kitchtrips

Detroit Made
Got me a duce and a quarter babe
She will ride you right
Pick you up bout half past nine
We can drive all night
Came up from the country baby
sh*t was where I stayed
Got me a duce and a quarter babe
Thats all I gotta say

She a Detroit made, duce ad a quarter babe
She a Detroit made, duce ad a quarter babe

-Bob Seger

Saturday 1 June 2024

Fun, fun day in downtown Detroit.

The Detroit GP is a really good event. There were tonnes of people around on Saturday for IndyCar qualifying and the IMSA sports car race and the weather was amazing, as was the atmosphere. The circuit is tight, twisty and bumpy, and with zero run-off, quite a challenge for the drivers. Everything happens in the shadows of the General Motors Renaissance Centre, which is as striking a building as I have seen in America, and makes for brilliant TV pictures.

We’d only been in the track for a few minutes and were walking through the paddock when we ran into – not quite literally, but close enough – to Ryan Myrehn and his colleague Michael Young (more on him later) in full IndyCar Radio mode, heading to the pit lane for Indy NXT (the main feeder category for IndyCar) qualifying and a few minutes later we were flagged down by Tony Di Zinno, a journalist I’ve gotten to know over the last few years. He’s working for IMSA this weekend, and we got to have a good chat. Always nice to see friendly faces.

Also met Le Mans/Sebring/Daytona 24 champions German Mike Rockenfeller and England’s Harry Tincknell at the IMSA autograph session. Great guys.

Spent a lot of time in the paddock, watching the IMSA and IndyCar Series teams prepare their machines. It’s a fascinating place to be, especially if you like the nitty gritty of preparing racecars, and what the teams do to get them ready for on-track sessions. You have to keep your wits about you, as there are lots of cars being moved around at any given time, not to mention pit lane refuelling apparatus, carts stacked high with tyres and that most difficult of all things to dodge: drivers on scooters heading to and from the lane. It is a fun place to be, and you can feel the tension ratchet up as the on-track sessions get closer.

Went onto the grid before the IMSA race and got a chance to look at the cars and see some of the incredible setups the teams have for tracking…well, pretty much everything during the course of a race. Some of them resemble NASA mission control. Walked with Ryan for a while, in his Racer.com guise this time around. Apparently his changing from IndyCar Radio to Racer.com polo inadvertently featured on the NBC broadcast!

Watched most of the IMSA race from the same seats we’ll watch the 100-lap IndyCar Series Detroit Grand Prix race tomorrow. The Cadillac, Porsche, Acura and BMW Hypercars are incredible machines that look good, sound good and are quite racy as well, even if they are perhaps not at their best on the tight and twisty circuit. They are at their best at a place like Le Mans, which is where a lot of the teams on today’s grid will be in a fortnight or so.

Didn’t see the end of the IMSA race. Headed off early, witnessing the arrival back to the paddock of a damaged BMW Hypercar, so we could get changed at the apartment and take an Uber out to Detroit’s Mexican neighbourhood for dinner with some of the IndyCar Radio guys: Mark Jaynes, Nick Yeoman, the afore-mentioned Michael Young (whose Australian accent leaves a heck of a lot to be desired) and Mark’s wife Desiree, Amazing food, and very authentic from what I can gather, washed down with margaritas, strawberry or otherwise. Plenty of racing talk…but lots of other subjects as well. Honestly can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did tonight. A great bunch of people who also happen to be incredible broadcasters. Always a fun time.

As we left the restaurant and were waiting on an Uber, the IndyCar Radio crew were headed back to their accommodation and Michael Young yelled out from their car, “CRIKEY! They’re from Australia!” Which made us laugh…but also made us get some strange looks from the locals. A fitting end to the kind of dinner it was.

Back to the apartment at a reasonable time, which is always appreciated after a long day with lots of walking. IndyCar race day tomorrow!