Hi Gang: Happy Memorial day!!
Just moments ago, I returned from the above noted event and thought I'd try
to post it within the bounds of "your holiday weekend" I have 15 minutes
then , so this will be brief.
The event @ Brainerd MN is the first event for the locals, both SCCA and
Vintage. The Vintage group are the same that came to Gimli, Mb, last summer
with 14 of their cars. This time, they had closer to 30!! Rich and Liz
Stadther, a husband and wife Formula Ford team (Lotus 61 and Merlyn)
persuaded me to quit whining about my seasonal allergies/flu and come down
anyway - and I'm glad I did.
You'll wish you were there - two of "us" were... a freshly restored Devin
Healey and "THE" Ambro TR3 - the very same one that we drooled over at the
VTR 98. Imagine these two specials, both immaculate, one in green and one
in blue, dicing through the longest straight of any permanent sports car
course in the world!! (Brainerd is a 3 mile 10 turn track. Eight of them
are within one mile, there is a one mile straight and then nearly another
mile of one banked, and one flat 75 degree turn ending in a 110 degree 2nd
gear corner!!)
Neither car sounded like it's street brethren. Ditto for a one off 1100cc
midget one off in hand beaten aluminium (no paint, no hammer marks) -
looking like a miniature late 50's indy car. Now of course there were
several Porsches of 4 and 6 cyl variety and about 6 vees, but the balance
of the field included 6 Formula Fords - all "LBC's", an S4 Lotus Super 7,
and one very fast Elva Courier on a steroid fed MGB powerplant.
Vintage racing has no "winner" per se, but at the end of the timed session,
the next car to cross the line "wins" - even if it had been lapped 3 times.
While all the drivers were mindful of their sizeable investments, they also
took great pleasure in exercising them to near their limits at times.
While Saturday was well into the 90's with not a cloud around, Sunday's
rains brought the drivers to their skill limits - but none went beyond. By
luck, Rich (who kindly adopted me as pit crew - made me feel right in)
managed technically to win BOTH sessions - a feat nearly never performed and
certainly not in the "spirit of the games". But, his performance of
consistent 2 minute laps on vintage style tires in a car that just turned
30, certainly merits note.
Can you think of a better way to be celebrating BCW3 than taking a Monday
drive like that?
Yet further incentive to sort the GT6 out and share in the fun next year.
Dave Terrick
Winnipeg
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