Last week, we heard how an independent American racing team made it to Le Mans. Here’s how Don Kitch Jr. and Team Seattle met the challenge of this historic race.
For many years, ProFormance Racing School Chief Instructor Don Kitch Jr. dreamed of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the grueling endurance race that has challenged the world’s top drivers since 1923. In 2009, after a year of wheeling and dealing, he and his team made the grade. He and his fellow drivers, Patrick Dempsey and Joe Foster, arrived in France to test their mettle in this most prestigious of motorsport events.
Breaking – and making a Le Mans tradition
The Friday before the race at Le Mans is known for the Drivers’ Parade, in which participants ply the city streets in vintage cars as spectators wave to drivers and enjoy local entertainment.
Don wanted his daughter Siena to be part of the parade, since kids are a big part of Team Seattle’s mission: it was founded, after all, to help children in medical need.
Don requested that six-year-old Siena be allowed to sit in the vintage car during the parade. The organizers refused flat out, citing all kinds of security and safety reasons. It just wasn’t done.
For a while, Don thought the team might lose its entry, but after some hours of negotiation, permission was granted. Siena rode in the parade with Don, which started another tradition: Since then, drivers’ kids, especially American ones, have often been seen at the Le Mans Drivers’ Parade.
The race begins
Le Mans 2009 was grueling for Don, Patrick, and Joe for a few reasons. It always rains at Le Mans, typically at night. Speeds are very high on treacherous, country roads, and navigating traffic is a challenge. Add rain, and the stress level for drivers goes up.
Another factor was that the Team Seattle drivers had never driven the Le Mans circuit at night. Any driver will tell you that tracks look and feel different in the dark. Our guys had to learn on the job.
Since different classes of cars were running together, the speed variance between the GT cars and the faster Le Mans Prototype cars was significant. As a result, GT drivers had to watch both ahead and behind so as to maintain GT race pace but not interfere with the Prototypes.
A fine finish
“No one paid attention to us for the first 12 hours,” says Donna. “Apart from Patrick, of course. But at hour 13, the three American rookies were still running and holding their own.” That began to attract some notice.
After qualifying with a less-than-stellar result below the top 20, Team Seattle made good headway and finished ninth in the race. That’s a fine showing for a team new to Le Mans.
Aftermath of success at Le Mans
A good showing at Le Mans gets one noticed. Joe Foster and Patrick Dempsey had a connection with Mazda, which had been running them in an RX8 Grand Am series in the USA. Mazda people noted that their chemistry within the team was very good; why not keep the group together and run two cars for Seattle Children’s Hospital? That began a 3-year partnership with Mazda, Patrick, and Joe.
In the fall of 2010, Patrick, Joe, and Don convened in Seattle for a fundraising event entitled “Driving and Dining with Dempsey” at Pacific Raceways. Cars were provided by Ferrari of North America, with support from Ferrari of Seattle. The event generated $60,000 for Seattle Children’s Hospital.
The next July, Don returned to France to run another vintage Chevron race car in the Le Mans Classic.
Races, partnerships, and funds for charity: the Le Mans adventure remains a family highlight for the Kitches. “We didn’t realize how big it was,” Donna says. “We didn’t know if we’d qualify, and if we qualified, if we’d finish; many don’t. You never know what’s going to happen. But that time, all the stars were aligned.”
