|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Corsa Rossa - always in the winner's circle!
Read more about Le Mans series below!
On the second Tuesday we met at the Kernersville Sagebrush off Business I 40 at exit 14 for our monthly rendezvous. As usual there were lots of Italian cars in the lot. There were 3 Alfa Romeos: Tim and Susan Simmons arrived in their Alfa Romeo Spider CE, Dan and Teri Emmi drove their Alfa Romeo 164 Q, and Kevin Harper drove his white Alfa Romeo GTV6. As always, the Ferrari and Maserati folks were there, too: Jim Clarkson arrived in his Ferrari Testarossa, Steve Karapetian brought a pretty Ferrari 308 GT4, Steven Jones drove his Ferrari 328, Bob Snow drove "The Snowmobile" i.e. his Ferrari 348ts, and Richard Hipwood drove his Maserati convertible. Lots of interesting German and Japanese cars this month: Cliff Hudgins drove his BMW M Coupe, Bob King drove his new Porsche 911 Carrera, Don Feree left the Alfa at home and arrived in a VW Golf, Lee Davis drove his BMW Z3 M, Jason Fedler drove his Acura Type R, Blake Frazier drove his Datsun Z, and Vic Beaver drove an Acura NSX. John Hauser hitched a ride with Bob, while Thor Mirchandani and Jack O’Brien made it to the meeting in more mundane vehicles.
Ferrari’s first place finishes at Melbourne, Australia, San Paolo Brazil, and Imola, San Marino for the seasons first three Grand Prixs was the natural focus of the conversation.
After dinner Steve Karapetian gave a slide show on vintage meets at Lime Rock, Mid Ohio and Summit Point race tracks. Think Lola, Chevron, Porsche, Ford GT-40...
Bob Snow and Dan Emmi talked about the upcoming May Seventh
Ferrari Club drive in orange County . Hauser mentioned the
Blue Ridge Mountain drive and Karapetian talked about the
Challenge races at Road Atlanta.
Ciao, John Hauser
The fourth annual wine tour was a huge success. Hats off to Dave and Debbie Morris for selecting the scenic roads and the four wonderful wineries. Many thanks to Jim Salerno and Kent and Betsy Decker who made the Restaurant reservations, to Skip and Phyllis Patnode who set up the hotel with the discounts, and to Debbie and Jim who took care of the lunches. This was a continuation of a great recipe for fellowship, fun and relaxation. Mark your calendar for next April.
Attending from Corsa Rossa were Dan and Terri Emmi in their Alfa Romeo Quatrafoglio, Bob and Beth Snow in their Ferrari 348, Bob and Sandra King in their 1966 Porsche 912, Amy Kudla and Thor Mirchandani in Amy’s 1969 MG Midget with a spunky 1275cc engine, and John Hauser and Carol Wooley in an Alfa Red Saab turbo.
On Saturday after our early morning run, walk or visit to the hotel cafe began at International Auto Parts which gave us a 10 % discount coupled with fresh orange juice, coffee, donuts and bagels. After a nice visit with Jennifer Johnson, Mark Lee and the staff we viewed the cars which included Paul Opiela’s Ferrari 308 GT4 in Boxer trim, the Snow's Ferrari, the Maserati Ghibli of Jim Salerno and a wide assortment of Alfa Romeo ranging from Milanos, 164s, Duettos, GTVs, GTV 6s, late and early model Spiders and more. Jake and the sales staff helped us make our purchases with a minimal wait.
We then blasted up Hwy. 29 and then took the scenic by ways and single lane bridges and roads to the Italian owned Barboursville Vineyards. There we relaxed among the giant boxwoods and the ruins of Governor Barbour's colonial mansion designed by Thomas Jefferson. The wine was free flowing and I can honestly say without any doubt this was the largest sampling of a vineyards products at a wine tasting in all my travels. They not only rolled out the red carpet but bent over backwards for us.
The BMW club rolled in during our stay. Our lunch on the patio overlooking the grounds and the ruins was wonderful. Later we drove at speed again on the twisty roads up to Haywood near Culpeper to the French owned Winery St Michel for an interesting tour and some good red wines. Dave and Debbie then led us on a scenic drive south on 231 back to historic downtown Charlottesville where some of us went to the Boar’s Head Lodge for Capuccino. Supper was at Godfellas and followed by some of us with a swim in the hotel pool.
Some left Sunday and others continued the scenic driving to
Wintergreen Vineyards and there we enjoyed a light lunch fare.
From there the drive continued behind Debbie and Dave’s red Alfa
to Afton Mountain Vineyards and beyond. This was a weekend of
great driving and fun. As last year the Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and
Ferrari marques were represented, but this year there were guest
appearances by MG, Saab and Porsche.
Ciao John
On April 1st droves of Corsa Rossa regulars flocked at Lowe's Motor Speedway to watch the American Le Mans series race. Among those in attendance were Blake Frazier, Jim and Piers Clarkson, Steve Jones, Bill Craig, Adam Berusch, Greg Dickson, Steve Karapetian and Thor Mirchandani.
The high-speed oval, normally home to NASCAR races, had been modified to a road course configuration, including a detour into the infield with several hairpins and a chicane at the back straight before the entrance to the banking.
The morning featured two races, including a Panoz Women's cup race, and many of us took the opportunity to stroll around the paddock to watch the Trans Am and Le Mans series teams prepare for the afternoon's activities. Unfortunately, the Ferrari 333 SP cars and the Cadillac Northstars were not to compete in the race. However the BMW, Audi, Lola and Panoz teams were busy last minute prepping the cars.
Charlotte, NC is the heart of NASCAR country, so the turnout is not very big for a road race, which worked nicely to our advantage, as there were no crowds in the paddock, and plenty of free spots at the interesting corners, as well as the in the grandstands. One could actually snap pictures of something other than the neck of the person in front of you! (Some of us even found time to befriend the lovely Speedvision flag-girls, as depicted elsewhere in this issue...)
The afternoon brought a very interesting and close Trans Am race. The circuit with its tight infield and high speed bankings proved to be a great equalizer, and we witnessed many lead changes and passes. This series has great potential, in that it brings a lot of variety in cars: 'Vettes, Camaros, Firebirds, Mustangs, but also odd marques such as Jaguar, and unlike NASCAR, the twisty bits favors a balance between allround handling and raw power.
The main event was the American Le Mans series race. This particular race was a "sprint", which in this context means about three hours of all out racing including pit stops. That's an enduro in some other series - but hey, this is Le Mans series! The silver and black Audis that had dominated at Sebring a couple of weekends earlier were in Europe for development and testing. Instead, Audi brought last season's cars, which left the field wide open for the V12 BMW that won the prototype class. One of Panoz's decidedly more low-tech, pushrod-V8 front engine cars thundered into second place, while the wailing Judd V-10 powered Olive Garden Lola clinched the bronze. The fastest Audi finsihed fourth, not bad considering... The two GT classes were dominated by Dodge Viper and Porsche GT respectively.
All in all a great day, with lots of action and plenty of sun.
The Piedmont Triad is not spoiled with big-league road
racing events close by, so everybody is waiting eagerly for
next year's return of the American Le Mans series to Charlotte. Be there - or be oval!
Ciao, Ezekiel Thunderbolt
Click here for more info and pictures from the 1999 European Car Festival!
Ciao! John HauserContact Steve Karapetian at (336) 766-1785 or leave a message in our online mailbox.