Team Escargot's Savannah race report.
If you were not in Savannah last weekend I seriously doubt you were
having as
much fun as we were. The weather was good, the parties were good, the food
was excellent and the racing was awsome! It doesn't get any better than that.
(well, Okay, I suppose it could if you added sex to the equation)
If you haven't raced at Savannah, It's a great place to be in the
spring.
It's usually warm (70's & 80's) and the area has great restaurants.
There was a new car making it's debut at Savannah. Doug White (who
should
consider becoming a full-fledged member of Team Escargot) had his 1972 Honda
powered NTM MkIII DSR out for its first race weekend. Like the NTM MkII raced
by Team Escargot's Paul Meis, the MkIII features a fiberglass monocoque
chassis and mid-mounted Honda S800 power. It differs in that it is
considerably smaller, narrower and lighter than the MkII. The MkII was
designed to accept different engines to race as DSR, CSR or BSR. The MkIII
was designed around the S800 motor to race only as a DSR.
The Mk III ran well all weekend and made it's racing debut in the hands
of
Peter Krause, talented vintage racer and the man largely responsible for the
restoration of the MkIII. In a race for sports racers under 1500cc (DSR, G &
F Modified, etc.), The 791cc Honda powered NTM came out 1st overall!
Dad (Paul Meis) also had a good weekend piloting his NTM MkII, placing
8th
overall in the Group 1 small-bore race and improving his best lap to a 1:26.6.
I had a great weekend racing my 1967 S800 Coupe. After spending a few
practice sessions getting a handle on my carburetor settings, she was making
good power and ready to race. In the qualifying race on Saturday, I spent a
lap or two getting past an Alfa Giulietta Veloce (Bob Kullas) and then set off
to chase down a Lancia Fulvia Zagoto (Mike Kristick). I knew he could see me
getting closer by the way he was getting real squirrely and making mistakes in
the corners! He could outpower me down the front straight but I found that I
got a real good run on him on the short stretch leading up to the final
corner. I got inside of him going into the corner, led onto the straight and
held him off to checkers at the start/finish. I was sure glad it was the last
lap, I'm not sure I could have made that move twice.
On Sunday I gridded for the feature race sandwiched between the two
big-bore
(1300cc is the upper limit in Group 1) Italian exotics. (the Alfa and the
Lancia) Mike decided he and his Lancia were too good for us and stormed off
into the distance improving his lap times by 3 sec. over his qualifying times!
That left me to deal with Bob and his Alfa. Plan A was to blow him into the
weeds and not look back. Since that wasn't happening, Plan B was to stay
right on his ass until he made a mistake. He didn't. Plan C was to use the
draft. This worked to perfection and I got a great tow down the front
straight and sailed past into turn 1. Of course when we got back to the
straight, he didn't need no stinkin' draft to blow right past again. So
lacking a plan D, I finished right on his tail. I also improved my best lap
at Roebling Road to 1:31.3. Although I did not win my class, I was easily the
fastest under 1 liter production car. (hey, I have to claim some sort of
important sounding victory) The nearest challenger was Brian MacEachern with a
best lap of 1:32.7 in his 948 Bugeye.
Overall, Group 1 had a lot of very fast cars. Just 3 years ago, my
1:31s
would have been fast enough for 3rd overall. This year I was 14th! The
really fast guys were: 1st - Kent Bain in his 1296cc Spitfire, 2nd - Jim
Roberts in his 1275 Sprite, 3rd - Sean Ryan in his 1296cc Spitfire. 4th -
Will Thomas in his 1275 Mini. Kent was turning 1:23s and the other guys were
in the 24s.
SVRA also put on a great party Sat. night with steamed oysters,
crawfish, and
barbecued pig and cold beers. Is it just me or does beer actually taste
better during the racing season?
Well, like I said, if you weren't there, you missed a great time. Next
stop
for Team Escargot: Road Atlanta and the Walter Mitty Challenge April 24-26.
See you at the races!
Doug Meis - Team Escargot
"If you haven't ever been just a little bit scared,
you aren't going fast enough"
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