2012 Petit LeMans And Dragon Run, Post 3

My cousin and his endurance racing pals have "done" Sebring and Petit LeMans for years.  And they do not do things halfway.  On the day I arrived, my cousin and I picked up his classic Airstream trailer from storage, towed it to Road Atlanta, dropped and leveled it, erected the "easy up" and buffet table, and set out the non-perishables.  This operation was quite a revelation to a guy who slathers on some sunscreen, eats track food (admittedly good at Road America) and hauls a portable chair around from corner to corner.

Chez Cuz: no half-measures in this equipe.  Cuz and I retrieved his Shelby GT 350 from storage the day after we towed the Airstream in.  Yes, it is the real deal, and yes, I got to drive it.  More about that in a later post.

My cousin's gearhead pals are an eclectic bunch, as shown by the photo below.  Also relaxed.  After setting up the perishables and icing down the beer on the morning of final practice, we split for our favorite viewing areas.  One of us, a professional photographer, was working the event.  My cuz and I and Chuck Beck took a golf cart (brought by yet another buddy) to the paddock--which suited me fine; it was exactly what I would have done on my own, on foot, slower.

We were intrigued and puzzled by the Nissan Delta Wing (making its first appearance since it crashed at LeMans).  It's nice to see new approaches and technologies.  Its front rain tires look like motorcycle tires.  On the other hand, Beck thinks it is inherently unstable and it seems to me an answer to a question that nobody asked.  (Yes, it may be more "streamlined" than a conventional Prototype, but it also has less front downforce.)  The rest of the grid was pretty much as expected, except that the Patron Ferrari 458 Italias were decked out in chrome wrap, not their customary black with day-glo green accents.  I miss the Risi Competizione 458 in plain old Italian Racing Red.

Ultimat, nee Patron, Vodka Ferrari 458 Italia in chrome wrap.  Does this work for you?
Maybe it helps with visibility in night racing?

The Rebellion Racing Lola took the pole in Prototype I (the big dog class).  A visitor from the European side of the endurance championship, it was noticeably quicker than the usual suspects in this class, the Muscle Milk HPD/Honda and the Dyson Racing Lola/Mazdas.  I don't much care for the looks of current Prototypes, but Rebellion does a good job of putting lipstick on a pig.

OK, maybe a bit better than lipstick on a pig: the Rebellion Racing Lola (sponsored by Lotus, go figure...) is in the classy black-and-gold colors of the old John Player Lotus Grand Prix cars.  If this car has a suspension, it was invisible to me.  It bounced over small bumps at low downforce areas of the course which were soaked up by other P-1 cars (not themselves know for a Cadillac ride).  Hard to drive, but fast.  Rebellion is a Swiss team: thus the white cross on a red background.

Eclectic bunch (left to right): Chuck Keene's '33 Ford 3-window street rod, Chuck Beck's Beck 904, Pilote's Honda Civic Si, Ray Don't-Have-His-Last-Name's Porsche 912-E, which isn't a 912-E at all.  Keene owns Georgia Hot Rods and the '32 used to be his lead show car.  Now he drives it all over the Southeast (it has a modern fuel-injected Corvette engine, air-conditioning, cruise control, tilt wheel, and a 5-speed).  More on the Beck 904 in a later post. 

"Got Air?"  Forty-millimeter dual throat Webers atop the VW Typ 411 2-liter engine in Ray's Porsche "912-E."  This is a transplant that Ray did himself, having owned the car since new.  The original 912-E used the same 1.7 liter engine as the Porsche 914/4.  Pilote was in way over his head with these guys: Ray engineered his own unusual engine swap, Chuck Keene does his own paint, and Chuck Beck engineers and scratch-builds entire cars.