Bell takes Le Mans training to next level
Townsend Bell sank his teeth into a bison burger after having rode his mountain bike past 1,400-pound bison last month while training for arguably the most grueling auto race in the world.
Bell, 42, might not win the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend in France. But he has trained for the endurance race in surely as unique a fashion as anyone in the field.
This is the same American driver who, as part of his training regimen, once sparred with a former Olympic boxer and suffered a dislocated jaw.
This is the same driver who considered racing in a wheelchair to strengthen his upper body.
The is the same driver who, in search of an edge, has been coming to this island, 22 miles off the shore in Southern California, fully equipped for two-day training marathons.
One day last month, Bell broke for lunch after 90 minutes on the paddle board and a mountain bike session during which he climbed 4,000 feet and successfully avoided the wild bison that roam this island.
After consuming his bison burger, Bell hiked for 90 minutes. And before he sailed home the next day with his training buddy Charles-Etienne Devanneaux, Bell would add kayaking to his regimen in an attempt to simulate the experience at Le Mans.
Part of a three-man team that will drive in shifts, Bell said he expected to race 12 hours and try to sleep while his teammates handle the additional 12 hours of driving.
“You want to create unpleasant situations as much as you can in advance,” Bell told USA TODAY Sports of his training. “You want to know you’ve done everything you can to be better than the other guy.”
Many of the other drivers, Bell said, prepare for races the way he once did: running and weightlifting. But Bell, who has raced 10 times in the Indianapolis 500, said he began to question the training methods.
“Like if I could bench 150 pounds vs. 225 pounds, who gives a (expletive)?” he said. “That instantaneous strength is not what I need.”
Bell says he needs extended endurance strength and found it on Catalina Island. In advance of the race, he also would spend several hours at CXC Simulations in Los Angeles on simulators that Bell says give him the precise feel of the Le Mans track.
But it’s the endurance training on this island that set him apart from his competition. Exhibit A: Irish driver Damien Faulkner.
“He came over (to the USA) with a fairly strong opinion of his abilities, relative to what he thought an American was capable of, and he was fast,” Bell said. “Where I was really good was I was fast, too, but I could operate at a higher level of intensity in the car for much longer than he could.
“So I could push and press and press and press lap after lap. And he basically surrendered midway through the season.”
An orphan among racing royalty such as the Andrettis, Unsers and Foyts, Bell has hustled for sponsors such as California Pizza Kitchen, Rainguard, Motegi Wheels and WeatherTech and has proved his worth. He won the Indy Lights championship in 2001, finished fourth in the Indy 500 in 2009 and, with teammates, won a handful of endurance races.
When he is racing on the French country roads this weekend in the dark of night, Bell said, he would draw on his experiences on Catalina Island.
“When you’re out here, you’re by and large on your own. There’s no regular patrol to check for bison,” he said. “That’s why I love it out here.”