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Friday was supposed to be a pretty decent day for racing - until Friday actually arrived. Dreary with persistent, moderate to heavy rain. I went to the track hoping for better conditions, but not the case. What to do? What with an open car, I would be drenched for the weekend. So I decided to sit out the morning runs; but when the first run group was being held at the false grid, I thought it would be a better use of my time to go home and do a few chores.
Throughout the morning, rain continued to pelt the pedestrians. I was just about to head back for the afternoon sessions when I received and e-mail indicating that the remainder of the day's events had been cancelled.
Saturday morning didn’t look much better, but the rain was much less intense and actually abated from time to time. We had a driver’s meeting, after which my first run was scheduled for 9:00 A.M. It was still very soggy and I wasn’t going to go out. But at the last minute, I decided to go out to test my steering, as I had adjusted the toe slightly in the pre-race preparations. The run was slow and uneventful, care being taken not to spin or go off track. Steering felt OK.
The second run at 11:00 had a race start, but the track was still very wet. One of the open wheel pre-war cars was kicking up rooster tails. I was a little faster, but still cautious with nothing of significance to report.
Photo by John Parisi
John Faulkner - Photo by John Parisi
My third run was the race for the Litchfield Cup where the British Commonwealth cars were set against the cars from the Rest of the World. About ten (10) days prior to the race, I had been “dismissed” as coach of the British Commonwealth team, with a new coach appointed. This lad had laissez-faire leadership style - completely opposite to my micromanagement techniques. I feared the worst – especially when I noticed that the Rest of the World had fielded a horde of screaming Alfas for the first heat. The Commonwealth fielded about twelve cars – only two of which could be considered “fast”. I was probably mid pack in terms of times, but held up early in the race and driving carefully thereafter with only one lap under 1:16. I only did 13 laps in a 25 minute race! Suffice it to say that the glory of the team was sadly diminished.
But the track was completely dry by my 3:00 P.M. race. Other than almost pegging the engine at 7,000 rpm a few times at the start before realizing I was in second gear, and then running gingerly to make sure I had not sustained damage, the race was uneventful. I passed a few cars, but was running alone for most of the race. Ten laps under racing conditions, and I ran in the 1:14s for seven of them. My best was a 1:14.1.
I was pretty satisfied with how the car ran and with my lap times given that I had been unable to be competitive for the several years. I was pretty tired and thought I should sit out the all comers race. Why crash or break something in the last race of the season. Plus, my clutch was giving me problems and I was having difficulty shifting into first and reverse and wasn’t so certain about the other gears. But my crew – Dave Miles – was daring me to run a 1:13, so we made some quick adjustments to the clutch at the pushrod, and I went out intending for glory. And as soon as the flag was dropped, I was in the zone – a little too much in the zone as I missed two yellow flags and made a pass in lap 2. But I was in a tight race, trying to overtake a couple of cars and trying to hold a few cars off. But I really botched the Left Hander in lap 10. The two cars behind got by me, and as I tried to rally after them, the pack gradually slipped away. I ran a couple of 1:12s, and then, since I was running alone, decided that the situation called for discretion instead of valor. I slowed down a bit and ran in the 1:13s.
I was pretty happy with the All Comers Race as it was the fastest I had run since the Fall Finale in 2019. I was also hitting 100 mph consistently at the end of the main straight. Attached a photo of one of the reports from my data logger. I never noticed the "distance" differential and I will be spending some time to figure that out.
But that is the end of my season. The following Monday, I drove down to Newport News to pick up Peter Coen’s disassembled 1600 engine - sold to me for a nominal price.
Excellent driving El Jefe. I knew you had it in you. Getting down to the 1:12s is a good step forward. Too bad the run will have to stop now until next season. But I love that you are finishing the season on a high. Proud of the effort you put in on a wet and soggy weekend.
Who was the big spender at dinner in the yellow S who would never give a point by, who always complained that people were passing him without a point by, and who was particularly slow? Allen?
10-06-2023, 04:51 PM
at the big spender.