Hi guys, Well, it=E2=80=99s been quite awhile since my last road trip report, and I= =E2=80=99m sorry=20 that I=E2=80=99ve been quite remiss in getting this out--it=E2=80=99s severa= l weeks late. In=20 fact I have been quite busy, travelling here and there and enjoying my GT-35= 0=20 about as much as humanly possible. Since it will take an age to load, you might as well click on the link below= =20 and let the photos download while you read further: http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/sportingwood.jpg For the past year and a half, I=E2=80=99ve been blasting all over Europe, vi= siting=20 friends, attending various races, club events and vintage car rallies, but i= n=20 all that time I=E2=80=99ve really never done any traditionally touristy stuf= f. Last Christmas, in lieu of =E2=80=98stuff=E2=80=99, I presented my 70-year-o= ld mom with a=20 simple gift--a book consisting of two- and three-day scenic drives through r= ural=20 England, and the promise to fly her over there first class, and then take he= r=20 wherever she would like to go. Of course, Christmas time is not really=20 appropriate for such activities, so we agreed that early September would be=20= more=20 appropriate. And so it was that one day earlier this month, we flew down to Los Angeles=20 and from there, directly to London, utilizing my employee passes to get firs= t=20 class accommodations for the both of us. Quite a treat, especially when you= =20 consider that the normal fare for such seats is $15,890--each!!! Upon our arrival in London, we took a cab to the home of Geoff Peters, who=20 has proven to be a most generous host and an excellent caretaker for my car.= =20 The next morning, my mom and I set off to visit East Anglia, one of the less= =20 densely populated regions of the country, and one-time home to hundreds of=20 airfields during WWII. We had a wonderful and remarkably slow-paced drive=20 through the countryside, plonking along at 40 mph or so, stopping every few=20= minutes=20 to check out a little village, or a stately home, or some other point of=20 interest. We even spent one night at the home of Andy Prill, my Porsche 356= racing=20 buddy--his house was originally a bakery when it was first constructed in=20 1640, and it was interesting getting a tour and seeing how homes were built=20= back=20 then. We returned to Geoff=E2=80=99s house in time to attend his wedding reception= .. Johnny=20 Woods, my companion at this year=E2=80=99s 24 Hours of Le Mans, was also pre= sent,=20 although he left his Pantera behind and drove up in his beater Porsche 912 (= which=20 he has since sold, and a 911 will soon take its place). Geoff=E2=80=99s new wife Kim was formally inducted into the Order Of De Toma= so by=20 being coerced into the Pantera for a photo shoot--except it took place in th= e=20 engine bay, not the cabin! The next day, my mom and I continued our travels and spent the next five day= s=20 wandering around Wales and Devon, visiting with George Gordon-Smith (fallen=20 Mangusta owner and my co-pilot on the Euroclassic earlier this year) and als= o=20 spending a night at Johnny Woods=E2=80=99 house. We also visited Robert Bro= wn, my=20 London Bus Company-owning friend who is piecing together his Jaguar XK120-ba= sed=20 race car after wrecking it on a twisty road a few months ago, when the radia= tor=20 cap blew off, blinding him with steaming radiator fluid! The GT-350 proved to be an extremely comfortable mount for such activities,=20 thanks to its Recaro seats, and people really got a kick out of seeing it. =20 They were quite taken aback seeing my mom hop into the passenger seat and (b= y the=20 end of the week) expertly strap herself in with the Simpson five-point racin= g=20 harness! At the end of the week I was struck with the fact that I have never, ever=20 driven so slowly for so long! The whole time, I rarely saw the far side of=20= 2000=20 rpm, and in fact several times I found myself pulling over to let faster=20 traffic pass me--ME! How many times I wished that my mom was of a more spor= ting=20 bent--some of the roads that we were travelling on were just begging to be=20 thrashed upon! But no.... On Thursday morning, I took her to Heathrow where she flew off to go visit=20 her family in Canada; I then drove to Gatwick to pick up Ron Wade and his=20 girlfriend Sharon, Pantera owners from Washington state who were flying in t= o visit=20 Geoff. After they got settled in at the house, I took them to visit=20 Brooklands, the spiritual home of British motorsport. For those who aren=E2=80=99t aware, Brooklands is a storied place filled wit= h=20 tradition. It was the world=E2=80=99s first purpose-built automobile racing= circuit, and=20 consisted of a large, irregularly shaped loop with steeply banked corners. =20= It=E2=80=99s=20 probably larger than Indy. It is also the home of the British aerospace=20 industry, and in fact the old Vickers aircraft company still has a factory t= here,=20 where they built the wing assemblies for the various Airbus planes. The track fell into disuse when WWII broke out, and later much of it was=20 destroyed to make way for housing developments and an industrial park, but m= uch of=20 the original banking remains, as well as the old garages, buildings and the=20 runway contained within the circuit. We had an enjoyable afternoon wandering from one building to the next,=20 admiring the various pre-war racing cars and motorcycles which once did batt= le on=20 the high banks. Also interesting were the various aircraft on display, eith= er=20 inside hangars or outside on the grass. Close to 100 volunteer docents were= =20 on-hand, and every time we turned around, somebody was cheerfully giving us=20= a=20 more in-depth explanation of what we were seeing. This is very much a =E2=80=98living=E2=80=99 museum, and a 1929 Grindlay Pee= rless motorcycle=20 had been taken out and was being ridden around by a journalist there to do a= n=20 article on the bike. It is completely original, exactly as it finished its=20 last race at Brooklands in the 1930s. Touring this museum merely whet our appetite for what was to come, for the=20 upcoming weekend would see Lord March once again playing host to the vintage= =20 motoring faithful at his large estate--this was the weekend of the Goodwood=20 Revival. The Goodwood Revival is a very unique event. Rather than a simple exhibitio= n=20 of old cars, this is an attempt to recreate the sights, sounds, and most=20 importantly, the *feel* of the old Goodwood race track, which was in operati= on=20 from 1948 to 1964. To that end, the event organizers have issued an extraordinary edict that=20 spectators won=E2=80=99t be allowed inside the circuit unless they are attir= ed in dress=20 appropriate to some point during that period. No jeans and T-shirts, unless= =20 you=E2=80=99re a Rocker astride a BSA caf=C3=A9 racer and wearing a period b= iker jacket and=20 puddin=E2=80=99 bowl helmet and goggles. No, the dress code for an English Motor Race was fairly formal back then, an= d=20 that meant slacks, coats, ties and hats. I was armed with my =E2=80=98unifo= rm=E2=80=99 from=20 last year, consisting of a nice tweed flat cap, slacks, shirt and (De=20 Tomaso-themed) tie. Unfortunately I don=E2=80=99t have a tweed jacket, but=20= Geoff loaned me=20 one from his late father=E2=80=99s wardrobe. =20 Ron and Sharon planned to visit London and do the main touristy bits on=20 Friday, but I was having none of it--the Revival is a three-day event, and I= =20 planned to see everything possible! So that morning, I jumped into the GT-350 and sped down the A3 towards the=20 south of England. Following the excellent signs, I soon turned off the A3 o= nto=20 much smaller roads which wound their way through the countryside, past=20 centuries old farms and through small villages, until finally arriving at th= e border=20 of Lord March=E2=80=99s estate, known as Goodwood. Lord March has himself a very sizable piece of land--the kind of land that=20 stretches to the horizon. It has a gigantic manor house, whose driveway is=20= the=20 scene of the Goodwood Festival of Speed each summer. But it also has an=20 absolutely wonderful, and extremely fast racetrack. The facility has a history dating back to W.W.II, where Lord March (widely=20 known as Freddie) allowed a portion of his sizable estate to be used as an=20 aerodrome. Its grass strip housed several RAF squadrons, and Spitfires were= =20 launched to defend London during the Battle of Britain and beyond. While the runways themselves were grass, a paved road circled the field, and= =20 shortly after the war it was suggested that this pavement would make for a=20 fine motor racing circuit. Lord March had been an apprentice at Bentley Mot= ors=20 and had been a works driver for MG, so he was amenable to the idea, and the=20 first race was held in 1948. (The winner of that race was a young Stirling=20= Moss,=20 driving a 500cc single-seater.) The circuit saw continuous use, with the only modification being the=20 introduction of a rather formidable chicane on the front straight in an effo= rt to keep=20 speeds under control. Rather than attempting to describe the track itself,=20 I=E2=80=99ll let Stirling Moss do it for me: http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/goodwood.html The track saw its final race in 1966, as the speeds had simply become too=20 great for the track to safely support. It was formally retired, and lay in=20 disuse until Freddie March=E2=80=99s grandson decided to reopen it for a rev= ival. Unlike vintage races as we known them (i.e. the Monterey Historic Races),=20 which are modern, glitzy events which just happen to feature old cars (with=20 varying racing provenance), the revival was from the outset designed to be a= =20 nostalgic affair, spiritually more akin to a Renaissance Faire. To that end= , strict=20 rules were laid down to help restore a properly nostalgic feel to the event. Simply put, anything manufactured after 1966 is banned from view. This incl= u des clothing, and therefore ALL participants, and spectators, are required t= o=20 be dressed in period attire if they are to be allowed into the confines of t= he=20 circuit proper. No modern vehicles are allowed to be in view either; modern= =20 cars are parked in fields blocked by large hedges. The original grandstands= ,=20 pits and marshaling stands have all been restored, and the result is a very=20 convincing approximation of what the track would have looked like in its hey= day. When I pulled through the gate (which was simply a hole in a hedge off a=20 little road), I made my way through a time portal and found myself in a gian= t=20 field filled with cars manufactured before 1966.=20 I have mentioned before how marvelous it is to me that British enthusiasts=20 actually DRIVE their cars, rather than cosseting and polishing them and trea= ting=20 them like four-wheeled Faberg=C3=A9 eggs. As I was shutting down my car, I=20= heard=20 the distinctive sound of a V-12 Ferrari, glanced in the mirror and saw a=20 familiar red silhouette pass behind. A glance revealed that it had the gene= ral=20 look of the fabled 250 GTO, although something struck me as being a bit =E2= =80=98off=E2=80=99=20 about it. I figured initially that it was a =E2=80=98recreation=E2=80=99 formed atop t= he chassis of=20 some lesser Ferrari such as a 250 GTE. I saw the owner get out, slam the do= or=20 and walk away without so much as a glance over his shoulder. When I approac= hed=20 it, I noted that the fenders had been ever so slightly flared to accommodate= =20 wider wheels and tires. A shame, I thought...but then I thought further: If you are going to go through the time and trouble to fabricate a replica o= f=20 a 250 GTO, aren=E2=80=99t you going to take great pains to make it look =E2= =80=98right=E2=80=99? I=20 got right up to it and looked inside, and was just shocked. Both doors panels were absolutely covered from top to bottom, front to back=20 with tech inspection stickers from various events. Le Mans 1962, Sebring 19= 63,=20 and on and on--at least a hundred stickers from venues around the world. This, friends, was a REAL Ferrari 250 GTO! Something on the order of $12 to= =20 $14 million worth of motorcar, parked up and left sitting in a field as thou= gh=20 it were a VW Beetle. Amazing! The parking lot was a sea of desirable cars, and I took a quick walk through= ..=20 There were several tidy Mustangs for sale, with asking prices that indicate= =20 that they are gaining appreciation overseas. A decent 1966 Fastback was=20 asking =C2=A320K (about $36K) while a 1967 GT, 1968 GT and 1966 convertible=20= were all=20 priced at =C2=A325K (about $45K). After spending about 45 minutes admiring the hundreds of classic cars that=20 people like me had driven to the event, I entered the grounds to check out t= he=20 racing action. The various racing classes were filled with significant racing automobiles,=20 with a distinctly European flavor. There were Ferraris of every description= ,=20 Maseratis too, plus some wonderful Jaguars and Listers. Shelby was extremel= y=20 well-represented, with seven 289 Cobras (all of them were titled as =E2=80= =9CAC Cobra=E2=80=9D=20 although many of them were Shelbys, not ACs), plus a 427 competition Cobra=20 and two original Daytona Coupes. Oh, and there were no less than seven Mk 1= =20 GT40s as well. The Saloon class had a broad mix of cars, all of which raced against one=20 another in period. Besides European offerings such as Alfa Romeo 1600 GTAs,= =20 Jaguar Mk IIs, Lotus Cortinas and Mini Coopers, there were some brawny Ameri= can=20 bruisers, including an original Alan Mann Mustang (converted to right-hand-d= rive,=20 and to be raced at the event by Alan Mann himself), two Ford Falcons (one=20 raced by Bobby Rahal), and four Ford Galaxie 500s! Most people don=E2=80=99t know that the Galaxie 500 was an extremely popular= and=20 competitive racing car in England in the early 1960s. Holman & Moody took=20 NASCAR-spec Galaxie 500s and set them up for road racing, and exported them=20= to the=20 UK. There, they absolutely dwarfed the other cars they races against, but a= rmed=20 with powerful 427 side-oiler engines, they also outran them, winning the=20 national championship in 1963! I was also quite surprised to find not one, but TWO De Tomaso racing cars. =20 One was a 1962 De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo F-1 car, which I had seen last year, but= =20 the other was a new one to me--a 1962 De Tomaso Formula Junior, powered by a= 1.1=20 liter Ford Anglia motor with a trick cylinder head. In fact I spotted the=20 car from a distance and instantly recognized it as being a De Tomaso, becaus= e it=20 was fitted with the wheels which were subsequently used on the De Tomaso=20 Vallelunga. Both cars were being campaigned by all-Italian teams, with not=20= a=20 single word of English between them, so sadly I was unable to speak with the= m=20 (although the mechanics did get a kick out of my De Tomaso-logo necktie!) Besides the automobiles, there were also tons of vintage motorcycles that=20 would be competing in their own race, many of them ridden by celebrity rider= s. Friday was a practice day, and thus I was able to see all classes out on=20 track on the same day. One of the amazing things about this event is the al= l-star=20 cast of celebrity drivers. Among the famous drivers competing in the variou= s=20 races (and many drivers drove two, three or even four different cars through= =20 the course of the weekend) were Barrie =E2=80=9CWhizzo=E2=80=9D Williams, De= rek Bell, Richard=20 =E2=80=9CDicky=E2=80=9D Attwood, Henri Pescarolo, Patrick Tambay, Sir John W= hitmore, Alan=20 Jones, Jackie Oliver, Lyn St. James, Ren=C3=A9 Arnoux, Stirling Moss, Mark H= ales,=20 Nick Mason, Peter Hardman, Bobby Rahal, Rauno Aaltonen, Tiff Needell, Dario=20 Franchitti, Emanuele Pirro, Gerhard Berger, Jochen Mass...and all these driv= ers=20 could be found just in one of the classes! In between the practice sessions were aerial demonstrations by WWII aircraft= ,=20 including the Sally B, a privately owned B-17 Flying Fortress, which was use= d=20 in the making of the film =E2=80=9CMemphis Belle=E2=80=9D. At the end of the day, I returned to Geoff=E2=80=99s house, where he and I w= ent to=20 dinner with Ron and Sharon, and were later joined by Johnny Woods and his fr= iend=20 Mark. This time Johnny drove his Pantera, and as he drove past the=20 restaurant car alarms started sounding--what an entrance! I knew that all of them were a bunch of lazy slugs and would be hard-pressed= =20 to get an early start in the morning, so I contacted Nate Stevens and coaxed= =20 him out of his lair. Nate is an American who has both a Pantera and a Mangu= sta=20 undergoing restoration (as well as a very tidy Ferrari 365 Boxer), and as an= =20 employee of the U.S. Government, he is posted to England on a three-year tou= r,=20 living out in the countryside only a few miles from Silverstone. Nate got u= p=20 at the crack of dawn and drove down to meet me at Geoff=E2=80=99s house at 7= :00 a.m.,=20 and we set off for Goodwood again. This was the first day of actual racing, and the racing began with the=20 Goodwood Trophy, a 12-lap race for 1948-54 Grand Prix, Formula Two and Formu= la Libre=20 open-wheeled cars. The field was primarily filled with Maseratis, but=20 significantly, of the 14 ERA (English Racing Automobiles) ever built, seven=20= of them=20 were entered in this race! Nate and I wandered through the vendor display area, before setting off on a= =20 trek around the circuit. All around us were people dressed in period costum= e=20 (as we were), along with big bands and =E2=80=9850s rock n=E2=80=99 roll ban= ds. Various=20 highly specialized clubs added to the atmosphere, including a group of Livin= g=20 History buffs dressed as WWII Home Guard personnel, in their own encampment,= a=20 rather large group of 1950s police officers with suitable police cars and=20 motorcycles, and a collection of WWII fighter planes were parked on the gras= s,=20 accompanied by pilots, mechanics and various others in the proper period cos= tume. Periodically during the day, the racing would be halted while the WWII=20 fighters took to the air and performed aerial demonstrations--among them wer= e two=20 P-51 Mustangs, a P-47 Thunderbolt, Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, and even a fl= y-by=20 of a Lancaster bomber, still owned and operated by the RAF! One part of the garage area had been turned over to what passes for a=20 =E2=80=98featured marque=E2=80=99, this year being AC Cars. There were abou= t 20 different AC cars,=20 including quite a few Aces. One looked very odd, as it had a streamlined fr= ont=20 end. This was the 1962 AC factory entrant at Le Mans, which was purchased=20 immediately after the race by a Frenchman, who owns and drives it to this da= y! Thanks to the wonders of cell phones, during the course of the day we=20 periodically were able to link up with Geoff and his new wife Kim, and Johnn= y Woods=20 and his friend Mark. This was the maiden voyage for Geoff=E2=80=99s Pantera= , which has=20 been undergoing restoration for the better part of two years. It had some=20 shakedown miles on it, but this was the first time that it had ventured afie= ld. =20 Geoff was armed with a large assortment of tools for the inevitable=20 breakdown, and Johnny was following behind to provide the mechanical experti= se. So it=20 was a shock to everybody when Johnny=E2=80=99s Pantera suddenly sputtered to= a halt=20 just a few miles short of the track! Johnny, who is so self-confident that he purposely travels without any tools= =20 whatsoever, found himself among the pedestrian brigade! The trouble was=20 traced to an electric fuel pump failure, actually a failure of the electrica= l=20 connector on the end of the wire. With the help of Geoff=E2=80=99s tools, h= e was able to=20 affect a field fix, and they were soon underway once more. Despite the fact that their Panteras were made well after the 1966 cutoff=20 date, they were able to successful blag their way into the vintage car park,= =20 where the Panteras drew quite a crowd. The De Tomaso Formula Junior put in a credible effort during its race,=20 starting and finishing near the back of the pack, but competing mightily wit= h a pack=20 of three other cars and finally prevailing. Among the other events during the day was a tribute to Jackie Stewart, where= =20 almost 30 cars that he had driven during the course of his career were parad= ed=20 around the track, with Jackie at the wheel of the lead car. Chrysler also=20 pulled out all the stops, and in an attempt to market the current Chrysler 3= 00=20 in Europe, had a special parade celebrating 50 years of the Chrysler 300. T= hey=20 had representative examples of each of the models made from 1955-1965,=20 gathered from Sweden, Norway, Italy, England and the USA, and they put on a=20= nice=20 parade, demonstrating the history of the =E2=80=9CDuesenberg of the 50s=E2= =80=9D and hopefully=20 shining some light on their current product, which is poised to go head-to-h= ead=20 with the 5-series BMW at a significantly reduced cost. Nate and I stuck together and watched the races until the end of the day,=20 then made our way back to the car park where we linked up with Geoff and Joh= nny. =20 While most other people were heading for home, we had grander ambitions. The De Tomaso Driver=E2=80=99s Club of the UK had planned a track event of s= orts, to=20 be held that evening. Sadly, due to ever-escalating prices and more stringe= nt=20 noise restrictions, normal roadracing track events are becoming scarce in th= e=20 UK, and the small De Tomaso club simply can=E2=80=99t afford to stage them.=20= However,=20 the Shoreham airport (located on the south coast of England) closes to air=20 traffic at 7:00 p.m., and the airfield management have taken to renting out=20= the=20 runway for drag racing! So we travelled in convoy to the airport, arriving around 7:30 p.m., just in= =20 time to catch the driver=E2=80=99s meeting. Word had gotten out and there w= ere quite=20 a few cars present, although many of the De Tomaso club members had elected=20= to=20 bring cars other than their De Tomasos. Peter Saywell, a car collector of some renown, brought no less than FOUR car= s=20 to the event: Lamborghini Murci=C3=A9lago, Koenigsegg CCR, AMG Mercedes SL5= 5 DTM,=20 and (for his wife), a Mazda MX5. These are some pretty spendy rides; the=20 Mercedes was a week old and cost $450,000, and the Koenigsegg (which I saw f= or=20 the first time at Le Mans) was upwards of $650,000. But to his everlasting=20 credit, Peter doesn=E2=80=99t just buy cars, he DRIVES them! There was much screwing around as the timing equipment was set up, and by th= e=20 time the cars were ready to run, it was pitch dark. Oh, but wait--what=E2=80=99s this crowd gathered around Geoff=E2=80=99s Pant= era? Ron Wade=20 had devised a carbon fiber shift linkage; version 1.0 snapped like a twig=20 during installation, so the car was now equipped with version 2.0, which had= its=20 own fundamental design problems. The supposed carbon fiber rods were twisti= ng=20 like torsion bars, and side-to-side movement of the shift lever was resultin= g=20 in substantially less rotational movement of the shift rod where it entered=20= the=20 gearbox--and thus reverse had gone away. Some screwing around coupled with some well-chosen words of profanity had th= e=20 linkage tightened up somewhat and the car was good to go. The runway had no lights at all, and thus the cars were set to launch into=20 the inky blackness, relying on their high beams to illuminate the way. A ca= r=20 was sent 1/4 mile down the runway and parked with its headlights shining acr= oss=20 the runway, to denote the finish line, and floodlights were set up to=20 illuminate the launch. Almost none of the drivers had ever done any drag racing, and thus it was=20 rather humorous to watch their initial launches. Some would slip the clutch= =20 mercilessly, others would bog and stumble, while others (like Johnny Woods)=20= would=20 initially launch well, but then blow the upshift and go into 4th gear instea= d=20 of 2nd. Geoff=E2=80=99s Pantera, armed with a ridiculously tall rear end ra= tio that=20 gives 40 mph per 1000 rpm in top (that=E2=80=99s a 240 mph top speed), still= managed to=20 accelerate smartly thanks to the 550 ft/lbs of torque coming from the=20 427-inch Windsor stroker. Not so much shifting required, as he crossed the=20= finish=20 line in 3rd gear. The most outrageous car there was a 1952 Allard, which had been owned since=20 it was only a year old by the current owner. While Allards are revered as=20 vintage race cars (and are very valuable), this one looked like a junkyard d= og, as=20 it had suffered at the hands of its owner a host of modifications over the=20 years. To his credit, he had used the car in a variety of different ways,=20 including setting a speed record of 198 mph at Bonneville in 2000. Now powe= red by=20 a killer big-block Chevy, it was completely set up for drag racing, which=20 looked decidedly odd! It had just the previous week won the Brighton Speed=20 Trials, establishing itself as the fastest car in England, turning a sub-9-s= econd=20 quarter mile (not bad for a 50-year-old sports car!) After watching most of the cars make numerous runs, the cold started to get=20 to us and we finally called it a night and headed back to Geoff=E2=80=99s ho= use. =20 Traffic was mercifully light and I was able to cruise right along on the M-2= 5. =20 Some clown in a perfectly normal car started harassing me on the motorway,=20 tailgating me, then passing me, then pulling to the left and slowing, tailga= ting me=20 again, etc. I didn=E2=80=99t know if he was drunk or just obnoxious--there=20= was no=20 indication that he was any admirer of my car however. Finally I found an op= en=20 stretch of road and just matted it, zinging it up to 5800 rpm in top gear, a= n=20 indicated (although perhaps even slightly pessimistic) 135 mph. The pest=20 rapidly turned into a speck in the rear view mirror, never to be seen again.= .... The next morning, I found myself travelling solo down to Goodwood again. =20 Geoff and Kim had had enough, and Ron and Sharon wanted to tour London some=20= more.=20 As Kim had parked her Mini at the track but then ridden home with Geoff for= =20 some strange reason, Geoff accompanied me down there to pick up his wife=E2= =80=99s car=20 and drive it home (let=E2=80=99s see--SHE abandons her car an hour and a hal= f from the house for no particularly good reason, but then HE is sent to retrieve it=20 the next day? Welcome to marriage!) I then spent the day wandering around by myself, taking the opportunity to=20 more closely examine specific cars in the pits. I ran into Bill Cotter, who= I=20 had come to know at the Goodwood Festival of Speed; he was again back with h= is=20 Scarab F-1 car, which sadly broke a driveshaft right at the drop of the gree= n=20 flag. The De Tomaso F-1 car faltered early in its race, after having set a very=20 competitive qualifying time, and stopped on course. When the race was=20 red-flagged after a spectacular wreck, it fired up and limped back around to= the pits,=20 but was then declared DOA. =20 Near the end of the afternoon, I managed to link up with Colin Bradshaw, the= =20 owner of a very late Pantera GT5-S, who I had last seen at the Indianapolis=20 corner cruise at Le Mans. He managed to come up with a ticket to the=20 grandstands, and there I watched the last few races along with his wife, Kim= .. One thing that really struck me was how clean the racing was this year. In=20 past years I=E2=80=99ve noted that these races, and particularly the TT race= (featuring=20 Cobras, Corvettes, Ferraris, Jaguars etc.) were more like demolition derbies= ,=20 with drivers haphazardly crashing into one another on a routine basis. =20 Apparently Lord March really put his foot down this year, because everybody=20= drove=20 with their heads and there was almost no car-to-car contact in any of the=20 classes. When the event ended, I found I could barely tear myself away from the place= ..=20 I hung around in the paddock, watching as the cars were slowly put to bed=20 (including the spectacular sight of seeing the original Ecurie Ecosse=20 transporter being loaded up with three original Ecurie Ecosse cars--Jaguar C= -type,=20 Cooper Monaco, and Lister Jaguar), glimpsing a bit of the awards ceremony (p= resided=20 over by Lord March, of course), and then spending another hour or more just=20 wandering around in the parking lot, watching the classic cars firing up and= =20 setting off. It was almost 9:00 p.m. before I finally had to acknowledge that the event=20 had drawn to a close, so I hopped into my car and smoothly returned back to=20 Geoff=E2=80=99s house. It was with a certain feeling of sadness that I packed up my gear and set of= f=20 for the airport the next morning--I had enjoyed fantastic weather throughout= =20 my stay, visited with quite a few different friends, seen many charming litt= le=20 villages, churches and castles with my mom, attended a wonderful wedding,=20 toured one of the more significant automotive and aviation museums in Europe= , and=20 capped it all off with what is arguably the very best vintage race event=20 anywhere in the world. As I trundled through the airport, I consoled myself that it wouldn=E2=80= =99t be long=20 until my next automotive escapade, as the following weekend was the Nor-Cal=20 Shelby Club Mini-Nats at Sears Point, where an entirely different batch of=20 friends would be campaigning their cars. And although my Mustang remains in Europe, it is far from forgotten--in fact= =20 it will soon see me once again behind the wheel, embarking on what may perha= ps=20 be my greatest adventure yet! But for that story, you=E2=80=99ll have to st= ay=20 tuned.... Mike
