The text below will appear (or not) in November Tiger Tales.
Fall weather in the California Desert can include high winds and storms. The weekend of this Team Pacific sponsored event was just plain beautiful. Temperatures quickly climbed into the 90's both days and unbelievably there was no wind. Buttonwillow Raceway Park is located about 80 miles north of L.A. on Interstate 5. Several optional configurations of the track can be run thanks to optional extensions and shortcuts which can be included in the circuit on any particular day. The track can support concurrent events running separate east and west loops. For this event most of the track was used (Configuration 1 minus Lost Hill) including the full length of the "drag strip". You can learn more about the track at: http://www.calclub.com/buttonwi.htm
Four Tigers participated over the weekend. Vintage racers Dan Walters, Dale Akuszewski and Dan Westland were cutting some very fast laps. Yours truly with partner in crime Darrell Mountjoy shared driving Tiger Blue and my daily driver Mustang SVT Cobra. Member Bob Horowitz brought out his race prepared Datsun 510 which goes surprisingly fast. Dale A. was trying out his new bionic hips. Pain, surgery, HMO disputes and more pain have kept his race car sidelined for over a year. Maybe you saw it at SUNI? The open track event gave him a chance to try driving at speed and he was doing better than even he expected. We may see his red, right hand drive Tiger back at the front of some BP races soon.
Since returning from SUNI we have been transforming Tiger Blue back to open track ready status. The rollbar and racing seat bolt in. Off come the street tires on new 14" Panasports and on go the ratty 13" Panasports with Yoko 008R (well used) tires. We also replaced the front pads with Porterfield race pads and installed a new smaller bore master cylinder. Each of these changes reduced pedal effort on this un-boosted brake system. We also upgraded the ignition with a rev limiter to help (force) us to observe the redline.
We drove the Tiger on Saturday and the Mustang on Sunday. The track is long with about 13 turns and a section of esses reminiscent of Riverside Raceway this takes some learning. The two tight turns at the north of each loop were especially tricky. The track leading to them is not quite straight requiring a combination of brakes and changing direction to the left to arrive at the right speed at the entry point where a hard left is necessary. We (I) overcooked the East Loop "Off Ramp" early Saturday, missed the apex and off roaded the exit. Late on Sunday with Dan Walters on board instructing we got off at almost the same spot in the Mustang. Both times we had plenty of room and had all four wheels and the car going in the same direction. No damage except to my pride.
Open track events are not competitive and there are no winners or official lap times. Lap times are useful for gauging progress and bragging rights among friends. On this weekend the best times we did in both cars (Tiger Blue & SVT Cobra) were virtually the same. In spite of the inferior brakes the Tiger did as well on Saturday as the Cobra on Sunday which we drove with the benefit of an additional day of track experience. Power to weight is the advantage of the Tiger. One and one half fewer pounds per horsepower is helpfull on this fast course. Starting with a lighter car makes going fast easier.
All in all a great weekend. We drove both cars to the track and home again. No trailer to unload and store. The Tiger only needs a washing and a change of tires and she will be ready for CATI in San Diego. I really do like this car!
