Well, I made it up to the races to see my work on the aluminum bonnet all the way through. What a GREAT weekend! I had not been to a vintage race since 1992 – 21 years! Back then I used to pit-crew for (OK, it might have been more like free-loading off of…) Bill Terry while I was in college.
As you read through these captions that tell the story of my weekend at Lime Rock, they might sound to you like they were written by someone who was 20 years old – because for the past 2 days, I was…
Thanks Brian and Dean – it was a blast!
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- Out of the house at 5:02 AM and on the road to Lakeville, CT!
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- The sun is up now and we’re headed through Northern New Jersey and into New York.
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- This is the bridge that crosses the Hudson River.
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- Looking South across the Hudson – it’s a beautiful day!
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- By this time, I was off the highway and on the scenic route. I made a mistake that I have made before – my directions had me going on a Parkway, and that is not allowed with anything in tow, and I had the trailer with me – more on that later. So I had to wing it and ended up going through some of the nicest small towns I’ve ever seen!
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- Here is an old-school diner nestled right onto the main drag of this small town.
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- This tower was in Sharon – which I think is in Connecticut now. – we’re getting close!
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- I’ve arrived! By the time I saw this sign, I had already signed the waiver to enter the track, and could hear the cars! As I crossed the bridge into the infield which was right past this sign, I saw one of the Donovan cars go flashing past and down the hill – it was great!
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- I parked the truck and trailer in “Paddock B” – which was mostly empty, and walked over toward the main Paddock – A, and the tower, etc. This was my first glimpse of all of that – it was awesome! LimeRock was like a country club in the mountains with a race track going around it! Absolutely beautiful, clean, and and warm atmosphere. And warm doesn’t even begin to describe the heat that was already building up on the asphalt – you could already tell it was going to be a scorcher!
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- Here I am in the Donovan pits – Mission Accomplished! The bonnet is on the car, the engine is in, and the car has already been through one test session on the track succesfully! This is a really great shot – Brian Donovan is on the right, and Dean Forsman is on the left.
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- Here’s another shot of “the good side” – which as it turns out, was the side facing in to the spectators when the car was out on the track – a nice coincidence!
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- Here is the engine of 61 – and she sounds even better than she looks! 4.2 liters dyno tested at 430 HP – that’s over 100 HP per liter!
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- A shot of the boot, showing the fuel cell and oil tank for the dry sump system.
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- Here is the dragster-like cage, and all-business instrument panel.
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- This is the engine in the 62 car – a mere 385 HP…
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- …and finally the engine in 63 – also 385 HP.
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- 62 has these cooling vents in the cockpit and boot, but 63 did not. Both 62 and 63 had aluminum bonnets, doors, boot lids, and hardtops!
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- Soon it was time for another test session, and all three cars made their way over to the grid. Here, 62 and 63 are coming out to lead the pack.
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- Both cars sound as good as they look!
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- This was a pretty cool shot – taken right over Brian’s shoulder from the tower.
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- Here comes 61 out to the starting line – I was ecstatic! It was great to see this project come full circle and I was really glad I made the trip!
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- At this point, things got even more exciting! Right after this photo, the pace cars led the cars off, and 61 stalled and would not start. As Dean was coming up the stairs, Brian was running down, and I was following him because I said I would help this weekend, and let’s face it – I like to be where the action is. The next thing you know, he’s jogging across the pit lane out toward the car, which is now being pushed by two track workers. I’m just follwoing along, with Dean behind me, as Brian yells out to the marshall in the flag stand, “Can we push it!?!” His response was an emphatic, “YES! Push it into the pit exit!” So Brian hops the wall, here I go behind him, and now we’re out on the track pushing the car down to the pit exit – which seemed like it was a mile away – all the while hearing the pack of cars coming back around. The next thing I know, Bob starts popping the clutch, which does not work the first few times, and it gets harder and harder to push – 13.5:1 compression can slow a car RIGHT DOWN when you pop the clutch! Finally, she fired off, sped away, and we hopped back over the wall just as the pack came around for the green flag on the test session!
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- Let me tell you, THAT was exciting! I didn’t realize how hard I was pushing until we got back to the tower and I thought my heart was going to explode right out of my chest! Looking back, it was just a stalled car in a test session for a small vintage race where there is no one there, really, but in the middle of it, it felt like the last lap of LeMans or something – great fun! Here she is coming around alone on the first lap – the last time she crossed this line I was pushing her, but let me tell you, she was making up lost ground now – QUICK! This car was FAST!
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- The session is over and here is Bob in 61 coming back into the Paddock.
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- Here, a spectator and Bob are exchanging thumbs up for the session – this is one of those great shots that you don’t know you have until you get home and look over the photos – perfect!
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- Back under the canopy – all three cars are back in one piece, and the drivers are beginning to climb out. I should have photoshopped some heat waves into this shot, because this looks like a cool Spring day now, but in person, it was HOT!!!
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- This D-type replica was parked right across from us in the paddock all weekend.
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- This was one of the first cars I ran into at the track when I arrived – it was parked in the B paddock over by my truck. The owner and driver was a real character – a fun guy, and we hit it off right from the start. I couldn’t resist stopping by and chatting with him every time I was over getting something from the truck.
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- His setup was much more spartan than the Donovan team, but probably alot closer to what I would be able to pull together if I am ever crazy enough to give this a whirl myself!
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- Here is the inside of the BRG E-Type coupe. This driver’s friends across from him in the paddock called this car “the hot tub” – and just sticking my head in here to look around was EXACTLY like sticking your head into an oven!
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- …but with this evacuation setup on the rear brakes, it looks like they stayed nice and cool on the track!
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- The third and final test session of the day – 62 and 63 were always together.
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- Jack was driving 62 on Friday, and Willy was driving 63, while Bob Hebert was driving 61.
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- These guys may have gotten to the grid a little too soon for this session, as it just gets hotter and hotter while waiting to go out.
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- This was another nice E-Type racer in attendance.
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- A shot from the back showing the plexiglass rear window with molded in louvers.
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- This is turn 3, and behind it, turn 2 (obviously…) – this is the pace lap for this practice session, and the pace car is just outside the frame.
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- Here comes 61 further back – but she doesn’t stay there long!
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- The bonnet looks GREAT from this distance! With all of the battle scars showing in bare aluminum, this car just looked mean!
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- See that new wing in this shot? I built that. YEAH BABY – GET SOME OF THAT!!! I can still remember back in March when I was standing in the shop with that flexible shape pattern and a piece of aluminum, thinking, “OK, how in the hell am I going to do this?…”
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- Once practice was over for the day, Herb Wetson, a restauranteur, treated everyone in attendance to a BBQ dinner!
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- I had forgotten how much I love the racing crowd…
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- Everyone was beat by the end of the day – the heat took alot out of everyone. I ended up sleeping in a spare bedroom at Brian’s house, after some more great stories over a beer in his gazebo. We left for the track early the next morning in his 6-liter XJS, but not before making sure his dog didn’t get nipped by this snapping turtle that was literally “making tracks” of its own across his back yard in the early morning dew!
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- As soon as we got back to the track, I loaded the fuel jugs onto the golf cart and headed over to Paddock B to fill them up. The next time you are at the gas station thinking it is expensive, remember this…
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- Here is Brian’s bill for three 5-gallon jugs – which doesn’t go very far in these E-Types!
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- Back over to the Donovan setup for a few adjustments, but otherwise, the only reason the bonnets were up on these cars throughout the weekend was really just to cool the engines after a session. 61 had a few minor issues with a little coolant overflow, but I don’t think anyone touched ANYTHING on 62 and 63 all weekend! These guys run a tight ship and they know what they are doing – they come prepared with cars that are ready for a weekend of RACING rather than the frustration that alot of other guys seem to end up in…
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- Here are some close-ups of that other silver E-Type.
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- This car was clean and neat, and a solid performer all weekend – these guys also seemed to have no issues.
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- This car looked to be very well sorted as well!
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- This is a cool shot.
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- I gave some thought to scallops on my E-Type in college, and they would have looked alot like this. It would have been white on the BRG paint – like a cross between this and the Reventlow Scarab Mk1’s. We masked the bonnet and marked it, and I even had the paint out, but I wimped out and didn’t do it – I often wonder whether it would have been a mistake or not…
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- This E-Type was NOT on the track – just around in the pits, but still a solid car with beautiful paint.
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- This reminded me of my own car as well – I also ran amber turn lenses with no bumpers or motif bar.
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- These two Jags have just come off the track from a different group than the Donovan cars, and their drivers are comparing notes.
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- This car was basically a stock Series 2 – it just goes to show you that you don’t need anything super fancy – just get out there!
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- Just as comfortable on the track as on the road – I sound like their ad department!
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- This car gave me hope that maybe I will get out there myself someday…
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- Back at Donovan, another shot of the cockpit of 61.
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- 61’s engine – the last time I saw this – one week ago, it was just a block with a crank in it!
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- Now it is flawlessly pumping out 430 HP with the help of this wide-angle head – look at that thing! You really don’t need much of an imagination to see the air just FLYING through this engine! It’s basically “internal combustion perfection!”
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- Around lunchtime on Saturday, Dean arrived with one of the Donovan consignment cars from their showroom. This was a very clean, virgin 1974 BMW 3.0 CS automatic – I hope I got that right – I’m not a BMW guy and confess that I don’t know much about them. But apparently, this is a sought-after model that was raced succesfully in it’s day (the model – not THIS car…)
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- I’ve never been much of a “toolkit guy”… but this IS pretty impressive! Whether you care about the tools or not, this shows the level of care that this car has had during its life…
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- Not a bad car – and I thought that the price it sold for was incredibly reasonable! It seemed to me that for about a quarter – or less – of what a new BMW would cost, you could have about 4 times the fun in this one!
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- I mean – look at this leather interior – are you kidding me!?!
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- It was a nice distraction – I was in Jag OVERLOAD!
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- After that, I wandered over to the Lime Rock store, and bought a “good hat” since I am bald now and have started wearing one all the time pretty much – but I always ruin them quickly with dirty hands. I just told Janie this afternoon, “OK – this is my new GOOD hat.” – she laughed out loud and said, “OK, Chuck – whatever!”
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- The Lime Rock Cafe – usually deserted, but MOBBED from 12-1… Their best sellers this weekend – bottled water and the “Lime Rock Burger”. The guys at Donovan made a big lunch run and asked everyone what they wanted. They all kept saying “Lime Rock Burger” and I’m thinking, “Hmmm – I don’t know if I want that if it’s something weird and has lime slices in it or something…” so I asked what it was and Dean looked at me like I had two heads and said, “It’s a regular hamburger – at Lime Rock.”
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- OK – here is 61 coming around turn 2 for the first of the actual races of the weekend – the qualifying race for HRG cars. It DOMINATED the field at the track this weekend – including the other Donovan cars – although Willy went off course a couple times in 63 trying to keep up! Bob was not here on Saturday, so Jack drove 61, and 62 stayed in the paddock. Jack had been driving 61 when the bonnet was smashed at Watkins Glen last year. As he slipped into the car for this race, he laughed, looked over at Brian’s daughter, and said, “Honey, I’m home!”
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- Another shot of just about every waking minute of my life in May – at speed. I was LOVING it!
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- Here’s “the hot tub” out on the track!
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- The race is over, and the E-Types are headed back to rest.
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- For the final race, I decided to just take in the show, and forget about the photos for a while. Dean and I watched the last race from the hill overlooking turns 2 and 3 in the infield, and I did snap this shot of the store, with the exit of the last turn and the main straight behind it…
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- … and this photo of the tower and start/finish line. 61 won the main event, and 63 was a distant second – slip-sliding away on the blazing hot track that was now covered in greasy racing tire rubber! 61 and 63 were stable-mates of a local racing team in the late 60’s. Brian had told me the stories of finding and restoring both cars last night, and it was great to see them together again on a track that they seem to know VERY well!
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- I took this shot while heading out – A late 50’s Jag saloon and it’s racing counterpart.
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- And as quickly as it started, it all ended and I was back in the truck, driving down the lovely Route 44 and on the way home. This is going through the town of Millbrook – it seemed so inviting and I wished Janie was with me and we could stop, have a nice dinner at one of the many great restaurants (and I could smell them!), and then crash in a little bed and breakfast. These towns seemed so inviting – and only after looking over these photos did I notice the street sign – Friendly Lane. But my day was FAR from over – there was still more Jag fun to be had – stay tuned!
