[Vintage-race] 1963 Watkins Glen race video

[Tillinger, Richard (OLN)]

Hi all,

Nial McCabe posted this (http://vimeo.com/4139756) on the VRG NewsGroup,
and I thought I'd pass this along to other members of the vintage
community; perhaps someone can post a link to it on the Vintage Racing
League website if it isn't already. Once you get past the obviously
unsafe roll bars, stuff like where shoulder harnesses are mounted, and
the first 20% or so that is a race at some airstrip in Dunkirk, NY, the
rest of the 27 minute video is about the 1963 SCCA National race at
Watkins Glen, and there is some reasonably decent in-car footage. At
that time, this was the "third course" (go to
http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/wat.html for more information
on all the courses). For those of you only familiar with today's "fourth
course", here's my recollections of the differences (YMMV):
1)  the boot didn't exist
2)  the course was narrower, about 24 feet vs. 36+
3)  The Ninety was much tighter (more like a 30 mph 1st gear turn)
4)  the pits were past The Ninety, so instead of it being Turn 1, the
bottom of the Esses (current Turn 2) was
5)  while the Esses followed the same basic layout, the run from Turn 1
to Turn 2 (current 2 to 3) was much steeper and leveled off more
abruptly; this caused several Can-Am cars to do "Endo's" (Bob Bondurant
and Lothar Motschenbacher?) at the top, much like the later John Morton
incident at Lime Rock's climbing/uphill turn; today's course at Turn 3
is dug deeply into the hillside to avoid this
6)  long before the dreaded chicane/bus stop/inner loop existed at the
end of the original main straight, there was a chicane at the beginning
of the loop; this was not used for the Grands Prix but was for
many/most/all sports car races; this narrow chunk of pavement still
exists, and is where you see emergency vehicles parked up there (yes
Virginia, it was long enough for a Chaparral to pass a couple of cars in
there)
7)  where today's right angle Turn 10 is, there was much more gradual
left hander
8)  that led into "Fast Bend" (a fast right hander), then a small left
leading into The Ninety (all this where today's pits and pit straight
are); unfortunately, there was no spectator viewing area for this
section of the track
9)  there are few or no "Blue Bushes"
10)  on the run past the old pits, where Seagraves Road crosses the
track (I think this is still an entrance for the big haulers that can't
get through the tunnel), there were large drainage ditches along this
cross road with absolutely no protection (or warning); Jack Brabham ran
wide at The Ninety in a F1 GP ('66?), and kept going parallel to the
track, only to be totally swallowed up in a ditch he couldn't hope to
see. There were probably dozens of such unsafe conditions all around the
track in the 60's.

BTW, there is still a chunk of the "Scheckter Chicane" mentioned in the
above web link (on the current "fourth course") between the current
Turns 2 and 3 that was installed in the wake of Francois Cevert's 1973
death just past Turn 2. This chunk is off to driver's right on the
uphill, but don't look for it "at speed". This chicane was a real mess,
as it included curbs on the track, and then some catch fencing; once one
car was stuck in the fence, his rear end was likely to catch someone
else.  : (

Regards,
Dick Tillinger
ex-Bob Sharp 2-Liter Datsun Roadster
________________________________

To: VRG_NewsGroup at yahoogroups.com
From: aeronca65t at yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 04:43:43 -0800
Subject: [VRG NewsGroup] Sports Car Racing-1963-video

For your amusement. The "good old days". Lots of good Elva racing shots
plus other cars too (all from 1963).

http://vimeo.com/4139756

This video is 27 minutes long, but you can "slide" the timer
ahead.....there's some pretty good in-car video around the 24 minute
mark.

Nial McCabe
Spridget #909