I raced at the Glen this past weekend at an SCCA double, in the Volvo
Historic Series race group. Saturday was cold (highs in the 50's),
windy and cloudy. Unfortunately 4 240z's showed up in my class, but
I managed to qualify ahead of 3 of them eventhough I was 5 seconds off
of my best time there. 2 of the 240z's did not make the grid due to
mechanical problems, but the one that counted was still up front. I
started 2nd in class and 4th overall. Cold tires got the best of me
at the start and I went off at turn 1. I managed to keep it out of
the gravel trap but wound up looping it as I tried to reenter the
track too quickly. Fortunately for me an MGA and a Mini came together
in an unrelated incident behind me and that kept the traffic away from
me as I spun. I reentered toward the back of the pack and managed to
work my way back up to 2nd in class and 5th overall. During my off
course excursion I lost much of my exhaust system and tore off the
Watts linkage mount from the frame. Needless to say the back end was
a little loose, but I was able to get within 3 seconds of my best time
there.
On Sunday we ran the short course, it was sunny and warmer, but still
windy. Running without the watts linkage I qualified 5th overall and
2nd in class still behind that 240z that has been plauging me all
year. My only hope was for him to break or go off, but he did neither
and he finished 1st overall. I finished 5th overall and 2nd in class.
If I did the math right the 240z beat me by 5 points in the class
championship. I guess that that's still not too bad considering the
differences between the two cars. There is always next year. Joe(B)
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