Dear Gerry,
It looks like mine is the first response from someone who has raced with
SVRA, HSR (10 yrs), and VSCCA (3 yrs)
I saw that one response cautioned you about vintage racing not being the
proper place to "tune up for pro rallying" We vintage drivers have a healthy
fear of unfamiliar faces and cars. The term 'pro rally' must conjure up some
terrifying images for some.
The bottom line is that you can race as hard as you want in vintage
events so long as you don't drive over your head. If you've driven pro
rallys, I'm confident that you know how to drive within certain limits. The
penalty for driving over your head in a rally can be far more severe than
what we face in vintage events. Keep it on the track and race with some
consideration for your fellow drivers and everyone is happy. You can do a
lot of hard racing and have a lot of fun within those simple parameters.
You already have a car so the most important issue becomes where it will
be allowed to run. HSR: If you bring a vehicle with all the proper safety
equipment, they will find a group for you to run with. I agree that they do
put on a good event. The driving can be more aggressive at an HSR event. I
understand that no less than 45 cars were damaged (including a few total
losses) in incidents at the Savannah Historics in November. HSR does not
like to lecture and police the driver conduct. They tend to take the
position that we are big boys (and girls) and we should be able to act
responsibly.
SVRA: Your car must be prepared to 'period authentic' specifications.
Get a copy of their rules for specifics for your car. The guy to talk to is
Jack Woehrle (Tech director). Your car runs in group 8. I know a lot of
those guys and they are decidedly NOT snobbish and a good bunch to run with.
Driver conduct is an important issue with SVRA and they will report any
incident you may have to other organizations (unlike HSR)
VSCCA: I've run at the Lime Rock Fall Festival twice. I don't know if
VSCCA has a 1959 cutoff rule. If they do, there are separate rules for the
Lime Rock event as I've raced my 1967 Honda S-800 both times. It's a great
event and location, only downside is limited track time. My experience with
driver conduct there has been positive. The race director (Charlie Gibson)
does a great job and has been known to toss out drivers who were driving over
their heads.
Welcome to the vintage race scene!
Douglas J. Meis, Attorney at Speed
1967 Honda S-800
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