SVRA's season opener was, as usual, a great event! Almost 170 cars took
part in the festivities with fun reserved not only for the children, who
were blessed with an Easter egg hunt Sunday morning, but the adults as
well with more track time, good weather and great racing!
Initial concerns about the holiday weekend cutting down on the
participant level proved unfounded, as the entry was up almost 40 cars
over last year. The consolidation of the race groups, as engineered by
Jack Woehrle allowed for larger grids, closer racing, longer sessions
and a more relaxed pace throughout the entire weekend. The event chair
Bob Williams lent a steadying hand to the proceedings which was
manifested by the fact that there were NO car to car incidents that I
know of and only a few off course excursions (when is Pat Ryan going to
put a plough on the front of the Sunoco Camaro?!?) All in all, a
terrific event and emblematic of why more and more people are attending
events which make up the SVRA schedule.
To continue on the Ginetta thread, we were graced with THREE G4's, Lee
Talbot's 1600 non-crossflow Ford, Larry Nevaiser's 1500 non-crossflow
Ford and Myron Greene's stunning 1340 Ford powered example. All three
circulated in close proximity at the head of the field on Saturday and
Sunday (I was the meat in the Nevaiser-Greene sandwich on Saturday after
Talbot's car fell back with a popped off plug wire...)
With the relaxed atmosphere that permeated this event, it won't be any
surprise if the "Race at the Base" continues in the tradition
established by this event. I would encourage other participants of the
Savannah event to chime in with their "race reports", as well as you
West Coast folks about your events.
Back to the wrenches, we've got half a dozen cars to get ready to go in
three weeks to Virginia Beach, four cars to go the the Mitty in four
weeks, four cars to go to the Jefferson 500 in six weeks and then the
Ferrari Club of America Annual Meet at Road Atlanta at the end of May.
I enjoyed meeting and speaking with Bob Wismer of VSCDA, Jeff Snook,
George Wright and all my Triumph buddies, even if my "spaghetti cooking"
Fiat did have y'all's measure this past weekend! I don't expect it will
be that way at the "Gathering" at Mid-Ohio. All those British cars
"marking their territory" will drown us, and not in olive oil, either!
Again, as a participant, an entrant, a preparation shop and a staff
member, I want to thank everyone who was there for a "safe, fun and
fair" weekend!
-Peter Krause
|