectable 0:47.199. His team mate Rerun went straight after him, setting a 0:46.575 to go second. Eudora then set a 0:46.801 to go third. Linus then set a 0:46.961, before Pierre set a 0:45.746 to go fastest. This came as a shock to many. Franklin then set a 0:46.320 to go second, whilst Harold Angel set a 0:46.852. Marcie went second with a 0:45.763, before Five set a 0:47.865. Frieda set a 0:47.039, before Violet Gray set a 0:48.121, and then Shermy set a 0:47.125. Cormac then set a 0:47.482 before Pig Pen set the final time of 0:46.154. At the end of the day, the grid order looked like this.
1st Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 0:45.746 2nd Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 0:45.763
3rd Pig Pen [Armstrong Racing] 0:46.154 4th Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 0:46.320
5th Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 0:46.450 6th Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 0:46.575
7th Eudora Elm [Polestar] 0:46.801 8th Harold Angel [Isdera] 0:46.852
9th Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 0:46.961 10th Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 0:46.975
11th Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0:47.039 12th Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0:47.125
13th Charlie Brown [Renault] 0:47.199 14th Sally Brown [Polestar] 0:47.233
15th Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 0:47.482 16th Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 0:47.758
17th Violette Honfleur [ACE Racing Co] 0:47.855 18th 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0:47.865
19th Violet Gray [Zontec] 0:48.121 20th Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 0:49.832
21st Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0:50.027 22nd José Peterson [Daihatsu] 0:51.713
23rd Patricia Swanson [ACE Racing Co] 0:52.174 24th Joe Agate [Sky] 0:55.130
After Qualifying, the top three Qualifiers were interviewed.
I: Pierre, your time came seemingly out of the blue for many people, how did you do it?
Pierre: well, I hadn't done well in the first two laps so I decided to just go for it, and push the limits. Luckily my lap was clean, and now I'm on pole.
I: Marcie, you came very close to pole today, by your performance, you seemed to understand the secret to Pierre's lap time, am I correct?
Marcie: Yeah, when Pierre finished his run, the engineers and I noticed he took one part of it flat, when everyone else before him had braked, so we tried to use that to our advantage. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, but second is a nice place to be.
I: Pig Pen, you set the final time of the session, do you think this helped you?
Pigpen: "Absolutely. By going out last, we can look at the most data, and absorb every detail of the lap. We also had the clearest idea of what we had to do to succeed."
Championship leader, Peppermint Patty was also interviewed.
I: Peppermint Patty, 16th isn't really where you wanted to be, is it?
"No, it isn't. Tomorrow I'll just have to try and work my way through the field. I think a lot of people were surprised at how fast Pierre went. Good luck to him anyway."
I: and good luck to you too!
"Thanks."
Sunday 11th March – Race Day in Connecticut
Pierre lined his car up on pole, relishing the prospect of an unlikely victory. As the mechanics and the VIP's left the confines of the track, the announcer's voice was heard.
Announcer: "Ladies and Gentlemen! Start your engines!"
Pierre, as well as all of the other drivers, did so.
Announcer: As the pace car leads the racers on before the start of the race, the drivers will have to complete 73 laps of the course in which they will have to fight over 1st place. And as the cars head toward the start line, the Connecticut Spindycar Supertour Open is Go!"
Pierre led into the first corner, with Rerun overtaking Schroeder into 5th. By the end of the first lap, Charlie Brown had overtaken Shermy into 12th. Marcie took the lead at the end of lap two. By the start of lap thirteen, Charlie Brown was 11th, Linus slipped to tenth, and Schroeder was back ahead of Rerun. On lap 13, Peppermint Patty and Violette Honfleur were carving their way through the field, whilst Shermy had fallen back to 15th. Lap 14 saw Pig Pen duke it out for position, with Pig Pen staying ahead. On Lap 17, Rerun got a tow from Schroeder, but turned into turn 1 early, Schroeder, having no room to avoid him, hit him, and Rerun was gone, off the track, and into the barriers. It was to be a steep lesson for the inexperienced Rerun, who was thankfully alright. By the end of Lap 25, the positions looked like this
1st Marcie Johnson, 2nd Pierre Fermier, 3rd Pig Pen, 4th Franklin Armstrong, 5th Eudora Elm, 6th Harold Angel, 7th Linus Van Pelt, 8th Schroeder E. Schroeder, 9th Charlie Brown, 10th Morag McMurdo, 11th Sally Brown, 12th Frieda Rich, 13th Patricia Reichardt, 14th Violette Honfleur, 15th Shermy Plepler, 16th Cormac O' Connor, 17th 555 95472, 18th Jose Peterson, 19th Violet Gray, 20th Lucy Van Pelt, 21st Thibault Rhodes, 22nd Joe Agate, 23rd Patty Swanson, (Ret) Rerun Van Pelt. On lap 26, Pierre retook the lead away from Marcie. Things stayed normal until lap 38, when Shermy and Cormac collided with each other, sending them both into the wall and out of the race. On lap 49, Franklin overtook Pig Pen to take 3rd place. By the end of lap 50, the positions were as follows…
1st Pierre Fermier, 2nd Marcie Johnson, 3rd Franklin Armstrong, 4th Pig Pen, 5th Eudora Elm, 6th Harold Angel, 7th Linus Van Pelt, 8th Schroeder E. Schroeder, 9th Charlie Brown, 10th Morag McMurdo, 11th Sally Brown, 12th Frieda Rich, 13th Patricia Reichardt, 14th Violette Honfleur, 15th 555 95472, 16th Jose Peterson, 17th Violet Gray, 18th Lucy Van Pelt, 19th Thibault Rhodes, 20th Joe Agate, 21st Patty Swanson, (Ret) Cormac O'Connor, (Ret) Shermy Plepler, (Ret) Rerun Van Pelt.
Marcie took the lead on lap 61, only for Pierre to retake it on lap 62. Lap 73 came and the chequered flag was being made ready. As the cars made their way onto the pit straight, the announcer took his place.
Announcer: "And Pierre Fermier wins in Connecticut! Marcie Johnson is 2nd, Franklin Armstrong is 3rd, Pig Pen is 4th, Eudora Elm is 5th, Harold Angel is 6th, Linus Van Pelt is 7th, Schroder E. Schroder is 8th, Charlie Brown is 9th, and Morag McMurdo rounds out the top ten.
Sally Brown was 11th, Frieda Rich was 12th, Patricia Reichardt was 13th, Violette Honfleur was 14th, Jose Peterson was 15th, 555 95472 was 16th, Violet Gray was 17th, Lucy van Pelt was 18th, Joe Agate was 19th, Thibault Rhodes was 20th, and Patty Swanson was 21st."
'In the Championship, the standings are as follows…
1. Patricia Reichardt [Honda] 25pts 2. Pierre Fermier [Vittoria] 25pts
3. Pig Pen [Armstrong] 20pts 4. Morag McMurdo [Isdera] 19pts
5. Marcie Johnson [Cherokee] 18pts 6. Jose Peterson [Daihatsu] 15pts
7. Franklin Armstrong [Armstrong] 15pts 8. Rerun Van Pelt [Renault] 12pts
9. Eudora Elm [Polestar] 10pts 10. Lucy Van Pelt [Honda] 10pts
11. Harold Angel [Isdera] 8pts 12. Sally Brown [Polestar] 6pts
13. Linus Van Pelt [Vittoria] 6pts 14. Schroeder E. Schroeder [Bonn] 6pts
15. Patricia Swanson [ACE Racing Co] 4pts 16. Charlie Brown [Renault] 2pts
17. Cormac O'Connor [Daihatsu] 1pt 18. Frieda Rich [Bonn] 0pts
19. Violette Honfleur [ACE Racing Co] 0pts 20. 555 95472 [Cherokee] 0pts
21. Violet Gray [Zontec] 0pts 22. Joe Agate [Sky] 0pts
23. Shermy Plepler [Zontec] 0pts 24. Thibault Rhodes [Sky] 0pts
Pierre parked his car on Victory Road and walked up to the podium. In the waiting room, Pierre had a chat with Marcie and Franklin about the race, before walking out onto the podium. Everyone stood still and silent whilst the French anthem played and the flags of France and the USA unfurled. The Italian anthem played after the French one finished. After that, the competitors drank their milk and went off to the pressroom.
In the pressroom, the interviewers had some questions
I: Pierre, what an amazing race. Is this how you hoped it would play out?
Pierre: Absolutely. I'm very happy with how I stayed ahead, and I'm happy for the team, and I'd also like to thank Marcie for giving me a good race.
I: Thank you. Marcie, you spent a lot of time in the lead. Do you regret not holding the lead for longer than you did?
Marcie: "Right now, I'm happy I got a podium and I'm only 7 points behind in the championship, so I'm feeling good."
I: Franklin, your team have had a good race, how are you feeling right now?
"Really good, we're very close to 1st in the championship. Pig Pen is a very fast teammate. Hopefully I can get myself ahead of him, because I want to win the Championship.
Peppermint Patty was also interviewed.
I: Peppermint Patty, you didn't have such a great race today. Do you feel you will need to change your approach for next race?
Peppermint Patty: not really, no. I'm quite lucky that I still have the championship lead, so I know I'll have to keep Pierre behind me. As usual, next week I will be focusing on the win.
I: Thank you.
The drivers went back to their hotel at the end of the day, and they went all went to sleep, ready for the next morning.
