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| Home > Speed > Stories >Lime Rock 2003 Race | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Lime Rock.2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the winter, when my car is up on jack stands and safely tucked away in the garage, I wander the alpine landscapes of the Northeast. Looking for hidden treasures of frozen waterfalls to ascend with sharp ice axes and crampons. There's a well known saying in the alpine climbing community: Mountains make their own weather. Soaring mountains are barriers impeding the flow in the rivers of air currents. Air, as it rushes up slopes, cool off and can no longer carry its moisture, dropping it as rain or snow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Typical Weekend conditions |
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| The local New Englanders also have their own saying about the regional climate: Don't like the weather? Just wait a minute. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I had plenty of opportunities to ponder these sayings throughout the weekend on my third trip to the Lime Rock PCA Club Race. Firing up the diesel in the motel lot, rain started gently splashing against my windshield. Another wet club race weekend had started. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pulling into the paddock I found a damp spot across from the "left-hander" turn. As I was unpacking, another trailer pulled up next to me and out popped this guy. "Hi, I'm Don Mattran and Eric Rupert said you would mentor me!" Ah yeah, right. I've forgotten all about it. I'd told Eric to have him email me and never heard anything back. But hey, sure why not, I'd be glad to help. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| He'll flash his lights to say Thumbs Up! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plus, as I think about it, he's in my class! A chance to start him off right: Hey Don, see that red C2 over there? That's Ron Savenor. He loves rookies and likes to rate their performance. If he likes your driving he'll flash his lights to say "thumbs up!" But if he's truly impressed with your skills, he'll give a couple of toots on the horn. So the goal this weekend, during the race, is to keep Ron behind you and see if you can rack up the flashes and horn "salutes"! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I said weekend earlier, but today was only Thursday. No racing on Sunday at this little track in the mountains. High dollar real-estate, prep schools, and quaint B&B's surround the course. If Lime Rock had to be built today, it would never exist. Part of its accommodations with its neighbors is the Sunday racing restriction combined with a strictly enforced noise limit of 84db. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Thursday was a driver's education day with the Schattenbaum region. Always popular, especially with club racers, the event had plenty of instructors for the willing students. I lucked out again and became a 'standby' instructor. However this time, a tall (6 foot+) instructor was assigned to a green student with a Boxster. Before you can say “broomstick rule" I found myself grabbing my helmet and jumping in. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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My student made it through the day, but the damp conditions caught out
a few of the more experienced drivers. Pulling up to my paddock spot after a
session, I find Don and his brother Guy looking dejected. Looking over at their
car, I notice the rear bottom quarter panel all busted up.
The car got loose and Don went off track. Once you're on the wet grass you're
only a passenger and the car can go for miles. I can personally attest to that.
This time, Don's C2 found a tire wall. |
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| The broken rear panel was only cosmetic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The broken rear panel was only cosmetic, but the real damage was to their fancy pressurized shock setup. The bottom fittings were broken and leaking. The good news was: this was only driver's ed and isn't part of the club race weekend. If Don had done this Friday when club race rules were in effect, they would have sent him home and he wouldn't have gotten his rookie license, let alone a chance to race. And he would have to jump through many more hoops before he'd allowed to try again. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The bad news was: for Don to get his license, he had to participate
in all three practice sessions and the practice starts on Friday. Don and Guy
disappeared into the rainy day in search of a mechanic and shop. |
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| One
wet session I track out onto No-Name straight just in time to see clouds of
mud and dirt in the air, and Fred Staudinger's 72 911 RS up on the embankment
and heading down toward me. Fred stopped the car before it re-entered the track
and I sped past. Fred had hit a puddle, causing the back end to come around
and it quickly became time for a ride. The remains of his front spoiler was
able to fit neatly in his passenger seat. The oil cooler was
pushed back and the hood looked tweaked. And soon Fred was also heading out
into the Connecticut countryside. |
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