Home again, what a good feeling. A report on the social side, and some final
thoughts and comments on the weekend....
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. The weather was perfect, the racing
clean and safe for the most part, and the people were great! The most
serious incident of the weekend involved a 427 Cobra going off the end of
Turn 8, through the water barrels, launching over the median curbing, and off
the other side into a field of scattered boulders. The car suffered major
damage, and we were told at the banquet that the driver had some compression
fractures of the vertebrae....a sobering reminder that what we do can
sometimes be dangerous. As far as I know there was no car to car contact all
weekend; all of the incidents were single car events. My thoughts go out to
the Cobra driver for a speedy recovery.
Other interesting cars in attendance that I saw were Danny Collin's former
Ferrari 166 that the current owner brought for a reunion with Danny. At the
banquet, Danny presented the owner with a trophy he won with the car....a
touching moment. There was also a group of 3 gorgeous Boss 302 Trans Am
replica cars from Wisconsin. Even though I was told they weren't the
orginial race cars, they were beautiful examples and were great fun to watch
on the track. John Kerby Miller's East Africa Safari Comet was a hit, as was
a number of gorgeous Shelby's, Corvettes, and more Porsches than you could
count. The 911 race grid had approximately 40 pristine examples. I didn't
pay as close attention to the Formula and Sports Racing grids, but can
comment that they were well represented as well.
The spectator crowd seemed large on Sunday. The stands looked full and the
paddock was crowded. I understand someone had their foot run over by the
race car in the paddock on Sunday. The Colorado spectators seemed more
oblivious to what was going on than those I've seen at West Coast events, so
more caution was definitely required...
On Friday evening there was a race car concours and welcome reception that I
unfortunately had to miss in order to pick up Donna at the airport. I
understand it was quite a spread and lots of fun. Sorry I couldn't work out
the logistics to make it there. The race cars get driven over to Ski Time
Square, where there's a fun concours and judging, along with a welcome
reception and street dance.....What a great idea!!
Saturday night there were more parties than you could count. A large
barbeque in the paddock sponsored by one of the entries invited the
workers....a small but worthy thanks for their incredible efforts. Up at the
West Condos was a party for the Lotus drivers sponsored by Lotus Colorado,
the local club. I understand a 356 reception was going on at the Lodge
condos, and a special VIP party for the invitied Porsche people was held in
the VIP tent. An unofficial, "alternative" (i.e. non-Porshce) beer party was
conjured up in the pits for British car drivers by the owner of a beautiful
Jag 120 coupe. The warm microbrew was excellent, and VERY reminiscent of a
good "pint o'ale" from a Lucas refrigerator. I'm sure there were other
bashes going on in the various condos nearby....it looked like a good time
was had by all....
Sunday night was the Awards Banquet at the Sheraton hotel. Surprisingly, the
banquet food for an estimated 250 or more was quite good!! Everyone I spoke
with was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the food and the service
for such a large group. A number of awards were presented, but I was
personally disappointed that there weren't more "fun" awards for the various
drives of the weekend. It seemed to be a more serious affair for the RMVR
hardcore recognizing individual contributions to the club over the year. As
a "foreigner" I'm afraid I didn't relate to it all. Danny Collins and Bob
Donner were both honored, and ask to relate some of their experiences. Their
unrehearsed commentary was at times interesting and fun, but tended to drag
out the ceremony. Since we had to leave early on Monday morning, we skipped
out early to get some rest.
I understand there was also a rally held on Monday, and wish I could have
also participated in that as it sounded like a lot of fun. There was also a
full blown Concours de Elegance going on over the weekend, and we just didn't
get time to take that in either. We saw a lot of beautiful cars being
trailered into town for it, though.
As part of our entry package, we were given tickets to ride the Gondola up
the mountain. We managed to take advantage of this on Sunday for lunch after
my race. The view was spectacular, although the food and service at the
restaurant up there left something to be desired. It was worth the trip up,
though, and we would recommend it if you get the time.
Donna enjoyed shopping both downtown and around the square and managed to
find a number of sourvenirs. Restaurants we'd recommend and visit again
include, Montana (Mexican), Johnny B. Goode's (hamburgers), The Ore House
(ribs, steaks, and great homemade bread/rolls), The Steamboat Yacht Club (sit
on the deck, and hope you're upwind of the sulfur hot springs smell from the
river), and the Japanese restaurant downtown downstairs by the coffee bar
(forgot the name??....excellent sushi!!).
We also managed to take in the automotive art show Saturday night downtown
at the Depot museum. While we weren't conspicous consumers, we did enjoy
some unusual pieces on display. There was something for every price range,
and as expected, there was an emphasis on Porshce art this year.
ERRORS/OMISSIONS/SUGGESTIONS
I stand corrected on my earlier comments on paddock space. The lanes were 37
ft long, and not 27 as I indicated. Even so, things were VERY tight. Those
who got assigned to the Sheraton garage had more space, but were at a
disadvantage from a communications point of view.
Suggestions/Constructive Criticism....
1. Add more Public Address speakers. We couldn't hear in the back of the
main paddock, and those at the Sheraton had none at all.
2. Publish and distribute a detailed group run schedule in advance of the
event.
3. Have more "fun" awards at the banquet.
4. Make copies of the grid sheets/time sheets available to the competitors.
SPECIAL THANKS....
Special thanks are in order to all those who organized and worked this event.
The corner workers were great, the overall organization of the event was
professional and first-rate. Timing and scoring did a superb job getting
results quickly. And the emergency crews appeared to be extremely capable
from what I saw.
Thanks also to the people and city management of Steamboat Springs for
allowing this wonderful event to take place.
And finally, special thanks on a personal note to Walt Hane, who played a
major role in getting me to Steamboat this year, and providing exceptional
hospitality to us "out of towners".
I hope to come back and do it again, but no "grazing" on the haybales next
time!!
Regards,
Myles H. Kitchen
MHKitchen@aol.com
1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 #128
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