FOTers,
It started raining Friday evening and didn't blow through until a couple of
hours after the last race Sunday....figures. As the rains worsened, the field
sparsened (not in spell-check - but it oughta be).
Alan Pinel, with his 5 second-a-lap-faster-than-mine TR-4, broke something
down where the crankshaft hooks on to the flywheel and didn't make the
starting grid.
With the fast guys broke and the smart guys dry at home, we guts out our first
first place trophy in seven years. "It is not always to the swiftest....."
Naturally we looked forward to the Enduro race in the afternoon. Still
raining, we took a second place (to a Lotus 7).
To you fast guys this might look like some pretty serious bottom feeding. But
to us bottom feeders it was pure heaven!
Whilst on the subject of BFers, permit me to make another observation, or
maybe justification. As I read over the FOT correspondence, I am frequently
impressed by the degree of technology you guys bandy about. Quite frankly
much of it is way over my head, or perhaps beyond my degree of willing
involvement in the sport.
In contrast to max-performance, I have chosen to pump-up my motor only 25 hp
and stiffen up the suspension a little bit, drive the car to the track, race
as fast as I can and wait for the rain. In the last 7 years I have entered 16
races and 15 enduros. I had one DNF two years ago; the left front wheel
bearing failed. We have garnered 7 trophies. What is that, one a year? No,
it ain't much, but I have a lot of seat time and I'm still feeding two kids in
college.
I think you guys would be amazed with the incredible durability of the Triumph
motor when you shift at 5500. And yes, I use my over-drive with the tall
rearend.
But most importantly, when I drive home (in my econo-race car) on Sunday
evening, both the narcotic pleasure from the adrenalin drain-down and my sense
of accomplishment is just as gratifying as it is to those guys going through
security check to fly back to California.
I have been emotionally purged by glimpses of life's reality and am ready to
go back to the quiet, secure life of everyday tedium. And isn't that why we
do this stuff anyway?
Richard Taylor
TR-4
Atlanta
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