At 10:08 PM 10/25/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Well, today we went to Road Atlanta to watch the 1997 American Road Race
>of Champions....enjoyed the rain, rain, mud, and more rain, racing, the
>race cars, and oh yeah, did I mention that it was raining? It was a fun
>time anyway. I had the Union Jack on the antenna, but saw no others from
>the list ( well, except Ted from TS. who was selling his really neat
>wares )
Too bad I missed you - I was there as well!
>
>The Holton TR7 wasn't there and the Smith TR8 was absent also, so I did
>the next best thing I could, Cheered for the only LBC there, a '72 MG
>Midget. He was turning some respectable times and managed to stay out of
>the lap 8 - 9 car malay at turn 12. After a 2 hour red flag to clean up
>the mess ( THANKFULLY - NO ONE WAS SERIOUSLY HURT! ) The race was
>restarted and the Midget took a first in class and 8th overall, turning a
>best lap of 1:57.098. Not too bad.
I had the pleasure of crewing for these guys! Not much to do, really,
except fill the gas, check the oil, kept the rains on the whole time! :)
The '72 BRG MG Midget is owned by Will and Bill Perry, from the Chattanooga
region of the SCCA. From what he said, he could have run much faster, but
didn't need to, as he had soundly beaten the other two ITD cars there - a
early 70's Datsun 1200 sedan, and a Ford Festiva (!?!).
We knew of the 10 car pileup and were able to warn Will via radio before -
he was actually in the pits while the track crew was cleaning up cars and
helping drivers. Lots of nice cars dead and gone - 2 Datsun 510's killed,
a few Rabbits, a Scirroco.
After he won, he had to tear down the engine for the tech inspectors, and
then put the thing back together for the race the next day!
If you think watching the Saturday race was fun, you should have seen Will
and Bill drive the Sunday race. The ITD Midget had a heated race with a
faster ITC Honda Civic!
>
>The real thrill though was the night racing...Nothing like it...nothing
>at all. To see those blazing lights coming out of turn 7....you would
>have had to have been there. Unfortunately, a few cars left the track
>and became mired in mud. The race was red flagged at 45 minutes ( a 3
>hour enduro ) and at the 1 hour marked the race was canceled.
For this race, they ran a first generation MR2 with driving lights on the
roof! Looked funky, but made it real easy to spot at night in the rain!
>
>I would imagine though from the attendance and enthusiasm of the crowds
>there, that there will be more night racing at Road Atlanta...truly a
>great place to watch a race!
>
There was much more LBC presence at the SVRA Atlanta Vintage Grand Prix the
weekend before. Saw TR4's, Midgets, Spitfires, MGA's, Morgans, Elva
Couriers, Loti, Mini's, etc. There was a TR8 (white/green stripes, fender
flares) that ran like a bat out of hell!
Oh, yeah - and much, much less mud! I think we stayed wet in the pits the
whole weekend!
What a blast! And, at only 20 minutes from Road Atlanta from my house,
I'll be back! Love those vintage cars!
We did see two other lbc's there - a rubber-bumpered MGB-GT (purple w/gold
panasports), and a nice white TR6 parked up near the restaurant. Listers?
Chip (Dry at last!)
---------
Chip Mautz
Greenbrier & Russel
Atlanta, Ga
'71 Triumph Spitfire #FK16099L ('Ol Smokey)
WAR Eagle! Go Auburn!
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