As a stalwart supporter of that event for more than the last decade,
while I couldn't make it, I still was able to send two of my customers
1500 miles round trip and they had a great time. One ran his Alfa
Giulietta in both VSCCA and HSR race groups and the other was an HSR
regular with his one liter sports racer. They both commented that,
other than several LRP rescue vehicles getting stuck in the mud
rescuing an errant Porsche on Saturday, the schedule ran like
clockwork and there were no more incidents than there have been for
the last several years at such a tight "bull-ring". It sounds, from
the outside, that HSR put on a terrific show and that NONE of the
concerns voiced previously on this list and several other forums came
to pass. Even Tom Cotter's Mini ran all weekend!
The VSCCA groups (there were three as opposed to six HSR groups) were
a hodge-podge of slightly later cars (and specifications, tires,etc.)
and the usual VSCCA faithful. I was surprised to see that Don Mei, the
VSCCA event chair, saw fit to put Bob Kilpatrick and his spoiler-clad,
big-bore, short-tired MGB in with Tivvy Shenton's Jag XK-120, Bob
Girvin's Allard GT and what was mostly a group of over two liter and
quicker under two liter VSCCA prod cars when, in fact, it would have
been much more appropriate to place Bob and Bob's MGB in HSR Group 3,
which is where it (and he) belong. It was clear Kilpatrick wanted to
bring a gun to a knife fight, which he did, passing Tivvy for the
overall win two laps from the end. Good show by all!
Hope to see the VSCCA faithful at Fall Finale this year with Lynne
Alexander's Siata 300BC and my Preservation class Alfa Giulietta
Spider Veloce! Everybody else should try and make it to SVRA's
Blue-Grey Challenge and what is sure to be a terrific event at VIR in
the middle of October. For those experienced racers who would like a
competitive "edge", be sure to sign up for Thursday's Driver's
Orientation Program at Summit Point and especially Virginia
International Raceway as there will be a separate class within the
program for people intent on familiarizing themselves with this
daunting circuit. Money well spent!
-Peter Krause
SVRA #1832 and Chief Instructor since 1994
HSR #46
VSCCA #633
VDCA #5
SCCA Licencing Chair, North Carolina Region
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