At risk of y'all hating me...., ...I got to drive a piece of history at Rennsport Reunion 3 Options

[horizontally-opposed]

Spent the weekend with Hurley and the (great!) crew at Brumos for an upcoming story.

Car was dicey on Friday (no brakes, or rather a soft pedal, and squirelly at 140~mph under braking on the way into the chicane. However, Saturday the car was much better after several tweaks, allowing me to drop 20-25 seconds from my time in practice. Halfway through the session, I was really looking forward to another night's sleep, a few more tweaks, and trying drop a few more seconds and move into the faster part of Group 1 (while trying to preserve a piece of history that belongs to someone else...). Unfortunately, the motor let go at 150~ mph on the front straight, putting a rod through the case and ending my weekend of 914 racing. They moved me to a 964 Turbo for parade laps and to get used to the car so I could qualify in it and race it on Sunday, but alas, no tires for Sunday.

While the 964 Turbo was AMAZING, my heart was all about that 914-6. What an incredible car, and what an incredible opportunity to drive a legendary track with legendary cars. I'll never forget several mental images, including chasing a real 904 on the banking on the way to the giant American flag with "DAYTONA" written on the wall below it.

As for the 914-6 GT (winner of the first IMSA race and 1971 IMSA championship) itself, I am now a big fan of 2.5-liter flat sixes. 230 hp was just right, in my book. Early S brakes, just barely adequate. If that. Goodyear racing tires on 15x7s and 8s: awesome. Realization that you're turning 7000 rpm in a 914...in fifth gear: crazy. (Only way my 914 will go that fast is when dropped off buildings.) Handling: much better after the tweaks, and pretty damn nice at high speed thanks to the banking. Shifter: best 901 I've sampled, hands down.

Chance to drive a 914 I snuck out of Sunday school to go read about in Excellence: priceless.

Here's two pics taken by Patti Tantillo courtesy of Brumos, one of Hurley and I talking about the high-speed wiggle in the rear end under braking, the other is Hurley telling me to "get off the brakes," with Speedy and I laughing.

Wondering if any of you have more of this car in the pits or on track?

Finally, there were some seriously fast 914s out there, including a really trick 914-4. If you were in one of them, sorry for holding you up on Friday. I was terrified!

Best regards,

pete