Formula One

What a way to finish off the season by working the United States Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, TX. LEC was well represented in many facets of presenting this world class event to the world. LEC also had a few members in leadership roles for the  USGP....Bill Armitage was Race Chairman. Ron Long was promoted from Sector Chief to Chief Flag Marshal, Willy Perez was once again a Sector Chief. Gordy Ensing was Chief Starter while Jim Johnstone, Sue Wakeman and Kevin Young were Chief Post Marshals. Other LEC members that participated on course for the USGP was Jerry Cabe, Tom Roberts, Tom Schreiber and Bill Thompson. It was a lot of fun spending time with everyone in Austin. 

Overall the weekend went very well. The weather was nearly perfect and the on-track activity was a lot of fun being around. It was also enjoyable to see other corner workers from all over the world and be able to spend time with our extended family. 

Ron and myself were able to spend time with a contingent from the Grand Prix held in Baku. They were invited to the USGP to observe how we organize and run or Grand Prix. After spending several hours with them, I discovered many similarities but also many differences in how each Grand Prix is operated and organized. I learned several things from our friends from Baku to incorporate in to the USGP as well as LEC. I know our friends picked up many ideas from us as well. Hopefully during the 2017 Baku Grand Prix we will see some LEC influence in the marshals.

I hope next year many more LEC members will make the journey to Austin for either the FIA WEC race in September or the USGP in October....or even both. It is an excellent opportunity to interact with workers from all over the world but also see how other workers operate. I know I will be back for both WEC and F1 in 2017.