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Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, FL March 3 - 6, 2005 |
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Having warmed up at Moroso, Hamish Somerville and Rick Carlino were in the groove straightaway at Sebring. Pete Gulick joined the boys with his F2 Chevron B42 and old faithful Chevron B23. In attendance from the UK were Simon Hadfield (fresh from winning UK 'Historic Race Car Driver of the Year' the week before), accompanied by his friend & closest competitor for the title, Michael Schryver, and Michael’s son, Will Schryver. Finally, Divina Galica was back to drive one or two of Hamish's cars, and Rick was joined by good friend and co-driver this weekend, Hal Jones.
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Hamish elected to try the Williams F1 car here this weekend, as his March F2 car was a non-runner. Much to everyone’s surprise, with a couple of adjustments to ride height and shocks, the Williams ran the extremely bumpy (in places) Sebring circuit well, without destroying the chassis as a lot of onlookers had predicted. - Photos by Wayne LeBlanc (click to enlarge) |
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The Williams car ran well again with Pete Gulick in hot pursuit in his B42
(above), |
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Needless to say, our two intrepid formula car drivers were the class of the field,
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Rick's friend Hal Jones, who shared the Gropa for the weekend, had never seen the track or the car before, but off he went in torrential rain for one of his first outings. Like Rick, he continued to impress us more and more as the weekend worn on. Their smooth driving styles kept them out of trouble and indeed put more experienced and faster cars to shame in the wet.
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In the Enduro, Rick and Hal moved up steadily through the field to eventually work their way up to about 6th place overall – when the car simply quit on them with about 20 minutes to go. Endurus interruptus! Terribly frustrating and disappointing for both drivers, not to mention crew! |
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Hamish decided to bring out his Elva Mk7, which we had actually transported to Florida to show and hopefully sell. The car was hastily prepped for guest former-pro driver, Divina Galica, and almost-UK-Driver-of-the-Year, Michael Schryver, to share for the weekend. |
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Divi had good outings in Hamish’s Chevron B23 (below)
as well |
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Hamish, Pete and Divi were running well up front in the Enduro, with Hamish actually leading for a lot of the first driver’s stint. The B23 continued to lead the 2-litre field handsomely and ran consistently in third place overall for much of the race distance. Alas, gearbox problems cut short what surely would have been a second overall if the tranny had not balked! Another case of endurus interruptus and a big disappointment for drivers and crew. |
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Divi and Michael were paired up in the Elva for the Vintage Enduro and were looking good, if their qualifying times were any indication. Unfortunately, continuing a disturbing trend this weekend, on the first lap a minor engine bay fire put paid to our high hopes. The Elva then had to be retired from further competition as it ingested something it shouldn’t have on its drive back to the pits. |
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In association with HSR and Sasco Sports, we were pleased to kick off this
exciting new series for 2-liter sports racers here at Sebring, honoring the legendary driver, Jo Bonnier. Marques include Chevron, Lola, Porsche, Alfa Romeo,
Abarth, GRD and others. |
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Hamish and Pete were right on it again in the Jo Bonnier Race, but wily old Joel Finn snuck through to take the lead when Hamish – who had been leading from the drop of the flag – missed a shift. Pete followed Joel through, putting Hamish in third. After winding Pete back in and claiming second spot, Hamish all but got first place back again; but it was not to be. |
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Pete’s B23 didn’t quite have the power of the other two on the straight, but watching him in the last turn (at really close quarters), you could see him making up in the turns what he lost to Hamish and Joel on the straight. It was another good, close race, with our heros second and third on the podium this time. |
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The weekend was fraught for our UK contingent – Simon and Michael. The fresh engine in the Huron, which surely would have featured, failed to run more than two laps at a time on four cylinders. Metering unit blues were just not reparable in the field, so the car was ultimately scratched. |
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As usual, when the Huron was running properly, albeit briefly, |
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After rectification of a broken input shaft and clutch on the 80A F/A March, Michael finally got a little track time at Sebring, making his trip across the pond at least somewhat more worthwhile. |
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Alas, it's all work & not enough play this year... |
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Our Huron & March just did not feature here!
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It was hard work,
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And, as always,
- Photos by Wayne LeBlanc |
Tony Morris, |
"I'm all right! -- I'm going home!"
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