Hi Gang
The six hour relay race at Snetterton yesterday was without doubt the
wettest, windiest and coldest race meeting I've ever attended.
The racing was superb, if only for the fact that cold courage ranged
supreme. The TR3 team -Charles Gillett, Justin Maeers and Les Beards -
finished a superb 8 th overall (beating all the other TR4 and 6 teams 'and
the Healeys' hands down). I think just about every competitor (40 teams)
spun at least once (including all the TR3 team who all spun more times than
they care to remember). Justin Maeers had a very near miss when he was
overtaking a Sprite on the back straight. As he came alongside the Sprite
he noticed a TR6 overtaking him on the other side BACKWARDS. The six cut
across Justin's bow and spun off upsetting the Sprite which also went off
into the vegetables. Justin somehow avoided the fray.
I've never seen so much water on a track in my life, it was also running
like a river just to the rear of the pit garages (about three inches deep).
It rained solidly from the start at 10pm until the race was stopped at
about 1pm (just after a Healey aquaplaned into the pit wall on the pit
straight). The rain conveniently stopped about that time and the wind
dried the circuit somewhat. The race was resumed after an hour or so, but
was soon to come back with a vengeance. The race was finally finished at
about 4.20pm.
All of us were completely in awe of the sheer nerve of the vintage Bugatti
team. They drove their hearts out in two type 35's and two type 51's (one
of which was Louis Chiron's 1932 Monte Carlo Grand Prix car). I think they
finished about 30th but that was the winning team in my book. Imagine
RACING vintage supercharged straight eight machines like that in pouring
rain and wind for five hours -and amongst all the traffic. Very brave men
with stout hearts (and bank ballances as that particular team of Bugattis,
I'm told, is worth about 2.5 million pounds sterling).
Paul
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