Going for the double
Stefan Pfeiffer, Crew Chief, Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing
By Kate Shaw
Photos © David Babcock

LA SARTHE, France (June 10, 2004) – Although Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning prides itself on having no rigid hierarchy, Stefan Pfeiffer, their crew chief, is one of the central members of the team, reporting directly to team manager Dale White. He joined the team this year at Sebring in March, after a long and increasingly responsible career that began as a body and fender man for Daimler-Chrysler and included three seasons of extensive work with Cal Wells PPI primarily in their off-road program. Pfeiffer, a German whose current base is Croatia, is responsible for oversight of the crew, as well as the inventory program: daily management, personnel, and liaison with suppliers.

Pfeiffer explained to me that the PWL program was very well organized and “running on its own” when he came in; his job is to sharpen the focus and see to that last 5% of efficiency and organization. According to the crew members, this is typical modesty for him and indeed, for all the members of this race-ready team. In point of fact, they consider themselves very fortunate to be working with him. “There’s no food chain at Petersen White Lightning,” he explained. “Well, there is one and we all know essentially where we fall on that chain. But there’s no ‘bossiness’ among us. If a man is under the car and sees a bolt that needs tightening, he tightens it – he doesn’t wait for orders from someone first. Which of course means that if the fender falls off because a bolt was not tightened; it’s not a defence to say nobody told me to tighten that bolt. There is respect among all the guys on this team and we all know that each one is fully capable of doing the job, whatever the job may be.”

During the race, Pfeiffer’s job doesn’t change; he’s still in charge of co-ordinating the crew on and around the car, as well as the engineering. He, too, doesn’t leave the garage during the 24 Hours; he eats and catches what sleep he can, among the noise and excitement of the race.

“I love the ambience of Le Mans,” he said, “and the history and spirit – the name itself is one to inspire the spirit. We’ve won the 24 Hours of Daytona this year, and I would certainly enjoy ‘doing the double’ and winning Le Mans as well! There is no reason why we can’t – we have no issues with the car, and everyone is trained and fit and ready to take on the challenge.”

I asked him if there were any races he’d like to do, and after thinking a bit, he said, “I’d really like to do the Paris-Dakar some day. I’ve watched that and read about it and it looks like a real challenge. And I’d like to do some boat racing too.”

When I inquired if he meant UIM F1 boats, he shook his head. “I want to race sailing boats,” he emphasized. “Power boats harm the environment – as, in a way, do racing cars. I would like to see more work done to make racing less harmful; more work on alternative fuels, more careful engineering – even bringing down the speeds. I don’t think most people would notice if the races went from 300 kph to 200 kph; it would still be a great spectacle and much less harmful to the planet.” Pfeiffer is passionate in his environmental concern and willingly expanded on his well thought out ideas to improve on not only the racing cars but the materials and transport that they use. For example, he suggested, “Why don’t more of the transport trucks use solar panels when they are parked in the paddock? Instead of just plugging in and switching on, they could set up the big solar panels and run their equipment both efficiently and cleanly.” Considering the amount and quality of sun we’ve had this week, this may be an idea whose time should have come. As persuasive as he is, and as well informed, it would not surprise me if one day we come to Le Mans and see the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing team transporters and garage leading the way in innovative technology.

Meanwhile, we’ll have to be happy to have them lead the way on the race track. Under the generalship of Pfeiffer and the team, the No. 90 “Ho Car” qualified first in class in the first night session last night! We look forward to more of the same as the week goes on, and hope Stefan Pfeiffer gets his double on Sunday.