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HSR SEBRING |
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Sunday dawned, cooler than the previous days, but for a racer, perfect. It was sunny with a light breeze. Hamish had secured third spot on the grid in front of some more contemporary Group C, C2, GTP, Lights, and WSC cars. These guys had their own points race the day before, so they were only participating in this race for fun – not a formal finish or points. Hamish took the first stint of the Enduro in his Lola T70, to be shared with Divi and Pete. After everyone settled down, he was running in about 7th spot. This was maintained for most of Hamish's session. At one point, the lead WSC Reilly & Scott came out of the last turn and pulled over, expecting to overtake Hamish. Hamish stood on the gas and just pulled away from the 40-year younger car, which had to wait to out-brake and dive under the T70 at the next corner. |
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Hamish was lying 4th when he came in for our first scheduled fuel stop, well within our window for our refueling strategy. |
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Rick came in on the next lap for his first scheduled pitstop – again, a perfect refueling stop. He handed his car over to Tom Yeager (photo below), who had accepted a guest drive to help Rick since he had not been feeling terribly well. (That being said, Rick was now lapping almost 8 seconds a lap quicker than he qualified for his sprint race! Apparently a couple of Porsches had really pissed him off as he worked his way up through the field from quite a lowly grid position. He was circulating among the top third of the participants when he came in.) |
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The race went on. The next stop was under full yellow. Pete and Tom came in after only a handful of laps for a non-scheduled stop, but we took our five minutes, fueled up and sent the same drivers out again. This altered our strategy for refueling, but the T70 had the capacity (just), so we would only have one other scheduled fuel stop. |
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Rick and Tom in the Gropa, however, would have to stop for an additional splash and go. |
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The next stops, again, were under a full course yellow. It was perfect – we would have called the cars in at that time anyway. They went back out again, with the track going green almost at the same time. The T70 put its nearest rival, a Chevron B16 Spyder, down two laps at this time because they just came in for their last but one stop under "green." Rick had got back in the Gropa, really fired up now and feeling a lot better. With the natural attrition, he was moving up through the field, picking off those pesky Porsches again. That made him feel much better.
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Divi took over the T70 for the last leg of the Enduro and when she got in the car, Pete warned her that the brakes were almost gone. This she discovered for herself anyway, going hard into the first corner when the green flag waved. She drove for almost an hour, literally with no front brakes. It was metal-to-metal when we took the wheels off after the race. She was slowing the car with the engine and gently using the brakes. Still, she was lapping comfortably in the 14s until the end.
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When the checker finally came out, the T70 was up to 2nd overall (just behind a late 90s TransAm car). Way to go! Rick brought the Gropa in 7th overall, after diving into the pits for a splash-and-go when the course went full yellow again – in fact, I don't think he even lost a place. It was a good thing we fitted that quick-fill system to the fuel tank this winter! Several gallons went in in a mere second or two. |
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It had been pretty fraught at times,
particularly when the two cars came in at the same time. |
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The Sprint Race on Sunday was just as exciting as the Enduro had been. At the drop of the flag, Hamish just wailed that Chevy and took off, holding the lead for two or three laps until the much later, be-winged Mirage took advantage of its superior handling and went by into the lead, which it held until the end. Hamish didn't give up though. He just kept on pushing, again lapping in the low 11s, finishing a strong 2nd! |
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Divi was up next in Hamish's B23 (above), now running a lot better. She held off John Higgins in the fast Shell B23 til the end. |
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Rick was having a fabulous sprint race as well with one of the GT40s, which he finally got the better of on the last lap – that is, until the oil pressure took a dip on the last straight. Rick eased up on the gas, the oil pressure came back, but it was too late. The GT40 was by. Bad luck Rick! It was one of the best races of the weekend. |
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Tom's race started off really well. Starting 12th, by the first turn he was already in 4th spot and by the end of the first lap he was in 2nd. On the 3rd lap whilst passing to take the lead, quite suddenly he lost a cylinder and slowly but slowly crawled up pit lane – fortunately not too disappointed. He did set the fastest lap. We were really disappointed because his win would have been the perfect ending to a very hectic weekend. Better luck at the Mitty Tom! |
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Well, that was that. Much back-slapping and congrats, and then everyone was gone. Our crew – Thatcher, Ed, Chuck, and our temporary pit crewman shanghaied from Skip Barber for the weekend – all worked wonders in the pits to get the cars in and out on time with nary a fumble – even having to push-start the Gropa for all but the first pitstop. We packed up on the double and the crew was on its way back to Orlando to catch an early Monday morning flight, whilst Lee saddled up and started the long drive home. |
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Page 2.
