Hi John (et al),
I saw the race on TV... The EP race was pretty bad vis-a-vis Triumphs.
I'll summarize. Or at least try.
The track appeared to be fairly dry at the start of the race, but I'm
sure the conditions were otherwise miserable with temps in the low to
mid-forties and damp. Track temp was "nil".
Sam Halkias got an awesome jump at the start and was up to at least 5th.
There was a lot of "car control" displayed heading into "madness" by
everyone, but the cars generally fell into single line by turn 8.
Heading over the "bump" at turn 10, Sam seemed to have lost the back end
and started a major slide. The ensuing action was pretty dramatic. Bob
Boig (Miata) (4 time SCCA Runoffs winner and twice in Spitfires) wound up
hitting the back of Halkias' TR6. It was a pretty hard shunt. Several
cars wound up in the kitty litter just prior to 11.
>From the results, it appears that Halkias managed about 9 laps before
retiring. Dave Wingett and Mark Gerdes recorded exacly zero laps, but I
don't think that Gerdes took the green at all.
As for the race itself, it was actually pretty exciting, with a number of
laps in the books with 1st, through 4th place runners all within a short
interval - basically nose to tail. The winner was John Baucom in a Fiat.
On the plus side, at least it wasn't a front wheel drive car...
The GP race on Sunday was also pretty awesome. There was a three/four way
battle for the lead with Steve Sargis and Kevin Allen (in Spitfires)
duking it out with John Baucom (yes, that guy!) and T. Reichenbach in
Fiats, a 124 and an X1/9 respectively. Sadly, Allen and Sargis both fell
out with mechanical problems just over half way. However, both led for a
lap or two, maybe more than two for Sargis. This was was a car-control
classic with late-breaking moves and two-wheels-in-the grass passes along
with door-to-door driving and nose-to-tail (sometimes nose into tail)
close action. A very entertaining race. John Baucom wound up on top in
the end.
On the plus side, Kevin Allen wound up on the podium in the GT3 race,
albeit not in a Triumph product.
So, while it was not Triumph's most glorious weekend, it was neat to see
30 year old cars duking it out with stuff that lots newer. And duking out
at the front of the pack, no less.
Get out and support your local Triumph racers! Change that - go out and
_BE_ one of your local Triumph racers!
rml
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