The "VeeMen": Mike Jackson, Doug Switzer, Shane & Pete Viccary, Dick Ryan
Below: A brace of Vintage Vees: TSR, ShadowFax, Kelly and Ringwraith
Below: Our smiling pals at Loose Tools Racing!
Below: Dave and Mike discuss strategies!
Below, My brother Dave Switzer with the TSR
Back to my race report from last weekend: (in probably 'way too much detail!)
When I did get to race and before the weekend went sour, we were on our way to one of the best and best-attended VARAC events of all time. I made several goofy mistakes that fortunately weren't dangerous, but only resulted in me looking silly. Hey, live & learn, eh? My first mistake of the weekend was packing in a rush (again) and ended up with me showing up at the Race Registration without my bloody logbook! No log, no racing! Fortunately, I have a lovely, understanding and helpful wife that found the logbook, jumped in her car and drove to meet me halfway to hand it over. I met a lot of really great people over the almost-4 days at the track, including many folk who were originally associated with my TSR and its development back in the 70's. There was even a chap that said he test-drove the thing 38 years ago!! We again had lots of positive comments and compliments on the car! The TSR once again ran well and was very reliable although we do have some oiling problems I'll have to address. The pressure drops off alarmingly in the corners! (I'm thinking the engine has been put together without a proper windage tray, maybe?) To counter this we simply overfilled the thing with oil and let the excess blow out into the catch tank during the race while keeping a watchful eye on the oil pressure. While this works, it isn't a very good solution to the problem. Also, during my qualifying session, while watching the pressure gauge I committed my first sin and ran over the pit-exit blend line. This resulted in my first black flag and a stop and go penalty. Duhhh. Mistake number 2. Oh well, now rattled a bit, I went back out on the track, joining right in front of the very fast FV veteran's, including the 2 cars visiting from the U.S. I was determined to stay in front of these guys for as long as I could, then follow them around and see if I could learn anything. It was not to be. I got all my thumbs and big toes in it on the way into the "hairpin" at turn 5a and had my first "spin" right in front of everyone between 5a and 5b. I could almost hear the snickering as they went by and I sat facing the wrong way! Oh well, no contact with anything or anybody and I was still "on the track" so when a suitable break in the traffic came, I grabbed another gear, pulled a "u-ey" and took off again back up the straightaway. I'd now achieved Mistake Number 3.
The VARAC veterans had told me there is a time "threshold" at Mosport. Any lap times over 2:00 minutes are merely "highway" speeds, but once you go under 2:00 minutes, you are now actually getting into racing speeds. After qualifying, I checked my times and found out I'd finally "graduated"! I'd officially gone under 2 minutes at Mosport! My qualifying time was a 1:59.6 - good for 24th grid position out of a field of 40! Respectably mid-pack - for a beginner. Then, during my first race we had further oiling problems and a spot of rain toward the end and yes, my driving wasn't aggressive enough, and I dropped 3 positions to 27th. However, my best time had improved to a 1:59.1 - at least I was getting faster, even if I wasn't yet "mixing it up". Oh well, it'll come.
We prepped the car and made everything race-ready Saturday night as we were to be the first race out Sunday morning and none of us felt we wanted to fiddle around at the last minute (or get up early to do it!) We went for dinner and then to bed and huddled through a smashing great thunderstorm Saturday night.
Sunday morning was damp and a bit misty and we wiped the water down off the car and had some breakfast courtesy of crew-chief and masterchef Mike! I suited up and got in the car and fired her up to head for the mock-grid for our race, the first of the morning. On the way up, the car popped and ran a bit rough. I figured it was probably wet and cold from the night before and should dry out once it warmed up. When I got in position on the mock grid, as usual I shut it off to save the battery. When they ordered us to fire up and move onto the track - the damn thing wouldn't start!! I stuck my hand in the air and kept hitting the starter button - backfires, popping and no luck! The grid crew pulled all the other cars around me and I would be forced to start from the back of the pack - bloody 'ell! I finally got the car to run, but only on 1 or 2 cylinders and it was really rough, it would barely move without stalling. Knowing I'd never make a lap around the track I had no choice but to request they wave me back to the garage/paddock area to see if we could find out what the hell was wrong. As I banged and popped and chugged into my paddock-spot, my man Mike ran up and asked what the problem was. PIssed off, I said the F***'n thing is running like S**T! At that point, he looked into the back engine cover and deftly pulled the RAG out of the CARB!! The car ran quite well now. DUHHH! Chalk up Mistake No. 4. I scooted back up to the grid area and was waved into the pits, but by now I was a lap and a half down when I finally got to re-join the race-in-progress. Double-bloody-'ell! Anyway, I put my head down and got on with it and ended up finishing 4th last (at least I wasn't last!) - AND I got my time down to a 1:58.6 - another 1/2 second off! - and still we're contending with the oiling problems. I vowed to myself we'd get it all right in our final race that afternoon - but then the sad disaster happened and unfortunately it was just not to be.
Labels: Vintage Formula Vee adventures
