| |
| US ZIPPO VINTAGE GRAND PRIX SEPT 7th-9th, 2007 |
?Racing by the Book?
by Frank Celenza DDS
?The Zippo? is arguably the biggest event of its kind in the northeast; a huge vintage gathering at a fantastic circuit that brings out all the big guns. I?d been trying to get my car to this event for three years, in fact it was a reason for purchasing this car in the first place. Various conflicts and personal matters had prevented me from making it until this year when I finally had everything in place and decided to make it part of my 50th birthday celebration.
With that in mind, you could imagine my disappointment when the stewards reviewed my application and classified my car very differently from where it had won in 2003. I was going to be running in the GTU category, for full race cars, and running in one of the top race groups. Well, this didn?t suit me very well, I was afraid I might get run over by fire breathing big block TransAm cars, twin turbo Porsches and all kinds of cars that could lap Watkins Glen nearly 20 seconds faster than my car. So, in the weeks leading up to this event, there was a lot of ?negotiating? going on.
We sent the SVRA the results from 2003 showing my car in Group 3, where I wanted to be, but they responded that they had made a mistake back then, which became clear as soon as the car ran and was way too fast for that group. ?You?re 500 lb underweight, on 16? wheels when they should be 15?, and your bodywork is not stock, there are spoilers and such that aren?t original.?
I told them that we could correct some of that, but then they said they?d be looking under the car for suspension modifications as well. I told them not to bother, as they?d find components that have no OEM origin anyway. So, I was in a quandry about whether to muddle around at the back of the pack watching my mirrors, or to withdraw and spectate.
As a last ditch effort, I called the SVRA tech inspector while I was away on vacation to try and reason this out. I made it clear that I wasn?t looking to cheat or steal a more deserving competitor?s trophy, I just wanted to run my car where I felt it belonged, so I could enjoy some safe racing. I even offered to run it as an exhibition, so long as I could be in Group 3, for Production-based cars. I pointed out that there were cars in Group 3 that I normally compete against in PCA events, and in Group 10 there were cars that I?d never be asked to run against. I was comparing lap times and pointing out where I believed my car deserved to be placed.
To which they responded that the Zippo is their premier event, with spectators and media coverage. ?We don?t want any misclassification, and we play this one by the books, more than any other event. Further, we don?t classify cars according to lap times, that would be ridiculous. Those cars that you normally compete against in PCA are built to our rule book and fit in properly. Yours isn?t. Your car is way too radical to be put in what we consider a production category. Even if you could ballast your car?s weight up, put 15? wheels on, and remove the rear wing, your bodywork is still not of original configuration, let alone material. We don?t have an exhibition class, so we?re going to leave you in Group 10, and you?ll see that you?re not the slowest one. Further, we?re not going to accept your car in future events.?
And frankly, they were right. But I was disappointed and really didn?t want to run in a class where I was going to look like a dog. So, I expressed my disappointment and told them that I?d be withdrawing my entry, a shame as I was really gearing up to have a run at the Friday enduro only, but felt that I?d be lapped too many time in Group 10 to have any fun. And that?s when the break came.
?You mean you were only going to run the enduro??
?Yeah, I wasn?t interested in the sprint because I?d have to keep my whole team around until late Sunday to do so. I was just going to practice on Thursday and run the enduro on Friday and then spectate for the weekend.?
To which they responded that they?d put me in the small bore enduro, no problem. ?You can practice in Group 10, we?ll take your qualifying time from there and put you in the first enduro, no problem. You?ll be in E1C.?
So, I was in. And I was ecstatic, because I felt that I had a legitimate shot at a high placing now, too.
We were coming in with three cars. The DeMan Motorsport team was returning with the two Jagermeister cars that had retired early last year. Both Twin Turbos; Paul Marchesi?s slant nose 935 was one of the classiest cars in the paddock, and John Stickler?s RSR body had a 2.1 TT motor. I?d practice with them in G10, and then move on. They arrived and took advantage of the Wednesday open track day to practice, I took advantage of the work day to pay for it all, and arrived at the track on Thursday. As an added perk, Jagermeister sent in their ?Jager Girls? on Friday to do some promo and hand out swag, so our paddock suddenly had a lot of interested visitors.
I hadn?t driven my car since Sebring in March, and with a new gearbox installed, some reacclimatization was in order. Further, track time was going to be somewhat limited, two sessions on Thursday, then qualify and race on Friday. So, I was focusing on optimizing my sessions. I saved my slicks for race day and went out on Hoosiers to practice. There was the usual steering vibration from old tires that were likely flat spotted and full of pickup. Plus, I was nursing a delicate clutch. But that all cleared up and the car would prove to be problem free for the rest of the weekend. Almost.
I?d not been to the Glen in over a year, and there were major improvements since then, courtesy of the IRL. Some of the run off areas were now paved and vast, guardrails were moved back in a few places, and most noticeably; the pavement was really smooth. No more concrete patches, I thought the place was in fantastic shape, and I noted that grip was abundant. By the end of qualifying on Friday, and my last session with Group 10, I?d gotten down to 2:19 and change, with more to come as the last session was cut very short and I didn?t get a clear lap. Nevertheless, during those sessions I?d gotten a birds? eye view of what real horsepower looks like. The class leading Porsche 935 blew by me in the sole of the boot so fast that I never saw him coming. I?d corner with him no problem, but when his boost came up he just checked out and I never saw him again. There was a TransAm Cutlass that I pointed by on the back straight and that car was so loud when he went by that I thought I?d blown my motor. The rear of that car was so wide that I couldn?t imagine trying to pass him either. Stickler came up on me on the way to the toe of the boot, and although I gave him the line going in, he still locked up and smoked the inside front. And that?s pretty much how it went; I stayed clean, got some running room, watched my mirrors and didn?t get to execute a single pass in three sessions.
But now it was race time. I?d be running with the E1 cars for the first time, and although I?d been watching from the sidelines to see who was quick, I didn?t know where I?d be gridded. I was a little nervous that I?d not passed anyone yet, or even stayed in any kind of traffic, and now I?d be right amidst cars of similar speed under race conditions, but I calmed myself by deciding to just have fun and let the cards fall where they may.
So, out to the grid I proceeded, at the hottest part of the day, 1:15pm under clear and sunny skies. I was pretty happy to be gridded in 10th spot, out of 49 cars, 7 in my class. There was a 356 both in front of and behind me, so figuring that I?d not yet run to full potential, I planned on moving up immediately. We rolled off the false grid and the splitter signaled me to the outside of row 5. Around for the pace lap, I scrubbed my slicks and got ready. We had been warned in the drivers? meeting about lagging back to get a run, so I stayed within a car length of row 4 as we came off of 11, the field built up speed together and the green flew. I?d gotten a good jump and was right in the mix as I moved over to the middle of the road in defensive position and we braked for the ninety. One of the 356?s ducked inside of me on entry, but I held my ground on the outside of him and drag raced him up through the esses, everyone running two wide under full power. Onto the backstraight I put him behind and got alongside the other 356 which I also out horsed. Setting up for the inner loop, I again went to the middle to defend, braked, downshifted to 4th and ripped through. Down the laces to chute I checked my mirrors and was gapping so I could concentrate on the cars ahead. I completed the lap in position and Joe came on the radio to say I was 9th. The leaders were all in sight still, and I had gapped the cars behind me, so this looked like the lead group. I wanted to move up in it. There was a white 911 just ahead of me, and I went to work on him.
He could pull away a bit on the straights I noticed, but I was catching him in the more technical sections. When we arrived again at the inner loop I drew closer to him and then around the exit I took a tighter line at turn five and got right on him down the laces. As soon as he moved right to set up for chute, I went left and dove under, outbraked him and took the spot. I defended my position going into the toe, and held it for the rest of the lap, now running 8th.
Around this time, I noticed that when I was heel toeing the downshifts, the revs were climbing a little higher than usual. And then I realized that the brake pedal was getting longer. No question about it, they weren?t as effective as I?m used to. This was a little unnerving, but nothing like what happened when I arrived at the inner loop at nearly top speed.
I was closing on a few cars ahead, at 7,000 rpm in fifth, I guess about 135mph. I checked that the white 911 was not close enough to make a pass and then set up at the usual 500 marker. Except this time the brake pedal went right to the floor. Now, of all the places for this to happen, I say this is the best one, as I simply made the downshift to 4th and coasted into the escape area, essentially straight lining the chicane. I let the 911 go around and get ahead of me so there?d be no protest about gaining advantage, and then rejoined and went back after him. Down at the toe, a waving yellow signaled a Lotus backed into the railing at track out; a dangerous position. I radio?d in that I was sure we were going full course yellow, and I wanted the brakes looked at, I was coming in to pit.
And this is where my race took a downturn. I arrived at the pits and came in, Joe signaled me over and dropped the window net. Rick was on the right side of the car as we spoke.
?What?s wrong?? he asked.
?No brakes, the pedal went to the floor,? I came back.
?Pump it a few times, let me see how much play,? as Rick looked in.
?Well, when I pump it, it comes back up,? I showed him.
?So, that?s what you do then, pump them a few times each time you use them,? I was instructed.
?Every time??
?Yeah, if that?s what you need to do.?
?And they?re not going to fail?? I needed reassurance.
?No, they won?t fail,? I was told.
?Are you sure, how do you know??
?I know. Now get back out there and drive.?
So, as usual, I followed orders. Nearly everyone had pitted under this full course yellow, the pit lane was very busy, and as I rejoined the circuit I put on a chase to catch the pace car before it went green again. This took over a lap, so I got to practice ?pumping up the brakes? a few times. When I caught the queue on the backstraight, I was fifth behind the pace car. This was looking pretty good, I thought. I didn?t know it at the time, but the lap charts would later show that I had queued up behind some lappers and was actually scored as the overall leader on that lap.
But the heat was rising. I?d chugged a water bottle during the stop, but true to form, with the exhaust pipe configuration that my car features, running right through the cockpit, I was sweating. I put my hand out the window to vent air in and thought that worked pretty well, and then I realized why. We had forgotten to put the window net back up. The lights on the pace car were out, we were approaching turn 11 and I hastily attempted to raise it but all that did was force me to screw up the restart and lose two positions, so I dropped it and got back to driving.
Up the backstraight and Rick asked, ?How are the brakes??
?I can live with them but I?m going to get a black flag because my net is down.?
?Then come back in. Take your mandatory stop now so you don?t have to make an extra one and then just run the race out,? I was instructed.
Which I did. This meant that I was stopping way before half way and giving up my track position, but I had no choice. I came right back in and sat in the car without refueling for the required 5 minutes. During that time I rehydrated again and waited. Normally I like to get out and cool off, but as no service was being done, there was no need to. Time nearly elapsed, I?m sent back out and told to proceed slowly down the pit lane. Yeah, just what I need; to be called in again for pit lane speeding. On to the circuit now, no idea what position anymore, surely well back, but my stop is over and I?m going to run it to the finish.
The car was fantastic, great grip, very stable handing, never anything unpredictable, but I had to scale it back a notch to find a balance between using the brakes and not inducing any more fade.
Then the lappers started. I love this part. I could corner underneath anybody exiting the inner loop and pass on the inside easily. I could carry a ton of speed around turn 10, track out and dive bomb a pass into 11. A few times I?d drag race down to the esses and pick them off going on to the back straight; inside or outside. I came upon a Mazda entering the inner loop, he was so slow that I just went around him but he didn?t see me and put me four-off at the exit. I regrouped and buried him. I remember a blue mini, darting and dancing, I could tell he was driving that car at the limit, yet much slower than me. It doesn?t matter, it was great fun.
As I got into the later stages, Joe was giving me time checks, and I was checking my endurance, consciously breathing, and trying to vent air in with my hand down the straights occasionally. The early laps were the fastest, no doubt, before the brakes faded, but I was on a pace that I knew would be respectable. I stayed in it until the end, then last lap and I brought it home.
As I slowed, the heat became really apparent. I returned to our paddock, pleased with the run, but didn?t get out for awhile. I stayed in the car and drank some water until I could extricate myself. My son Nick came over and told me that the track announcer said we were fourth, and sure enough we were. Twelfth overall, fourth in class, not a bad run at all, I turned a few 2:16?s in the early going.
In any case, my race was over now, the car was intact and I?d finally had a great go at Watkins Glen. In the second enduro, we sent our other two cars out. Stickler looked racy but contact with a sports racer put him into the guardrail and he never came around for lap two. Up front, the 935 that had blown by me in practice led handily until a blown tire put him out. A Ferrari/Spice inherited the lead and was being chased down by a beautiful Toj Sports Racer in Warsteiner livery. After halfway, Marchesi turned his car over to Rick DeMan, and our car got a chance to lap in anger. I was taking lap times and eventually it clocked a few 2:04?s, really flying! It looked fantastic, and it was great to see it up to speed, probably for the first time since Rick had so beautifully recreated it.
In the Saturday qualifying races, I couldn?t help but notice that in Group 3, the white 911 that I?d chased down was running a very competitive third. It made me wonder what might have been. No matter though, I spent the rest of the weekend enjoying all the festivities, machinery, friendships, and camaraderie of the Zippo. In short; my kind of birthday party!
Yours in sport,
Franz
<<return to news homepage |
|
|