I apologize if you've already seen this, but I never saw it reach the
list after I sent it yesterday...
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Subject: First Vintage Races In My Sprite
Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 13:01:07 -0700
From: Rick Snover <rsnover@ix.netcom.com>
Hi all,
My Sprite and I just finished my first rookie weekend with VARA: the
Liberty Grand Prix at the Pomona Fairgrounds, July 3 & 4. What a
blast! We (myself, my buddy and crewchief Terry, and his girlfriend)
finally got my Sprite assembled and loaded on the trailer, got all our
other impedimentia loaded into the rented truck and my Mustang, headed
North at about half past midnight Saturday morning, stopped for a
snack, and arrived at our hotel at about 3:30am.
The rookie class was at 8am Saturday, so we didn't get a whole lot of
sleep. The rookie track tours were right after the meeting, followed by
the general drivers' meeting, then the rookie practice session at 10am.
A _very_ busy morning. I did OK in the practice session, given that it
was my first time behind the wheel of my Sprite since last August,
shifting lefthanded, with all new engine, gearbox, clutch, brakes, and
everything, and on a strange track. I a had minor off-track excursion
on the second to last lap. I started the rather tricky Turn 1 a bit too
early and too fast, and the rearend decided it wanted to come around. I
caught it, but ended up pointed off course, sideswiped a cone (didn't
mark the car), and stalled it. Got it restarted OK, and checked-in at
black flag (required by VARA anytime you get all 4 wheels off the
track),
then the session ended before I could get back out.
Terry tweaked some things on the car setup over lunchtime, and I went
back on track for the rookie race at 2:30pm. I did quite well in this
session, starting at 10th of 11 cars on the grid and finishing in 7th
after completing seven laps. The Group 1 qualifying race was right after
the rookie race, but I only completed 1 lap before I ran out of fuel and
had to be towed back to the pits. (Now we know how far it'll go on 3.5
gallons of gas.) That was it for Saturday. After a couple pleasant
hours lounging in the paddock and the VARA R&R (free snacks & beverages)
I went back to the hotel and crashed.
The Sunday morning schedule was a bit less frantic. After the free
steak & eggs breakfast at the track, I had another off-track excursion
during the Group 1 warmup session. I braked too late for Turn 7,
decided I wasn't going to make it so chose to go straight instead, and
ran over another cone (this one did leave some marks). But otherwise
the car was running well and I took it a bit easier for the rest of the
session after my stop at the black flag station.
I was doing _really_ well in the Sunday afternoon Group 1 feature race,
and had gained several positions from my 35th spot on the grid, when the
car quit running coming out of Turn 4 (we think the battery was mostly
dead by then). I couldn't get it to restart and had to be towed back
again. That was it for the weekend.
I had a great time overall, especially after my clutch and I sorted out
our differences and I started using the car more like it was intended to
be used. There're a few digital pics at:
<http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=48550&a=333314>
and there'll be more, better photos after we get the film from the other
camera developed and I get them scanned in.
I need to complete two of these rookie weekends to get my competition
license, but the next VARA event isn't until late October, so the next
project is to make the Sprite street legal for the off-season. I can't
wait to get to drive it around town, to work, etc.
That's all for now.
Rick
--
Rick Snover, San Diego, CA
http://www.netcom.com/~rsnover/
http://www.toyshop-resto.com/britspd/
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