Keeping body and soul together
Vanessa's Hospitality Service
By Kate Shaw
Photos courtesy Margot Orenchuk

LA SARTHE, France (June 8, 2004) – Those of you who watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans on television or over the Internet are no doubt caught up in the spectacle of drivers, cars and the 13 km circuit. But the race doesn’t start with “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” and it doesn’t end when the last champagne is sprayed. Putting this show together takes a “team around the team” to make certain that everything they use, touch, or need is there so all they have to do is jump into the car and drive. A driver who is well fed with food he likes in a comfortable setting, who knows he can look forward to a snack and a drink and a comfy little self contained cabin for the times he gets to himself, is a happy and contented driver who can concentrate on the job at hand. That is where Vanessa’s Hospitality Service comes in. From a week before to a week after the race, she and her crew feed, water, comfort and coddle the drivers, crews and team members generally so everyone can “rejoice as a strong man to run a race”.

As often happens, Vanessa never planned to be in command of one of the largest catering and hospitality services in the racing world. Growing up, her parents ran a hotel at the Nurburgring and, seeing their hours and what they went through, she vowed to have a career where she got weekends and holidays off. She duly trained and began work as a designer of ladies’ handbags and other fine leather items. But as time went on and imports encroached on the market, it became harder for her to make a living at this career, and one day she had to return to her parents’ hotel without her job. That is where fate and fortune stepped in. At the hotel was the team owner for Team Zakspeed. He asked her what type of work she did and she told him honestly that right now she didn’t do anything exactly. “Why don’t you come to Portugal with us?” he said. “We have a catering truck and we could use your help looking after the team.” Vanessa laughed in recounting this offer, and held her hands up in the traditional “balance beam” position. “I had to weigh this offer carefully,” she said. “Do I stay in Germany in the winter time or go with this man to Portugal?” She quickly made that decision and at the invitation of the team owner she boarded the catering bus, discovering that beside the bus driver, she was the only crew! After that one trip, they engaged her permanently and her fate was sealed. For the next four years she not only looked after their catering, but did everything else for the team from developing promotional items and campaigns to laundering their uniforms. “Then,” she said, “I was traded. Another employee came from Rial Racing, another Formula One team, and I went to Rial.” She worked for them for one year, thinking all the time, and finally decided, “I am doing this for other peoples’ benefit and I am good at it and enjoy it – why don’t I go into business for myself?”

For the next ten years she worked for a number of teams in many different series – from the DTM to Formula One. (“At Fondmetal,” she said, “I was not only the only non-Italian in the kitchen, I was a woman.” Having an Italian boyfriend, I knew exactly what she meant: there is no better trial by fire than that.) She would handle up to 33 events in a year during that ten years, handling all aspects of the job from driving the truck to laundering the uniforms. As you can imagine, a pace like that took its toll, and after 10 years she decided to retire. That lasted only from October til the racing season began again, when she realized that she loved the life too much to give it up. Having moved her operational base to Coldwater Lake, Michigan in the United States, she and her husband worked with CART teams (in 1996 they designed and built the kitchen for Team Kool Green, to list only one of her accomplishments.) Today they handle all the catering of the American Le Mans series as well as various European series and specialty events.

That's how they got to where they are today.

At Le Mans 2004, Vanessa’s Hospitality is primarily responsible for three teams: Racers’ Group, Orbit Racing in partnership with BAM! Motorsports and Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing, our featured team this week. There are other drivers, Vanessa said with evident pride, which come to eat with her because they simply know that her food is the best. Vanessa and her team arrived on May 31st, a week before the teams. She had ordered most of her supplies in advance, by e-mail from the States; on Monday and Tuesday she checked her orders and on Wednesday her hospitality area was set up. Thursday and Friday were spent on the interior decorating and preparation, and Friday, June 4, luncheon was the first meal served.

Since she has lived in many different countries, Vanessa has acquired an international palate and focus on food, and she provides a wide variety of cuisine, priding herself on not repeating a main dish during a racing season. Cooks are engaged for each event, specific to the nationalities of the teams for whom she is to work. For Le Mans 2004 the cooks are Italian, English and American. 99% of her food is prepared from scratch, and because of her reputation she is able to deal with only the best suppliers to get just what they want. For every meal they provide two meat dishes and a vegetarian option. “We always prepare something we think they will enjoy trying,” Vanessa explained, “and one dish we know they’ll eat. That way we’re sure everyone will find something he likes.”

During the 24 hours of the race, the menu is constantly changing, so every time a driver or mechanic comes in to eat, he will have something to look forward to. As a general rule during the race, the drivers and team members eat only a little at a time and Vanessa tries to provide alternatives to pasta, “because by that time they have pasta coming out of their ears.” However, anyone who still wants pasta can have it, with what topping he specifies, anything from a little oil and cheese, to Nutella. And for maximum comfort, Vanessa always asks if there is any special food they would like to have available; for example, there are drivers who cannot live without Cheerios®.

For those who can’t make it into the hospitality tent itself, large brown hot boxes holding four complete hot trays are taken to the garages. They will keep hot for up to 4 hours if not opened, so nobody has to miss a meal.

But that's not where Vanessa’s services end. Have you ever wondered where the drivers sleep during the race when not in the car? After a glance into the kitchen and feasting covetous eyes upon the freshly baking cookies being prepared, and a peek into the laundry room where the drivers can have their suits and other clothing cleaned while they relax, we were shown into a cozy little cabin for two. Each contains a pair of single cots complete with towels and a little beanie-baby animal (a great favourite among the drivers, who often call to ask “What am I getting this year?” when they hear they are staying with Vanessa) at the head of the bed. The cabin also contains a locker for any belongings and what’s even better, a self contained washroom with a shower. When the shutters are closed, the room is virtually soundproof, and the drivers can catch a few hours of rest in comfort and arise refreshed for “maximum attack.” And for just that extra special touch, at sunrise Vanessa hops on her cart and takes a special little gift to each of her teams: an individual toothbrush with its own cargo of toothpaste. If you look down the pitlane you may see a group of grateful drivers brushing away their “morning mouth” and gaining refreshment thereby for the second half of a very long day.

When the race is over and the rest of us are wending our way home, Vanessa’s job is not yet done. On Race Monday they begin disassembling the tent and accoutrements, and transporting the contents to their storage facility in the village. (This, Vanessa explained, is much easier than having to ship everything back and forth or renting it on the spot from year to year). Most of the staff disperse to their homes on Tuesday; those remaining take charge of laundry and Vanessa visits her suppliers and pays the bills. Only when all of that is done, on Thursday the 17th, will Vanessa herself head home for three days in the home office before heading to Mid-Ohio on Monday morning, June 21st where one of her ALMS clients, Flying Lizard Motorsport, is testing for the next round of the ALMS.

If you are not totally exhausted just reading about all the work this remarkable woman puts into assuring the comfort and well being of those racing teams under her care, then you’re a technician or crew chief – although I rather suspect that even they stand in awe of the tremendous effort Vanessa’s Hospitality puts into their comfort, care and well-being during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. When you’re watching the cars travel round the circuit this weekend, don’t forget Vanessa’s Hospitality, and all the other cooks and caterers who keep the wheels going round.