{"id":36517,"date":"2017-10-20T12:26:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T12:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/?p=36517"},"modified":"2019-01-21T20:23:02","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T11:23:02","slug":"2017-10-20-122608","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/en\/entry\/2017-10-20-122608\/","title":{"rendered":"Watching the 2017 WEC 6 Hours of Fuji: Behind the Scenes in the Pits and VIP Lounge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Panamera Is a Big Car<\/h3>\n

A week has passed since our Panamera Turbo was delivered. Ours is finished in dark Night Blue Metallic, which gives it a rather imposing look. It\u2019s also big and hard to miss: apparently, the manager at the gas station my husband often visits said,<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoa, what a huge car! Is it a Ferrari? That thing is massive!\u201d<\/p>\n

He reportedly repeated himself about ten times. (Laughs.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, today (not that this has anything to do with what I\u2019m about to write)<\/span>, I\u2019d like to share a few of the hundreds of photos we took at the WEC race the other day.<\/p>\n

At the Pit Walk<\/h3>\n

First, here\u2019s a look at the pit walk. The drivers held an autograph session for just 30 minutes, but the line was so long that we could only watch from the outside.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From left to right: Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber, and Brendon Hartley. Seeing the drivers in person,<\/strong> I was struck by how slender and slight they all were.<\/strong> I suppose you have to be small to fit into those cars; anyone bigger would struggle. The crowd around Porsche driver Andr\u00e9 Lotterer\u2014famous for his good looks\u2014was so huge that we couldn\u2019t see him at all, let alone get a photo.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Lotterer, by the way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Photo reproduced from the official Porsche Japan website.)<\/span><\/p>\n

What a handsome guy\u2026 If I woke up, looked in the mirror, and saw that face, I\u2019d probably spend the whole day admiring myself instead of going racing. (Laughs.) I was also surprised to learn that he was 35\u2014the same age as me.<\/p>\n

Wait\u2026 Is That a 919 Hybrid?!<\/h3>\n

Behind them was the 919 Hybrid. My husband was beside himself with excitement and spent the whole time snapping photos like a total fanboy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Porsche had announced it would leave the WEC\u2019s LMP1 class at the end of the season, so this would be the last chance to see the 919 Hybrid in Japan.<\/strong> Looking back, it was a truly special opportunity. A little farther along, we also got to see the Porsche RSR.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There weren\u2019t many people around here; it was practically deserted. It seemed that far more fans had come to see Toyota\u2019s LMP1 cars.<\/p>\n

The Grid Walk<\/h3>\n

Next up: the grid walk.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a chance to get up close to the race cars lined up on the circuit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Of course, the 911 RSR was there, too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some fans even touched the cars or posed for photos in awkward positions. The Porsche team members looked visibly annoyed. What would those fans do if they tripped or caught a sleeve on something and damaged a car? There were more than a few moments that made me feel fans need to show a little more consideration.<\/p>\n

The VIP Lounge for Guests and Team Members<\/h3>\n

Next, we headed to the hospitality lounge. The Porsche lounge was filled with all kinds of people: team members, sponsors and their guests, drivers, interpreters, a motor journalist who writes for Car Graphic, and what looked like a driver\u2019s girlfriend\u2014a stunning woman who reminded me of Jessica Michibata.<\/p>\n

It felt like a seriously VIP space.<\/span><\/p>\n

And there was Brendon Hartley.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He seemed to have stopped by the lounge before the race. He was incredibly charming and handsome. We were told that autographs were only available to DMG MORI guests<\/strong>, and since we only had Porsche guest passes, we couldn\u2019t get one. I thought maybe they\u2019d make an exception, but a DMG MORI staff member stopped us. What a shame\u2026<\/p>\n

During the race, drivers who had finished their stints would come to the lounge and talk about the race. But I had to go pump breast milk (yes, I\u2019m a mom to a nine-month-old and still breastfeeding,<\/span> so skipping a pumping session would have been a bad idea).<\/span> I stepped away for a while, and when I got back, there was a huge crowd in the lounge.<\/p>\n

I wondered what was going on, until my husband said, \u201cLotterer was here.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Wait\u2014handsome Lotterer was here?!<\/span><\/p>\n

I never got to see him, and as I pored over the photos my husband had taken, I couldn\u2019t help thinking, \u201cWhy did I have to go pump milk at exactly that moment?\u201d<\/strong> I regretted it so much. Here are the photos.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So handsome.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even when he\u2019s just listening to someone, he looks handsome.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He looks like a Hollywood star. Imagine how much fun life would be if you were born with a face like that! (Laughs.) \u201cBut I\u2019m sure handsome guys have their own problems that only other handsome guys can understand,\u201d<\/strong> I thought, getting completely carried away\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The weather stayed poor throughout the race,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

and the race was stopped by a red flag and never resumed. Porsche finished third and fourth, which was disappointing, but we got to watch the action up close and experience what goes on behind the scenes. It was a truly memorable experience. Next time, I\u2019d love to bring the kids along to a race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Panamera Is a Big Car A week has passed since our Panamera Turbo was delivered. Ours is finished in dark Night Blue Metallic, which gives it a rather imposing look. It\u2019s also big and hard to miss: apparently, the manager at the gas station my husband often visits said, \u201cWhoa, what a huge car! Is it a Ferrari? That thing is massive!\u201d He reportedly repeated himself about ten times. (Laughs.) Anyway, today (not that...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/?p=48","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nocar-nolife","en-US"],"yoast_head":"Watching the 2017 WEC 6 Hours of Fuji: Behind the Scenes in the Pits and VIP Lounge - \u30dd\u30eb\u30b7\u30a7\u304c\u308f\u304c\u5bb6\u306b\u3084\u3063\u3066\u304d\u305f - \u30aa\u30fc\u30ca\u30fc\u30ba\u30d6\u30ed\u30b0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Go behind the scenes at the 2017 WEC 6 Hours of Fuji\u2014from the Porsche pits and grid walk to the VIP lounge and a close-up look at the 919 Hybrid.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/en\/entry\/2017-10-20-122608\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Watching the 2017 WEC 6 Hours of Fuji: Behind the Scenes in the Pits and VIP Lounge - 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