I had a fun night on Tuesday when I stopped by Besic Motorsports in Glen
Ellyn, Illinois. I got to see final in house prep and an engine test firing
on a '91 Alfa Romeo Spyder that is now on its way to Bonneville for Speed
Week. The 1600 engine now has a 1300 crank to get it into the under 1500cc
class. It was test fired on Tuesday with Eaton Supercharger in place and they
are going to run it in the naturally aspirated class as well. There's also 2
liter engine that they will run in supercharged and carburetted as well. The
aim of Richard Kreines' Alfa team is to set a speed record for an Alfa
engined car as well as go after class records.I was supposed to be going
along on the crew but had to pass when Rover quietly cancelled the planned
run at Phil Hill's almost 40 year old MG record with EX 255. The other MG
campaigner at Bonneville, Waddill Racing of Michigan, also passed. Twist's
announcement that this year's Summer Party will be the last (at least the
last put on by Twist in Michigan - look for an announcement from the
Chicagoland MG Club at Twist's) made covering the Summer Party for MGB Driver
a higher priority.
The MG connection with the Alfa is that 6 of the Waddill Team members
couldn't pass on going to Bonneville after 10 consecutive years just because
their car isn't going so they are advising and assisting the Alfa team. Mark
Barnhart has been extremely helpful from the start of the Alfa project and
will be there. I just found out last night that NAMGAR Chairman Dave Smith is
going as well.
Godspeed (and lots of it!) Mates and Paisanos,
Kim Tonry
Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
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