Hill began to rip off a series of perfect laps. Experience told him how to make up time at high speed without overtaxing the engine. There can be only one shortest distance around a racetrack, achieved when the driver chooses the perfect line on every turn. When he moved the car through a bend he could ease the tires within an inch of the pavement’s edge. The great endurance racer possessed a kind of compassion for the machine and its countless moving parts, allowing it to breathe and flex its muscle.
