VSRG e-News September 2002

The web site experienced a few problems in the last week or so and if you sent us an e-mail and it came back from an “autoresponder”, please send the message again. In addition to the “bounced” e-mails we had some damage to the classified pages which have now been corrected.

We want to welcome two new faces to the winners circle! Jeff Hecox posted his third win in a row at Laguna Seca to move into a solid lead for the championship. David Wall put his potent Alfa into second place and Mickey Cohen, in only his second start in the 2.5, put his 510 into a solid third! We should have a full race report and updated points posted soon.

It’s almost time for our next race at Buttonwillow the weekend of October 19-20. For those that have not raced here before we know you will find this to be a fun track to drive, in fact this is the favorite of many of our members. Not only is it long (around 3 miles in the configuration we will use) but there are quite a few fun, challenging turns and chicanes as well as turns with elevation changes!

There will be an open practice day on Friday so this will be the perfect weekend to get lots of “seat” time. The open test day is being put on by the track and they have a full day and a half day (1 pm to dark) test packages available. If you want to attend you should call the track at 661-764-5333 for more details.

The 2.5 cars versus the Porsche 2 liter enduro (one hour) returns due to popular demand. For those that have always wanted to spank a Porsche with their sedan, here's your opportunity!

There is still time to get in on the fun. If you need an entry form there is a PDF on the web site or you can contact HSR-West at 310-530-9731.

Laguna Seca has come & gone….and as we found out, there was a vintage race at most every west coast track that same weekend. However even going up against 2 other vintage races at relatively close locations we still had a field of 22 cars that enjoyed lots of extra track time around this historic venue. Best of all the weather was ideal with mostly sunny skies and a mild, low 70's high each day. September is a great time to race in Monterrey and we plan to be there again next year about the same time.

HMSA treated us great. Not only did they give us an extra track session on Saturday we also had a 40 minute main on Sunday.

As we had published earlier, we held an informal “round table” meeting to discuss a number of topics. There some lively discussions going on but there was little of note that came from the meeting. The the two most important topics that have an impact on VSRG are:

No tire rule was adopted as we learned that the tire companies are in the process of dropping the DOT racing tire to be replaced by a similar non-DOT race tire in the next year or so. This means that all of vintage racing (and most amateur racing) will have to re-write their tire rules soon. We will keep you posted on this.

With the large number of race dates available to us next year we also discussed the number and proximity of 2003 events. The general mood seems to be that we should select seven events for next year and start with the usual Willow Springs event in early March. There was little interest shown in participating in the PIR spectator event in early January as most felt a longer winter break to repair and refit was needed.

The 2003 schedule is starting to take shape. It’s really hard to believe that VSRG has come from having to financially guarantee a minimum field for our group just a year and a half ago to the point we are today. For 2003 we have 16 events from three different organizations from which to choose. In selecting our events we have tried to put at least four weeks separation between races and fulfill the wishes of the members as reflected in the Laguna Seca drivers meeting. We should be publishing the full schedule sometime in October.

At VSRG we welcome new drivers to the 2.5 series. As a new driver you should know that most members are always ready to answer your questions and give you a hand when needed. For those that do not have a lot of experience there are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

Watch your mirrors! You are likely going to be passed a lot in your early days.
Remain consistent and on your chosen line when being overtaken. If you want to let someone by, then point to the side of the car where you expect them to pass. This is not a rule but it always helps an overtaking driver to know your intentions.
Blocking might look cool on TV but it is frowned on (read not acceptable) in most vintage racing groups to include VSRG. While it is the responsibility of the driver attempting to make a pass to do so safely, the driver being passed also has a responsibility to allow racing room when being overtaken.
An easy way to find the fast way around a new track (to you) is to find out which drivers have raced the track a lot and then try to follow them.

In the past few months we have noted that many of the e-mail addresses listed on the web site have been hi-jacked by spammers and some of the newer viruses. The only way to combat this is to change the posted e-mail addresses from time-to-time and we plan to do that in the next few weeks. We suggest you change you VSRG contact to jim@bsedan.com as this address will remain in place.