Category Archives: Nostalgia

La Route Est Dure…….Une

2 Replies

Birthdays, anniversaries, memorials. Who knows where the time goes?

From the Fans

There is something in our wiring that makes us reconsider events in an orderly, time related  fashion, I suppose some of it has to do with our annual trip round the Sun. Maybe the concept of decades came from having eight fingers and two thumbs. Whatever, ten years seems to be significant period, perhaps because we know that we will only experience a handful of such landmarks in our brief time here on earth, it us gives pause to stop and reflect.

Ten years ago tomorrow, St. Patrick’s Day 2001, I stumbled into Sebring International Raceway in the dark. Our American cousins love their early morning photo meetings. So we assembled grumbling, the collective noun for a bunch of photographers is a Moan. Sheriff Rick Dole tried to instil some sense into us, giving details of the reserved spots for the turn one opening lap scramble and reciting the dos and dont’s.

Then someone, I can’t remember who, asked had I heard about Bob?

Bob?

That could only mean Bob Wollek.

What?

He’s dead, killed last night in a road accident.

Brilliant

This seemed impossible, Bob Wollek had survived during a truly dangerous period in motorsport and now as he contemplated retirement he was killed in a pointless traffic incident.

Tribute

Just how pointless was soon evident when the circumstances emerged. Bob was a keen cyclist and would use that method of transport to get to and from the circuit. In fact he would ride to Le Mans every year from Strasbourg. So on Friday afternoon he left the Sebring paddock en route to his lodgings, west along Highway 98 towards the small town of Lorida. An 82 year old local resident driving a van collided with the Frenchman killing him instantly.

The Florida Highway Patrol reported “Wollek had been riding close to the edge of the pavement marking and the van, traveling in the same direction behind other traffic, hit the back of the bicycle.
Wollek was taken to Highlands Regional Medical Center with fatal injuries.”

Spirits

To say the paddock and the whole crowd were shocked would be a gross understatement, as evidenced by the signs posted up around the pits and the respect shown on the grid of a minute’s silence. The Petersen/White Lightning Porsche that Bob was scheduled to drive was also withdrawn from the race.

Kremer 917

I am not about to try and write a feature on Bob Wollek’s career, that requires a book, in fact one has just been completed by Jean-Marc Teissedre. Rather I have looked through the small archive and using a few shots will post some recollections in my personal tribute to the man.

Back in 1981 Bob was already a top line sportscar driver and champion, I could not even get media accreditation at that year’s Brands Hatch 1000kms. However with a bit of effort from the spectator area this modest effort was possible. A Kremer 917? Yes the brothers from Cologne built up this fibreglass kit car, based around the original iconic design. It failed to impress at Le Mans but ran respectably at Brands, dueling for the lead till suspension failure.

936C

Another year, another adaptation, this time the 936C. For 1982 Joest Racing was aware that getting a customer version of the Porsche 956 would have to wait till 1983. So adapting their ‘customer’ 936 chassis and sticking some bodywork allowed them to be in the pack. In fact they were best of the rest after the Porsche and Lancia factory efforts.

Joest Porsche 956 at Brands Hatch

1983 saw Joest get hold of a Porsche 956 , chassis 104. Wollek used it to good effect with WEC wins at Monza and Mugello (both with Stefan Johansson) to bag the WEC European Drivers Championship. The DRM title too with three wins.

1984 saw Wollek join the Martini Lancia team, an odd choice given the reputation for chaos that the Italians had. The LC2s were fast and fragile.

Too Little, Too late

The following year the problems persisted, though there was a win at Spa. No one cared though, Stefan Bellof had been killed during the race, the result was irrelevant. Of course it would not have escaped Wollek’s attention that had he stayed with Joest in ’84 and ’85, he might well have been a double winner at Le Mans.

Pole at La Sarthe

1986 came and Lancia left Group C and Jaguar joined. Wollek returned to the factory Porsche team, in place of Jacky Ickx who retired. Pole at Le Mans meant nothing after co-driver Jochen Mass clouted the barriers after encountering an oil spill.

I was at Brands Hatch to see Mauro Baldi and Bob defeat the other privateer Porsches and the TWR Jaguars, in the Richard Lloyd 956 GTI.

More tomorrow.

 

John Brooks March 2011

 

 

The World’s Favourite Rotarians

Leave a Reply

Mazda 717C

More from the big box of old stuff.  Once heard never forgotten, as the twin rotor engines roared out their song. The chassis design was pretty wild too. From this small acorn a mighty Le Mans win would be grown for Mazda, the only Japanese manufacturer to achieve this to date.

With Japan in turmoil after the disaster of last week, our thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people, this is a reminder of better days. The Sun will shine again.

John Brooks, March 2011

Thinking Inside the Box

Leave a Reply

Racing in the Rain

A September Sunday in 1983, no Indian Summer at Brands Hatch, just rain and mud. 1983 was the year that Group C really took off with Porsche 956 factory and customer cars battling with the dramatic but fragile Lancia LC2 trio.

This 1000 kilometres around the Kent woods was also the final international victory for the great touring car/sportscar champion, John Fitzpatrick.  Driving with Derek Warwick in the John Fitzpatrick Racing Porsche 956 they defeated a pair of factory Rothmans Porsche 956s, a feat that only happened a handful of times back then. Something to be celebrated.

The Box? The one that I found a pile of negs and slides dating back to the 80s that I shot. Expect to see more.

John Brooks, March 2011

We’ll Always Have Paris…………..1

3 Replies

SIDE BY SIDE!!!!

It said that people love Paris in the Springtime, well from my perspective the Port de Versailles was pretty good in the Winter. It is the venue for the classy show, Retromobile, a thoroughly French celebration of classic cars and things good automobile-wise.

Top of the Pile

It is a show that has something for everyone that has petrol in their soul or heart. A chance to shake off the coils of winter, say an opportunity to buy THAT book that has been eagerly anticipated. Me? The 1982 Le Mans Year Book was on my shopping list and for just €60 it sits on the shelf along with the rest of the family, only ’83 to go now.

South Park comes to La Sarthe

Of course for all the gold that can prospected there is a little pyrite here and there but for the most part it is a worthwhile affair.

Steam Train

The exhibits looked back a long way, the Cugnot Fardier à Vapeur much further than the rest, some 240 years. Encouraged by Louis XV, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first self-propelled vehicle with the intention of moving very heavy items such as cannon. Amazingly one example survives in the Paris museum, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

Round the Benz

Another first, part of celebration of Mercedes Benz 125th anniversary, is this Benz Patent-Motorwagen. This is widely recognised as the first motor car. There is a tale to be told of course, in that the designer, Karl Benz was on the point of giving up his work when his wife, Bertha, took the vehicle on a long drive accompanied by her two sons. The trip, over 60 miles was the first journey of its kind ever undertaken and generated much press attention. It was the starting point.

Le Sweeney?

One of the charms of the Retromobile is recognition of the more mundane vehicles such as this Renault 4. Somehow I cannot see DI Regan shouting “Vous êtes entaillé” while leaping from this cop car.

Record Breaker

All three major French  manufacturers are well represented at Retromobile. They proudly show off their heritage both on and off the track. Here, “Petite Rosalie” a 30’s  Citroën 8CV with special bodywork broke many long distance world records at the Montlhéry Autodrome, covering over 300.000 kilometres at an average speed of 93 kph over a period of 134 days.

I’ll Join The Legion…..

This Citroën Autochenille Type P17 is something of a contrast. Scarabée D’Or III as it was known, formed part of an expedition organised by Citroën, La Croisière Jaune. On 4th April 1931, the group left Beirut and 315 days later reached the gates of Beijing, a distance of 12,115 kilometres.

Also equipped for the rough stuff but a tad faster, was the Peugeot 205 T16. Peugeot like its sister company, Citroën and rival, Renault had a major presence at the Retromobile.

Diesel Express

Peugeot too brought out the heritage. The Peugeot 404 Diesel broke 40 records during 1965 at Monthléry including a 72 hour stretch averaging 161.49 kph.

Vive La France

Marques that no longer exist were also represented. Lorraine-Dietrich for example.

The Winner of the 1926 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Completely authentic, is the Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 that André Rossignol and Robert Bloch drove to victory in the 1926 Le Mans 24 Hours, amazing. They covered 2552 kilometres and considering the technology of the time that was a pretty incredible performance. To give some idea of scale, the 2010 winning Audi set a new distance record of 5,410 kilometres.

Lola GT

The world’s greatest race was well represented with the Lola GT showing the direction the the 60’s would take when Ford took over the idea to create the GT40 and its successors.

OK more tomorrow from Paris.

John Brooks, February 2011

Czech Mate

Leave a Reply

Skoda 1100 OHC at the 2011 Retromobile

Skoda, a rather misunderstood and, during the years of Communist control, an unfairly maligned manufacturer, produced over the years some fine and technically advanced motor cars  – their Popular  model of the Thirties for example pushed our Austin Ten and Morris Eight well into the shade.

Hot Seat

Despite political restrictions, they did manage to dabble on a limited scale in competitions, mainly in national events, although three 1100 saloons did well in the 1948 Spa 24 hour race, winning the 1100 c.c. Touring category, an 1100 Sport ran in the 1950 Le Mans race and rear-engined Skodas won their class in the R.A.C. Rally no less than sixteen times!

Full Of Eastern Promise

Since the founding of the Czechoslovakian state relatively little detailed information about that nation’s  interesting motor industry had found its way into Western Europe until some twenty years or so ago, and so it is not surprising that visitors to classic shows should be somewhat taken aback to see a genuine Skoda sportsracer.

Red Star Express

This splendid 1100 OHC is one of just two constructed in 1958. Based on a tubular frame, they were powered by a twin overhead camshaft version of the 1089c.c. 4- cylinder engine from the Skoda 440 saloon, giving 92 b.h.p. There were two plugs per cylinder and twin choke Jikov carburettors. A five-speed gearbox was mounted off-set at the rear and suspension was by torsion bars, longitudinal with wishbones at the front and angled with swing axles at the rear, where the brakes were inboard. These cars were designed by Ing F. Sajdl and two additional coupé versions (1100 OHC Sport) were built in 1960.

Stylish Skoda

Among successes in national events were three wins in 1958, two more victories in 1960 and also in 1961 and in 1962. The cars made only two official appearances outside of their homeland, in Budapest in 1958 where a 3rd and a 5th were scored in the 1500c.c. race and in Leningrad, where the cars came home first and second.

David Blumlein

New Millennium, Sir? Part Three

1 Reply

Running on Rails

The engine failure of the #12 Ferrari appeared to hand victory to the #16 Dyson Riley & Scott Ford. As daylight broke they had a 23 lap advantage over the #2 Corvette, OK there were seven hours to go, but this was Dyson we were considering. That should have been enough but there were worried expressions in the Dyson pit. It was reported that the leader had taken on water to counteract overheating at their first pit stop some 16 hours previously. During the night the problem went the other way as it emerged that the engine was running at 120 degrees C not the normal 200. Something was amiss and even a crew chief as experienced as Dyson’s Pat Smith was unable to figure out a quick fix. Could they hold on?

A Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall

The other Dyson car, #20, lost two hours having the input shaft to the transmission replaced, so was well out of contention.

Up Front

Third overall was the GT Class leader, Jet Motorsports BMW M3. They were three laps up with five hours to go when the engine failed after an oil leak, another car gone.

Both Of The Crowd Were Entertained

The miserable conditions continued, making everyone rather grumpy, just wishing for this damn race to be finished. Even at Corvette things got a little tense. Well known, and sometimes respected writer, Andrew Cotton, popped his head into the Pratt & Miller pit to catch up with Andy Pilgrim and file some copy for the Daily Telegraph back home. There were a couple of off duty local cops acting “security” for Dale Senior and one decided that Andrew’s presence was superfluous and told him to get lost. Like any Brit abroad, Andrew ignored the cop and tried to help matters by declaring that he was not interested in Senior. He only wanted to speak to Pilgrim. The next step was that Andrew was threatened with arrest if he did not leave immediately, a plain dereliction of duty. The cop should have tasered and cuffed him there and then for ignoring an instruction from an Officer of the Law. It would not have happened in Sheriff Bill Gillespie’s time.

Of course when this incident reached the ears of GM PR, they had a collective heart attack, but all was eventually smoothed over, the Telegraph got their copy and Andrew, or his father I think, got a free breakfast.

The Cruel Sea

As the race trundled on the leading R&S extended the gap to #2 Corvette to over 28 laps. Then at around 9.30am, and with less than 4 hours to go, the call came. Butch Leitzinger parked the Riley & Scott at the East Horseshoe with an engine failure. I remember seeing the crew as they struggled to come to terms with this cruel fate, it was hard to witness, like there had been a death in the family. Rob Dyson could only say “I am not sure I want to come back to this place”. He did.

Double Dutch

The Rolex is about more than the struggle for the lead, each team has its own story to tell. Cor Euser brought a brace of Marcos from Holland, both got to the finish.

GT1?

Embracing the original “Run what you Brung” philosophy was the Canadian Porsche 911 GT1 entry, it ended up third in class.

Rocket Ron

The clocked ticked on, eventually it was 1.00pm, the race was run and we all gave thanks. The #2 Corvette had scored an unlikely win, but fully deserved none the less. It was the early stages of what would turn out to be long series of wins and championships for the Pratt & Miller team. Anyone interested in reading more about this should consider THIS. The disappointment of seeing good guys like Weaver, Brabs and Nishy robbed of their races was offset by the celebrations of the Corvette guys, who could resist such passion?

Lightning Performance

The decimation of the prototypes promoted the White Lightning Racing Porsche 996 GT3 R,  driven by Christian Menzel, Lucus Luhr, Mike Fitzgerald, Randy Pobst, to second place overall.

GT Winners

They were also GT class winners.

Manfred’s Wagen

Third overall were Wolfgang Kaufmann, Cyril Chateau and Lance Stewart in the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3 RS. Another great result.

The Final Podium

Next up was the crew of #3 who scored second place in GTS. Hard to imagine back then that this was Dale Earnhardt Snr.’s final podium. He would be fatally injured two weeks later on the final lap of the Daytona 500. His plans to leave NASCAR and come into endurance racing never came to fruition but had he lived the shape of Le Mans and the ALMS in the following years would have been very different.

L’Intimidateur

This would have become a familiar sight.

Downing’s delight

In the end the SRP1 class went to the Kudzu Mazda, here advertising the HANS system that owner/driver Jim Downing was advocating to all. Had Earnhardt been wearing one of these devices in the 500 he might well of survived his accident. They are mandatory now.

Archangel Motorsport

SRP 2 was won by Archangel Motorsport.

Hamilton Safe Motorsports

The final class winner was Hamilton Safe Motorsports who came out on top in AGT.

Champions All.

24 Hour races at Daytona International Speedway are regarded as amongst the toughest around, any of the 310 drivers who competed at the 2001 edition would have agreed and so would their crews. So the celebrations go on into the night, it is a Daytona tradition.

John Brooks, January 2011

New Millennium, Sir? Part Two

3 Replies

Daytona Dawn

Saturday 3rd February 2001, the 39th edition of the Rolex 24 Hours got underway with the usual pomp and ceremony. The first few hours saw a few cars fall by the wayside but most of the 79 starters were still circulating. Then came the rain.

There is some sort of expectation from those who stay back in Europe while the Rolex 24 takes place, that the whole affair is conducted in Miami South Beach conditions. My experience has been somewhat different, 2000’s race was absolutely freezing, below zero when the wind chill was factored in.  2001 was marginally warmer but the rain was horrible. It was cold, wet and dark prematurely.

Rally Cross?

Most of the photographers showed good sense and stayed either in the warm, dry Benny Khan media centre or hid under awnings in the pits. Me? Well, Regis Lefebure and I headed out to the back straight, where we spent several hours trying make some sort of acceptable images in the murk. I reckon he got better results than I.

NASCAR 4

In this sort of dull stuff it is almost impossible to turn Chicken Shit into Chicken Salad. The 2001 Rolex 24 was a personal landmark for me, it was the last race that I shot entirely on film. By the time I crossed the Atlantic again to shoot the ALMS’ season opener at Texas I had acquired a Canon D30. Digital had arrived, that genie had escaped and things would be very different. Photographers would go on to be software operators, mind you the crap ones would still be crap.

Racing in the Rain

The switch from analogue to digital robbed the Daytona Infield spectators of the Grand Prix that would take place at the end of each track session. The Pro and not so Pro photographers would lumber towards their vehicles, jump in and try to beat the others to the Tunnel at NASCAR 4 and across West International Speedway Boulevard to the photo processors, Speedway Photo as I recall. Their service was magic, unlike most of the nonsense that we used to endure back then. The quicker you got to the store, the higher up the queue you would be, though what we were hoping to achieve by this is not clear. Even a small scanned image would takes ages to transmit down those 14.4k phone connections and broadband had not reached the Speedway yet. Still it all seemed very important to us. It showed our competitive spirit, ‘How the West was Won’ sorta thing.

First of Many

The dubious honour of being the first retirement fell to the TRV Motorsports outfit, five minutes into the race.

Unique

The Crawford had transmission problems and despite replacing the entire mechanism, they too fell out early in the proceedings.

Intersport Lola

The Intersport Lola led during the first hour but hit clutch problems, dropping them down the order. It was a rough Rolex baptism for 17 year old Clint Field.

A Big Target

Another early contender, the Robinson Racing Riley & Scott, was yet one more prototype to have problems, losing an hour behind the Wall trying to sort an engine malady.

The Old One Two

So as the light faded it was the Risi Ferrari and the Weaver Riley & Scott scrapping for the lead with #20 Dyson car and the Champion Lola hanging on…………then came #2 Corvette, this one would run and run.

Mad Mike

Of course it was not only the front runners that were suffering in the poor conditions. My old pal, Mike Youles, was having his own brand of problems out on track. PK Sport had only just taken delivery of the 996 GT3 R and were not fully prepared for the copious amounts of rain that fell unexpectedly in Volusia County. Somehow the water was all over the inside of the screen, so Mike drove along trying to work out where he was by looking out the side windows.

I’m Sorry, I’ll Feel That Again

In addition to this he was driving double and triple stints as co-driver Geoff Lister was unwell. Of course Mike took it all in his stride, “Racing by Braille” he called it at the time. with a big grin on his face. Utter madness but very PK Sport we all agreed, very much the spirit of how they went racing.

Hot Laps?

Even the Corvettes were having some difficulties. Dale Junior was sent out for his first stint as the conditions got worse, this was not great timing from the team, as he said at the time.

“When I went out there in the car it was a little slick. I spun out a few times trying to get going. The track’s drying up a lot and it’s really gotten quick. Hopefully we can get buckled down here and catch up.”

“I asked them if I could do a double, but they said later on man, save your strength. I’m ready to go when they are.”

“I had zero experience in the wet. I’ve never driven on it, so I was out there learning. But the track dried pretty quick and I felt pretty comfortable and fell into a good rhythm.”

“They kind of saved me from sending me out earlier because it was raining pretty bad. When I got to get out there the track was relatively dry, so I was OK. (On his first lap) The tires were so cold, and your adrenaline’s pumping, and I kind of screwed up. But once I settled down, I felt good.”

Junior had further problems when a half shaft failed, there was a mistake in communication and the whole transmission unit was changed but the #3 was soon back on track only losing around 30 minutes.

The next top runner to hit the rocks was the Champion Lola Porsche, a sudden drop in oil pressure causing engine failure.

The 24 hours of pounding around the Daytona International Speedway is regarded as being tougher than any other similar contest, and that is when the weather is good. The conditions that prevailed in 2001 meant that most folk were clinging on, hoping to see daylight.

 

Out at the head of the race #12 and #16 continued to swap the lead. Then Risi Competizione took their turn on the wheel of hard fortune. Out on the back straight McNish lost a front wheel due to lug nut seizing. Fixing this problem cost five laps and almost certainly the race was lost. This prognosis was confirmed a few hours later, just before dawn. During a routine pit stop it was noticed the oil temperature was rising rapidly, it was suspected that head gasket had failed in the V12. The Ferrari was reluctantly retired, another leader down and no Rolex for McNish.

The Speedway

The darkness went on and on, as long in Florida as it is short at La Sarthe.

Final Part of this tale of misfortune and endeavour tomorrow.

John Brooks, January 2011

 

 

Retro Gatorade Step?

Leave a Reply

The Victory Lane Roll

2003 saw the introduction of the Daytona Prototypes to the Rolex 24. Well, as their SRP 1 and 2 ancestors had found out in 2000 and 2001, any hint of delays due to mechanical problems will let the GT mob in. They are like a pack of hyenas relentlessly hunting.

So it was not a huge surprise to see a Porsche coming out on top, it’s what they do.

And of course it would not be Victory Lane without a crowd of clueless guys in bright shirts milling about purposelessly, oblivious to the TV and photographers trying to get a shot. Traditions are traditions after all.

John Brooks, January 2011

New Millennium, Sir? Part One.

4 Replies

Horologists celebrate!As with most things that the last lot in power (the Blair/Brown Cabal) here in the UK touched, the Millennium Celebrations got screwed up. The Dome became a byword for the kind of badly executed, wildly over budget, grandiose gesture projects that were supposed to keep us all dazzled. Fiddling while Rome burned, they even got the date wrong, as us Gregorians reckon that the new era starts in 2001 not 2000. Whatever.

In many ways the first major motor sport event of this Millennium, the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours, marked a more significant point than the 2000 edition held the previous January. Sure that had kicked off the Grand-Am set of races, and with a bang, but as those of us who have been around the tracks a while will tell you, organisations and their acronyms come and go. Yes, there had been a major battle between the factory teams of Viper and Corvette, eclipsing the supposedly faster prototypes, even the debuting Cadillac, but if Grand-Am represented anything it was not factory based competition.

As if to emphasise this point, by the start of 2001 both Dodge and Cadillac were gone, leaving Corvette’s team, Pratt & Miller, to try and beat the faster hoards of prototypes.

The Intimidator

The big news from the Corvette camp was that NASCAR superstar, Dale Earnhardt Snr. was joining the line up in the #3 car (what else?). And that his son, Dale Jnr. would be with him plus regulars, Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins. The #2 Vette would be the insiders’ favourite though, whatever the fans thought, the combination of Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell, Franck Freon and Chris Kneifel would be amongst the best in the field.

Despite the lack of experience in driving endurance cars (or in the rain or at night) Earnhardt applied himself to the task in hand, really impressing his fellow drivers and the whole team.

That should have surprised no one, sportsmen do not reach the Olympian heights that Senior had over many years in NASCAR, without being both bright and hard working.

Andy P and Junior

The process of adjustment to the new scene was greatly helped by the advice and friendship shown to the stars by Andy Pilgrim and Chris Kneifel, who talked through the areas of concern like the completely alien braking processes, the driving at night, the running in the rain. In return Earnhardt was able to bring his intimate knowledge of the Daytona banking to assist his team to be even quicker along the famous pavement.

E Additives

Another big change from the NASCAR environment was that of being part of a squad of drivers but the Father and Son combo adjusted well to this aspect. I was on the fringe of the team due to friendly GM PR guy who kept me appraised of any happenings. He even introduced me to Dale, who considering our relative status, was extremely gracious, not a reaction I always encounter from some in the game.

Night Time in the Switching Yard

The attention of the media was focused on #3, this was, after all, the heartland of NASCAR and Senior was their transcendent Super Star. This left the crew of #2 to get on quietly with preparations for the battle with the prototypes in the search for overall victory. There were stories at the time of Senior’s ambitions to race with Corvette in the following years, especially at Le Mans, he was a serious racer. I wrote about this later HERE

Red Line

Perhaps the Ferrari 333 SP of Risi Competizione was the most popular choice for the top step of the podium at the race’s end. A hotshot team running the car, a driver line up that consisted of Ralf Kelleners, David Brabham, Eric van de Poele and Allan McNish plus the beautiful, sonorous Ferrari seemed to be the obvious selection. McNish has had his eye on a Rolex since winning his class in 1998 at Daytona, the year before the watches were awarded to all class winners not just the overall victors. Of course we are all too gentlemanly to ever mention this small omission in his career, maybe this would be his best chance to get hold of one the fabled timepieces without parting with actual cash. Fastest lap in practice of 1:41.118, if not in Qualifying, seemed to support the argument.

What Might Have Been

Another notable contender was the Porsche powered Champion Racing Lola B2K/10.  Bob Wollek, Hurley Haywood, Dorsey Schroeder and Sascha Maassen would bring experience and speed to job in hand. The standard of the Champion Racing outfit was top line and with some assistance from Weissach this was more than a dark horse.

EFR on a charge

There were two Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mklll Fords, that were always contenders for victory when they entered a race. They had won the Floridian classic in ’97 and ’99 and were looking for a hat trick.

Saint Crispin’s Day?

Any team that could count on the talents of James Weaver, especially if joined by Andy Wallace and Butch Leitzinger, was going to be there or thereabouts. No Question.

So the question would be could the faster prototypes run reliably enough to beat the Corvette pair? Or would there be a repeat of the 2000 race that fell into the hands of the GT1 machines after the prototypes imploded?

Lap One and Carnage

Weaver got the jump on Jon Field’s Intersport Lola at the start and as the competitors made their way into the infield all hell broke loose. Norman Simon in the Bob Akin Motorsports Riley & Scott pirouetted, he reckoned he was tapped into the spin, others felt that too much aggression on cold tyres a more likely explanation.

Grosse Scheisse!

Ron Fellows nearly ran his Corvette into Broward County trying avoid any possibility of contact, it was no way to start a 24 Hour race.

Master James

The race settled down after the indiscretions of the first lap, Weaver lead from Kelleners and Field and others in SportsRacing Prototype class all took spells in front during the opening stint.

Grand-Am was itself about to embrace a period of change, trying to find a formula that would give their competitors stability of rules and some form of cost capping to try and rein in budgets and keep the ALMS,  ACO and FIA at bay. In 1999 the Grand-Am President, Roger Edmondson, had formed an alliance with John Mangoletsi and the European based Sports Racing World Cup with a plan for to run two races in 2000 at US venues with a combined grid of prototypes. Problem was that most of Mango’s Barmy Army, as we were almost affectionately known, did not want, nor could afford, to race on two continents. So only a handful of SRWC entries made the trip to Daytona and Road America that summer, so the concept was quietly dropped.

Grand-Am did not want to allow in the likes of Audi and similar factory teams to race in their series, they would destroy the opposition and lead to a dependence on their revenue streams, just ask the ALMS how that one worked out. However the technology that they and other manufacturers had introduced to prototype and GT competition could not be unlearned. The likes of Lola and Riley & Scott were forced by the demands of customers who wanted to race at Le Mans to follow in the escalation of technology and, of course, budget. It is around this time that the concept of the Daytona Prototypes began to appear in the thinking of the Grand-Am top brass as the answer to the conundrum. The final designs were still some time away but it was clear that Grand-Am and its showcase 24 hour race would operate to different rules and specifications to the rest of endurance racing. With the financial muscle of NASCAR and its allies behind the project, in particular Sun Trust Bank, it was possible to march to a different drum.

Class Acts

Dale Earnhardt Snr. was not the only star to be seen at Daytona that year. Paul Newman or simply PLN when racing, was an enthusiastic part of the Gunnar Racing Porsche team.

All The Stars Come Out At Night

Unfortunately the 911 GT1’s performance did not match its looks and the elegant GT was an early retirement.

Disappointment

Another competitor getting an early bath was the Saleen S7-R of Paul Gentilozzi, a suspension failure led to retirement. The GTS category was thinning out.

Part two of this Retrospective tomorrow.

John Brooks, January 2011