Racing News

at the 2006 Watkins Glen "Fun One", two Alfas ran six races with a record of four wins and two second-place finishes in the hands of Mike Lawton, Nick Fonte, and myself. This year’s Fun One had these same race cars winning all four races entered!

My season started off at the NHIS vintage racing celebration on the pole, after a qualifying race win in the rain. The classification of the sanctioning body, Vintage Racer Group (VRG), pitted me against two 911s, so it was a satisfying result. Several years ago, I purchased proper rain tires, called Hoosier Dirt Stockers. These were intended, as you might guess, for racing on dirt ovals until they were discovered by road racers as very good asphalt rain tires. They proved to be a critical part of the weekend, as highlights included the qualifying race win, and then racing from 5th to 1st during the first lap of the Sunday rain-soaked race, until the drying weather took my advantage away.

VRG offers a three-day weekend featuring two practice sessions, two qualifying races, and two feature races. There’s even an all-comers race on Sunday afternoon if you haven’t had enough. This program is highly recommended for anyone wanting to get into vintage racing with a low-key group out to have fun with less emphasis on finish positions. Check them out at www.vrgonline.org.

Next up was a trip to Historic Mosport in Ontario. Being a pushover for the historic F1 cars featured in the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Canadian Grand Prix, I couldn’t resist. My GTV, being over-prepared for the more conservative Vintage Auto Racing Association of Canada (VARAC), I was placed in the fastest race group, featuring no less than two BMW M1s! Bracket racing was established, whereby your classification was arranged by qualifying speeds. I didn’t pay much attention, however, since I was trying to learn the flow of a track that had three blind 4th-gear sweeping turns, where you couldn’t see the apex, let alone the track-out point. Separates the men from the boys, and I was feeling about nine years old. Watching trackside as some of the locals were clearly taking one of these turns flat-out was awe-inspiring. By the Sunday feature race, while not flat-out in any of these turns, I managed to beat a pair of local Datsun 510s, and left feeling pretty good about my race.

The F1 cars ran immediately before us, and it was fun running down pit lane while these thoroughbreds were being attended to. Unfortunately, vintage racing also has its lows—see the before-and-after picture of an ex-Jackie Stewart formula car. Other Alfas present were Joe Cannella’s 1968 GTV and the 1965 Giulia of Christopher Creughton and Geoff Layne.

Following a tune-up at the AONE Autocross, the appropriately-named "Fun One" at Watkins Glen is the last Northeast Region SCCA Historic Racers Group (HRG) race of the year. This race is a double, meaning that you qualify and race on both Saturday and Sunday. Like the early 70s Kwecht/Morton battles, my friend Tyler Fitzsimmons in his 510 and I have been at it for a while now. Twenty years after repairing his 510’s carburetor in his dorm room at Syracuse, and me commuting to my Northeastern co-op job in my 1750 GTV, times have changed. His freshly-rebuilt 70s-colored machine had teething problems at NHIS and Mosport, but appeared ready to go at Watkins Glen International. And so it was, gridded 12th, and my GTV in 10th (1st and 2nd in class). Ahead were V8s and two 911s—we got a good view of the start!

What followed was the best race in which I’ve ever taken part. Turn 1 at WGI with a mixed field is interesting, to say the least. The high-powered cars drag away and then seem to stop, to negotiate the hard right-hander. It’s called the stacking effect, where you have to honor your brake point, backing off the length of every car in front of you. I managed to get free of the 510, with a Mustang splitting us through the esses the first time around. A few laps later, however, the Ford driver figured out that, if he pushed harder on the loud pedal (and I mean loud—when he went by, I couldn’t hear the GTV at all!), his 300+ horsepower advantage could produce a faster lap time. Nevertheless, on the next lap he pushed the aforementioned pedal a few dB too much, wiggled, and then lifted going up the esses. Not knowing which way he’d wag, I had to lift. By the time the Ford and I were back on the throttle, the 510 with momentum went by both of us (expletive deleted!). Once the Mustang got a rhythm going, he passed the 510 and drew away, leaving six laps to settle the winner of HRG-3 (the 1.8-2.5L class).

Finding a weakness and trying to pass an evenly-matched competitor is great fun. I learned that the 510 was braking earlier than I for T1 and getting a bad run through T2 and up the esses, but was as fast or faster elsewhere. This allowed me to get close, get a better run, and hope to be alongside on the back straight. The first attempt had the 510 on the defensive down the middle of the back straight, forcing me to the outside—nothing doing. The second time around, having a little more momentum, I could pass clear onto the back straight, giving me the inside line into the bus-stop. To hold him off the last four laps took setting my fastest lap ever at WGI on the last lap of the race. Tyler put two wheels off at the "heel", trying to get a run to the off-camber left, where he was faster and knew he’d have a chance, but that was three turns from the end, so in second place he stayed.

Sunday’s race was anticlimactic, as the 510 failed to start on the grid (flat battery). I stayed ahead of a Volvo Amazon (122 in the USA) and a 2.4L 911 for the second win of the weekend, making the long drive home Sunday night almost enjoyable. AONEr Mike Lawton won both days in the 1.3-1.8L class in his Giulietta. Last year, AONEr Nick Fonte raced Mike’s Giulietta in F Production, taking a first and second, but unfortunately he had work commitments and couldn’t join us this year. Other Alfas competing that weekend were AONEr Chris Francis in his Spider, Dick Giambra in a GTV, and Chris DeMinco in a Spider. Who says there aren’t any Alfas racing in the SCCA any more?

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	(Photo by R. Harrington)
	Eliot’s GTV and Mike Lawton’s Giulia Spider between heats
	The 1965 Giulia of Christopher Creughton and Geoff Layne
	Joe Cannella’s 1968 GTV
	Eliot’s nemesis - the Datsun 510 of Tyler Fitzsimmons
	An ex-Jackie Stewart formula car, before and after
	(Photo by Roz Rosintoski)