There were only 7 prewar cars at the Children's Grand Prix so they put a few
vintage Indy cars on the track with us during practice sessions. Being passed
by an Offy powered Champ car is one of life's great orgasmic experiences. What
a great sound, especially for a native Hoosier.
We had two trikes, two '36 4/4s, a beautiful Riley Imp, and two "prewar"
MGTDs.
Kevin Clemens 52 MGTD
Fred Sisson 38 Morgan Trike
Bob Wilson 37 Morgan 4/4
Marv Primack 37 Morgan 4/4
Pete Olson 32 Morgan Trike
Bill Alexander 35 Riley Imp
Dick Rupp 53 MGTD
During practice, we each found our own race partner. Pete Olson's 32 Trike
was a close match with the Imp, the two 4/4s were a bit faster and lapped
together. Kevin was out in front somewhere and I was alone behind him
somewhere.
The trike has a disadvantage of only one rear wheel and an advantage of
being
able to easily change the final drive ratio with a simple sprocket change.
Fraizer-Nash must be the best of both worlds..
I changed "up two teeth" for the race and it helped a lot as the course
is
pretty fast (for us) with only about one or two gear changes per lap. This
allowed me to pull a really good lead on Kevin in the two straights- then he
would come close to passing me in the turns- then another straight. We were
going to "play" during the race, but I don't like to pass or be passed at
those speeds so I decided that the best tack was to get farther in front &
that's how the race went. On the last lap I came up behind the two 4/4's and
we drove the three Morgans down the straight three abreast for the checkered
flag. We got a standing ovation from the corner workers.
Fred Sisson
|