Brief Report:
OK, so I left work a little early on Friday and never saw
the replies from some of you as to who to say hello to.
Anyway, it was a great day of racing, with an excellent
turnout of British cars. Triumph was well represented
with 2 TR-4s (White #44 of Bill Cohn & a blue #4 of ?),
three spitfires, all white (#67, 68 & 69) fielded by
a group called "Spitfire Racing". I believe all of
these cars were there last year except the Spitfire team
only had two cars then. In their race, the Spits didn't
fare too well but Bill's TR-4 put on a good show.
Their class (F1) includes Mini-Coopers and several other
makes, etc. Those Mini's sure run quick, although
given the development of those cars beyond their as raced
condition in the 60's, one has to wonder about what is
or isn't true vintage race car preparation. (A point
recently mentioned by Teriann Wakeman.)
Most interesting, though, had to be the large contingent of
Austin-Healeys, headed up by the presense of a three car team
from England called Team Healey-UK. The effort is a reincarnation
of the Healey racing group that rampaged race courses in the 50s
and 60s. The cars are built to the same specs as the DD300 car
of internationally famous Healey driver, John Chatham. These
cars compete in class F2 and two of them lead the pack for
much of the 12 lap event until a shunt of the tarmack forced
them to make an obligatory pit inspection stop.
The mandatory pit stop was in force at this event to discourage
the 10/10ths racing effort which is frowned upon at USA Vintage
events. Under this rule, if your car leaves the track for any
reason, even if it doesn't come in contact with another vehicle,
you must make an obligatory pit stop for a quick undercarriage
check. Not a bad idea (In my opinion) for this type of racing
where contact with other vehicles is extremely discouraged and
the goal of the event is to have these cars run at near their
potential without jeopardizing the cars or drivers.
The Feature Event this year, while not English oriented, was
a thunderous recreation of the 1970 Trans-Am race. Former
Mark Donahue AMC Javelin, Mustangs gallore, a Cammaro, etc
provided a great show for those that were there.
By the way, Limerock is going to have an all-British race
on September 29th along with the running of the Xerex/Jamesway 300
IMSA GTO/GTU event. The all british race will be open to
any British race car with a current valid tech sticker from
a recognized sanctioning body (eg. SCCA, SVRA, etc.)
For more info, tickets etc, call the track at 203-435-0896.
Final Note: Limerock publishes a free newsletter (about 4 times
a year) called the "Track Record". To get on the mailing list,
write to Limerock Park, PO Box 111, Lakeville, CT 06039
Bill Sohl
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