Friday September 7, 2001: While I’m still at home in LA, I get some bad news from Robert. In his third session of practice, he blows the motor in his Lola T-600. His spare motor is still being built in Florida and can’t be shipped out in time. With his 935 in Florida as well, he’s done for the weekend and is relegated to watching the race from the sidelines.

After a nice drive to Monterey (Thanks everybody for the directions), B and I stay at a great little hotel in nearby Carmel Valley that James had recommended. The Little European Lodge is run by a very nice older German couple and is a true throwback to the 1950’s complete with period furniture and a Black & White television. I do my best impression of Ricky Riccardo: “Lucy, lemme adjust the antenna” while B is thrilled with the electric blanket.

Saturday September 8, 2001: After getting our passes from Will Call, we head over to the track at about 10am. As we enter the paddock, the first people we see are Robert Davis and Tom Dragoun who are there crewing for the Buzzetti brothers in their Acura Integra and Oldsmobile Achieva SPEEDVISION Touring Cars. As we wander the paddock, we run into several more friends. In the SPEEDVISION Touring Car race, Gwan The and Peter Miller are also there in a Honda Civic and Charles Espenlaub is in the Jordan brothers Mazda Protege. For the World Challenge GT cars, James Sofronas has entered his BMW and Mark Anderson is in a Porsche 928. Several other familiar cars and drivers are also entered in the Touring Car race. With the number of local drivers and cars in the SPEEDVISION race, it’s starting to look a lot like a typical Southern California club event.

Adjacent to the World Challenge Cars is the HSR Paddock. My introduction to racing was in the late eighties when the GTP cars ruled so seeing these remarkable cars in all their former glory is truly impressive. I remember visiting the paddock at the Del Mar Grand Prix in 1986 with my buddy Steve and staring wild eyed at the purple Wynns Porsche 962, the Group 44 Jaguars, the EDS Spice Chevrolet, the Electromotive Nissan GTPZX and later, the NPTI Nissan R90C GTPs. Now fifteen years later, the same cars are there. It’s almost as if time stood still as there are even the Camel Lights cars such as the Tiga and a few Spices. And just to make things interesting, there are a few other interesting machines thrown in such as a March CanAm car, a long tailed Porsche 935, a 934 a few Chevron B36’s and a Lola T-70, a Sauber, a Rondeau, an Osella and much more. When we finally get to his paddock, Robert’s Lola T-600 is nowhere to be found and one of the guys on his crew tells us that it’s already loaded inside the transporter. He also mistakenly tells us that Robert has returned to Florida.

The American LeMans paddock is filled with exotic race cars, transporters and accents. It’s evident that the big teams show up early and reserve the front right rows. In the LMP 900 Class (The big prototypes), Audi’s make up most of the field. The factory Joest Team brings out a pair of silver R8’s with Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen in the #1 car and Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro in the #2 car. This team shows up with Formula One levels of equipment and enough transporters to make up their own city. A gaggle of privateers also show up with their own fleet of transporters and their own Audi R8’s such as Champion Racing with their Johnny Herbert/Andy Wallace entry and Stephan Johansson with his own team co-driving with Patrick Lemarie. The American challengers, Team Panoz brings out the older roadsters with David Brabham/Jan Magnussen in the #50 car and Franck LaGorce/Klaus Graf in the #51 car. Team Cadillac’s gorgeous cars are also there as is Intersport Racing’s beautifully sounding Lola. Dick Barbour’s entries fill the LMP 675 Class.

In the GTS Class, the factory Corvette Team pulls out the stops and brings out a fleet of trucks to support their pair of C5-R’s. Team Saleen is visibly absent with a factory car. Instead, they are there to lend factory support to Franz Konrad’s privateer team. And supporting the Chrysler badge is the privateer American Viperacing with their pair of ex-Oreca Vipers.

The GT Class is a huge battle between BMW and Porsche. With the combined efforts of the factory Schnitzer and PTG Teams, the BMW marque can be seen just about everywhere and uniformed BMW engineers busily mill about the track like an army of working bees. One of the BMW factory drivers once said: “They (the engineers) start the car, warm it up and we drive it. No gauges, no readouts, just a shift light and warning lights, we (the Team) have no idea what’s in the Lump”. Meanwhile, Porsches seem to rule by sheer numbers as Alex Job, Petersen, The Racers Group, Barbour, Seikel and Kyser each have at least one car entered, all 996 GT3R’s or GT3RS’s.

SCCA TransAm is no less visible as Gentilozzi’s Rocketsports and Tommy Drissi Racing each bring an army of support trucks. A few years ago, TransAm used to be Mustangs and Camaros. Nowadays, the field consists of Jaguars, Mangustas, Panoz’s, and Corvettes with a Mustang and Viper thrown in. This variety of body styles along with allowing fuel injection and wings seems to have pumped lots of new blood into the series. NBC’s cameras are there to cover the TransAm series as much as the American LeMans.
* Note: The STAR FORMULA MAZDA Series was also running one of their rounds but I didn’t get a chance to follow their race. My aplogies to fans of this series. But I’ve included a picture of the series drivers, so No Whining!

SPEEDVISION TOURING CAR RACE: Roger Foo in his Honda Civic wins this race from flag to flag and seems to dominate all day. He is also celebrating his birthday so this must be a special event for him. Other notables of the race are British Touring Car Champion David Leslie in his Mazda, out early.

SCCA TRANSAM RACE: Quite a few cars start this race, 20-30 from my perspective. After B and I join James and his girlfriend Cheryl for a deliciously catered lunch courteousy of the SALEEN TEAM’s (Thanks guys) superb chefs, we go upstairs to their Hospitality Upper Deck at Turn Three to watch the race. After two warmup laps, the field goes green and I can feel the ground vibrate under my feet as they enter Turn Two. That’s when all hell breaks loose as body panels go flying in every direction. As they exit Turn two, the field is visibly rearranged and several damaged cars are soon coasting off to the outside. This immediately creates a full course yellow and for the next few laps, the emergency workers clear off the debris. After the restart, racing resumes with the Rocketsports Jaguars battling everybody else. Justin Bell puts in a great drive in his salmon colored Corvette, with Brian Simo, Boris Said and my personal favorite Lou Gigliotti, all giving a great chase. But Laguna isn’t exactly the widest track and TransAm cars aren’t exactly the smallest cars. Real estate seems to be in shortage during a TransAm race and the carnage is constantly flying. The first time I sat inside the REALRIDE RACING stockcar (about the same size as a TransAm car), I was surprised at how far away the right front corner appears. B points out a particular silver Jaguar that barks a huge gout of flame out of it’s exhaust pipe every lap. As the race continues, the flame slowly gives way to black smoke. Finally, she says to me: “Is smoke supposed to come out of it’s window?”. A few laps later, the car is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the Saleen guys are cheering for Scott Pruett in the Rocketsports Jaguar since he drove a Saleen S7 at Daytona earlier this year. Scott seems to have be holding on to a big lead when suddenly at Turn Two, we hear a loud bang. “Sounds like an engine let go from underneath” says one of the Saleen mechanics. A few seconds later, Scott’s Jaguar is coasting off to the outside of the turn which now starts to look like a parking lot of broken race cars. As Scott makes the long walk back to the paddock, the Saleen guys make it a point to wave to the visibly upset driver. The carnage continues until the end of the race, when it appears as if a third of the field is left. Justin Bell wins the race well deservedly but as we tour the paddock, it looks like a Demolition Derby as cars are towed in completely demolished. Nevertheless, TransAm continues to be among the crowd favorites, and it’s easy to see why as the racing is close and the action is furious. I know that I can’t wait until the next TransAm race.

After the day’s events come to a close, B and I tour the paddock area where we suddenly run into Robert. He tells us that his entire crew had thought he’d gone home and had told all his friends and visitors the same. He introduces us to a bunch of the HSR guys and I get to see the GTP cars closer than I’ve ever been. The engineering and craftsmanship of the cars is simply phenomenal, and the restoration is just as impressive. However, unlike the frantic and ultra serious nature of GTP racing as I remember it in the late Eighties, the HSR group is much more friendly and jovial. There’s a great comraderie shared amongst this group and the emphasis on fun never seems to be lost in this group.

Sunday September 9, 2001: B wants to spend a few hours on Sunday morning touring the area. I really want to see the HSR race but since she’s been such a good sport, I figure that the least I can do is do the good husband thing. Besides, with Robert’s car out of commission, we don’t have anybody to cheer for. The morning drive actually turns out to be quite nice and we decide that our next weekend getaway should be in the area. Nevertheless, scouting out Bed And Breakfasts and taking pictures of deer at the golfcourse is quite a sharp contrast from watching exotic racecars, I can handle it for only so long.

THE AMERICAN LEMANS RACE: We get to the track less than an hour before the start of the “Big” race. After a quick visit to the KONRAD PADDOCK where we wish Franz Konrad, Terry Borchellar and the rest of the Team good luck, we join James, Cheryl and Dennis back at the SALEEN Deck. The green flag drops at about noon as the pack of thirty cars come charging down the front straightaway into Turn Two. From our vantage point, we can only see the tops of the cars as they enter Turn Two, but there’s a bit of contact between the JOHANSSON AUDI (with Lemarie driving) which started on the outside of the front row, and another car (one of the VIPER’s I believe). This immediately shuffles the pack and David Brabham takes advantage of this by using the torque of his PANOZ to get away from the pack. By the next lap, he clearly has gained ground on the AUDI’s. Meanwhile, Lemarie is driving like a demon to work his way back up the pack. DICK BARBOUR’S LMP675 cars run nose to tail seemingly in formation. In the GTS Class, the KONRAD SALEEN S7 (with Terry Borchellar driving a double first stint) has pulled a clear lead on the CORVETTE’s which are now hounding him. The GT Class is filled with BMW’s, four of the top five spots. The only Porsche’s able to keep up are the ALEX JOB cars. But this is the class to watch as the racing is furious between the sweet “Banshee” shrieking howl of the BMW V-8’s and the distinct raspy wail of the GT3’s flat six. But unlike the large TransAm cars, the smaller and agile ALMS cars run closely bunched, frequently with what appears to be less than two inches between the cars. Amazingly by the fourth lap, the lead PANOZ has already lapped the back of the field. We seem to have one of the best seats in the house as a lot of passing takes place right in front of us and we even see one of the PTG BMW’s contact another car losing it’s rear fender flare. But this doesn’t seem to slow them down as they seem to be toying with the Porsches who are struggling with less power. With ten minutes left in the two hour and forty five minute long race, the SALEEN TEAM’s staff invites us to the Winners Circle where we will help celebrate the KONRAD TEAM’s class victory. Sascha Maasen and Luca Luhr have driven the wheels off their ALEX JOB Porsche GT3RS to stay ahead of the PTG BMW’s to capture a third in GT. The factory BMW’s take the first two podium spots in GT. In the GTS class, Franz Konrad and Terry Borchellar in the KONRAD S7 hold off the factory CORVETTE’s. And AUDI’s take the top three overall spots (JOEST AUDI 1st, CHAMPION AUDI 2nd, JOHANSSON AUDI 3rd). The BARBOUR LMP 675’s sail to an easy 1-2. The victory celebrations are brief and rushed as the World Challenge cars are about to start their race, but this doesn’t prevent the champagne from flying.

1 2 P900 1 Frank Biela / Emanuele Pirro 120 0.000 -- 1:17.504
Audi Sport North America Audi R8 Michelin
2 38 P900 2 Johnny Herbert / Andy Wallace 120 1.602 1.602
1:17.601 Champion Racin Audi R8 Michelin
3 18 P900 3 Patrick Lemarie / Stephan Johansson 119 -1 Lap 1:15.242
1:18.062 Johansson Motorsport Audi R8 Michelin
4 8 P900 4 Max Angelelli / Wayne Taylor 117 -3 Laps 1:15.889
1:18.586 Team Cadillac Cadillac LMP 01 Michelin
5 7 P900 5 Emmanuel Collard / Christope Tinseau 116 -4 Laps
50.042 1:18.802 Team Cadillac Cadillac LMP 01 Michelin
6 26 GTS 1 Terry Borcheller / Franz Konrad 112 -8 Laps 22.068 1:24.101
Konrad Team Saleen Saleen S7R Dunlop
7 3 GTS 2 Ron Fellows / Johnny O'Connell 111 -9 Laps 54.793 1:24.276
Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Goodyear
8 4 GTS 3 Kelly Collins / Andy Pilgrim 111 -9 Laps 37.311 1:24.828
Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Goodyear
9 42 GT 1 JJ Lehto / Jorg Muller 110 -10 Laps 40.731 1:26.590
BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GTR Michelin
10 43 GT 2 Fredrik Ekblom / Dirk Muller 110 -10 Laps 0.353
1:26.566 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GTR Michelin
11 23 GT 3 Sascha Maassen / Lucas Luhr 110 -10 Laps 7.937 1:27.036
Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS Michelin
12 10 GT 4 Boris Said / Bill Auberlen 109 -11 Laps 1:23.355
1:27.025 Prototype Technology Group BMW M3 GTR Yokohama
13 30 GT 5 Michael Petersen / Timo Bernhard / Johnny Mowlem 109 -11
Laps 33.557 1:27.823 Petersen Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Michelin
14 22 GT 6 Christian Menzel / Randy Pobst 108 -12 Laps 1:04.989
1:27.330 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS Michelin
15 66 GT 7 Kevin Buckler / Tyler McQuarrie 105 -15 Laps 1:05.817
1:30.137 The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS Yokohama
16 67 GT 8 Robert Orcutt / Tony Colicchio 103 -17 Laps 1:06.920
1:32.292 The Racers Group/Yokohama Porsche 911 GT3 RS Yokohama
17 69 GT 9 Kye Wankum / Joe Foster 102 -18 Laps 1:07.985 1:31.113
Kyser Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Dunlop
18 44 GTS 4 Kevin Allen / Tom Weickardt 100 -20 Laps 57.849 1:31.545
American Viperacing Dodge Viper GTS-R Dunlop
19 15 GT 10 Mark Neuhaus / Randy Wars 99 -21 Laps 11.425 1:34.912
Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Dunlop
20 45 GTS 5 Darren Law / Shane Lewis 83 -21 Laps 12:18.530
1:27.755 American Viperacing Dodge Viper GTS-R Dunlop
21 51 P900 6 Franck Lagorce / Klaus Graf 78 -26 Laps 20:35.154
1:18.279 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP1 Roadster S Michelin
22 37 P900 7 Jon Field / Rick Sutherland 74 -30 Laps 19.553
1:18.849 Intersport Racing Lola B2K/10 Goodyear
23 6 GT 11 Niclas Jonsson / Hans Stuck 74 -30 Laps 4:45.164
1:27.330 Prototype Technology Group BMW M3 GTR Yokohama
24 1 P900 8 Rinaldo Capello / Tom Kristensen 58 -46 Laps
36:27.950 1:17.011 Audi Sport North America Audi R8 Michelin
25 50 P900 9 David Brabham / Jan Magnussen 57 -47 Laps 2:21.243
1:17.247 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP1 Roadster S Michelin
26 5 P675 1 Milka Duno / Didier de Radigues 48 -72 Laps X0:00.000
1:21.488 Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q Goodyear
27 57 P675 2 John Graham / Scott Maxwell 41 -63 Laps X0:00.000
1:21.809 Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q Goodyear
28 52 GT 12 Tony Burgess / Andrew Bagnall 40 -64 Laps 7:35.465
1:31.949 Sekiel Motor Sport Porsche 911 GT3 RS Yokohama
29 11 P675 3 Steven Knight / Claudia Huertgen 20 -84 Laps
36:38.706 1:23.614 KnightHawk Racing Lola B2K/40 Avon

THE SPEEDVISION WORLD CHALLENGE GT RACE: Because we’re at the victory celebrations, we miss the start of the World Challenge race. By the time we make it back to the Hospitality Deck, the field is already spread out. But Peter Cunningham in his Supercharged Acura NSX has a clear upper hand on the field. Our attention is also on Mike Judy, who is campaigning a Saleen SR Mustang and is at first aggressively pursuing Mark Anderson in his Porsche 928. After a few laps, Mike finally gets around the 928 and manages to stay ahead at the chequered flag. Elsewhere, James Sofronas is having a good day in his BMW and is running comfortably in the top 10. The dominant cars in this race seem to be the Acura NSX, the Porsche GT3’s, the BMW 3 series, and the Audi’s. But the variety of cars in this race also include Steve Dinan in his BMW Z3, a Firebird RamAir, several Corvettes, and a Ferrari 355. As expected, Cunningham’s REALTIME Acura NSX takes the win, but Johannes Van Overbeck puts in a good battle to take second.

As B and I make the short walk back to our car, we both realize how sunburnt we’ve gotten. Over the next few days, we’re laughing at how dark we’ve gotten and the worst part is when we start to peel. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. It’s been a while since I’ve been a spectator at an International Sportscar Race, but this just reminded me how much I’ve missed. I plan on going to many more soon. If you’ve ever thought of going, I highly recommend it. It truly is a blast! Ask B, she’s ready to go as well.

RealRide/Pennyweb