If you missed Lime Rock, it was an absolutely gorgeous, perfect,
beautiful
weekend. Unfortunately, we don't race on the weekend at Lime Rock. Monday
was wet, cold, slippery and downright treacherous. But before that, most of
us had a really great time at the track.
I enjoyed meeting and racing with fellow netter Don Queen and several
other
West coasters who made the trip for the event.
Although our Honda powered D sports racer suffered engine problems, my
Honda
S800 was really working great - just ask Don. In the qualifying race, I was
right on the tail of his Alfa spider and looking for a way past when he missed
a gear going into turn one. After a quick 'ohshit', I missed his spinning car
and went on. Now Don might tell a different story, but I say he missed that
gear because he was shocked to see that he was being run down by a Honda. But
he shouldn't feel particularly bad about that, as he was but one of many in
Group G that should hang their heads in shame that they could not keep pace
with an 850cc Honda. He's in good company with several other 1600cc Alfas,
Porsche 911s, Lotus Cortinas, a Sunbeam Tiger, an E-type jag, Lotus sevens,
and several 1275cc Sprites and Minis.
As you can tell, I am real proud of how well my car did when thrown
into a
group with some pretty fast company. Last time I ran at Lime Rock, I was in
Group C with all the other small engined cars (1300 Alfas, 948 Lotus sevens,
bugeyes, Turner Mk 1s, etc.) I think I placed 5th in that field. Much to my
chagrin, I noticed that I would have been on pole for that field by over a
second this year. (timing is everything in racing, isn't it?)
One reason Lime Rock is fun is that there are not many events where
someone
comes up to me and says "We're from ESPN and we want to put an in-car camera
in your car, would that be OK?" I have no idea if they will use any of it,
but if you see a shot of driver with the Honda "H" on the side of his helmet
and you hear an incredible 10,000 rpm scream from the motor, that's me!
Raceday, as mentioned, was wet and miserable. A fairly large portion
of the
entrants took a pass on going out to play in the rain. Although it allowed
some of the small cars to powerslide to their hearts content, that's a
dangerous practice at Lime Rock due to limited run-off. And if your car has a
78" wheelbase like mine, discretion is generally the better part of valor. I
think I finished 8th or 9th overall and 3rd in class. I understand the
official results are supposed to be posted on the web at "sascosports.com",
but I don't know when they will be posted.
All in all, I had a great time and can't wait to do it again.
See you at the track!
Doug Meis - Team Escargot
1967 Honda S800 ("the under 1-liter world beater")
|