Alpiners,
Wow, what a weekend!
I was able to pull off getting to the racetrack during this long
weekend,
to qualify for my competition vintage race license.
The event was the VARA Liberty Grand Prix, run at Willow Springs.
I wasnt originally going to go, as my car is not fully equiped with the
required safety equipment yet, but Steve Alcala offered to let me run
in his 61 "Vintage Correct" Alpine.
Steve, along with Tiger drivers Dan Walters, and Tom Sakai, were there
to drive in the moolight enduro, which was run on Saturday night.
This left the Alpine available for me during the days.
The Night Enduro was awesome, There was a modified LeMans start, and
Steve was the first driver, followed by Dan, and finished by Tom.
The Enduro included 1 mandatory 10 minute pit stop, where we added oil,
and changed drivers.
We also had a second pit, in order to change drivers, where we lost
about
3 minutes to the other cars that did not take a second pit.
The little Alpine diced it out with a 1600 Alfa Romeo and get this, a
1959 MGA TC.
The Alpine faired well against both cars, and ultimately beat the MGA,
but the second pit put the Alpine down a lap to the Alfa, and the Alfa
won
the F production clas of the enduro.
The total distance traversed in 2 hours was 150 miles with an average
speed of 75 MPH, and top speeds of over 100 MPH.
It was great, and I also qualified for my licence!
My first road race on Saturday was rather slow, but the final on Sunday
was quite an improvement, and I got to dice it out with the 1600 Alfa.
The Alfa got me, but it was a blast.
Jarrid Gross
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