Our Southwest Motorsports (SWMS) road racing event this past Sept 11,12-04
was a big success. The weather was perfect (we get a lot of that in New
Mexico) and there was lots of great racing at out local 1.65 mile 14 corner
road course. There were 14 cars in the "Vintage" class (we are somewhat
flexible with that classification). My TR6 ran well and I was usually in the
top 5 or 6 cars all weekend. There were lots of Sprites, a Spitfire, an MGB,
Porsche 912, 356, BMW 2002s, Mustang (very soft brakes) a TVR (very fast but
had distributor problems) and some other very interesting cars. My Mallory
distributor liked the engine camshaft profile better. My new and stiffer
valve springs didn't float as much above 5,500 RPM (thanks Ron). My 4 piston
front brake calipers did their job well (went through a full set of pads -
no brake material left at all). I was running on a different size of Hoosier
road racing tires. They are 225/45/15. They performed very well and helped
keep my Triumph very balanced and netural. My best tire pressures ended up
being 33psi in the front and 32 in the rear. My front SPAX shocks were set
at 8 clicks (out of 14) and the rears were set at 12 clicks. I'm running a
7/8" sway bar up front and a 3/4" sway bar in the rear. I had been having
problems breaking apart the front sway bar bracket attachment to the lower
"A" arm but I had a new one fabricated out of 1/4" steel with a heim link
attached and it held up just fine. My Triumph stayed very flat in the tight
corners as a result. I was able to beat a Pantera (I told you we are
flexible with the Vintage classification) in every heat- including the time
I took the inside left into a 80 mph left hander. I gave the Pantera more
than enough room as I passed him (I braked very late and wide then cut to
the inside left)but he was busy watching me in his side mirror and put his
two right side tires off the track into the dirt and spun part way off the
track and then back onto the track almost in front of me but not quite.
Makes for great in car video.
If any FOT members would like a 2 hour copy of my "in car" video on VHS I
can send you a copy. My wife says whe would rather watch paint dry or grass
grow than watch this.
We ran 3 heats on Saturady and 4 on Sunday. I guess I have a little over
2.25 hours racing time this past weekend. Nothing broke. Great fun.
Our next event is October 10-12. You can look up details at www.swms.org
Keep the revs up.
Walt Hollowell
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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