What happened was, I had to go to San Diego for my friend Holly's wedding.
It was probably the most perfect a weekend a weekend could be. Just imagine:
Get picked up at the airport, go to a bonfire on the beach Friday night, see
your best friends from college, sleep in the next morning in a beach front
hotel, go for a run on the beach, barefoot (ignore the broken toe), get all
dressed up for the wedding, which is just beautiful, go out again that night
with your best friends from college, and the next day get dropped off at
Qualcom for a San Diego autocross.
I just don't think life could get any better. I ALMOST got a ride in Rick
Perry's BP Corvette, but I seemed to dispense the "old man" jokes far better
than he could with the "this is a MAN'S car jokes," so he kicked me out. I
deserved it, so oh well.
Bill Sanford, whose TVR almost won the CS National Championship in '98,
almost wasn't going to let me drive his car due to old tires, but then
realized this might be yet another opportune moment to prove how difficult
his car is to drive, and that it really doesn't belong in AS. Apparently
every person who's driven his car, including Gary Thomason and George
Doganis, couldn't come close.
And I'd like to say, "Except for me!" but anyhoo...
What happened was, everything would have been fine, except that there were
two third gear sections. The gear shifter, although on the "right" side of
the driver, is up near the armpit. I kept meaning to shift to second, for
example, but I kept engaging the handbrake. I was simply just too afraid to
shift to third, knowing that I'd have to first FIND the lever while
travelling at speed. Just holding on was enough for me.
The good news, or the bad news, depending on who you are, is that there was
no rev limiter, or at least none that I could find. So, it was good for me,
bad for Bill, and oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that part.
Anyway, I was about two seconds behind him for this 70+ second course that
included two third gear sections, and a couple of first gear parts, provided
you weren't in the torque-happy TVR. He said my final time was actually
pretty good. He said George Doganis was about two seconds behind him on a 45
second course, so I was pretty pleased about that. Also, Bill said that I
shifted to second just like George. Given the sounds the gearbox made, that
wasn't exactly a compliment, but I wonder if George ever shifted to "Stop"
like I did.
Anyway, driving comparisons to George of any kind make me happy, so I just
had to fit that part in.
Before the runs, Gary Thomason wished me luck. He said I'd have fun, and I'd
surely find the experience "interesting." I can't remember the year of the
car, but TVRs are made in England. There are many things about it that make
it awkward. Take the gear shift lever among other things. Also, it doesn't
really handle like these modern day cars that Gary T. tests on a daily
basis. You see, I have British car experience. There are things I understand
that Gary Thomason NEVER will. He expects too much. He demands performance.
For one thing, the TVR rolls a lot more than your average stock car. There
was this fast S section down a hill, and it was, indeed, rather frightening.
The steering was also really heavy, which made the tight u-turns difficult
for me. I had intended to take them really tight (see the latest SportsCar
issue for my reasoning), but I soon realized that I just didn't have the
strength to turn that much, so I ended up taking a wider line just to spare
myself from the unsightliness of steering hand-over-hand, or should I say
just driving off the course because of my physically limited turning radius.
In fact, in most of the turns, I found myself just trying to get enough
gravitational leverage to steer. I didn't actually turn the wheel using my
arms, but by using the weight of my entire torso.
(In fact, later when I made some fun runs in Barbara Leroy-Boehme's Miata R,
I was amazed by the light steering, and that's with as must castor as
possible!)
I think, actually, that drivers of British cars are probably more spiritual
than other car drivers. You just have to have some faith in things that you
can't see. You have to believe you're not going to flip over. Sometimes, you
must believe the car will simply start.
It was actually incredibly fun to drive, and I was disappointed that we only
got three runs. After my third run, I thought I'd just about have enough
courage to shift to third, and maybe even back down to second again.
I think I was the first person to claim Bill's car was enjoyable, so he
paraded me around the parking lot so I could tell everyone, particularly
Gary Thomason, how fun it was. Gary just looked at me like I was some sort
of freak. Well, most people do that, but anyway...
The San Diego crowd was great. Afterwards, we all sat around in the parking
lot under some tarp shade and ate chocolate cake in honor of Leslie Cohen's
27th birthday.
Overall, I'd have to say one of the most enjoyable things is to travel
around and autocross in different parts of the world, just to see how it's
done. I'd have to say, though we're all a bunch of stress cases, we really
do have a good program.
Katie K.
Happiness is the best cosmetic.
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