Hello all;
Well I'm back from Palm Springs, and about to rush off on a business trip,
but I thought I'd dash off a quick update before I go.
The weather cleared up and turned beautiful for Saturday and Sunday's
activities. As you may recall, I went there under the impression there was
some special Lamborghini track session, and I was going to drive Al Burtoni's
Bonneville record-holding Countach (201.793 to be exact) in it, competing
against other Countach's and some Diablos. Well, to make a long story short,
this was not the case...it turned out to be a noon time touring session
behind the pace car (with our fellow vintage racer web friend K.C. Annis
aboard) along with the Viper Club and one other Lamborghini. Due to previous
session incidents and lost engines, this touring session turned out to be 3
laps, at very slow speeds as the course was still populated by the turn
workers and emergency crews applying oil dry and cleaning up the place...
This was disappointing for Al and myself as this wasn't quite what we
expected, so we decided to enter the car for Sunday's actual race groups,
running in an Exhibition group with an odd assortment of newer iron,
including a Nissan GTP car, the Mello Yellow NASCAR stocker, several Porsche
Turbo variants, a wild looking Pantera, and several Ferraris, including 348
Challenge cars and track prepared 308's. In fact, the entry of the Countach
was a bit of a dichotomy, and a bit of history, as this was the first time a
Lamborghini Countach has ever been raced in a sactioned event in North
America....and it was a vintage race???!!! I know you purists out there will
have fun with this one....
In Sunday morning's practice, we developed some strange feels and sounds from
the front brakes and determined that the new Carbon Kevlar pads we installed
were expanding from the heat and grabbing the rotors...some minor
sanding/adjusting fixed this and we were ready to race!! Since we had no
qualifying time from Saturday, we started at the back of the grid, which was
fine for me since I had limited time on the new track, and virtually no seat
time in the car. I quickly discovered that the 6 year old, hard as a rock,
Pirelli P-Zeros were not going to be competitive with the stickier, newer
tires, or slicks, of the other cars. I had to tiptoe through the turns, and
feather the throttle on the Countach's 525HP, as more than once I got it
completely sideways coming out of a corner by lighting up the no-so-sticky
rear tires. The long front straight was another matter, as I was overcome by
an absolutely orgasmic sounding exhaust as I took the Countach to nearly 8000
rpm in the first 3 gears, before having to shut down from the braking zone
for turn 1. The acceleration was awesome, pinning you back in the seat, and
teasing you with screaming mechanical music, like you were a prisoner in some
kinky sex fantasy (I must admit the experience bordered on sexual!! I think
my girlfriend, Donna was starting to get jealous!!). Reality would sink in
abruptly at turn 1, however, as the looming tire walls and concrete K
barriers jolted my memory back to reality, reminding me that I was driving a
1-off, X hundreds of thousands of dollars, aluminum bodied car that belonged
to someone else, and my adrenaline surge reverted to sheer terror as I'd
downshift, brake, and turn-in, hoping the slippery tires would bite well
before the wall got to close. Most of the back side of the course was
accomplished in 2nd gear, with the wide torque band of the V-12 allowing
plenty of punch out of the corners, with more than enough punch a few times,
giving a few of the corner workers something to talk about as they'd watch a
wailing red Italian supercar hurtle toward them in full opposite lock!
In spite of the slippery tires, I was amazed at how comfortable and easy to
drive the car was. I was expecting a brutal beast, but it shifted easily
(though not as fast as the "crash box" I was used to). If we do it again, we
will definitely need some different tires, and then we can explore the car's
handling more. My biggest complaint was the lack of rearward visibility with
only outside mirrors to rely on.
Back to the race....I got past two cars on the start by using the Countach's
incredible horsepower. I was chasing down a 348 Challenge car, who could
outhandle me in the corners, but I could outpower on the straight. I felt as
though I was gaining on him when, about two-thirds into the race, I was given
the mechanical black (meatball) flag. Knowing that something was amiss that
I couldn't immediately determine, I backed off and brought it into the pits.
As I slowed for the black flag station, smoke began filling the cockpit. It
was immediately obvious that I had blown something in the cooling system, as
water was running out under the car. We shut it off and pushed it into the
grid area, calling it a day. It turned out a seam on one of the radiators
had split, spraying a fine mist of water onto the hot exhausts. The corner
workers spotted it before I did on the gauge....good call guys!!
Although DNF'ing is never any racer's wish, I was glad the race was over, as
the car was in one piece (albeit with a leak), and I had just had the
experience of a lifetime. The car was an absolute photo magnet, as people
were constantly looking for the right angle to take its picture. It is
beautiful, with the special bodywork Al has created, he has smoothed and
softened the angular lines of a stock Countach into a voluptuous beauty. I
was personally surprised at how many people knew what the car was, and had
heard of read about it somewhere. It has been 6 years since the car ran at
Bonneville, only leaving the shop for the occasional trip to a Concours. I
think it enjoyed being flogged a bit, even if it did cause it to burst a
seam. I know Al will have it ready to go again in no time, and he's even
eyeing next year's schedule thinking he might bring it out again. I know
where there's a driver available!!
I didn't follow all of the other racing groups too closely as views of the
track were difficult to obtain from the paddock area. I know this year's
event unfortunately followed true to Palm Springs tradition in claiming a
number of cars. I heard that 5 people were asked to leave on Friday, and 13
more on Saturday for either contact with the wall, or each other. I saw
numerous examples with body damge, some looking reasonbly serious.
Fortunately, I didn't hear of anyone being injured, I hope that's the case.
The track was much faster than the old course, and most driver's I talked to
preferred it. However, most also preferred having it run around the hotel.
Having it at an isolated sight removed some of the excitement and "glitz"
that has been traditional at Palm Springs. Perhaps the faster track
contributed to the incident count, as there were still lots of barriers, more
than I was expecting to see since the course was supposed to be more like a
real race track, as opposed to a street course. Access to the concessions
and vendors was more difficult as they were all located in the infield.
There were no pedestrian bridges, so you had to wait between sessions to
cross. I'm sure that discouraged a lot of entrants from roving around. The
concours was off-site, and since we didn't make it over there, I don't know
how many others did. My vote would be move it back to the hotel...in spite
of the slower course, the overall event was more fun there (if they decide to
do it again.....).
As I boarded the flight back to San Jose, I again thought how civilized this
method of racing was. Fly in, drive, fly out. Unfortunately, my fantasy
was too short. Upon returning home, I realized my car is still in the
trailer on 3 wheels, needing some suspension and bodywork to be ready for
next season. Oh well, back to reality, no more big-time, famous race car
driver....its back to small time wrench and bodyman!! I think I might buy
some Loto tickets this week, though, you never know......
Myles H. Kitchen
Lotus Cortina Mk1 #128
& Lamborghini Countach Bonneville Car #144
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