The Fastest Peet Stop
I’ve been watching NASCAR and Formula One races recently. Actually I also love motorsports aside from cartoons. And then, last Sunday, I was watching the Italian Grand Prix which McLaren’s two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, won. Aside from marveling at how these Formula One drivers mange to control their rocketing cars, I was also fascinated by the job being done by their crew.
I know that it is important to have a very fast crew so that you can be in and out of the pits in no time. Every tire nut should be secured; fuel should be filled to the right amount according to the strategy. Things like that are important especially if a millisecond can cost you a championship. So I was thinking about how these guys prepare for this job. And then my mind flashed back to that blue forklift who performed the fastest pit stop in the history of the Piston Cup.
The Piston Cup is actually patterned on the Winston Cup which is now the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Anyway, I am talking about Guido in the movie Cars. He lives at Radiator Springs along with Sally Carrera, Doc Hudson, Mater, and his best friend Luigi. He actually works for Luigi in the latter’s Casa Della Tires. They are both Italian although Luigi can speak English and Guido cannot although Guido understands the language.
Guido was voiced by Guido Quaroni - a computer modeler and animation scientist at Pixar Animation Studios. His dream is to perform a pits stop, which he pronounces as “peet stop” for a real race car. His dream was fulfilled when he became part of Lightning McQueen’s pit crew. During race, when Lightning needed a change of tires, Guido impressed everyone by performing the fastest “peet stop” in the history of the Piston Cup. It only took him four seconds to do what needs to be done. Thus he was a vital part of Lightning’s team.
Near the end of the film, we see Luigi and Guido at their shop when a Michael Schumacher Ferrari voiced by the seven-time world champion dropped by. Luigi instantly fainted. Guido, on the other hand, fainted when Schumi talked to him.
