the latest word
2008
Phil Hill died on August 28th, 2008. He was a quiet, intensely competitive and tough driver who was the first American to win a Formula 1 Championship, capturing the title in 1961 for Ferrari.
Andreas Pininfarina, the General Manager of Pininfarina, the design firm whose heritage and work is so directly linked to Ferrari, died on August 7th, 2008, in a scooter accident in Turin, Italy. Pininfarina was doing approximately 50 plus miles an hour when a car turned in from him; the resulting crash took one of the world’s great design talents from us and threatened the line of succession of the famous Italian firm, founded by Battista “Pinin” Farina, developed into one of the world’s most honored and influential car design houses by son Sergio Pininfarina, and managed over the last decade by Andreas Pininfarina.
(In the air, somewhere). It was either a very early morning or a very late night that stung me when I rolled out of bed at Casa Euphoria this morning to make the run to the airport for the flight to San Jose and the final race of the 2008 American Le Mans Series. The driver picked up me at 6:45AM, but I had been up since 4:30 and as we worked our way at appropriately high speeds out to Intercontinental Airport and Continental’s flight 1407, Houston to San Jose (departing at 9:10 and arriving at 11:00AM and change in San Jose) I was already calculating how much sleep I could grab back on the flight.
This weekend—this Friday, to be exact—you should pay extra special attention to a great treat that Speed TV is delivering to the ALMS fans: the qualifying for the Detroit Grand Prix will be on SpeedTV.Com.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *&%^$*%!!
A decade ago I had my clock radio set on KPFT in Houston, Texas—a Pacifica station. Because it’s a Pacifica station, and because this was pre-satellite radio—the station played music that didn’t quite make it onto the Top 40 Charts that ruined modern American FM radio (and in the process made Satellite Radio possible and economically viable). The station clicked on one morning with I Was Wrong by Keb ‘Mo. It’s a beautiful rhythm and blues number, just the right tempo, instrumentation, and bass line. I practically leaped out of bed it was so good. Get a copy—you’ll love it.
At 3:37PM on 15 March 2008, Risi Competizione’s No. 62 Ferrari had a massive intersection with fate at Sebring International Raceway. Jaime Melo was driving the car and came together with Dirk Werner’s No. 87 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in turn 7. The resulting collision put both cars out of the race.
In Houston, Texas, we have a very wide variety of live music. One of my pals—who requests that I keep his name out of the public limelight—is one of the people who discovered a very hot Tex-Mex band named Los Lonely Boys.
RACE TIME: HOUR FOUR...
At the end of Hour 3, the race has settled into a period of drive and let drive.
There are times when nothing but a pickup truck and some hard driving country music by George Strait will do. You’ve had a bad day; your dog ate your hunting boots; your wife ran off with your just-about-paid-for Suburban and her personal trainer. Those kinds of days demand C&W and country roads.
Hidden in the great body of work by The Who are some solo efforts by Pete Townshend that leave little doubt as to who drives the creative magic bus for one of rock’s megagroups.
Sebring International Raceway is 3.7 miles of rough asphalt, difficult turns, and shocks to the automotive mechanical system. Once a year, the world’s best—and those who hope to be—in sports car racing convene for a little one day racing convention known as the 12 Hours of Sebring. Last year, Risi Competizione took home the GT2 prize, in the closest finish in Sebring history.
One year ago, in Sebring, Florida, Risi Competizione won the closest race in the entire history of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Could there be a better way to set the table for this year’s event than to reprise last years? Probably not….and so below please find the final report from last year’s race, written in an empty press box long after the race was concluded.
One of the coolest names in Rock belongs to the Foo Fighters. Their music is terrific, but their name is just brilliant. And their lyrics…well…they don’t just speak for themselves, they sing for all of us. And, not coincidently, set the tone for sizing up the race to come.
The race track at Sebring, Florida in winter is a desolate place. There is none of the pageantry of the 12 Hour race that gives the place its’ fame; the sun sets early and low and days can be grey. Race tracks without fans are out-of-sync with their DNA and this one—an old airfield repurposed into the most physically demanding track in the world—is no exception.
Early Saturday morning, they stage the cars for the Concours at Cavallino at The Breakers, one of the great old hotel/resorts in North America. While the very careful positioning of Ferraris is going on, I walk into the main shopping area of Palm Beach and stroll down Worth Avenue, the retail definition of Palm Beach and one of the world’s greatest shopping streets.
Once a year, Palm Beach, Florida hosts a gathering of Ferraris, old, classic, and new, that is without equal in America. The event is called “Cavallino” and it is hosted by the magazine of the same name. Cavallino stretches over a four day period in mid-January and is packed with parties and high life displays of the hedge fund life well-lived.
