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TROPHY RUN, June 24
John Classen, director of competition, gives navigator
Janet the time slip for the day.
There were 8 timed
stages for this day, and our cumulative score was 0:45.
The stages went :03 late, :04 late, :04 late; :03 late,
:05 late; :15 late, :05 late; and :06 early. We're working
on our new tires and speedometer calibration, which appears
to still be just a bit off but not bad considering we've
had the new tires less than a full day at that point! We
don't know yet where that will rank us, but we suspect
it will be in the top third or so. The top teams had scores
in the :10 to :25 range.
The first leg was 1:22:53 long, so a three-second
error in almost an hour and a half shows us we can get
good scores and that the Rover can do the job. The course
was a tough one, with narrow undulating back roads, lots
of rough pavement, and slow speed maneuvers (where fractional
errors are magnified). The :15 error was in a maze with
several low speed turns and stops, so we're figuring we're
a second off on these maneuvers and we'll compensate for
that.
We did manage to handle several unexpected
pleasures, such as rookie teams whom were hopelessly confused
and were getting in our way, mowers and other tractors
on the road, several one lane bridges, and a flashing railroad
crossing with a checkpoint just visible beyond (we went
through it anyway, because I saw the work crew working
on the signal box).
We had a lunch stop at a Six Flags, and
enough time to take a water ride before heading back
We also had a passenger along; this is permitted
on Trophy Run days only. Jerry, from the Coker Tire crew,
and one of the guys that mounted and balanced our new tires,
came along in the jump seat. He had never been on the race,
and he'll be spending the next 14 days in the Coker semi
helping folks with tire and wheel problems. He had a great
time, and we were glad to have him along
The drive back in Friday traffic got pretty
rough. No matter how well you did on the timed sections
you still have to cross the finish line, and race cars
as well as civilian traffic lined the highway coming back
in. Temperature was only about 90 or so, so the Land Rover
had no trouble. In fact, if we left the fan override switch
on, we lost 20 degrees of temp in stop and go driving,
stabilizing at 165.
Black Auburn 851 sedan (a full AAA Classic) in stop and
go traffic: the straight 8 Lycoming engine forced them
to get off the road early, but they finished on time.
After receiving our scores, all cars proceeded to an area
where the race staff covered up all of the sponsor decals:
these cannot be visible at the Capitol tomorrow. The only
ones left uncovered were the National Guard and the Greatrace
door decals.
Tonight is the official meeting to begin
the competition, where we'll be headed in just half an
hour.
The Land Rover ran great all day. The new
tires work much better than the old Dunlops, and the engine
never missed a beat. We rejetted it for the heat and humidity,
and the 48 worked perfectly in the old Rochester. We even
picked up quite a bit better mileage.
Tomorrow is the big start at our nation's
Capital, and we'll have lots of pictures for you.
So far, so good. We have some work to do,
but we're in the ballpark.
Steve & Janet
Greatrace 45
BP
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