Reported by
Jonathan Kirshtein
AONE Director

Photos by
Gene Durso

Those in the know understand the significance of the Quadrifoglio motif that Alfa Romeo adopted for its race cars. It signifies luck — and that is just what we had on May 13th at the annual AROCT track day. The weather held off and dry track time was abundant, despite the early morning storms that rumbled through.

The expert group comprised drivers with significant track time at Lime Rock, along with the demonstrated ability to keep their car with the shiny side up. The first session required instructors to be present in the car, and this year’s instructors did not disappoint. Many hold SCCA licenses, instruct with other clubs, or have extensive endurance race history.

In the blue run group, a gaggle of Porsches, Ferraris and Alfas mixed it up well. Yours truly engaged in a lovely scrap with a well-driven 328GTSi Ferrari for a good part of the second session, and by afternoon the other drivers ticked off a number of hot laps. Tarik Shapli in a 3.0 GTV6 engaged that same 328GTSi driver, while the Porsches became difficult to follow.

The most noteworthy of duels was in the green run group, with AONE Director Nick Fonte, in his hot Alfetta (is this possible?), chasing Eliot Shanabrook in his very nicely prepared and reshelled GTV. Shanabrook was forced into the escape road as his entry speed into Big Bend was too great, staving off the hard-charging Fonte. The same thing occurred to me many years earlier when I was chasing Eliot. (Lesson learned: Go straight if you cannot turn.) So Nick takes the hard-fought Spider Challenge Trophy (open to all four cylinder Alfas) with an amazing 1:10.5, in his Alfetta sedan on street tires!