Wm. Severin Thompson wrote:
>
> To all,
>
> When I first ran my time capsule Stage V Sprite in vintage racing 5
> years ago, it ran exactly as run in 1961.
>
> Many races I couldn't keep up on the pace lap. Sad to hit the start line
> at Road America while the leaders are already in turn 5....
>
> That car ran 3:42s there. My current 948 MKII Sprite which has been
> consistantly the most legal car in the organizations I race with
> including VSCDA, SVRA, and CHR, runs 3:02. It's legal, but they didn't
> look or run like that in '62.
>
> WST
> Team Thicko
>
That, whether good or bad is the reality of vintage racing today. A
friend here in Toronto with a '57 Lotus XI LeMans has done 1:38 at
Mosport...the first big race there was won by Moss in the 2.5L Laystall
Lotus 19 in 1961 with a lap record 1:40.
Even with the same size tires, the rubber's better, the fuel is better,
we flow heads better than anyone ever imagined back then.
Every vintage race car is MUCH faster than it was in its period.
My car, the 1958 VAY Special usually is around 1:55 at Mosport. In its
best day in the '60s I doubt it ever got remotely near 2:10.
Another guy here who raced a Sprite in '60-'64 did low 2:00s - now a
good Sprite is 1:57 to 1:53 depending on state of tune.
So there are reasons that everyone is faster but... in theory, the
finishing order of cars should be the same IMHO as it was then. When a
Sprite is almost as fast as a Mustang, something's very, very wrong.
The other part of the tire issue I didn't mention is cars with specs.
that differ between 2 models 1 yr. apart.
A 59 Lotus 7 series 1 for instance uses 15" wheels/tires so a Dunlop L
5.0x15 is the right tire...a series 2 Lotus 7 just a year away uses 13"
wheels and tires.
Put an 4.50L13 on it and the performance is what Chapman built it
for...put an 4.50M13 or the Formula Ford tire that many 7's use and it's
so far beyond the series I in handling that it's obscene.
This is whats driving so many racers into newer cars. There's a huge
disincentive to race a series 1 seven or front-engined Junior when the
'newer' cars can be made to go faster by taking advantage of tire
technology that wouldn't exist for 5 or 6 years, which a car using 15"
wheels can't do.
My fingers are tired...I must be up almost 8 cents by now.
Mike
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