That's Racing...At Lime Rock

That's Racing (At Lime Rock 2004)

From my 2004 journal:

The track (Lime Rock) kinda reminds me of the old (circa 1986) Laguna Seca. Not as high speed and perhaps a bit shorter and not so vertical, but deceptively subtle in the nuances needed to drive it well.

Our first session on Friday had both of us (Don Baldocchi and me) “daed and confused” and sort of lost. I sort of motored around from point to point in a mental fog, not really picking up much in the way of visual cues for turn-in or braking points. I think I was more rattled bu the though of drivers I knew nothing about than an unfamiliar track. But everyone behaved and drove well, which was calming.

In the afternoon, after listening to a number of opinions on how to drive each turn I was able to actually practice some of this advice. People have been super nice, friendly and sharing. But although the track is not familiar I have great trust in the Siata's rhythm and flow, and began gradually to experiment with lines my little gem seemed happier with.

And then (Oh shit, oh dear) Don's motor blew. We think he over-revv'd it and dropped a valve- stroker cranks and 5mm stems aren't crazy about 8000+ revs. Talk about putting a cloud on the whole adventure.

Although at first he did not want to consider it, through a number of local racers we have lined up a possible buildable motor about 1 ½ hours drive from here¹. So we gotta try and get him running, right?

As for me, this AM I short-shifted into fourth at the bottom of the hill before the diving turn and carried 5-800 more revs down the straight...close to 100mph. Yee hah!

In the qualifying PM race (Joy, Rich, and Karen got to see me²) I tried to pass 2 Mgs on the start but they manged to cover the entire track width so I hung back until after “Big Bend” and got the green one first and the white one soon after.

He managed to stick to me like glue for the rest of the race (he's raced here for decades). I kinda dozed off at the end of the main straight on one la, finding myself past the “1” marker with my foot still buried in the carb. This left me no time to blip the throttle for downshift and in the disruption to my rhythm he got by.

I then dogged him right down the chute to the left hander and repassed before we got to No Name Straight.

And that's the way we finished.

1It turned out to be Newtown, CT...the very place now unfortunately known for the most horrible event in recent memory...the slaughter of 26 people, including 20 five and six year olds, at an elementary school called “Sandy Hook”

2My sister, her husband, and their daughter