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Re: [Nobbc] Infineon Sunday Report

To: North Bay British Car Club <nobbc@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Nobbc] Infineon Sunday Report
From: Greg Tatarian <gtwincams@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 05 Jun 2011 21:28:03 -0700
Hi Clif,

> We waited as long as we could for the weather to clear before leaving 
> SR. Really wanted to take the JH, but it was pissing down rain at 
> 10:00 am 
Weather at the track was good all morning - no rain when I got there at 
1000.
> and we gave up and took the Vanagon and our little parrot Roxxie.
Cool - a parrot! What species?
>
> We drove back to the Turn 2 look out and found a nice spot to park 
> right against the fence.  Did spot 2 MGs on their way over to Turn 7, 
> and for the life of me I can't remember there names.
That's Sheryl and Dennis.
>
> Watched Group 5A  open wheels.  These guys are a bit on the crazy 
> side. Some of the cars with vintage racing tires are a total handful.  
> And I guess I will never figure out how they class the cars.
Well, that has changed from when they were run back in the day. Now, 
there are so few of many of these cars that they really have to put 
mismatched cars in the same class.
> Some were crazy fast, and others were even more crazy slow...in the 
> same group.
Yes, some of that is due to the car, the prep, and/or the driver.
>
> Oh and on the way back, we stopped at the Infineon booth.  I won a 
> ticked to the Indy car race.  Yipee!!!
Nice!
>
> Could somebody please explain to me what the Heck a Piranha is?  I 
> know, a Corvair, but what the hell!
Odd looking car, isn't it? It was a kit car.
>
> My favorite group ended up being Group 3B, which was mostly British, 
> Italian, and the occasional useless Porsche.  The winner a 1965 Lotus 
> S7 was beautiful and fast, but was almost caught by what I think was a 
> Lotus Elan. Holy Crap!
Yes, that's one of my favorite groups. I spent yesterday and today with 
the preparer of one of the Lotus Elans - mineral blue with silver top 
and bumpers, and the race manager for that car and the yellow Elan (you 
were correct) behind the 7, as well as the white Alfa GTAM. That yellow 
Elan has a 201 hp dyno sheet, yet the 7 never lost ground to it when 
accelerating side-by-side, which calls into question whether that 7 
actually had a 1500cc crossflow, as it would normally have had (that 
motor would have given up about 50-60 hp to the Twin cam, though the 7 
is a couple hundred pounds lighter). The yellow Elan's motor was in fact 
a little too hot for that track, as it had to wind up to 6,500 to get on 
the cams, which really hurt it in the tight corners, particularly the 
last hairpin before the start/finish line. The 7 was able to gain a car 
length at that turn every time, while the Elan got ready to kick in. You 
might have noticed that motor winding up to 9 grand or so. Goes to show 
that more hp isn't always better... Good drivers, those guys. That last 
hairpin is one of the particularly good tests of a driver's skill.
>
> So that was about it until the parade lap.  I was very temped to join 
> in with the Vanagon, but decided it just was not appropriate.  But I 
> think if it had been a race, I could have won.  Talk about a snails 
> pace.  I know, it isn't a race, but Holy Crap!  It looked like even 
> when there was a gap, everybody just cruised.  We watched the first 
> lap, but almost fell asleep so left.
Yes, parade laps at many tracks were stopped for several years after a 
father and son, I think it was, were killed in their car doing parade 
laps. They were hanging back, then blasting up to the group, when the 
driver lost control. Sad thing, and it kept several tracks from allowing 
untrained drivers on the track without an instructor.
>
> We did have a good time even though we didn't see very many NOBBC 
> people or cars.
Let's vote for no rain next time. In fact, the CSRG races are in 
September or October, and they are a blast.
>
> So when is the next drive?  Can't wait for some nice weather and fast 
> roads.
Second and fourth Saturdays, Clif.

Cheers,
Greg Tatarian
>
> Clif and Deborah  74 JH
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