Wow, very cool. Don't you just love those experiences that you carry forever
(or until the ol' computer fails to reboot). Phil Hill, Sterling Moss, Dan
Gurney, Jack Brabham and a host of others are such heroes. It a wonderful
thing to see that they are just guys who really love driving cars. It's
pretty damn cool to hang out with Kas and Hardy and find out the same thing.
There are some endeavors in life where the rewards are so rare that it's
easy to be jealous of someone else's really great experience. Isn't it
wonderful that playing with these cars is so rich an experience, that the
first and only thing you think when Wes has such a great time is: Good for
YOU!
And the only selfish sentiment it inspires is that it reminds you of all the
great days YOU'VE had.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of Wes Dayton
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 2:32 AM
To: Friends of Triumph
Subject: Brag Time (non-TR material)
Okay - I'm always reading about these wonderful stories of huge fantastic
race meetings across the USA, the U.K. etc. But here's my little story of
the last few days in small-time down-under Australia.
One of the support events to this year's Australian F1 Grand Prix was a
"Historic Demonstration" - one 'sort-of' race each day of the Thursday to
Sunday spectacle. I got an invite to share a drive of a friend's 1935 Morris
8-based Australian Special supercharged single-seater; I didn't need to be
asked twice.
I'm sure many of you have witnessed F1 races (this was my first time) so I
won't bore you with the details (but I did win a few bucks on a show bet on
Alonso).
My friend's car performed perfectly all weekend and I got to run on Friday
and then Sunday (in front of what was a reported 120,000 spectators). Some
of the highlights:
1) Getting passed on the pit straight by a Maserati 250F (SIr S Moss) and
four ERAs.
2) Lining up on the dummy (false) grid behind Dean Butler's Indy 4wd Miller
and having him explain why it carries an Alaskan License Plate.
3) Passing Peter Giddings in a 1938 BMW 328 (I think he was having problems)
4) Finally figuring out where I was on the all-too-long circuit when I
discovered that the 'kitty litter' was a different colour at each corner.
5) Sharing a sandwich and drink with Sir S Moss in our underwear in the
changing rooms.
Well - you've got to get lucky sometimes!
Wes (back-to-reality) Dayton
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