Posted in the Paddock....but since everyone here like videos!!

Participated in my first Vintage Group race with PCA this past weekend at Summit Point. Loads of fun!! Simple class rules, though their going to have to change some for next year. 4 classes:
VO4/VU4 for 4 cyl Over and Under 2.0 liter
VO6/VU6 for 6 cyl Over and Under 2.4 liter

All are good except VO6 because you can have anything from a 2.5 liter all the way to 'sky's the limit'...4.0 liter monsters. I was one of the "highly modified monsters' along with 2 other cars (914's!!) ...we lapped the field...at least once...
There were at least 8 914's in the race (I think more like 10)

Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of "racing" to do...the other two cars are WAY more developed than my Papa Smurf, so they kinda ran away from me. And I ran away from 4th place...so as the announcer said, I had a "lonely" third place in race 2 and 3....Race 1 the other 914 started last so he never really caught us.

However....in Race 3, I ran out of gas...so did the other two guys and 5 others in the group. On grid, with 3 minutes to go, we were told "Oh, btw, this is a 30 lap race, not 20...do you have enough gas?"

I had no idea...but in the end, I guess the answer was "Uh...no I do not!!"

I feel like I'm going SO SLOW looking at these videos!! Felt fast in the car! Need to work on my gearing - T1 really sucks with these gears. 2 is too short, 3 is too tall.

Enjoy...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPHFJhtZjcU

Are the owners of the other two highly modified 914s members here? Can you tell us how there cars were more developed then you? I always thought you were the big Kahuna of the 914 race world.

Buck

Hi Buck,
Most likely, they are not on here.
The Red/Silver car is owned by Don Jacobs. Don has been racing and developing that car for 25 years (he's currently 73!!) And...while I have a Dawe's built ENGINE only, he has a Dawe's built and developed CAR. Nose to tail. Plus he has a few completely regeared transmissions that are set up specifically for different tracks. Oh, and his is a 3.6, mine a 3.2. And his is lighter...

As for the black and yellow car, that used to be owned by a guy named Tim McKenzie. In effect, it is a tube framed chassis underneath that body work. The geometry on that car was developed by a guy that had hands in the design of the 962 chassis and other IMSA cars. When Peter Dawe is in awe of a person's ability...the guy must be pretty special.
The car is now owned by Brian Weathered - owner of Eurosport in Chicago area. Brian is a decent driver...Tim was better. But that car is a 'no expense spared' car.

In reality, underneath our AIR body, Papa Smurf is still got a stock 914 chassis. Not a lot of magic there. Great engine, stock 915 trans with REALLY TALL gears (they killed me on this track) and coil over shocks. Otherwise, it's just a stock 914. Roll cage isn't even tied to the shock towers.

For example....
My trunk area:

Click to view attachment

And the black/yellow car:

Click to view attachment


as an example of just how fast that black/yellow 914 is...watch this from Road America... https://vimeo.com/29219114

In all honesty, I was pretty proud to do as well as I did against those guys. My fastest time was only about 0.2 off Brian's time (however, Don did a 1:17.9 vs my 1:20.6).
and this is only my 3rd race in 5 years...so they've got experience on their side too.

Though when I watch this video, I feel SO SLOW!! and see all the places I screwed up.
Oh well...still had a blast!!

Thx again for the video's Bob. Enjoyed as always.

Absolutely awesome makes me want to put my car on a track. Never done it just a little bit of running through So Cal canyons.