COLLABORATING WITH AN ICON

What would you do if you got a call to come play tennis with Roger Federer?   Or a round of golf with Tiger Woods?

Or perhaps, as a better analogy – an invitation to sing on stage ... with The Rolling Stones?

PIT LANE CLOTHING got a call on that level when it was contacted by the INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY and asked to work on a collaboration.

As a motorsport venue – in fact, as a global sporting icon – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is quite simply, unparalleled.

Home to 'the largest one-day sporting event in the world' – the venue holds 350,000 spectators – comfortably – and yes, it is 'sold out' on race day.

Speaking of race day – then, there is THE race. The 'Indy 500'. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May.

One of three events forming motorsport's legendary 'Triple Crown' – alongside the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France – the Indianapolis 500 was first held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1911.

And for the record, only one man in history has ever achieved 'the Triple' – Graham Hill – who won all three over different years.

No one has ever accomplished the feat in a single year.

As it stands today, only Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya have reachable targets, with both winning two of the three events so far - Alonso with no Indy 500 victory and Montoya with no Le Mans victory. McLaren are the only team to win it. But even they used different drivers and over different years.

And if you want to continue with history – take Mario Andretti. The only man in history to win an F1 World Drivers' Championship, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Or AJ Foyt – also a winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Oh yes, and also, a four-time winner of the Indy 500. The word 'legend' barely does it justice.

As an owner, Roger Penske has 20 victories. The next best? ... 6. That's what you call domination.

And to win here – you need to be fast.

The outright highest speed by anyone?

Try 237.498 mph, set by Arie Luyendyk in 1996. That's equivalent to 382 km per hour. No one has ever gone faster, to this day.

To put that into perspective - at that rate – you could drive from the Empire State Building in Manhattan straight to the gates of the White House in an hour. The driving distance down the East Coast is roughly 382 kilometres (237 miles). In fact – if you wanted to pass through five countries – you could start in Germany, slice through a tiny tip of the Netherlands, drive down through Belgium, cross completely through Luxembourg, and cross the finish line in France – in just 43 minutes.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is no place for the faint-hearted or the slow.

What it is a place for is unbelievable history, heritage and prestige.

But with the privilege of being selected to work with an institution of this stature comes something equally important. An enormous responsibility.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is far more than a racetrack or a famous name. It represents generations of drivers, teams and fans. More than a century of courage, achievement, triumph, heartbreak and extraordinary sporting history.

That heritage commands and deserves the utmost respect.

For PIT LANE CLOTHING, being entrusted to create an officially licensed collection is an opportunity we approach with immense pride, but also with a clear understanding of the responsibility that comes with it.

Every design, every detail and every garment must reflect the significance of the name it carries. Down to the millimetre.

Our ambition is not simply to celebrate the Speedway's remarkable history, but to honour it through contemporary fashion that is authentic, distinctive and worthy of its standing as one of the world's greatest sporting icons.

It is a responsibility we take very seriously. And a privilege we will never take for granted.

Very few brands get an opportunity to become part of the story of an institution as extraordinary as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

We are immensely proud that PIT LANE CLOTHING is one of them.