The Weekend it Was...or... British Cars at the Races...by Dave Terrick
“It’s a beauuutiful day for a moootor race, as Jackie Stewart would say
about the Fall Classic at Gimli on September 13/14. The race grid hit a
recent high of 18 cars which included your truly in the GT6+ (more about
that later), and fellow club members Helmut Friedrich in his H production
Sprite and Dyrk Bolger as my direct competition in his BRG Mini. Many
others came out to sprint but we were there to win with, or to break our cars.
Everyone was in good spirits since the rain and winds of Friday night left
everything clean and green. Banners lined the pit lane and concession
fencing lending an atmosphere of a “real” race track for the first time in
many years. No, five hundred spectators didn’t show but there were many
new faces and some old ones we haven’t seen in a while.
Each day had a practice, a qualifying session and two 15 lap races. This
left lots of time for sprints and for the mechanics of the broken racing
cars to get things going again. And we needed the time because things did
go wrong.
The inaugural vintage race for my GT6 was, well, not auspicious. Fancy
paint does not a fast car make - I struggled to beat 1:20 lap times, and
by lunch on Saturday I had destroyed both front tyres trying. With my
visiting pit crew Greg Wolf (from Detroit) studying the car’s behaviour in
turn 4 we figured could swap front to rear tyres with no fender clearance
problems. Later after driving the car, he pronounced it “horrible” and
suddenly understood why I wasn’t going fast. The fix is (another) couple
of grand and a completely new suspension!
I ran the first race in the GT6 anyway. Having spent so much time money and
effort planning the race, slow times weren’t going to stop me then. That
and the huge cheering section of TDC members who came out to watch, help
cook at the concession, and generally enjoy a beautiful day, strengthened
my resolve. Thanks all - sorry the GT6 show wasn’t as good as the TDC
weekend..
The first race also wasn’t good for Dyrk’s Mini, retiring with what we now
know is a blown motor. However, he did manage to stay in front of me
long enough to soak the front of my car with an oily mist. Pity. I was
just catching up. Or was that to a “three cylinder” mini? Helmut had
clutch problems in the Sprite which were solved late Saturday after a run
to Winnipeg for parts. Sadly, he then retired early on Sunday with a blown
differential after the gearbox locked up in turn 5! Two down, and one
running but with no tyres. Hey, I had to drive mine home!
A bit of begging and borrowing found me racing a ‘78 Ford Fiesta (well,
Jag bought TR, Ford bought Jag, therefore....?!?) stretching “vintage”
rules. Only now, I was turning lap times in the low 13’s, nearly lapping
the cars I could hardly keep up with only the race before. This Fiesta,
likely now “mine”, is a nasty little buzzbox that goes too damn fast,
powered by the very same motor I built in 1988 for my first ice racing car.
Ironic, isn’t it?
I too had my share of minor problems with the Fast Ford.... A severe oil
leak saw me take the checkered flag in a cloud of smoke that would make
James Bond proud. One more lap might have meant the end of that motor’s
life like it did for Dyrk’s. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. As
was, replacing a 50 cent blown oil seal solved the problem. However, next
time out, 10 laps into the closest and “most dramatic” racing session in my
life I retired with a broken throttle cable and a seat no longer bolted to
the car. May as well have been a bench seat for all the support I had once
it broke Both can be fixed for five bucks and an hour’ time.
I learned several things this weekend....
1...I can still drive Fiestas - even though my last laps in a Ford were on
ice in 1992. 2...Shit happens. No one is immune and little things an make
big problems if you ignore them. 3...To go fast, you must race a car you
can afford to break. (The Fiesta can be mine for about the same price as a
high quality set of tyres to replace the ones I wrecked on the GT6. Go
figure.) 4...I think I’m through trying to turn an old Triumph racing car
into a new Triumph racing car. It’s waaay more fun to not beat the GT6 up
but to keep it for touring, shows, rallies, and the TDC weekend.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us all this summer and this
weekend - you are all part of what makes a race weekend fun and worth the
months of interest payments I’m in for.
PS: does anyone out there want to buy a sliiightly used race motor for a GT6?
Dave Terrick
Faster in a Ford (damn)
Winnipeg
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