Healy-Guttman Blog

The 2007 Sovren vintage racing season is underway! The “new race car” #59 has finally been named after this last weekend’s “Spring Sprints” event. After several comments from spectators about the “whistling noise” that the car made as I sped past the grandstands, the name “Piccolo Pete” was coined by Suzanne. ….so “Pete” it is…

Pete whistling while he races:

I ran Pete during Friday’s test & tune day to make sure everything was working properly after a problematic weekend at Laguna Seca a few weeks before. Jim & Terry with Racecraft had their hands full with a defective differential that was wreaking havoc on the CV joints. Apparently Ireland Engineering didn’t quite reassemble the differential properly before they sent it to us over the winter which resulted in two very abbreviated races in Monterey. The problem was remedied before this last weekend’s event and the car ran great at Pacific Raceways.

On Saturday the sun was shining and the temperatures were mild - perfect for racing! The B sedans and FIA Group 2 cars (cars in my Division 2 Historic group (under 2 Litre) - all the BMW’s, Datsuns, Alfas, Cortinas, Porsche 911’s, etc.) were mixed in with the Big Bore group (Corvettes, Mustangs - even a Cobra!). This was going to be an interesting weekend…

In the qualification session I was blessed with a few clear laps (nobody in my way) and had a pretty decent time of 1:42:19 - enough to qualify me in the top 3 of our regular group - however in this mixed group for the weekend, I was 19th… As we lined up for the first and only race for that afternoon, it was strange and LOUD as big american iron roared down the hot pits to slot into the grid. I was sandwiched between two 911’s that I am grouped with regularly - two very good drivers with well prepared cars. I decided my primary goal was to stay out of the way and on the asphalt. This race was the typical rolling start with a pace car. After the green flag dropped, my head was ringing (even with earplugs and a helmet) as the big bore group thundered down the straight. I managed to stay ahead of the 911 grided just behind me and was trying to hang on to the other. We worked our way around the first lap towards turn 8. I was right behind the 911 into turn 8 when he suddenly spun. Luckily I had chosen to stay on the outside (the “safe” line) and was able to avoid the Porsche with a few feet to spare. I could see the dust cloud in my mirrors as I went through turn 9 but couldn’t see the melee that ensued. Later on, these photos were shared with me by my friend Gregg Salmon (Fish) and Bob Pengraph:

After turn 8 and the near miss - John Hall in the black Alfa was hearing the Jim Morrison song “Riding on the Storm”:

The two 911’s behind me here eventually made it by me and had a great race:

There were about 30 cars behind us - Walt Cox and his red 911 didn’t make it by:

Jeff Larson and his Datsun took a shortcut through the infield to avoid contact:

In the end, the two 911’s that were on either side of me in pre-grid after qualifying were both out for the weekend with damage. I haven’t mentioned the driver’s name that spun just to be fair. He made a common mistake by downshifting into the wrong gear (resulting in the spin). I did the same thing last year in Portland and know how easy it can be in our historic cars with no computers, paddle shifters and other modern aids. It happens. Nobody was hurt and everyone was equally philosophical about this “racing incident”.

A few other photos from Saturday:

A very fast 2002 built by Korman and now raced by a new driver. He was by me quickly on the straight following this photo. ….I’ll I saw was a yellow blur…

The black 911, red Alfa and me had a great weekend dicing back and forth:

After a great party put on by Tony & Annie Garmey at their beautiful home on Saturday night (a “pre-function” for the New Zealand racing adventure we will be participating in February of 2008) we settled into our home away from home at the track. ….and woke up to the sound of heavy rain that night…. However, the rain quit and although it was cloudy, the track quickly dried up for the first race of two that Sunday. During the first race, the combination of Hoosiers, a cool day and the incentive of trying to keep up with Gary Tisdale’s Porsche 911 and Bruce McKean’s Alfa Romeo GTV resulted in my personal best for Pacific Raceways - a 1:41.84. There were two other 2002’s that were ahead of me and in the 1:40’s but both experienced mechanical problems and were out for race 2.

Race #2 on Sunday was a unique race with a “standing start”. This is a Formula 1 type start and caused quite a controversy earlier in the day during the driver’s meeting. Many drivers thought it would be dangerous. The big bore group was very vocal about this… In the end, it was great fun! It was good practice for New Zealand where every race is started similarly. This was my best finish of the day. I managed to work my way up through the pack and finished 3rd in my division (11th overall if you throw in the big bore division). I had started in the 20th spot. Bruce McKean was running strong and he slowly walked away from me, but Gary Tisdale and I had a great race together. He got caught up in some traffic that helped me stay ahead (otherwise he would have eventually passed me). He was trying hard and smoking his right front tire on every lap around turn 3a. I think we both kept it “clean” and in the process had great fun.

If you are interested in some in-car video action, check out the following. YouTube limits the clip to 10 minutes, so I had to be selective. I took this video with my new Elmo SUV-Cam The camera itself is the size of a small cigar and the recording unit is the size of a large pack of chewing gum. It’s a great setup. The picture quality can be much better than what you see below, but YouTube “dumbs down” the file…

We now take a break until June 30th for the Historics at Pacific Raceways and then the July 6 - 8 Historics at Portland. Between now and then, the Racecraft team will be working some more magic on Pete to get him ready for these two events - the biggest of the season. For more info on Sovren racing or the schedule, visit: Sovren