Here is more from Davey:
 Another HSC Alpine Vignette, at the '63 Riverside National race I needed 
to 
cut my lap times as there were a couple or three Speedsters faster than I. 
Turn 7 on the short course was right between 2nd and 3rd gear, and I had 
been 
using 3rd. In my desperation to cut my times I started using 2nd gear, 
this 
put the engine revs right at the max. at 7000-7200 at about 3/4 of the way 
thru the turn, leaving me to feather the throttle for a short moment 
before 
the start of turn 7-A that lead onto the straight. As it turned out this 
was 
not a good plan. The engine blew up in a big way in the race, in turn 7 
putting a rod thru the side of the block. For some reason I still have the 
rod that went through metal massacre as it found its way outside the 
block. 
This problem might not have happened if the gear box had a true close 
ratio 
gear set.
 
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