I finally got around to checking "Mighty Midgets and Special Sprites"
by John Baggott, published by The Crowood Press (1998), ISBN
1861261063. From the Sebring Section (p. 13):
"Chief mechanic Roger Menadue recalls that the team was realistic
about not having the budget for outright victory in the endurance
events, and that class honours were the object of the exercise. They
certainly achieved this in style during the following two years. For
the 1966 event, to improve axle location, the day-glo orange Sprites
were fitted with angled telescopic dampers with single anti-tramp
bar. They also had five-speed close ratio versions of the MGB
gearbox. With the 1293cc engine producing 110bhp, this enabled them
to reach a top speed of 136mph (219km/h) down the Sebring straights.
Timo Makinen and Paul Hawkins won the class, followed by another
successful pairing of [Rauno] Aaltonen and [Clive] Baker for 2nd in
class, despite a three-hour pit stop to repair the damage after the
oil filter flew off!"
One wonders if those Sprites had the special down force generators
attached ahead of the body work...
On the back straight at Road Atlanta, on the downhill portion, I just
touched 100 mph according to the lead instructor's speedo. I did it
once, I don't need to do it again, and God punished me with a rebuild
later.
Jeff Boatright __o_\__ '65 Austin-Healey Sprite
http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~jboatri/sprite/sprite.html
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