March 27, 2025 • 47 mins
Tonight, we have an opportunity to bring a piece of Le Mans to you, sharing in the Legend of Le Mans with guests from different eras of over 100 years of racing.
Andrea Robertson, a woman who carved her name into Le Mans history. In 2011, Andrea became the last American woman (to date) to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans—and more impressively, the first to ever stand on the podium in the race’s 100-year history.
She and her late-husband, David Robertson, along with pro driver David Murry, took on the grueling challenge of Le Mans as privateers, fielding their iconic Ford GT40 against some of the biggest names in endurance racing. With grit, determination, and sheer passion, they defied the odds and made history on one of motorsport’s biggest stages.
How did they do it? What was it like to go wheel-to-wheel against factory-backed giants? And what does Andrea’s success mean for the future of women in endurance racing? That’s what we’re here to find out.
===== (Oo---x---oO) =====
00:00 Meet Andrea Robertson: A Trailblazer in Le Mans History 01:45 The Journey Begins: From Drag Racing to Endurance Racing 03:09 The Big Leap: Preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 04:25 Challenges and Triumphs: Competing as Privateers 05:53 Facing the Ultimate Challenge: The 24 Hours of Le Mans 11:50 The Final Push: Competing at Le Mans 22:38 Pit Lane Repairs and Adjustments; Overcoming Shifter Issues 24:38 Challenges of Racing as a Privateer 26:24 Navigating the Track and Competitors 28:44 Achieving a Podium Finish 36:01 Reflections on the Le Mans Experience 41:48 Closing Remarks and Future Plans====================
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To learn more about or to become a member of the ACO USA, look no further than www.lemans.org, Click on English in the upper right corner and then click on the ACO members tab for Club Offers. Once you become a Member you can follow all the action on the Facebook group ACOUSAMembersClub; and become part of the Legend with future Evening With A Legend meet ups.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Evening with a Legend is a seriesof presentations exclusive to
Legends of the Famous 24 Hours ofLe Mans, giving us an opportunity
to bring a piece of Le Mans to you.
By sharing stories and highlightsof the big event, you get a chance
to become part of the legend of LeMans, with guests from different
eras of over 100 years of racing.
(00:34):
Tonight, we have an opportunityto bring a piece of Le Mans to
you, sharing in the legend of LeMans with guests from different
eras of over 100 years of racing.
And as your host, I'm delighted tointroduce Andrea Robertson, a woman who
carved her name into Le Mans history.
In 2011, she became the last Americanwoman to date to race in the 24 Hours
of Le Mans, and more importantly,the first ever to stand on the podium
(00:57):
in the race's 100 year history.
She and her late husband, David Robertson,along with pro driver and former Evening
with the Legend guest David Murray,took on the grueling challenge of Le
Mans as privateers, fielding theiriconic Ford GT40 against some of the
biggest names in endurance racing.
With grit, determination, andsheer passion, they defied the
odds and made history on oneof motorsports biggest stages.
(01:20):
How'd they do it?
What was it like to go wheel towheel against factory backed giants?
And what does Andrea's success mean forthe future of women in endurance racing?
That's what we're here to find out.
And with that, I'm your host,Crew Chief Eric from the Motoring
Podcast Network, welcoming everyoneto this evening with a legend.
Andrea, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
Every good story has an origin,and this one has to be probably
(01:42):
one of the most unique ones.
So take us back to the beginning.
Did you just get up one morningand say, I want to race at Le Mans.
Like, how did you getinto endurance racing?
Take us on the journey throughyour beginnings of even high
performance driver's education,meeting up with David Murray.
And what led you to competingin the 24 hours of Le Mans?
I go back to when I wasa teenager back then.
(02:03):
We had their classic cars now.
But I started drag racingunbeknownst to my parents.
I had a niche.
I had friends and we had a good time.
I was at the drag strippretty much every weekend.
Then of course, work gets inthe way, your career, both David
and myself, aviation people.
We met in the early nineties andthen we always talked about racing.
(02:24):
We watched Formula One together.
There was an interest in racing.
And then he came home one day and hesays, Oh, we're going to get a race car.
We're going to start racing.
We'll start at our home trackin Michigan, Waterford Hills.
I said, okay.
So we got a Spec Racer Ford.
We shared it for the first year or two.
It was great.
Had a good fun.
The next year he decided hewanted to go into Formula
Ford, which he was too big for.
I thought he was.
(02:44):
He squeezed into it.
But I stayed with the SpecRacer and we just kind of built
ourselves up through the years.
He said, we're gonna go todifferent racing schools, which we
did throughout the United States.
And we just kept buildingup and we liked it.
We were at the track all the time.
Then we ended up, we gota couple Painos GTSs.
We ran those for a bit.
Just kept working on theskills, working on the skills.
(03:05):
And you know, we ran someraces here and there, SCCA.
And then one day Dave comes homeand he goes, Oh, we're going to
run in the American Le Mans series.
And I kind of rolled my eyes.
I said, Oh, come on.
What are you talking about?
You know, craziness.
And he was dead serious.
So we kept going again through theschools, got our licensing built up.
Watched ourselves.
(03:26):
This is what his goal was.
So I think it was way back in 2006.
We bought a Painos.
It was not a real good car.
We campaigned it for partof a year and we parked it.
The handling was just, itwas not a good situation.
We kept looking.
He said, well, we're going todo the American Le Mans series.
And I was a little apprehensivebecause I thought, oh boy.
That's a series.
That's tough competition.
(03:47):
We got to really be on top of our game.
So we went and looked at acouple different cars and he
wanted to try the Ferrari, buthe couldn't fit into it properly.
And then we weren't sure about a Porsche.
We were looking all over and thenwe got a call out of the blue.
There were some GT40 frames over inKevin Duran's shop in Lebanon, Ohio.
I think we went out there andwe decided, well, let's build
(04:09):
our own car and let's try it.
So we took that task on the team.
We had.
built the car from scratch.
We debuted it in 2007at the 12 hour Sebring.
We were doing pretty darn goodconsidering, you know, brand new
going up against so many pro drivers.
And again, I was very, very nervous.
But prior to that, we did awhole lot of driver development.
(04:31):
We bought another GT40, astreet car with a two seat.
Terry Borcheller was my coach.
And then David Murraywas a coach for Dave.
So we rented tracks.
We were at Carolina Motorsports.
We went to VIR.
We went to Road Atlanta.
We went to Sebring.
We did a lot of driver developmentand I studied real hard.
Dave Murray will probably tell you,I probably worked the hardest out
(04:51):
of all of us because I just felt asa female, I had a disadvantage, I
guess that's the word I want to use.
I had a disadvantage.
I felt it.
When we debuted at Sebring in 2007, Iwas very self conscious as a female, but
then I thought, ah, you know what, whenyou put your helmet on, nobody's going
to really know if you're male or female.
You just go out and do your thing.
So we ran for seven hours.
We were actually holding ourown and doing pretty good.
(05:13):
And then my David got in the carand the water bottle failed and he
dehydrated and he crashed and turned 10.
So we were out of the race, but it'slike, well, You know, these things happen.
He was okay.
And then we continuedon better and better.
It was our money all on ourselves.
No factory help.
No, nobody.
Cause Ford was against us.
They didn't think it was rightthat we were campaigning a Ford GT.
(05:35):
They didn't want nothing to do with us.
We didn't ask him for help.
It's like we had enough other peoplecoming forward, even from some of the
other teams that we made friends with.
There were people that came tous, you know, what do you need?
You need help?
You know, we had wind tunnel.
We sometimes shared tracksfor tire testing driver
development and we kept at it.
We just kept at it.
And then Dave says to me the one day,Oh, we're going to do the 24 hour Lamar.
(05:58):
And I rolled my eyes.
I said, Oh, come on, you got mein the American Lamar series.
Now you want to do the 24 hours.
I just thought, okay, Okay.
So you get into it, you just tellyourself, okay, it's a big undertaking.
And it was a big undertaking because itwas all on ourselves for shipping the
cars and the team, who is going to go.
(06:19):
We kept that even with theAmerican Le Mans series.
We had one year, we were pretty much atop 10 finisher all through the year.
We had some good finishes here and there.
But, you know, you're going upagainst factory teams that had all
the money, all the backing, everythree years they get a new chassis.
They had all kinds of stuff.
What we did was all on our own withthe very clever people we had and, you
know, the determination and the fun.
(06:41):
He wanted to do 24 hour Le Mans.
Okay.
So, April that year, 2011, wewere trying to get both cars in.
One of the cars was going to be DaveMurray, Colin Braun, and Anthony Lazzaro.
And then Boris said was going to bewith me and Dave and the other car.
We went over in April.
We had to qualify.
You had to qualify.
So we did.
We did the night session.
(07:02):
We qualified.
We did good.
We held our own.
One car was in.
The other car was thefirst on the reserve list.
And we were waiting for Aston Martinbecause they weren't sure they were
having problems with the one car.
Then they decided they weregoing to take that spot.
So the 04 car got bumped out.
So we ended up, Dave Murray drove with us.
And, you know, we had half of theteam instead of the whole team.
(07:25):
Big undertaking.
But we did it.
And then when we were over there in April,Aston Martin invited us over to England.
They had a simulator becausewe had never been on the track.
So they had a racing simulator.
So we were over to England with AstonMartin and taking turns on their
huge, I've never seen a simulatorthat big, the screen that big.
There were some good peoplethere that they talked to us.
They guided us, helped us.
(07:46):
I studied, studied, studied, studied.
I thought, you know what?
If Dave's going to get me into this,I'm going to be the best I can be.
And I wanted to outshine him.
That was kind of my goal wasto outshine him, smarty pants.
So I worked, I did everything possiblycould to become a very, very good driver.
So thanks to Anson Martin.
We came back home, got ready, got prepped,flew into France, went to Le Mans.
(08:09):
Wow.
Let's pause there for a secondand get everybody caught up.
There's a couple things thatwe can unpack from your story.
ALMS in the early two thousands, therewere other women drivers at that time.
Some that had been on other programsthat we have on the NPN, people like
Cindy Lux, and even there was, you know,Lindsay James, there's a women's variant.
Series of ALMS.
(08:29):
Did you compete in that as well?
What was the paddock like?
And how did you feel like being mixedin that environment coming away from
SCCA club racing and things like that?
Intimidating because weweren't a factory team.
We were a husband and wife team.
I was a female and for years, Ibelieve I was the only female that ran.
I remember one race Cindy Lux was in atmid Ohio, and that was the only one that I
(08:53):
remember, but it seemed like I was always.
the only female.
And so I tried to really be consciousof the fact of going against pro drivers
and minding myself out there and watch.
I listened very, very intently toDave Murray, Terry Borcheller at
the time, and even the other driversthat we got to know, like got to be
good friends with Seth Nyman fromthe Porsche team, Flying Lizards.
(09:16):
And there were some other goodpeople that we got to know.
And, you know, we listened.
I listened very intently whatto do out there, what not to
do, how to be, how not to be.
And I didn't want to cause any trouble.
I wanted to keep my carsafe, keep myself safe.
And then we finally, we made friends.
I mean, people would stop byfrom the other teams and they'd
come by and chat with us.
(09:36):
How's the car?
You need any help?
How's it going?
And we got to be friends with some ofthem and I didn't feel so intimidated.
Maybe after about a year anda half, I started to feel more
comfortable with the environmentthat I was put into by my husband.
Let's unpack that for a moment to Davekept coming with these new challenges.
(09:56):
We're going to do this.
You know, we're goingto go spec racer Ford.
Oh, we're going to go formula Ford.
We're going to go SCCA.
We're going to go IMSA.
We're going to go, you know, andkept stacking, stacking, stacking.
When was the point where you suddenlyshifted from, all right, Dave, we'll do
this too, I really want to do this too.
Was there a moment at which yousaid, this is suddenly real.
We are going to Lamar.
It manifested itself in you thatyou really wanted to do this.
(10:19):
We've always competed with each other.
We were type A personalities.
Both of us worked for aviationbackgrounds and Dave, he was borderline
genius and he held many positionsin aviation besides a pilot and flew
just about every airplane out here.
I was in aviation tooand I'm a private pilot.
I have a dispatch license so I workedjust as hard even though I wasn't
(10:41):
a commercial pilot like he was.
But it got to be the point where that'sall we talked about was racing and
friends and family, it was racing.
So I just told myself, you knowwhat, I'm going to show you
that I'm the better driver.
And I worked real hard at that.
Cause we would get asked that a lotof times, you know, Dave would always
want to be the first one to say, well,you know, sometimes she's faster.
(11:02):
Sometime I'm faster.
And then it got to be a certainpoint where we'd be asked and I
would stand there quietly and he'dkind of acknowledge grudgingly goes.
Andrea's the better driver.
She's always faster than me.
So I thought, finally, he realizes.
He put me into this, but I worked hard.
I was always on our home simulator.
I was reading track notes.
(11:22):
I listened, I talked, and then it gotto the point where, oh, you know what,
I just want to be in the car, becauseI felt that was the best learning tool.
Be in the car, feel it, do it, becomeone with the car and the tracks.
And then Dave would start asking me, well,what are you doing different out there?
Because we each had a different drivingstyle, which you know, every driver does.
You can coach and you can take thefeedback, but ultimately when you're
(11:46):
in the car, you follow the rules,but you become your own driver.
The road to Lamar, youmentioned 2010, 2011 timeframe.
You mentioned Aston Martin and werecently had Adrian Fernandez on it
and he was on the Aston Martin teamand they had some complications.
And so, you know, it's.
It's funny how small the world is,especially when it's in the same timeline.
Do you just call up the ACOand say, Hi, I'm Andrea and I
(12:09):
want to compete with my GT 40.
Like I understand when Aston Martingoes to Lamar and then they call
up somebody like Adrian and theysay, we need you to drive for us.
And the, you know, there's allthese contracts and all this stuff.
It's very different for the pro drivers.
How did you broker this deal as aprivateer to go campaign your car?
Well, it's been quiteinteresting to say the least.
(12:30):
In 2009, we had a personal invitationto bring our team and race in the
Asian Le Mans Series over in Okayama.
I remember Dave got off the phone, Ithink Scott Atherton might have called
him, he was in charge of ALMS at the timeand said, Personal invitation, you're
invited to go to the Asian Le Mans Series.
It's like, really?
So we did that in 2009.
We got some help transporting thecar over all the way to Tokyo.
(12:53):
That's a long, I think itwas a 14 hour flight for us.
But we did that.
I think we got a sixth place andan eighth place finish over there.
So we didn't do too bad.
And the people just welcomed us.
We don't know the language.
We had an interpreter we hiredbecause of the language barrier.
But the fans that came tothe track were so gracious.
They showered us with gifts.
Here were this little mom and pop team.
(13:15):
Our interpreter would come.
You have some guests.
I have never bowed so much inmy life because they would come
over and they'd bow to you.
And we would bow back and theywould present us with baskets
and boxes of beautiful things.
Asia was good.
Japan was good to us.
And then when Dave started, well, we'regoing to work up to the 24 hour Le Mans.
That's my goal.
My goal.
It's like, okay, okay, okay.
(13:35):
So when we got to that point,I kept, I'm going to work hard.
I'm going to work hard becauseif he wants to do this.
I want to be on top of myballgame with this endeavor.
What it was is, in 2010, there was talk,I believe, with Scott Atherton from
ALMS, because that year, I believe,Jaguar went over to the 24 Hour Le Mans.
Their campaign didn't do very well.
(13:57):
So then it was the next year between Davebroaching the subject with Scott Atherton
of what about us going to Le Mans?
So I think there wasphone calls had been made.
Maybe Scott campaigned on our behalf.
And the next thing I know, Ithink it was in January of 2011,
Dave came home all excited.
He goes, we've been accepted.
We have an invite to go tothe 24 hour to participate.
(14:19):
And I just looked at him.
I said, really?
So he goes, here's the plan.
We have to go over in April andqualify ourselves and the car.
Cause that's their rule.
Okay.
So we started right awaygetting everything ready.
Passports for everybody.
Who's going to go shipping the cars over.
But we did get an invitation.
And we took it.
We went over and we took itagain, April of that year.
(14:41):
And both cars were left with AstonMartin after we were done with
qualifying and the night qualifying.
So Aston Martin said, yeah, weleft the cars in England with them.
And then everything would betransported over in June for the 24
hour previous guests of the show.
You know, we've asked them questions aboutwhat were your first impressions of Lamar?
How were you receiving?
by the French by the otherteams and things like that.
(15:01):
There's a whole otherlayer of complexity here.
Was it different being a privateer andnot being one of the big name teams
where you looked at differently andgender aside, what was it like stepping
foot at hallowed ground, like Lamarfor the first time as a privateer?
We were welcomed.
The French were so kind to us.
All the ACL officials were so kind to us.
(15:21):
And even like other teams, it'sso funny how, I think because Dave
was 6'4 and I'm shorter, that's howwe stood out to a lot of people.
Oh, there's the husband wife team.
And it would be hilarious thatpeople would call our names.
Oh, Dave and Andrea, Dave andAndrea, can I have an autograph?
How do they know we're Dave and Andrea?
But the other team's friendliness,most of the other teams were very
(15:42):
friendly to us, very gracious.
We got very high complimentsfrom the French officials at ACO.
This was from Scott Atherton.
He said, after the fact, he saidthat they complimented us on the
little American team that cameover and didn't cause any problems.
The team was gracious.
We respected the country.
We respected the people.
(16:03):
We respected the race itself, the wholevenue, and we didn't do anything to
get ourselves in trouble on the track.
We were one of the only teams that didn'thave speeding in or out of the pit lane.
I was specifically told no burnouts,which is kind of disappointing.
But I was told by my engineer,no, no burnouts and ALMS.
We could do nice big fat burnouts goingout of the pit lane, not in France.
(16:25):
But yeah, we stressed to the team, youknow, we're guests in another country.
Represent the UnitedStates and us as a team.
Just represent us the higheststandards that you can.
And we did it.
And in a weird way, it sort ofparallels the Garage 56 experience
from a couple years ago, right?
It's like, who are these guys?
Where'd they come from?
But again, super well received,well respected, everybody
(16:48):
minded their P's and Q's.
Yeah.
LeMans, as we know, Is one ofthe crown jewels of racing.
It is one of the toughest endurance racesin the world, and it's highly regarded.
It's over a hundred years old now.
So for you, and I've heard part of thisstory from David Murray about how hard
you train or one of the hardest workingdrivers out there, but what was some of
the biggest challenges you faced leadingup to race day and on race day itself?
(17:12):
I wanted to make sure I wasmentally and physically fit.
One of the things I've always strivedfor, and I used to get made fun of by my
Dave, he goes, you're always working outwith the weights or in the exercise room.
I said, well, I have tobe on top of my game.
And one of the things, when we firststarted in ALMS, the GT cars did
not have air conditioning in them.
And we saw drivers that wouldliterally come out of their stint
(17:34):
and almost collapse on pit lane.
It's hot in those cars.
And the next year, of course, therules change and air conditioning
was allowed in the GT cars.
Good for Dave, my husband.
But what I told myself,that's a mechanical part.
If that fails What do I do?
I don't want to rely onthe air conditioning.
So I conditioned myself.
I worked, worked, worked.
When I drove in the car, I didn'tturn the air conditioning on because
(17:57):
I always told myself if that fails, Idon't want to be the driver that fails
because the air conditioning failed.
So I made sure I was always asfit as I could be physically as
well as mentally and emotionally.
When you're in the car, youkind of put the blinders on.
You're focusing on what you're doing.
You're driving that machine and whatyou're doing out there on the track.
Like I said, I didn'tuse the air conditioning.
(18:17):
It'd be sparingly.
If it was real hot, I'd click it on.
Cause you know, a cool suit onlyworks for a couple laps anyway.
So this is the differencebetween me and Dave.
I said, if the air conditioning fails,you don't want to fail as a driver.
So I stressed that even today, you know,I just got back from Sebring two weeks
ago and I don't use the air conditioner.
If I don't need it, I don't use it, butI wanted to make sure that as a driver.
(18:39):
I wasn't going to causea failure for the team.
I wanted to be the best I couldbe because I'm also representing
my team because we worked so hardtogether to come to this big endeavor.
I always felt that after reading andresearching the biggest race in the
world, the 24 hours of Lamar, David Murrayalso mentioned that during the race.
You had a hard time keeping upwith the caloric intake, forgetting
(19:02):
to eat or not wanting to eat.
Did that weigh on you?
There is a special moment in therebecause I believe the race occurred
on your anniversary as well.
I'm still about that weight.
Again, we were at Sebring and we havea cook and he'd come around with the
food and when it's right before I'mgetting, no, no, no, I don't like food.
I will eat breakfast and Iwill eat a little bit for
(19:23):
lunch, but I don't feel myself.
But at Lamar, I did athree hour stint overnight.
And I would go out, come in for tiresand fuel and go back out, go back out.
And then my engineer radioed, he goes,okay, I need to get you out of the car.
And it was so funny because at that pointin time, I thought, man, I'm hungry.
I just got ravenous.
So I radioed, I said, thisis what I want to eat.
(19:44):
Tell my little gal, wehad helpers, you call it.
I said, I want salmon.
I want green beans.
I want potatoes, salad, a roll,get me something to drink.
No pop, but she was made sure wehad these bottles of electrolyte.
I still have my bottlewith my straw in it.
I still have it, but my drink.
And I said, maybe a cookie.
I said, have that.
That's what I want to eat.
So Lee gave that to the littlegal that was taking care of me.
(20:07):
So I come into pit lane and I'mthinking, yeah, I just, all of a
sudden it was like, I want to eat.
I want to eat.
I wanted to drive more, but I was hungry.
So I get out of pit lane and then Lee, myengineer, he goes, Oh yeah, Dave's here.
He's got something special for you.
I'm like Dave Robertson.
Yeah, it was our anniversary.
So he's standing on pitlane waiting for me.
He had a bouquet of flowers.
He told one of the boysto go to Vanessa's.
(20:28):
She was our hospitality galand he goes, go get some
flowers from one of our tables.
So he's, he was standingthere and it was hilarious.
I didn't know this.
So I get out of the carand I get my baby seat out.
I drive with the baby seatbecause we had such a height
differential between me and Dave.
The seat was made for him andI had to ride with an insert.
So I'm getting my insert out.
(20:48):
Dave Murray gets in the car andDave goes, Oh, happy anniversary.
So he's giving me a kiss on my helmet.
I will thank you.
And it was hilarious because SpeedChannel was there filming me.
It was just comical in a way.
But I said Well, thank you.
I love bouquet.
And now I'm going to go and stripout of my uniform and wash up
and wait for my meal to come theanniversary scene around the world.
I think we all saw thatmoment on television.
(21:11):
You were always trying to best yourhusband, even on the day of the race.
And you talked about driving overnight.
We'll get into that a little bit more.
But one of the things That DavidMurray had mentioned when he was here.
He talked about the fact that Dave,your husband sort of did the shortest
amount of driving and you split theload between yourself and David Murray.
So when you took on the extra stintsand the extra time, did that play
(21:33):
a toll on you physically, mentally?
How did you stay focused forall those hours of driving?
Not at all.
I was on a mission.
So yeah, we kind of notlet Dave be in the car.
Sometime he would losehis focus or something.
And me, um, you know, I'd do two hourstints, and then I did three hour stints.
I could do more, but Lee was tryingto make sure I didn't burn myself out.
But I loved driving.
(21:54):
The car was so good.
Once you got comfortablewith everything at Le Mans.
It was no issue at all.
And I drove a lot throughthe night, which was fine.
My Dave, he was not bigon the night driving.
So, you know, okay.
So I took a lot of driving.
I think we let him in maybe one moretime and then me and Dave Murray
finished off the rest and then I tookthe checker, but the car was so good.
(22:16):
It was so smooth.
It breaks so straight.
And it responded so well.
We had two hiccups that I can remember.
One of my earlier stints,the paddle shift fail.
So I had to bring it back in, butI tell you, the team was smart.
They left the sequential shift in.
It was just bolted down.
When I radioed, I said, paddleshift fail, paddle shift, we'll
(22:37):
limp it in, limp it in, limp it in.
So when I got to pit lane, Iwas rolled into the garage.
They took the hood or the lid offthe back of the, by the engine.
They put the sequential shifter back up.
The paddle shift was done.
And then inside the cockpit,we, I did the zip tie, brought
the sequential shifter up.
I thought, Oh boy, I'm going to be rusty.
But you know, after one lap,you're back into the groove.
(22:58):
Yeah.
The paddle shift was brand new that year.
And you know what?
It failed.
So what, but guess what?
Because.
The crew was smart enough to keepthe sequential in that saved us
because I think there were two otherteams, their paddle shift failed.
They were out, so it kept us going.
So after one lap, I got the rest out.
I can do this.
I had been used to the sequential,but yeah, I did love the driving.
(23:20):
So for me, it didn't drain mephysically, mentally, or emotionally.
I took it methodically.
Even when it was my rest period,I really don't think I rested.
I'd come in and strip because you'reall wet because you got your long racing
underwear on under your driving suit.
So I'd come in, we had littlecubbies, little trailers or whatnot.
Ours just happened to be rightunder a speaker and it was so loud.
(23:43):
All you heard was whatever wason the speaker, but I tried to
rest as best I could, and thenthere'd be a knock on my door.
Andrea, you're up.
Get dressed and get dressedand go out to our garage and
I'd be ready to rock and roll.
But I wasn't tired.
I wasn't worn out.
My mind was still sharp.
I tried to stay as focused as Icould and I kept myself hydrated.
And again, my little gal kept givingme these electrolyte drinks to make
(24:06):
sure I had that at least in my body.
So you mentioned one issuewith the car was the shifter.
What was the second one?
Oh, The second one, Dave Murray got a flattire way on the other side of the track.
You know, Lamar's about what, 8.
46 miles carbon fiberfrom a previous crash.
You know, it's cleanedup as best as can be.
We feel he must've ran over somecarbon fiber, got a flat tire.
(24:27):
So he brought that inchange and out he went.
Those were pretty much the only twohiccups that I can remember we had.
And we just kept going.
Hold your line, get outthere, and just keep at it.
So, we kept at it.
Racing as a privateer comes with itsown unique set of obstacles, because
you don't have as many resourcesand spare parts, and you're trying
to maintain the car for 24 hours.
(24:47):
Talking a little bit more aboutthe car and the driving, you know,
David Murray mentioned how hespent a lot of time, he was very
conservative, did a lot of drafting.
He felt that maybe you guys had a slightperformance differential between some of
the factory teams and things like that.
Did you have the same impressionof the GT or did you feel like you
were in the mix with everybody else?
We had a slight disadvantageas a privateer team.
(25:08):
Yeah.
We didn't have the resourceslike Ferrari Corvette had.
And yeah, some of those cars wereblindingly fast, but I will tell you.
What I noticed, sometimes the driversgot a little bit too aggressive and
they crashed themselves out right away.
I saw that with the Audi with AlanMcNish coming out of Dunlop turn.
He collided with a Ferrariand knocked out that Audi R18.
(25:30):
One of my early mornings, since it wasCorvette was battling with someone else.
They passed me on the Porschecurves, which is fine.
I'm holding my line.
I'm keeping my business,doing my business.
I come up to the Corvette corners andhere's a Corvette smashed out pretty
bad, and it's over aggressive driving,but you know what, we did have some
rain in the morning too, but I wastrying to be, and like Dave says, you
(25:51):
be conservative, go out there and befast when you can, but be conscious of
the fact of what you're doing out there.
We've always felt that, yeah, wewere always a little bit behind
because we didn't have the samething that the factory drivers had.
And then there'd always be like,Oh, you, you're restrictor.
You got to have this.
We didn't always feel that everybody wason the same playing field, so to speak.
(26:14):
With restrictors or weights, butthat's just, you know, paddock talk.
And at this point racing at the 24, basedon all your ALMS experience, you were
used to running in mixed class racing.
And obviously the ALMS schedule doesn'talways include what would have been
considered at the time LMP one cars,P1 cars, which are now GDP cars.
Again, the speed differential, the United.
(26:34):
States.
Even though the cars are thesame is different because
the tracks are a lot smaller.
You don't have cars doing necessarilyover 200 miles an hour at every
track in the United States.
So what was it like being at Lamarwith LMP one cars bearing down
on you at over 200 miles an hour?
Did you spend a lot oftime in your mirrors?
No, I don't want to drive that way.
I glance, but I don't drive in my mirrors.
(26:55):
I always ask my team, especially on thefront when they're in the engineer stand,
I'd always say, give me a heads up.
Give me a shout out that Audi orPeugeot five, six seconds behind.
That helps me.
And then you watch for the corner workers.
You see a flag.
Nighttime, it was easier because theGT cars, we had gold headlights and
the prototypes had a whiter headlight.
So, you know, when you glanced, so wehad a rear in car camera rear view.
(27:20):
So I would glance at that and I couldtell immediately prototype coming,
or there was a GT car coming at me.
So at nighttime, it's easier to see justglancing, but I refuse to drive in my
mirrors because I figure if I'm holdingmy line, I'll glance to see a radio call
from the engineer stands goes a long way.
And once I would get that, you know,five or six seconds or whatever it may
(27:42):
be Audi Peugeot or whoever it may be.
Has that in my mind.
And I, you know, I would just kind ofdo a quick glance and I'd calculate.
It's like, I'm holding my line.
I don't have to do anything silly.
So it worked out very, very well, butyeah, those cars are fast, especially
on the most on straight and coming outto Indianapolis, it's like, Holy moly.
So when you compared it toother tracks you drove on,
(28:02):
what did you think of Lamont?
Did you enjoy turning laps there?
Oh, heck yeah.
Yeah, very much.
It was an honor to be there.
Would you consider it a favorite or doyou have something that you keep above it?
That's one of my favorites just because ofwhat we did and we weren't expecting it.
What we told ourselves goingover, our goal was let's do Lamar.
(28:25):
That's Dave's Dave wanted to do Lamar.
And we said, if we can finish the race,that would be great, man and machine.
That means that we havea good car and we did it.
And that was kind of our goal was to beable to finish the race without crashing
out or mechanically being thrown out.
The podium was just anadded, what a bonus.
What was it like crossing thechecker, realizing you were in third
(28:48):
place on the podium for the firstwoman to ever podium at Le Mans?
Well, it was kind of surreal because whenI got my call, the knock on my little
cubby door, you're up, get dressed.
And I went into our garage and I'mlooking at the monitors and I'm
like, okay, we're in fourth place.
You know, some of the team,Andrew, we're in fourth place.
Okay.
I played it cool because you don't evercount anything ahead of time because
(29:10):
you don't know what could happen.
I thought, okay, well that's pretty good.
You know, cause Dave Murray wasin the car, he was coming in.
I thought, okay, fourthplace, this is good.
So I got on, just kept doing my own thing,and then toward the end, as we started
getting to the end of Le Mans, Lee cameon the radio and he says, Andrea, P3.
I said, What?
Excuse me?
He goes, P3.
Just keep doing what you're doing.
(29:32):
Okay.
So I thought P3.
I didn't allow myself to get excited.
I didn't allow myself any type of emotion.
The only thing was focus anddrive the car till the end.
There's no way I was going tocelebrate something that I didn't
know if it was really going to happen.
You can't because I've seen toomany drivers disappoint themselves.
And then Lee gets on, he goes, yougot one more lap, he goes, bring it
home, he goes, we're still in P3.
(29:54):
Okay, Lee, thank you.
Come around, you know, off of thePorsche curves, Corvette corner,
I see the checker up there.
So as soon as I got the checker, Lee comeson, he goes, congratulations, we are P3.
And it's like, then, I don't know, Ijust had this big, like, grin came on me.
I said, oh my god, P3 after 24 hours,I could go for another 24 hours.
(30:15):
I was pretty psyched up about it.
And then it was the most hilarious.
thing because after the checker flagwent out and we were, you know, all out
there on the track, you couldn't move.
The track was inundated with cornerworkers and the flags and people were
beating on your car and they wereyelling your name and Lee would come on.
(30:35):
He goes, Andrew, where are you at?
And I said, well, I'm at, and Itell him where I was on the track.
Well, what's taking so long?
I said, I can't move.
The track has people all in itwith corner workers and flags.
And I said, they're yelling ourname and beating on the cars,
like pounding the fenders.
It was hilarious.
So I finally get in, you know,I'm directed to park for me.
I thought, okay, so I'mgoing over to park for me.
(30:56):
I get out and I'm kind of standingthere and I thought, I have no idea
where to go from here because I'mhearing all these different languages.
I'm seeing all kinds of different drivers.
I didn't know where I was supposed to go.
And it's so funny.
There was a driver, like I was sayingearlier, people knew who we were.
One of the European drivers and hecalled me, goes, Andrea, come with me.
He goes, I take you.
(31:17):
He goes, I know where your team is.
Okay, thanks.
I don't know who he was, but he knew me.
So he took me, there was a car there.
He goes, you get in here.
They're going to takeyou up to the podium.
And then Joey Hand got in.
I knew Joey.
He was a BMW driver.
They got a third place in their class.
So then we went up to the carand we couldn't even move.
There was just So many people whenwe got up to the podium, and then
(31:39):
I'm walking up and there were peopleagain that I'm standing there.
I didn't see anybody.
I know, but people knew with Andrea overhere over here and they would yell for
me or somebody would come and get me.
Finally, I caught up to the crew.
Then we were like, kind of being organizedyour team and when you're going to
go out for what not onto the podium.
And it was really surreal.
There were 249, 500 people at Lamar.
(32:02):
And when you went up and walkedon that podium, it was stunning.
There were people yelling ournames or American flags flying.
So we were waving to people and then,you know, people were calling our names,
screaming, and I'm looking and I thought.
This can't be happening.
And everybody was just a joyfor all the teams, for all
the drivers that we did this.
We ran for 24 hours.
(32:23):
Our car lasted, our car was agood little car and we did it.
You mentioned before that Fordwanted nothing to do with it.
Can't believe campaigning our car,privateer, all this kind of thing.
And obviously you chose the carbecause it was what Dave could fit in.
When you think back, Ford hadn'twon at Le Mans in a very long
time, especially in the GT40.
We're going to put air quotes around that.
(32:43):
You're up there on thepodium, privateer to GT40.
A GT40 hasn't won at LeMans since the late sixties.
Did it suddenly give you the feels?
That had to have been aheck of an experience.
Again, I can still see walking up on thatplatform, all the people that are looking
at you and they're calling your name.
It was a moment to be proud.
And I remember me and Dave and Dave,we hugged and we were like, you
(33:06):
know, we can't believe we did this.
A little guy like us.
And you know, some of these otherteams, these factory teams had, you
know, maybe campaigned in two or threecars and maybe one or two crashed out.
It's like, we did it.
And mine and Dave's phone was going nuts.
There were friends from the Statesthat watched and the messages was,
we watched you and we're crying.
Because we've known you guys, youraced with us at Waterford or wherever.
(33:30):
And this is the response is what wewere getting messages from people.
We were crying, watching you on thepodium, but we're so proud of you.
And it's like, wow.
Okay.
So did Ford ever come back and sayanything after it was all done?
You know, there were some of the Fordpeople did, they invited us to dinner.
And I don't remember theone he was from Ford.
(33:51):
He was one of the grandsons andhe kind of apologized, said some
real kind things, talked to us, youknow, like last year I was at road
America and Edsel Ford came up to me.
I went to the bathroom and then my teamsaid, Hey, somebody here to see you.
Brian Redmond was there, which Iknow Brian and then Edsel Ford.
And he wanted to shake my hand.
He goes, this is a beautiful car andthank you for bringing it and driving it.
(34:12):
And I said, it is a beautiful car.
I said, I think it was one of the best.
years and one of the most beautiful,iconic Ford GTs there are.
This was last year.
And then again, after Le Mans,there was some outreach from Ford.
We were invited to events, carshows and come to speak and whatnot.
And then in 2016, we got an invitationfrom Ford because they debuted.
Remember Chip Ganassi, they broughtthe new Ford GT to debut at Le Mans.
(34:36):
And we got an invitation to bringour winning Le Mans car over.
So I could drive in the paradelap before the start of the race.
And there was some otherGT winners of 66, 67.
So we were all there with these cars.
So that was a personalinvitation from Ford in 2016.
One and done.
Right.
So Dave said, we did it all.
(34:57):
We even podium.
We did better than we expected.
There was no bucket list after that.
There was no more reach.
Why not a second attempt?
Because.
We didn't have a new chassis.
Basically, it was like after about threeyears, you retire a chassis and Ford
didn't make anything after that year.
And then, you know, we kind of thoughtthe technology was advancing so well
(35:19):
with like the other manufacturers.
We would always be down here withoutanything new for us going forward.
Yeah, we talked about it.
It would have been nice.
But again, that was kind of likethe norm of every so many years,
everything changes with the technology.
And that wasn't us.
We were the mom and pop team.
What we decided or when Dave was stillalive, he said, what we'd like to do is
(35:41):
go back and if we could get the invitationto go back and do the vintage Le Bon.
We said, Oh yeah, that'd be great.
If we ever come to that point.
And if that point ever comes, I'll goback and have Dave Murray go, we'll do
it to honor Dave, if that ever comes.
Well, the classic is coming back this yearfor the first time in a very long time.
So maybe that will becomea reality here soon.
So I hope so.
So switching gears a little bit, as wesort of wrap out here, one of the things
(36:06):
that is a common thread when you talkabout Le Mans, what did Le Mans teach you?
How did it change you as a driver?
What did you take away fromthe experience and does it
still affect your racing today?
Yes, it does.
It truly was an honor that we got to go.
I felt we represented ourselvesvery well for who and what
we were as the little guys.
(36:27):
Kept ourselves out of trouble andI learned a lot by listening to the
other drivers, you know, who we got tobe friends with, who we got to know.
And you take some of their skillsets or their thought processes.
Today even, girls mightcome up and talk to me.
I was just approached a coupleweeks ago about, actually I
got two speaking engagementsI'm supposed to do for females.
(36:47):
And I said, yeah, I'llbe happy to do that.
What I want to do, especially when wewent over to La Mom, and I told this to
my day because I said, don't get cocky.
Do not ever, ever get cocky because thatcan knock you out of a race right away.
When you have that type of attitude,I always felt even keeled matter
of fact about the whole situationand you don't get above yourself
(37:07):
because I've seen this happen.
If you get that type ofattitude, it gets you in trouble.
So I. Still see the moments.
I can relish the moments.
I can see it right asI'm talking to you now.
I'm driving the track.
I'm seeing the track and I'm drivingand I remember when I was there for the
night qualifying when I was running andI wanted to take that as a perspective
back to even what I do here in the States.
(37:29):
I got to do that, but it changed me to bea better driver to know that I can do it.
I trained myself physically,mentally, and emotionally.
I know I can do it.
So if there was another24 hours, I'd be on it.
And again, I want tosay thank you to France.
What a great place.
The sights and sounds of everybody, allthe different teams, all the different
(37:49):
languages, and the people you meet.
everybody was gracious.
I didn't see anybody out of line there.
Even all the fans, everybody was sogracious and so kind and so excited.
So excited when you look back over thelast almost 15 years now, since your
podium, you're still the last Americanwoman to run at Lamont and you're one
of the only women to podium at Lamont.
(38:11):
How does that make youfeel when you think back?
And how does what you didimpact the future of motorsport?
What do you think we can dodifferent to get more women to
compete at the level that you did?
You have to really commit to it.
You have to want itand you have to commit.
I know it takes money.
It takes money and time.
And like I've told somegals that I've spoke to.
When you do driver development, andthen as I started to be at the end
(38:34):
of the ALMS, I used to do the setup,work with the tires, tire testing.
I said, you have to want to do this.
And you have to be open tocriticisms and suggestions.
It has to be in you.
You have that excitement.
You want to be one withthe car and the track.
And if you can't commit that way,110%, then you're just going to be
(38:55):
a weekend driver at your local club.
But to go as what me and Davedid, we took the racing schools.
We kept advancing our licenses.
We kept advancing our driving skills.
I listened very, very intently to DaveMurray and some of the other people
that came along that was in our life.
But I tell gals today that if you can'tcommit fully, and I understand money could
(39:15):
be a factor with some of the young gals.
But you have to be committed 110percent that I want to do this.
I want to get out thereand prove it and do it.
Andrea, if you could go back todayand run one of the cars in the last
couple of seasons, 2023, 24, and nowthe new announcement for the 2025 cars.
What would you drive?
I love the Ford GT.
I've been spoiled with it, so to speak.
(39:37):
Very much spoiled with it.
I was invited.
I forgot how many yearsback it was a prototype.
Would I come over andrun it in a prototype?
And I don't know.
I'm not keen on it.
So I kind of passed on it.
Perhaps a Ferrari.
But if there was another FordGT, I'd for sure get into that.
I'd like to see what thetechnology, what it's.
change from our year to what it is today.
(39:58):
What do you think about the Mustang,especially with its win at Rolex?
Is that a good jumping off point forFord, especially with their recent
announcement that they are going tocome back and compete at Le Mans in GTP?
I want to see, because I think theMustang's a heavier car than the Ford GT.
I don't know what engine they have in it.
It's got me intrigued.
Back in the day when I dragraced, there would be Ford
(40:19):
Mustangs that would drag race.
And I always thought they werea heavier car and more boxier.
If they've streamlined the aerodynamicson it, it's going to be interesting.
I'll watch it closely and see.
We ran at Miller Motorsports.
They had a school out thereand they used the Mustangs.
Me and Dave drove the Mustangs.
They weren't bad, but theywere school cars over at Miller
Motorsports over in Utah.
(40:40):
Well, the new ones definitely provedthat they got the legs on the car.
Corvette team.
So GM's got some work todo after all these years.
Oh, all right.
Well, I have to keep my eye on it then.
Go Blue Oval, right?
Yes.
So that said, Andrea, what's next?
You're still racing.
What's left to do?
I'm still racing.
Like I said, I just got back fromSebring and I'm running next week.
I'm going to Road Atlanta.
(41:00):
I'm still having fun.
I never realized I was talking to somebodylast week and she was asking me about
the race and I was telling her and thenshe sat there and she looked at me.
She goes.
When you talk aboutracing, you just light up.
She goes, your face lightsup, your eyes sparkle.
I said, really?
I just thought I'm relayingwhat goes on out in the track.
She goes, well, it affects you.
And she goes, you can see it in your aura.
(41:22):
And it's like, But I like it.
The car is still so good.
I just had the engine rebuilt,the transmission, paddle shift.
We did everything brand new.
We started at ground zero this year atSebring and Sebring went pretty well.
I still want to keep doing thisand I want to honor Dave because
this was his baby, so to speak.
It is hard at times without him.
(41:43):
I get kind of choked up and emotionalabout it, but I think he rides with me.
I think he does.
Well, as we close out here, Andrea, weare very fortunate because you never
know who's going to be in the audience.
And there is a special guest withus tonight, the first American
woman to ever run at Le Mans.
So I'm wondering if Margie would liketo take a moment to say something
and let you guys chat for a second.
Andrea, I just want you toknow, I appreciate so much
(42:06):
you're telling your story.
Your ability to pull your listenersinto the car with you is so special,
even into your dressing room andhow you have gone on with your goals
to race and your positive attitude.
And I so can identify with youwith the loss of your husband.
Cause I had the same thingshappen when I won my championship.
(42:28):
We had cancer that year, but I lostmy husband almost two years ago.
But you will always have the memoryand experience with him and your
crew and everyone, and alwayswill remember those flowers being
delivered to you for your anniversary.
But I do hope that you have a lotof success in your remaining racing.
(42:49):
And please, please speakas many times as you can.
You're absolutely amazing thateverything you do, every word you
say, I could not take myself awayfrom listening to your story.
You're a true legend, and I knowyou're a major person who will help
young thrivers and technicians andso forth to pursue their goals.
(43:09):
Congratulations.
I'm very proud of you.
Thank you.
And sorry about the loss of your husband.
And again, when I gotthis invitation to speak.
And I got the book out and allDave's notes in it and those little
dog eared pages I just choked up.
I thought, Oh my God, I remember that.
This was great.
I remember that.
I remember that.
The memories come flooding back.
And it seemed like it was just yesterday.
(43:29):
You can imagine he, he enjoyedthe experiences with you and
probably had a lot of pride inhelping you along your path.
I'm glad you beat him.
But I got to Al Qaida becausehe outshone me in aviation.
He could fly every airplane outthere and I was just private pilot
and I worked in flight control.
(43:50):
But I'd do his paperwork for him whenhe'd have to go pick up airplanes out of
Iceland or wherever we picked them up.
I'd give him all his paperworkand all his credentials.
So I played an important part ingetting those MD 80s back over here.
That's great.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
All right.
And on that, I would like to passthe mic over to David Lowe, ACO USA
(44:11):
president for some parting thoughts.
Andrea, thank you so much on behalfof the ACO and all the ACO USA
members that are watching todayor will be watching the rerun.
It was so great to meet you up in Pontiac.
Yes.
Thank you so much for this evening.
Thank you for inviting me.
What an endeavor from us just thinkingwe wanted to finish in one piece.
(44:32):
Again, Andrea, thank you on behalfof the ACO for your contribution.
and we look forward to checking in soon.
Absolutely.
I'm your girl.
Thank you.
And on behalf of everyone hereand those listening at home.
Thank you, Andrea, for sharing yourstories with us from the grit and
determination it took to race as aprivateer and making history as the first
American woman to ever podium at Lamar.
(44:53):
Andrea story is nothingshort of legendary.
Andrea and her late husband Davidand David Murray proved that passion,
perseverance, and a little bit of FordGT magic can take on even the toughest
competition in endurance racing.
Their journey wasn't just about speed,it was about breaking barriers, defying
expectations, and proving that anyonewith enough heart can make their
(45:14):
mark on motorsports biggest stage.
And we hope you enjoyed thispresentation and look forward
to more Evening with a Legend.
And with that, Andrea, I can'tthank you enough again for coming on
the show and sharing your stories.
You are a legend.
You are an inspiration.
You completed a circle thatstarted with Margie and has
yet to be broken at this point.
So thank you for what you've done.
It's absolutely amazing.
(45:34):
And keep up the good work.
I'm going to keep at it as long as I can.
This episode has been broughtto you by the Automobile Club
of the West and the ACO USA.
From the awe inspiring speed demons thathave graced the track to the courageous
(45:58):
drivers who have pushed the limits ofendurance, the 24 Hours Le Mans is an
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For over a century, the 24 HoursLe Mans has urged manufacturers to
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(46:20):
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(46:47):
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By sharing stories and highlightsof the big event, you get a chance
to become part of the legend of LeMans, with guests from different
eras of over 100 years of racing.
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Tonight, we have an opportunityto bring a piece of Le Mans to
you, sharing in the legend of LeMans with guests from different
eras of over 100 years of racing.
And as your host, I'm delighted tointroduce Andrea Robertson, a woman who
carved her name into Le Mans history.
In 2011, she became the last Americanwoman to date to race in the 24 Hours
of Le Mans, and more importantly,the first ever to stand on the podium
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in the race's 100 year history.
She and her late husband, David Robertson,along with pro driver and former Evening
with the Legend guest David Murray,took on the grueling challenge of Le
Mans as privateers, fielding theiriconic Ford GT40 against some of the
biggest names in endurance racing.
With grit, determination, andsheer passion, they defied the
odds and made history on oneof motorsports biggest stages.
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How'd they do it?
What was it like to go wheel towheel against factory backed giants?
And what does Andrea's success mean forthe future of women in endurance racing?
That's what we're here to find out.
And with that, I'm your host,Crew Chief Eric from the Motoring
Podcast Network, welcoming everyoneto this evening with a legend.
Andrea, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
Every good story has an origin,and this one has to be probably
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one of the most unique ones.
So take us back to the beginning.
Did you just get up one morningand say, I want to race at Le Mans.
Like, how did you getinto endurance racing?
Take us on the journey throughyour beginnings of even high
performance driver's education,meeting up with David Murray.
And what led you to competingin the 24 hours of Le Mans?
I go back to when I wasa teenager back then.
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We had their classic cars now.
But I started drag racingunbeknownst to my parents.
I had a niche.
I had friends and we had a good time.
I was at the drag strippretty much every weekend.
Then of course, work gets inthe way, your career, both David
and myself, aviation people.
We met in the early nineties andthen we always talked about racing.
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We watched Formula One together.
There was an interest in racing.
And then he came home one day and hesays, Oh, we're going to get a race car.
We're going to start racing.
We'll start at our home trackin Michigan, Waterford Hills.
I said, okay.
So we got a Spec Racer Ford.
We shared it for the first year or two.
It was great.
Had a good fun.
The next year he decided hewanted to go into Formula
Ford, which he was too big for.
I thought he was.
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He squeezed into it.
But I stayed with the SpecRacer and we just kind of built
ourselves up through the years.
He said, we're gonna go todifferent racing schools, which we
did throughout the United States.
And we just kept buildingup and we liked it.
We were at the track all the time.
Then we ended up, we gota couple Painos GTSs.
We ran those for a bit.
Just kept working on theskills, working on the skills.
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And you know, we ran someraces here and there, SCCA.
And then one day Dave comes homeand he goes, Oh, we're going to
run in the American Le Mans series.
And I kind of rolled my eyes.
I said, Oh, come on.
What are you talking about?
You know, craziness.
And he was dead serious.
So we kept going again through theschools, got our licensing built up.
Watched ourselves.
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This is what his goal was.
So I think it was way back in 2006.
We bought a Painos.
It was not a real good car.
We campaigned it for partof a year and we parked it.
The handling was just, itwas not a good situation.
We kept looking.
He said, well, we're going todo the American Le Mans series.
And I was a little apprehensivebecause I thought, oh boy.
That's a series.
That's tough competition.
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We got to really be on top of our game.
So we went and looked at acouple different cars and he
wanted to try the Ferrari, buthe couldn't fit into it properly.
And then we weren't sure about a Porsche.
We were looking all over and thenwe got a call out of the blue.
There were some GT40 frames over inKevin Duran's shop in Lebanon, Ohio.
I think we went out there andwe decided, well, let's build
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our own car and let's try it.
So we took that task on the team.
We had.
built the car from scratch.
We debuted it in 2007at the 12 hour Sebring.
We were doing pretty darn goodconsidering, you know, brand new
going up against so many pro drivers.
And again, I was very, very nervous.
But prior to that, we did awhole lot of driver development.
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We bought another GT40, astreet car with a two seat.
Terry Borcheller was my coach.
And then David Murraywas a coach for Dave.
So we rented tracks.
We were at Carolina Motorsports.
We went to VIR.
We went to Road Atlanta.
We went to Sebring.
We did a lot of driver developmentand I studied real hard.
Dave Murray will probably tell you,I probably worked the hardest out
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of all of us because I just felt asa female, I had a disadvantage, I
guess that's the word I want to use.
I had a disadvantage.
I felt it.
When we debuted at Sebring in 2007, Iwas very self conscious as a female, but
then I thought, ah, you know what, whenyou put your helmet on, nobody's going
to really know if you're male or female.
You just go out and do your thing.
So we ran for seven hours.
We were actually holding ourown and doing pretty good.
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And then my David got in the carand the water bottle failed and he
dehydrated and he crashed and turned 10.
So we were out of the race, but it'slike, well, You know, these things happen.
He was okay.
And then we continuedon better and better.
It was our money all on ourselves.
No factory help.
No, nobody.
Cause Ford was against us.
They didn't think it was rightthat we were campaigning a Ford GT.
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They didn't want nothing to do with us.
We didn't ask him for help.
It's like we had enough other peoplecoming forward, even from some of the
other teams that we made friends with.
There were people that came tous, you know, what do you need?
You need help?
You know, we had wind tunnel.
We sometimes shared tracksfor tire testing driver
development and we kept at it.
We just kept at it.
And then Dave says to me the one day,Oh, we're going to do the 24 hour Lamar.
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And I rolled my eyes.
I said, Oh, come on, you got mein the American Lamar series.
Now you want to do the 24 hours.
I just thought, okay, Okay.
So you get into it, you just tellyourself, okay, it's a big undertaking.
And it was a big undertaking because itwas all on ourselves for shipping the
cars and the team, who is going to go.
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We kept that even with theAmerican Le Mans series.
We had one year, we were pretty much atop 10 finisher all through the year.
We had some good finishes here and there.
But, you know, you're going upagainst factory teams that had all
the money, all the backing, everythree years they get a new chassis.
They had all kinds of stuff.
What we did was all on our own withthe very clever people we had and, you
know, the determination and the fun.
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He wanted to do 24 hour Le Mans.
Okay.
So, April that year, 2011, wewere trying to get both cars in.
One of the cars was going to be DaveMurray, Colin Braun, and Anthony Lazzaro.
And then Boris said was going to bewith me and Dave and the other car.
We went over in April.
We had to qualify.
You had to qualify.
So we did.
We did the night session.
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We qualified.
We did good.
We held our own.
One car was in.
The other car was thefirst on the reserve list.
And we were waiting for Aston Martinbecause they weren't sure they were
having problems with the one car.
Then they decided they weregoing to take that spot.
So the 04 car got bumped out.
So we ended up, Dave Murray drove with us.
And, you know, we had half of theteam instead of the whole team.
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Big undertaking.
But we did it.
And then when we were over there in April,Aston Martin invited us over to England.
They had a simulator becausewe had never been on the track.
So they had a racing simulator.
So we were over to England with AstonMartin and taking turns on their
huge, I've never seen a simulatorthat big, the screen that big.
There were some good peoplethere that they talked to us.
They guided us, helped us.
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I studied, studied, studied, studied.
I thought, you know what?
If Dave's going to get me into this,I'm going to be the best I can be.
And I wanted to outshine him.
That was kind of my goal wasto outshine him, smarty pants.
So I worked, I did everything possiblycould to become a very, very good driver.
So thanks to Anson Martin.
We came back home, got ready, got prepped,flew into France, went to Le Mans.
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Wow.
Let's pause there for a secondand get everybody caught up.
There's a couple things thatwe can unpack from your story.
ALMS in the early two thousands, therewere other women drivers at that time.
Some that had been on other programsthat we have on the NPN, people like
Cindy Lux, and even there was, you know,Lindsay James, there's a women's variant.
Series of ALMS.
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Did you compete in that as well?
What was the paddock like?
And how did you feel like being mixedin that environment coming away from
SCCA club racing and things like that?
Intimidating because weweren't a factory team.
We were a husband and wife team.
I was a female and for years, Ibelieve I was the only female that ran.
I remember one race Cindy Lux was in atmid Ohio, and that was the only one that I
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remember, but it seemed like I was always.
the only female.
And so I tried to really be consciousof the fact of going against pro drivers
and minding myself out there and watch.
I listened very, very intently toDave Murray, Terry Borcheller at
the time, and even the other driversthat we got to know, like got to be
good friends with Seth Nyman fromthe Porsche team, Flying Lizards.
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And there were some other goodpeople that we got to know.
And, you know, we listened.
I listened very intently whatto do out there, what not to
do, how to be, how not to be.
And I didn't want to cause any trouble.
I wanted to keep my carsafe, keep myself safe.
And then we finally, we made friends.
I mean, people would stop byfrom the other teams and they'd
come by and chat with us.
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How's the car?
You need any help?
How's it going?
And we got to be friends with some ofthem and I didn't feel so intimidated.
Maybe after about a year anda half, I started to feel more
comfortable with the environmentthat I was put into by my husband.
Let's unpack that for a moment to Davekept coming with these new challenges.
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We're going to do this.
You know, we're goingto go spec racer Ford.
Oh, we're going to go formula Ford.
We're going to go SCCA.
We're going to go IMSA.
We're going to go, you know, andkept stacking, stacking, stacking.
When was the point where you suddenlyshifted from, all right, Dave, we'll do
this too, I really want to do this too.
Was there a moment at which yousaid, this is suddenly real.
We are going to Lamar.
It manifested itself in you thatyou really wanted to do this.
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We've always competed with each other.
We were type A personalities.
Both of us worked for aviationbackgrounds and Dave, he was borderline
genius and he held many positionsin aviation besides a pilot and flew
just about every airplane out here.
I was in aviation tooand I'm a private pilot.
I have a dispatch license so I workedjust as hard even though I wasn't
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a commercial pilot like he was.
But it got to be the point where that'sall we talked about was racing and
friends and family, it was racing.
So I just told myself, you knowwhat, I'm going to show you
that I'm the better driver.
And I worked real hard at that.
Cause we would get asked that a lotof times, you know, Dave would always
want to be the first one to say, well,you know, sometimes she's faster.
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Sometime I'm faster.
And then it got to be a certainpoint where we'd be asked and I
would stand there quietly and he'dkind of acknowledge grudgingly goes.
Andrea's the better driver.
She's always faster than me.
So I thought, finally, he realizes.
He put me into this, but I worked hard.
I was always on our home simulator.
I was reading track notes.
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I listened, I talked, and then it gotto the point where, oh, you know what,
I just want to be in the car, becauseI felt that was the best learning tool.
Be in the car, feel it, do it, becomeone with the car and the tracks.
And then Dave would start asking me, well,what are you doing different out there?
Because we each had a different drivingstyle, which you know, every driver does.
You can coach and you can take thefeedback, but ultimately when you're
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in the car, you follow the rules,but you become your own driver.
The road to Lamar, youmentioned 2010, 2011 timeframe.
You mentioned Aston Martin and werecently had Adrian Fernandez on it
and he was on the Aston Martin teamand they had some complications.
And so, you know, it's.
It's funny how small the world is,especially when it's in the same timeline.
Do you just call up the ACOand say, Hi, I'm Andrea and I
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want to compete with my GT 40.
Like I understand when Aston Martingoes to Lamar and then they call
up somebody like Adrian and theysay, we need you to drive for us.
And the, you know, there's allthese contracts and all this stuff.
It's very different for the pro drivers.
How did you broker this deal as aprivateer to go campaign your car?
Well, it's been quiteinteresting to say the least.
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In 2009, we had a personal invitationto bring our team and race in the
Asian Le Mans Series over in Okayama.
I remember Dave got off the phone, Ithink Scott Atherton might have called
him, he was in charge of ALMS at the timeand said, Personal invitation, you're
invited to go to the Asian Le Mans Series.
It's like, really?
So we did that in 2009.
We got some help transporting thecar over all the way to Tokyo.
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That's a long, I think itwas a 14 hour flight for us.
But we did that.
I think we got a sixth place andan eighth place finish over there.
So we didn't do too bad.
And the people just welcomed us.
We don't know the language.
We had an interpreter we hiredbecause of the language barrier.
But the fans that came tothe track were so gracious.
They showered us with gifts.
Here were this little mom and pop team.
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Our interpreter would come.
You have some guests.
I have never bowed so much inmy life because they would come
over and they'd bow to you.
And we would bow back and theywould present us with baskets
and boxes of beautiful things.
Asia was good.
Japan was good to us.
And then when Dave started, well, we'regoing to work up to the 24 hour Le Mans.
That's my goal.
My goal.
It's like, okay, okay, okay.
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So when we got to that point,I kept, I'm going to work hard.
I'm going to work hard becauseif he wants to do this.
I want to be on top of myballgame with this endeavor.
What it was is, in 2010, there was talk,I believe, with Scott Atherton from
ALMS, because that year, I believe,Jaguar went over to the 24 Hour Le Mans.
Their campaign didn't do very well.
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So then it was the next year between Davebroaching the subject with Scott Atherton
of what about us going to Le Mans?
So I think there wasphone calls had been made.
Maybe Scott campaigned on our behalf.
And the next thing I know, Ithink it was in January of 2011,
Dave came home all excited.
He goes, we've been accepted.
We have an invite to go tothe 24 hour to participate.
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And I just looked at him.
I said, really?
So he goes, here's the plan.
We have to go over in April andqualify ourselves and the car.
Cause that's their rule.
Okay.
So we started right awaygetting everything ready.
Passports for everybody.
Who's going to go shipping the cars over.
But we did get an invitation.
And we took it.
We went over and we took itagain, April of that year.
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And both cars were left with AstonMartin after we were done with
qualifying and the night qualifying.
So Aston Martin said, yeah, weleft the cars in England with them.
And then everything would betransported over in June for the 24
hour previous guests of the show.
You know, we've asked them questions aboutwhat were your first impressions of Lamar?
How were you receiving?
by the French by the otherteams and things like that.
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There's a whole otherlayer of complexity here.
Was it different being a privateer andnot being one of the big name teams
where you looked at differently andgender aside, what was it like stepping
foot at hallowed ground, like Lamarfor the first time as a privateer?
We were welcomed.
The French were so kind to us.
All the ACL officials were so kind to us.
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And even like other teams, it'sso funny how, I think because Dave
was 6'4 and I'm shorter, that's howwe stood out to a lot of people.
Oh, there's the husband wife team.
And it would be hilarious thatpeople would call our names.
Oh, Dave and Andrea, Dave andAndrea, can I have an autograph?
How do they know we're Dave and Andrea?
But the other team's friendliness,most of the other teams were very
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friendly to us, very gracious.
We got very high complimentsfrom the French officials at ACO.
This was from Scott Atherton.
He said, after the fact, he saidthat they complimented us on the
little American team that cameover and didn't cause any problems.
The team was gracious.
We respected the country.
We respected the people.
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We respected the race itself, the wholevenue, and we didn't do anything to
get ourselves in trouble on the track.
We were one of the only teams that didn'thave speeding in or out of the pit lane.
I was specifically told no burnouts,which is kind of disappointing.
But I was told by my engineer,no, no burnouts and ALMS.
We could do nice big fat burnouts goingout of the pit lane, not in France.
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But yeah, we stressed to the team, youknow, we're guests in another country.
Represent the UnitedStates and us as a team.
Just represent us the higheststandards that you can.
And we did it.
And in a weird way, it sort ofparallels the Garage 56 experience
from a couple years ago, right?
It's like, who are these guys?
Where'd they come from?
But again, super well received,well respected, everybody
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minded their P's and Q's.
Yeah.
LeMans, as we know, Is one ofthe crown jewels of racing.
It is one of the toughest endurance racesin the world, and it's highly regarded.
It's over a hundred years old now.
So for you, and I've heard part of thisstory from David Murray about how hard
you train or one of the hardest workingdrivers out there, but what was some of
the biggest challenges you faced leadingup to race day and on race day itself?
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I wanted to make sure I wasmentally and physically fit.
One of the things I've always strivedfor, and I used to get made fun of by my
Dave, he goes, you're always working outwith the weights or in the exercise room.
I said, well, I have tobe on top of my game.
And one of the things, when we firststarted in ALMS, the GT cars did
not have air conditioning in them.
And we saw drivers that wouldliterally come out of their stint
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and almost collapse on pit lane.
It's hot in those cars.
And the next year, of course, therules change and air conditioning
was allowed in the GT cars.
Good for Dave, my husband.
But what I told myself,that's a mechanical part.
If that fails What do I do?
I don't want to rely onthe air conditioning.
So I conditioned myself.
I worked, worked, worked.
When I drove in the car, I didn'tturn the air conditioning on because
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I always told myself if that fails, Idon't want to be the driver that fails
because the air conditioning failed.
So I made sure I was always asfit as I could be physically as
well as mentally and emotionally.
When you're in the car, youkind of put the blinders on.
You're focusing on what you're doing.
You're driving that machine and whatyou're doing out there on the track.
Like I said, I didn'tuse the air conditioning.
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It'd be sparingly.
If it was real hot, I'd click it on.
Cause you know, a cool suit onlyworks for a couple laps anyway.
So this is the differencebetween me and Dave.
I said, if the air conditioning fails,you don't want to fail as a driver.
So I stressed that even today, you know,I just got back from Sebring two weeks
ago and I don't use the air conditioner.
If I don't need it, I don't use it, butI wanted to make sure that as a driver.
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I wasn't going to causea failure for the team.
I wanted to be the best I couldbe because I'm also representing
my team because we worked so hardtogether to come to this big endeavor.
I always felt that after reading andresearching the biggest race in the
world, the 24 hours of Lamar, David Murrayalso mentioned that during the race.
You had a hard time keeping upwith the caloric intake, forgetting
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to eat or not wanting to eat.
Did that weigh on you?
There is a special moment in therebecause I believe the race occurred
on your anniversary as well.
I'm still about that weight.
Again, we were at Sebring and we havea cook and he'd come around with the
food and when it's right before I'mgetting, no, no, no, I don't like food.
I will eat breakfast and Iwill eat a little bit for
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lunch, but I don't feel myself.
But at Lamar, I did athree hour stint overnight.
And I would go out, come in for tiresand fuel and go back out, go back out.
And then my engineer radioed, he goes,okay, I need to get you out of the car.
And it was so funny because at that pointin time, I thought, man, I'm hungry.
I just got ravenous.
So I radioed, I said, thisis what I want to eat.
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Tell my little gal, wehad helpers, you call it.
I said, I want salmon.
I want green beans.
I want potatoes, salad, a roll,get me something to drink.
No pop, but she was made sure wehad these bottles of electrolyte.
I still have my bottlewith my straw in it.
I still have it, but my drink.
And I said, maybe a cookie.
I said, have that.
That's what I want to eat.
So Lee gave that to the littlegal that was taking care of me.
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So I come into pit lane and I'mthinking, yeah, I just, all of a
sudden it was like, I want to eat.
I want to eat.
I wanted to drive more, but I was hungry.
So I get out of pit lane and then Lee, myengineer, he goes, Oh yeah, Dave's here.
He's got something special for you.
I'm like Dave Robertson.
Yeah, it was our anniversary.
So he's standing on pitlane waiting for me.
He had a bouquet of flowers.
He told one of the boysto go to Vanessa's.
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She was our hospitality galand he goes, go get some
flowers from one of our tables.
So he's, he was standingthere and it was hilarious.
I didn't know this.
So I get out of the carand I get my baby seat out.
I drive with the baby seatbecause we had such a height
differential between me and Dave.
The seat was made for him andI had to ride with an insert.
So I'm getting my insert out.
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Dave Murray gets in the car andDave goes, Oh, happy anniversary.
So he's giving me a kiss on my helmet.
I will thank you.
And it was hilarious because SpeedChannel was there filming me.
It was just comical in a way.
But I said Well, thank you.
I love bouquet.
And now I'm going to go and stripout of my uniform and wash up
and wait for my meal to come theanniversary scene around the world.
I think we all saw thatmoment on television.
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You were always trying to best yourhusband, even on the day of the race.
And you talked about driving overnight.
We'll get into that a little bit more.
But one of the things That DavidMurray had mentioned when he was here.
He talked about the fact that Dave,your husband sort of did the shortest
amount of driving and you split theload between yourself and David Murray.
So when you took on the extra stintsand the extra time, did that play
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a toll on you physically, mentally?
How did you stay focused forall those hours of driving?
Not at all.
I was on a mission.
So yeah, we kind of notlet Dave be in the car.
Sometime he would losehis focus or something.
And me, um, you know, I'd do two hourstints, and then I did three hour stints.
I could do more, but Lee was tryingto make sure I didn't burn myself out.
But I loved driving.
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The car was so good.
Once you got comfortablewith everything at Le Mans.
It was no issue at all.
And I drove a lot throughthe night, which was fine.
My Dave, he was not bigon the night driving.
So, you know, okay.
So I took a lot of driving.
I think we let him in maybe one moretime and then me and Dave Murray
finished off the rest and then I tookthe checker, but the car was so good.
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It was so smooth.
It breaks so straight.
And it responded so well.
We had two hiccups that I can remember.
One of my earlier stints,the paddle shift fail.
So I had to bring it back in, butI tell you, the team was smart.
They left the sequential shift in.
It was just bolted down.
When I radioed, I said, paddleshift fail, paddle shift, we'll
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limp it in, limp it in, limp it in.
So when I got to pit lane, Iwas rolled into the garage.
They took the hood or the lid offthe back of the, by the engine.
They put the sequential shifter back up.
The paddle shift was done.
And then inside the cockpit,we, I did the zip tie, brought
the sequential shifter up.
I thought, Oh boy, I'm going to be rusty.
But you know, after one lap,you're back into the groove.
(22:58):
Yeah.
The paddle shift was brand new that year.
And you know what?
It failed.
So what, but guess what?
Because.
The crew was smart enough to keepthe sequential in that saved us
because I think there were two otherteams, their paddle shift failed.
They were out, so it kept us going.
So after one lap, I got the rest out.
I can do this.
I had been used to the sequential,but yeah, I did love the driving.
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So for me, it didn't drain mephysically, mentally, or emotionally.
I took it methodically.
Even when it was my rest period,I really don't think I rested.
I'd come in and strip because you'reall wet because you got your long racing
underwear on under your driving suit.
So I'd come in, we had littlecubbies, little trailers or whatnot.
Ours just happened to be rightunder a speaker and it was so loud.
(23:43):
All you heard was whatever wason the speaker, but I tried to
rest as best I could, and thenthere'd be a knock on my door.
Andrea, you're up.
Get dressed and get dressedand go out to our garage and
I'd be ready to rock and roll.
But I wasn't tired.
I wasn't worn out.
My mind was still sharp.
I tried to stay as focused as Icould and I kept myself hydrated.
And again, my little gal kept givingme these electrolyte drinks to make
(24:06):
sure I had that at least in my body.
So you mentioned one issuewith the car was the shifter.
What was the second one?
Oh, The second one, Dave Murray got a flattire way on the other side of the track.
You know, Lamar's about what, 8.
46 miles carbon fiberfrom a previous crash.
You know, it's cleanedup as best as can be.
We feel he must've ran over somecarbon fiber, got a flat tire.
(24:27):
So he brought that inchange and out he went.
Those were pretty much the only twohiccups that I can remember we had.
And we just kept going.
Hold your line, get outthere, and just keep at it.
So, we kept at it.
Racing as a privateer comes with itsown unique set of obstacles, because
you don't have as many resourcesand spare parts, and you're trying
to maintain the car for 24 hours.
(24:47):
Talking a little bit more aboutthe car and the driving, you know,
David Murray mentioned how hespent a lot of time, he was very
conservative, did a lot of drafting.
He felt that maybe you guys had a slightperformance differential between some of
the factory teams and things like that.
Did you have the same impressionof the GT or did you feel like you
were in the mix with everybody else?
We had a slight disadvantageas a privateer team.
(25:08):
Yeah.
We didn't have the resourceslike Ferrari Corvette had.
And yeah, some of those cars wereblindingly fast, but I will tell you.
What I noticed, sometimes the driversgot a little bit too aggressive and
they crashed themselves out right away.
I saw that with the Audi with AlanMcNish coming out of Dunlop turn.
He collided with a Ferrariand knocked out that Audi R18.
(25:30):
One of my early mornings, since it wasCorvette was battling with someone else.
They passed me on the Porschecurves, which is fine.
I'm holding my line.
I'm keeping my business,doing my business.
I come up to the Corvette corners andhere's a Corvette smashed out pretty
bad, and it's over aggressive driving,but you know what, we did have some
rain in the morning too, but I wastrying to be, and like Dave says, you
(25:51):
be conservative, go out there and befast when you can, but be conscious of
the fact of what you're doing out there.
We've always felt that, yeah, wewere always a little bit behind
because we didn't have the samething that the factory drivers had.
And then there'd always be like,Oh, you, you're restrictor.
You got to have this.
We didn't always feel that everybody wason the same playing field, so to speak.
(26:14):
With restrictors or weights, butthat's just, you know, paddock talk.
And at this point racing at the 24, basedon all your ALMS experience, you were
used to running in mixed class racing.
And obviously the ALMS schedule doesn'talways include what would have been
considered at the time LMP one cars,P1 cars, which are now GDP cars.
Again, the speed differential, the United.
(26:34):
States.
Even though the cars are thesame is different because
the tracks are a lot smaller.
You don't have cars doing necessarilyover 200 miles an hour at every
track in the United States.
So what was it like being at Lamarwith LMP one cars bearing down
on you at over 200 miles an hour?
Did you spend a lot oftime in your mirrors?
No, I don't want to drive that way.
I glance, but I don't drive in my mirrors.
(26:55):
I always ask my team, especially on thefront when they're in the engineer stand,
I'd always say, give me a heads up.
Give me a shout out that Audi orPeugeot five, six seconds behind.
That helps me.
And then you watch for the corner workers.
You see a flag.
Nighttime, it was easier because theGT cars, we had gold headlights and
the prototypes had a whiter headlight.
So, you know, when you glanced, so wehad a rear in car camera rear view.
(27:20):
So I would glance at that and I couldtell immediately prototype coming,
or there was a GT car coming at me.
So at nighttime, it's easier to see justglancing, but I refuse to drive in my
mirrors because I figure if I'm holdingmy line, I'll glance to see a radio call
from the engineer stands goes a long way.
And once I would get that, you know,five or six seconds or whatever it may
(27:42):
be Audi Peugeot or whoever it may be.
Has that in my mind.
And I, you know, I would just kind ofdo a quick glance and I'd calculate.
It's like, I'm holding my line.
I don't have to do anything silly.
So it worked out very, very well, butyeah, those cars are fast, especially
on the most on straight and coming outto Indianapolis, it's like, Holy moly.
So when you compared it toother tracks you drove on,
(28:02):
what did you think of Lamont?
Did you enjoy turning laps there?
Oh, heck yeah.
Yeah, very much.
It was an honor to be there.
Would you consider it a favorite or doyou have something that you keep above it?
That's one of my favorites just because ofwhat we did and we weren't expecting it.
What we told ourselves goingover, our goal was let's do Lamar.
(28:25):
That's Dave's Dave wanted to do Lamar.
And we said, if we can finish the race,that would be great, man and machine.
That means that we havea good car and we did it.
And that was kind of our goal was to beable to finish the race without crashing
out or mechanically being thrown out.
The podium was just anadded, what a bonus.
What was it like crossing thechecker, realizing you were in third
(28:48):
place on the podium for the firstwoman to ever podium at Le Mans?
Well, it was kind of surreal because whenI got my call, the knock on my little
cubby door, you're up, get dressed.
And I went into our garage and I'mlooking at the monitors and I'm
like, okay, we're in fourth place.
You know, some of the team,Andrew, we're in fourth place.
Okay.
I played it cool because you don't evercount anything ahead of time because
(29:10):
you don't know what could happen.
I thought, okay, well that's pretty good.
You know, cause Dave Murray wasin the car, he was coming in.
I thought, okay, fourthplace, this is good.
So I got on, just kept doing my own thing,and then toward the end, as we started
getting to the end of Le Mans, Lee cameon the radio and he says, Andrea, P3.
I said, What?
Excuse me?
He goes, P3.
Just keep doing what you're doing.
(29:32):
Okay.
So I thought P3.
I didn't allow myself to get excited.
I didn't allow myself any type of emotion.
The only thing was focus anddrive the car till the end.
There's no way I was going tocelebrate something that I didn't
know if it was really going to happen.
You can't because I've seen toomany drivers disappoint themselves.
And then Lee gets on, he goes, yougot one more lap, he goes, bring it
home, he goes, we're still in P3.
(29:54):
Okay, Lee, thank you.
Come around, you know, off of thePorsche curves, Corvette corner,
I see the checker up there.
So as soon as I got the checker, Lee comeson, he goes, congratulations, we are P3.
And it's like, then, I don't know, Ijust had this big, like, grin came on me.
I said, oh my god, P3 after 24 hours,I could go for another 24 hours.
(30:15):
I was pretty psyched up about it.
And then it was the most hilarious.
thing because after the checker flagwent out and we were, you know, all out
there on the track, you couldn't move.
The track was inundated with cornerworkers and the flags and people were
beating on your car and they wereyelling your name and Lee would come on.
(30:35):
He goes, Andrew, where are you at?
And I said, well, I'm at, and Itell him where I was on the track.
Well, what's taking so long?
I said, I can't move.
The track has people all in itwith corner workers and flags.
And I said, they're yelling ourname and beating on the cars,
like pounding the fenders.
It was hilarious.
So I finally get in, you know,I'm directed to park for me.
I thought, okay, so I'mgoing over to park for me.
(30:56):
I get out and I'm kind of standingthere and I thought, I have no idea
where to go from here because I'mhearing all these different languages.
I'm seeing all kinds of different drivers.
I didn't know where I was supposed to go.
And it's so funny.
There was a driver, like I was sayingearlier, people knew who we were.
One of the European drivers and hecalled me, goes, Andrea, come with me.
He goes, I take you.
(31:17):
He goes, I know where your team is.
Okay, thanks.
I don't know who he was, but he knew me.
So he took me, there was a car there.
He goes, you get in here.
They're going to takeyou up to the podium.
And then Joey Hand got in.
I knew Joey.
He was a BMW driver.
They got a third place in their class.
So then we went up to the carand we couldn't even move.
There was just So many people whenwe got up to the podium, and then
(31:39):
I'm walking up and there were peopleagain that I'm standing there.
I didn't see anybody.
I know, but people knew with Andrea overhere over here and they would yell for
me or somebody would come and get me.
Finally, I caught up to the crew.
Then we were like, kind of being organizedyour team and when you're going to
go out for what not onto the podium.
And it was really surreal.
There were 249, 500 people at Lamar.
(32:02):
And when you went up and walkedon that podium, it was stunning.
There were people yelling ournames or American flags flying.
So we were waving to people and then,you know, people were calling our names,
screaming, and I'm looking and I thought.
This can't be happening.
And everybody was just a joyfor all the teams, for all
the drivers that we did this.
We ran for 24 hours.
(32:23):
Our car lasted, our car was agood little car and we did it.
You mentioned before that Fordwanted nothing to do with it.
Can't believe campaigning our car,privateer, all this kind of thing.
And obviously you chose the carbecause it was what Dave could fit in.
When you think back, Ford hadn'twon at Le Mans in a very long
time, especially in the GT40.
We're going to put air quotes around that.
(32:43):
You're up there on thepodium, privateer to GT40.
A GT40 hasn't won at LeMans since the late sixties.
Did it suddenly give you the feels?
That had to have been aheck of an experience.
Again, I can still see walking up on thatplatform, all the people that are looking
at you and they're calling your name.
It was a moment to be proud.
And I remember me and Dave and Dave,we hugged and we were like, you
(33:06):
know, we can't believe we did this.
A little guy like us.
And you know, some of these otherteams, these factory teams had, you
know, maybe campaigned in two or threecars and maybe one or two crashed out.
It's like, we did it.
And mine and Dave's phone was going nuts.
There were friends from the Statesthat watched and the messages was,
we watched you and we're crying.
Because we've known you guys, youraced with us at Waterford or wherever.
(33:30):
And this is the response is what wewere getting messages from people.
We were crying, watching you on thepodium, but we're so proud of you.
And it's like, wow.
Okay.
So did Ford ever come back and sayanything after it was all done?
You know, there were some of the Fordpeople did, they invited us to dinner.
And I don't remember theone he was from Ford.
(33:51):
He was one of the grandsons andhe kind of apologized, said some
real kind things, talked to us, youknow, like last year I was at road
America and Edsel Ford came up to me.
I went to the bathroom and then my teamsaid, Hey, somebody here to see you.
Brian Redmond was there, which Iknow Brian and then Edsel Ford.
And he wanted to shake my hand.
He goes, this is a beautiful car andthank you for bringing it and driving it.
(34:12):
And I said, it is a beautiful car.
I said, I think it was one of the best.
years and one of the most beautiful,iconic Ford GTs there are.
This was last year.
And then again, after Le Mans,there was some outreach from Ford.
We were invited to events, carshows and come to speak and whatnot.
And then in 2016, we got an invitationfrom Ford because they debuted.
Remember Chip Ganassi, they broughtthe new Ford GT to debut at Le Mans.
(34:36):
And we got an invitation to bringour winning Le Mans car over.
So I could drive in the paradelap before the start of the race.
And there was some otherGT winners of 66, 67.
So we were all there with these cars.
So that was a personalinvitation from Ford in 2016.
One and done.
Right.
So Dave said, we did it all.
(34:57):
We even podium.
We did better than we expected.
There was no bucket list after that.
There was no more reach.
Why not a second attempt?
Because.
We didn't have a new chassis.
Basically, it was like after about threeyears, you retire a chassis and Ford
didn't make anything after that year.
And then, you know, we kind of thoughtthe technology was advancing so well
(35:19):
with like the other manufacturers.
We would always be down here withoutanything new for us going forward.
Yeah, we talked about it.
It would have been nice.
But again, that was kind of likethe norm of every so many years,
everything changes with the technology.
And that wasn't us.
We were the mom and pop team.
What we decided or when Dave was stillalive, he said, what we'd like to do is
(35:41):
go back and if we could get the invitationto go back and do the vintage Le Bon.
We said, Oh yeah, that'd be great.
If we ever come to that point.
And if that point ever comes, I'll goback and have Dave Murray go, we'll do
it to honor Dave, if that ever comes.
Well, the classic is coming back this yearfor the first time in a very long time.
So maybe that will becomea reality here soon.
So I hope so.
So switching gears a little bit, as wesort of wrap out here, one of the things
(36:06):
that is a common thread when you talkabout Le Mans, what did Le Mans teach you?
How did it change you as a driver?
What did you take away fromthe experience and does it
still affect your racing today?
Yes, it does.
It truly was an honor that we got to go.
I felt we represented ourselvesvery well for who and what
we were as the little guys.
(36:27):
Kept ourselves out of trouble andI learned a lot by listening to the
other drivers, you know, who we got tobe friends with, who we got to know.
And you take some of their skillsets or their thought processes.
Today even, girls mightcome up and talk to me.
I was just approached a coupleweeks ago about, actually I
got two speaking engagementsI'm supposed to do for females.
(36:47):
And I said, yeah, I'llbe happy to do that.
What I want to do, especially when wewent over to La Mom, and I told this to
my day because I said, don't get cocky.
Do not ever, ever get cocky because thatcan knock you out of a race right away.
When you have that type of attitude,I always felt even keeled matter
of fact about the whole situationand you don't get above yourself
(37:07):
because I've seen this happen.
If you get that type ofattitude, it gets you in trouble.
So I. Still see the moments.
I can relish the moments.
I can see it right asI'm talking to you now.
I'm driving the track.
I'm seeing the track and I'm drivingand I remember when I was there for the
night qualifying when I was running andI wanted to take that as a perspective
back to even what I do here in the States.
(37:29):
I got to do that, but it changed me to bea better driver to know that I can do it.
I trained myself physically,mentally, and emotionally.
I know I can do it.
So if there was another24 hours, I'd be on it.
And again, I want tosay thank you to France.
What a great place.
The sights and sounds of everybody, allthe different teams, all the different
(37:49):
languages, and the people you meet.
everybody was gracious.
I didn't see anybody out of line there.
Even all the fans, everybody was sogracious and so kind and so excited.
So excited when you look back over thelast almost 15 years now, since your
podium, you're still the last Americanwoman to run at Lamont and you're one
of the only women to podium at Lamont.
(38:11):
How does that make youfeel when you think back?
And how does what you didimpact the future of motorsport?
What do you think we can dodifferent to get more women to
compete at the level that you did?
You have to really commit to it.
You have to want itand you have to commit.
I know it takes money.
It takes money and time.
And like I've told somegals that I've spoke to.
When you do driver development, andthen as I started to be at the end
(38:34):
of the ALMS, I used to do the setup,work with the tires, tire testing.
I said, you have to want to do this.
And you have to be open tocriticisms and suggestions.
It has to be in you.
You have that excitement.
You want to be one withthe car and the track.
And if you can't commit that way,110%, then you're just going to be
(38:55):
a weekend driver at your local club.
But to go as what me and Davedid, we took the racing schools.
We kept advancing our licenses.
We kept advancing our driving skills.
I listened very, very intently to DaveMurray and some of the other people
that came along that was in our life.
But I tell gals today that if you can'tcommit fully, and I understand money could
(39:15):
be a factor with some of the young gals.
But you have to be committed 110percent that I want to do this.
I want to get out thereand prove it and do it.
Andrea, if you could go back todayand run one of the cars in the last
couple of seasons, 2023, 24, and nowthe new announcement for the 2025 cars.
What would you drive?
I love the Ford GT.
I've been spoiled with it, so to speak.
(39:37):
Very much spoiled with it.
I was invited.
I forgot how many yearsback it was a prototype.
Would I come over andrun it in a prototype?
And I don't know.
I'm not keen on it.
So I kind of passed on it.
Perhaps a Ferrari.
But if there was another FordGT, I'd for sure get into that.
I'd like to see what thetechnology, what it's.
change from our year to what it is today.
(39:58):
What do you think about the Mustang,especially with its win at Rolex?
Is that a good jumping off point forFord, especially with their recent
announcement that they are going tocome back and compete at Le Mans in GTP?
I want to see, because I think theMustang's a heavier car than the Ford GT.
I don't know what engine they have in it.
It's got me intrigued.
Back in the day when I dragraced, there would be Ford
(40:19):
Mustangs that would drag race.
And I always thought they werea heavier car and more boxier.
If they've streamlined the aerodynamicson it, it's going to be interesting.
I'll watch it closely and see.
We ran at Miller Motorsports.
They had a school out thereand they used the Mustangs.
Me and Dave drove the Mustangs.
They weren't bad, but theywere school cars over at Miller
Motorsports over in Utah.
(40:40):
Well, the new ones definitely provedthat they got the legs on the car.
Corvette team.
So GM's got some work todo after all these years.
Oh, all right.
Well, I have to keep my eye on it then.
Go Blue Oval, right?
Yes.
So that said, Andrea, what's next?
You're still racing.
What's left to do?
I'm still racing.
Like I said, I just got back fromSebring and I'm running next week.
I'm going to Road Atlanta.
(41:00):
I'm still having fun.
I never realized I was talking to somebodylast week and she was asking me about
the race and I was telling her and thenshe sat there and she looked at me.
She goes.
When you talk aboutracing, you just light up.
She goes, your face lightsup, your eyes sparkle.
I said, really?
I just thought I'm relayingwhat goes on out in the track.
She goes, well, it affects you.
And she goes, you can see it in your aura.
(41:22):
And it's like, But I like it.
The car is still so good.
I just had the engine rebuilt,the transmission, paddle shift.
We did everything brand new.
We started at ground zero this year atSebring and Sebring went pretty well.
I still want to keep doing thisand I want to honor Dave because
this was his baby, so to speak.
It is hard at times without him.
(41:43):
I get kind of choked up and emotionalabout it, but I think he rides with me.
I think he does.
Well, as we close out here, Andrea, weare very fortunate because you never
know who's going to be in the audience.
And there is a special guest withus tonight, the first American
woman to ever run at Le Mans.
So I'm wondering if Margie would liketo take a moment to say something
and let you guys chat for a second.
Andrea, I just want you toknow, I appreciate so much
(42:06):
you're telling your story.
Your ability to pull your listenersinto the car with you is so special,
even into your dressing room andhow you have gone on with your goals
to race and your positive attitude.
And I so can identify with youwith the loss of your husband.
Cause I had the same thingshappen when I won my championship.
(42:28):
We had cancer that year, but I lostmy husband almost two years ago.
But you will always have the memoryand experience with him and your
crew and everyone, and alwayswill remember those flowers being
delivered to you for your anniversary.
But I do hope that you have a lotof success in your remaining racing.
(42:49):
And please, please speakas many times as you can.
You're absolutely amazing thateverything you do, every word you
say, I could not take myself awayfrom listening to your story.
You're a true legend, and I knowyou're a major person who will help
young thrivers and technicians andso forth to pursue their goals.
(43:09):
Congratulations.
I'm very proud of you.
Thank you.
And sorry about the loss of your husband.
And again, when I gotthis invitation to speak.
And I got the book out and allDave's notes in it and those little
dog eared pages I just choked up.
I thought, Oh my God, I remember that.
This was great.
I remember that.
I remember that.
The memories come flooding back.
And it seemed like it was just yesterday.
(43:29):
You can imagine he, he enjoyedthe experiences with you and
probably had a lot of pride inhelping you along your path.
I'm glad you beat him.
But I got to Al Qaida becausehe outshone me in aviation.
He could fly every airplane outthere and I was just private pilot
and I worked in flight control.
(43:50):
But I'd do his paperwork for him whenhe'd have to go pick up airplanes out of
Iceland or wherever we picked them up.
I'd give him all his paperworkand all his credentials.
So I played an important part ingetting those MD 80s back over here.
That's great.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
All right.
And on that, I would like to passthe mic over to David Lowe, ACO USA
(44:11):
president for some parting thoughts.
Andrea, thank you so much on behalfof the ACO and all the ACO USA
members that are watching todayor will be watching the rerun.
It was so great to meet you up in Pontiac.
Yes.
Thank you so much for this evening.
Thank you for inviting me.
What an endeavor from us just thinkingwe wanted to finish in one piece.
(44:32):
Again, Andrea, thank you on behalfof the ACO for your contribution.
and we look forward to checking in soon.
Absolutely.
I'm your girl.
Thank you.
And on behalf of everyone hereand those listening at home.
Thank you, Andrea, for sharing yourstories with us from the grit and
determination it took to race as aprivateer and making history as the first
American woman to ever podium at Lamar.
(44:53):
Andrea story is nothingshort of legendary.
Andrea and her late husband Davidand David Murray proved that passion,
perseverance, and a little bit of FordGT magic can take on even the toughest
competition in endurance racing.
Their journey wasn't just about speed,it was about breaking barriers, defying
expectations, and proving that anyonewith enough heart can make their
(45:14):
mark on motorsports biggest stage.
And we hope you enjoyed thispresentation and look forward
to more Evening with a Legend.
And with that, Andrea, I can'tthank you enough again for coming on
the show and sharing your stories.
You are a legend.
You are an inspiration.
You completed a circle thatstarted with Margie and has
yet to be broken at this point.
So thank you for what you've done.
It's absolutely amazing.
(45:34):
And keep up the good work.
I'm going to keep at it as long as I can.
This episode has been broughtto you by the Automobile Club
of the West and the ACO USA.
From the awe inspiring speed demons thathave graced the track to the courageous
(45:58):
drivers who have pushed the limits ofendurance, the 24 Hours Le Mans is an
automotive spectacle like no other.
For over a century, the 24 HoursLe Mans has urged manufacturers to
innovate for the benefit of futuremotorists, and it's a celebration of
the relentless pursuit of speed andexcellence in the world of motorsports.
To learn more about or to become a memberof the ACO USA, look no further than www.
(46:20):
lemans.
org, click on English in the upperright corner, and then click on the
ACO Members tab for club offers.
Once you've become a member, you canfollow all the action on the Facebook
group, ACO USA Members Club, andbecome part of the legend with future
Evening with the Legend meetups.
(46:47):
This episode has been brought to youby Grand Touring Motorsports as part
of our Motoring Podcast Network.
For more episodes like this, tune in eachweek for more exciting and educational
content from organizations like TheExotic Car Marketplace, The Motoring
Historian, Brake Fix, and many others.
If you'd like to support GrandTouring Motorsports and the Motoring
Podcast Network, sign up for one ofour many sponsorship tiers at www.
(47:11):
patreon.
com forward slash GT Motorsports.
Please note that the content,opinions, and materials presented and
expressed in this episode are thoseof its creator, and this episode has
been published with their consent.
If you have any inquiries about thisprogram, please contact the creators
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