OK,
So I had some problems with getting the Formcar started on Saturday and
keeping it running, but I had some great help to fix it (thanks to real
vintage
racer Frank Opalka, the gracious Danny Neuhaus and several others including
the
very best pit crew.). The Saturday PM episode of ignition point rubbing block
meltdown while on the grid with 3 fingers up will not be one of those
memorable golden moments I'll savor in the Home. But we managed to get it
crudely
timed to within 3 to 19 degrees of the correct setting by the end of the
evening, and at least it ran. And best of all, the Flounder had either got
himself
some help in the hideous task of setting up the PA, or had done it himself
(either way my turn next time), so all we had to do was set up amps and
guitars
for the secret Government sponsored evening ear torture tests down at Thick
Village.
The Sunday two lap warm-up was good because I got to see the track for the
first time in a racecar, instead of sitting on the hill eating a bratwurst and
looking at 5 (which I've successfully managed since '83), and I was also able
to practice vehicle evasion skills on cold tires. I had sought advice (mainly
because I wanted to compare how wildly different it would be) from the usual
Thicko suspects about how to drive RA - but starting the Enduro from dead last
was good, because it gave me at least a little time before being aggressively
lapped. I was able to get a look at some of the corners and start to go less
slow. It was fun trying to watch the mirrors as the big 302 Trans Am Mustangs
BLASTED by, and a lot of pointing skills were practiced. After a while it
dawned on me that the best advice was I'd heard was from Flounder - "you can
go
a lot faster through there than you think you can", and it was pretty accurate
- in spite of the fact it's the advice from Flounder on everything about
every aspect of every race track, including registration and the concession
stands. When he's right, he's rightb& Danny Neuhaus helped refuel the car
during
the Enduro intermission, and the slight but persistent miss between 4000 and
5000 seemed to get better the harder I flogged it. I was eventually passed by
the first car going by slow enough to recognize. It was a lot of fun. The
afternoon sprint race was even more fun. However, there seemed to be a lot of
cars leaving the track, some more spectacularly than others.
It was great to see Peter C. and Sauvero, and also a bonus too rare sighting
of Australia's own Mike Gigante. I came to the stunning realization that a
close up look at "Fast Eddie" Bielat is acceptable as long as he is offering
a barbecue food item, and I think I figured out whether John Bauer is from
Wisconsin or not while he was helping me load the car, eh? The strangest
thing
about the whole weekend is I could have swore I heard Elvis singing the
National Anthem on Sunday afternoon, but then again I wasn't wearing ear
plugs
during either the Enduro or the sprint race. Thanks all.
TuTone
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