Martin Bartek
Gentlemen,
God bless Martin Bartek. An amazing man who did what a lot of us fantasized about but thought impossible. Those hours at Le Mans with #60 well out in front of all GT1 and GT2 cars were magic. Well into the night we all believed it was going to happen. Ford GT, after a 40 year absence, wins again at Le Mans. It didn't quite happen.....but God it was magnificent just the same.
One of my favorite sports stories involves an obscure athlete named Bill Koch. In 1976 Bill became the first American to win an Olympic Medal in a Nordic event, a Silver Medal in 30km Cross Country skiing. There was a tremendous crush of media who all wanted to know if he would return in 1980 to "bring home the gold" for the U.S.A. Even though he was married and did not plan to, Bill decided to train for 4 more years and he did return to try and win a Gold Medal in 1980. There were cameras everywhere and start to finish TV coverage of his race. He gutted himself with an all out effort and.......finished well off the pace and out of the medals.
After the race the television reporters asked him if he was disappointed in his performance. His response had a very powerful effect on many of us who saw it. He said, "I believed, after winning the Silver in 1976 that I could win Gold this year for my country, my family, and myself. For the last 4 years I have been away from my wife to train, it has been very hard on us financially, I have endured injuries, pain, and the daily grind of a back breaking training regimen. Nothing about this 4 year long commitment has been easy. It all came down to this race and today, out on the course, I gave it everything I had. And although I came up short of your expectations, it is my sincere hope that at least some of my countrymen, appreciate my effort.
Well, Martin may have come up a bit short, but everyone there could see that he definitely gave it everything he had. And let there be no doubt that all of us in the Ford GT community worldwide, marvel at the sheer audacity of his attempt, were thrilled by the magic of that event, and our appreciation for his incredible effort will live as long as we do. Bravo Martin, rest in peace.
Chip
