From The Track

0neoffive

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Got a nice call from Dale this AM while they were waiting for the fog to lift. Sounds like our fellow hobbyists are having way too much fun. Now jealous; Can't wait for the pics. :D
 
Fun has (had) it's limits...

Unfortunately for HSC...

But it was awesome seeing them all run under fury. 55 had inside line on at least a few turns visible from my spot. The shunt is regrettable,yes racing, but the car was just beautiful.

Had my own shunt pre event. Rented a high quality lense to take copious pics and ... Long story short it also was broken. So, sadly I'll have only some long distance iPhone pics and video to share soon. Once given time and non mobile phone posting ability.

I thank the owners and crew for running their historic tigers. Fantastic action.
 
Very sad to see the 55 car get bent, but it isn't the first time and I'm sure Dave will get it back into fighting shape soon.
 
Gutted to see 55 damaged.. was such a stunning resto. was this in practice or the race? how are the tigers faring in the qualifying/race?

Who was driving hsc55.. are they ok?

Back in 2006 i bought some photos of the hsc car at the scca runoffs.. they showed it getting speared by the vette.. its seen worse..am sure again it will return to glory.
 
Pass rear quarter damage

Front pass brake caliper damage... Unknown if root cause or effect no doubt the car will be back. The question, not for me to answer, is when. They might be able to run tomorrow, but would take energy for sure...

Michael, today is practice / qual. Real deals tomorrow. I won't make it. The showing for the corral and post race pics will be substantial as well. Phone will allow A single pic.
 
Tigers Did Grrrreat!

First of all, the Hollywood Sports Car tiger did not run today (Saturday). I can't say what caused the accident Friday - but there was rumor that there might have been a stuck throttle for some reason. During this exciting time, one of the front calipers came apart, and the spilled hot brake fluid caused the smoke that seemed to be coming from under the hood. There was a little bit of rear fender and taillight damage to the car.

In the final race for Group 4A (1963 - 1966 GT Cars Over 2500cc), there were eight Tigers that started the final race. Three of the top ten cars were Tigers! Finishing 8th was Dan Walters. John Morton took 5th. And Dale Akuszewski nailed down third. The top two finishers were a 1964 327cid Corvette Roadster (1st) and a 1963 289cid Cobra (2nd). All of the Tigers that started the race finished the race.

It was awesome to see all of the Tigers running the race and my thanks go to all of the owners and drivers for making the crowds aware of the potential of Tigers! Even the announcers had earlier commented that this was the most Tigers they have seen at the track and that it was the 50th Anniversary of the Tigers.

Also, thanks go to Mike Michels for organizing the track shoot Friday night. The details are still being worked out on how to disseminate the photographs, taken by volunteer Dan McMedan - a great photographer - and I am looking forward to seeing the results.
 
Great news! A podium finish is a good result for the marque.. Scf coming in top 5 is also great.. How did 65 tom s and the gulstrad tiger go? Did they tigers finish ahead of their grid positions?
 
race

Hi Michael, Dan W. told me that in an earlier race Tom S. thought that he was being black flagged and he pulled in. It turns out that the black flag was not for Tom but another guy but by the time he got back out on the track tons of cars passed him so he had to start the final race in 26th place.

During the final race he did great and moved up 12 spots to finish in 14th.

Dan also moved up a couple of spots in the final race and was fast.

Both Dale and John Morton finished higher than they started, at least a couple of spots each I think.

All in all the tigers did great.

I'm looking forward to Dan M's track pictures, he took several different versions and it will be very high quality. To me the nicest iteration was when George Boskoff stood all alone in front of the assembled tigers.

Bob J.
 
Track photos

I hope someone (CAT or one of the other clubs?) takes the initiative to make the photos available to us out here in the hinterlands :)
 
screen captures

the Tigers seem to have a strong group up the front with 3 running close quaters,
 
We're back home but while the memories of Monterey are still fresh I'd like to first thank a few of those involved:

Bill Dolittle arranged for a great Tiger lunch at the Baja Cantina on Thursday. (He also helped get a Tiger class for the Tuesday car show).

Mike Michels did a great job setting up the group photo on the track as well as the Tiger drive over the corkscrew to get there. (Where Dan MacMedan handled the photography.)

Patrick King helped Doug Lyle get the Tiger Prototype to the track. Doug also hosted George Boskoff during his stay.

Terry Curry displayed crowd favorite banner featuring a Tiger timeline. Jere Teepen added a special 50th anniversary banner.

Claudia and Tom cooked and served over 5 dozen bratwursts at Saturday's party. Patrick & the STOA helped with the last minute shopping, including keeping us stocked with ice (as did Rick Mueller, Joe Jazinski and Jack Hubka) The Saueressigs added a case of wine and black berry cobbler. Stan Clarke brought lots of cookies. And Dave Lipsky pitched in as well.

Finally, David Brooks stuck around the pits last night and helped until the last Tiger got loaded at nearly 9PM!

I guess you get the picture: a lot of folks in the Tiger community pitched in and put together a great event. Thanks to you all!

bt
at the beach
 
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Class 4A Results

Here is a link to the results for Class 4A - 1963-1966 GT Cars Over 2500 ccs. This is the one that included the Tigers.

http://www.mazdaraceway.com/sites/main/files/file-attachments/grp_4a_rr.pdf

I did not realize that Cobras came with (what is listed as) 2500-cc engines! Wonder if they were 289s, 427s, or something that was modified from stock.

What a fine showing for all the cars racing under the Sunbeam Tiger banner!

David
 
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A small review of the tiger on the C&S site:

http://www.classicandsportscar.com/...-trans-am-photo-finish-at-motorsports-reunion

3_2.jpg


"Corvette ace Jeffrey Abramson’s won a spectacular V8 contest beating John McKenna’s Cobra, but a strong Sunbeam Tiger contingent present at Laguna cheered home Dale Akuszewski to third with ex-Shelby works driver John Morton finishing a fine fifth in his old Rootes race car."
 
"his old Rootes race car"

correction: His 50 Year Old Rootes race car!

I'd like to add to HolyCat's comment about Dave Stone's Hollywood Sports Car Tiger incident. That session was a combination qualifying and practice. Each car's fastest lap time would be used to set the starting grid for the Saturday morning race. Since lap times count for everyone, participants usually make room for faster cars to quickly pass.

However Dave had been following the same slower car for more than two laps. After accelerating out of turn 4 Dave's throttle stuck. He hit the brakes and his brake pedal went completely to the floor. Total brake failure! Dave then somehow managed to avoid hitting the slower car in front by passing it on its left before running off track into deep gravel. The speed he left the track is not witnessed by the relatively little damage to his car. That gravel must have really slowed it down. (assisted by a strong team of guardian angles?)

In practice Dave had really raised the car's performance level. Sylvia Wilkinson takes lap times for our 74 car effort in turn 4 (not at the start/finish line used by the race officials). In one session she had John quickest, followed by Dan, Dale and Dave. However each was only a tenth from the next. The Saturday races were looking like Dave would be right in the middle of a lot of Tiger on Tiger racing and then in just an instant that disappeared. Guess that's racing.

bt
at the beach
 
Since results and lap times are posted, I'm curious. What approximate lap times was the HSC car running?
 
Matt,

Now that I have dug out the best lap times for the Thursday practice, you can disregard my previous post which was based only on my very feeble memory. (Again, these are not the official times but are the times we took.)

1:45.2 John
1:45.3 Dan
1:45.6 Dale
1:45.8 Dave
1:47.3 Tom

Our best times for Saturday's races were 1:44.5 & 1:44.6
Dale's best for those races were 1:43.7 & 1:44.5

In the past our best lap was a 1:42.0 backed by several more in the mid 42's. However that was on a 205-60-13 Kumho tire that soon went out of production.
We, and most of the other Tigers, ran a Hoosier 205-60-13 at this year's Reunion.
 
Thanks Buck. Big difference on those tire times!
Was great seeing you again. My boys always look forward to knowing some of the racers and their cars. They still remember sitting in Tom's car when they were much smaller.
 
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