Porsche Track Experience: Eva will take care of it. Always.

It’s early. Too early for adrenaline, too early for engine noise. And yet, this barely tangible tingling sensation between momentum and aggression hangs in the air. The Monza racetrack is awakening – slowly. The pit lane gates are still closed, the air is cool, the asphalt is matte gray. Anticipation is rising.

Always there. Always composed.

A GT Trackday with Porsche Track Experience is more than just the best opportunity to choose from a wide range of Porsche road and racing vehicles, to get maximum seat time on the racetrack, and to train at the highest level. For participants, the focus is always on the complete experience: from the technical support provided by Manthey specialists to the perfectly prepared and tuned vehicles and experienced instructors sharing their wealth of Rennsport expertise. And of course, a hospitality area that combines motorsports atmosphere with comfort. This creates the unique blend of professionalism and passion that Eva and her colleagues deliver this morning.

Eva stands at the welcome desk, steaming cappuccino in her hand, two-way radio around her neck, eyes wide awake. While I’m still thinking about my first sip of coffee, she has already changed languages three times, replaced a forgotten participant batch, and organized a paddock space for a client who arrived last night with his own truck and race car. Chaos? Not with Eva.

She is the steady pulse of the Manthey team on this noisy day. Project manager, the pivot point between Manthey technicians, a project team buzzing behind the scenes, instructors, guests – and the damn air conditioning, already fighting the 40-degree heat at 9 a.m. Eva is everywhere. And she is always there. 

Chaos? Everything here has a system.

The paddock is slowly filling up. Guests with helmet bags. And eager anticipation on their faces. One of them is from Hamburg – a 1,200-kilometer journey in his own GT3. Madness? Perhaps. But somehow it’s exactly right, here in the “Temple of Speed” – one of the fastest tracks in the Porsche Track Experience program.

The first engine roars to life. There’s no stopping now. Tires that need to be brought up to temperature. Drivers who want more. Manthey technicians making the final adjustments before the vehicles go out on the track. A total of up to 40 racing cars and 80 road vehicles are used during a GT Trackday. Eva and the project team – in the middle of it all.

She organizes, sorts racing suits and helmets for the participants,  reets accompanying persons and, checks wristbands. Black for participants. Red for accompanying persons. Yellow only for those who have successfully completed the briefing. Everything here has a system. Even if it sometimes looks like controlled chaos.

A participant is standing at the counter and wants to take his partner along as a copilot in his vehicle for a lap around the track. Heatwave or not – in the race car at the GT Trackday, the rule is: Get into the fireproof overalls, put on your helmet, and slip on your gloves. Eva smiles. “We’ll manage it.” Of course. As always.

Then: a red flag. A car in the gravel at the exit of the Parabolica. A stir among the technicians in the pits, two-way radios crackling. Eva gets into Supervisor Stef’s Cayenne and speeds to the accident scene; the customer now needs special attention. I can still see her disappearing in the rearview mirror – thinking: She has nerves of titanium.

A short time later, she’s back again. Luck! No injuries. Just a few kilos of gravel that the GT3 RS will bring back to the pits. Some sweat for the technicians, but thankfully nothing major. Thanks to the professional Manthey crew, a mobile workshop, and tire service, the customer will be back out with his vehicle for the next stint.

The haven of calm at a GT Trackday

The day continues. The sun beats down on the asphalt. The sound of a DJ reverberates through the sprawling paddock, the hospitality is sweating. Eva remains calm. She talks to the caterer, the technician; the driver, who has the air pressure of his tires adjusted in between. Smiles. Coordinates. And at some point, she takes a sip of water. Perhaps the first one in hours.

I wonder how she can endure that. This combination of speed, precision, and composure. She had 71 travel days last year. Her family is in Bonn, the office one hour away. When she started here, she wasn’t a­ gearhead. But she had the experience of organizing large events under her belt. And ­perhaps that is exactly her secret and that of their other colleagues in Manthey’s ­ project team.

As afternoon turns into evening and the engines slowly become quieter, Eva is still standing at the edge of the pit lane or the hospitality area. Talking with a customer. Listening. Taking them seriously.

And as the first deckchairs in front of the hospitality area fill up and the sun bathes the Monza racetrack in golden light, I think: This is happening because Eva keeps it going. Because she and the rest of the project team never just “do” things, but feel the vibe that is the pacemaker for the heartbeat of a GT Trackday. Not loud. Not flashy. She’s the backbone of a crazy day. A haven of calm amid the high-speed adrenaline rush.

Eva and her team will take care of it. Always. And somehow everything else, too.

Info

Text first published in the Porsche Experience Magazine.

Author: Berthold Dörrich

Photos: Klaus Schwaiger

Copyright: All images, videos and audio files published in this article are subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without the written consent of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Please contact newsroom@porsche.com for further information.