Houston helps Toyota to elusive LeMans victory
The “Curse of LeMans” is over for Team Toyota, and Penticton’s Mark Houston helped make it happen.
The 29-year-old Penticton Secondary grad was in the pit crew as Team Toyota won the 24-hours of LeMans auto race Sunday in Cologne, Germany.
It was the third time in the pits for Houston with Team Toyota in the LeMans — arguably the world’s greatest auto race.
His parents, Gord and Louanne Houston, who still reside in Penticton, said their son felt the heartbreak of the car breaking down at LeMans within four minutes of finishing while holding a substantial lead two years ago.
Louanne said there was talk about the “curse” as Toyota had gone 19 straight years without a victory at LeMans.
But it ended on the 20th try, as Houston’s car No. 8, a hybrid driven by Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi, came out on top.
“It was a great Father’s Day present for his family watching on TV,” said Louanne. “It was a very exciting moment for our son and his team, as racing is definitely a team sport.”
She said she messaged him after the race and told him, “Now have the best sleep of your life.”
His reply was “Haha! No sleep . . . just celebrating. We will think about rest later!”
Mark, who has one older and one younger brother, attended Uplands, then Holy Cross School and graduated from Pen-Hi in 2006.
He loved Pen-Hi automotive teacher Doug Bailey’s classes, and took part in a Skills Canada competition for mechanics while in high school.
He was presented a full toolbox by the Okanagan Rodtiques Car Club as top automotive student.
Mark attended Bridgestone Racing Academy, near Peterborough Ont., made his way up to the IndyCar circuit, was in the pit crew for Sebastien Bourdais, among other drivers, and competed in the Indianapolis 500.
In 2012, he was featured in the reality program “Crash Course” with “Top Gear” star Richard Hammond, trying to train Richard as a pit crew member overnight!
Mark moved to Europe to join the World Endurance Championship, joining Toyota Racing, based in Cologne.
He has travelled the world with the team racing in England, France, Germany, Belgium, USA, Brazil, Japan (shortly after the tsunami, and not far from the failing nuclear plant), Shanghai (met Jackie Chan, who is a huge race fan), Bahrain and other countries.