Pittsburgh Vintage July 11-13

[aeronca65t]

I put this in the "Events" area of BCF, but it really sort of fits here too.....

This is a weeklong event that starts on July 11 at BeaveRun and runs various events in Pittsburgh during the week...then the races through the (closed off) public steets at Schenely Park the following weekend.

Linda and I will be there in #909 Spridget for the first weekend at BeaveRun. Stop by and say hello!
And I'm sure Michael will be there in his Elva.
Maybe others here will be in the weekday car show or cruise? (we're heading home Monday).

<span style="text-decoration: underline">SCHEDULE</span>

Weekend July 11-13
Historic Races at BeaveRun

Monday July 14
Walnut Street Car Show

Tuesday July 15
Car Cruise at Waterfront

Weekend July 19-20
Schenley Park Race Weekend

More info:

https://www.pittsburghvintagegrandprix.com

Here's Stefann's 2007 run through Schenely Park in his SAAB-Quantum where he got the "Best Drive of the Race" Award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmuBBxX01Vo

 

[DrEntropy]

LotusPosition should show up, pro'lly a few others of the 'old crowd' as well.

If I were within a couple hours' driving distance...

:frown:

 

[Michael Oritt]

Hi Nial--

I'm signed up for both BeaveRun and PVGP the following weekend. Look forward to seeing you and Linda on Friday.

I just came back from a VSCCA event Saturday at Lime Rock--the first event run on the track since its repaving and modification. The first session was in the rain but the fresh blacktop was still very grippy and got more so as the surface dried and heated up. However water stood all day on the inside of the left hook and on the right side of the uphill--I guess a lime rock quarry does not make for good drainage! All the old cement patches and rough sections are gone and I felt that more or more consistent camber has been added at the bottom of the diving turn.

Two (optional) chicanes have been added on the back part of the track, the first at the top of the hill and the second toward the end of the back straight. We ran a configuration which included the second one--it is placed on the outside of the main track surface and the entry is a mild right turn, then hard brakes (the close-in tire wall looms up quickly!) then a sharp right into the chicane tightening into a very slow left turn and back onto the track. The concrete curbing is low but sharply serrated and running across it definitely upsets the car. I finally figured out that it was slow in to get fast out.

I'll leave it to others with more experience at LRP to comment on the wisdom of and thinking behind these modifications but if the purpose is to slow down the average speed they certainly accomplish that goal. In the past I have run a 4.2 diff and gotten up to redline in fourth about the time I braked for turn 1. In Saturday's runs because of the chicane I was certainly entering the front straight at a lower speed and I never got to top revs before braking for #1--in the future if I know in advance the chicanes will be in the picture I will try a 4.55.

 

[aeronca65t]

Ah yes, Doc...I recall that you and Jack are actually from this area originally.
On the other hand, I'd love to make it down to Sebring (as I'm sure Michael has done).

Michael:

Look forward to seeing you.
Linda and I will be rolling out of NJ at about 8 AM, so I hope to get there on Friday by mid-afternoon. I am not planning on running any sessions on Friday (obviously), but I'd like to get the car off the trailer and setup our stuff so we're all ready to go on Saturday.
We're staying at the Holiday Inn, so we're right down the street.
We're signed up for that VRG dinner on Saturday night.

At the end of this year, I may look for an older race car so I can run VSCCA events. I'm getting to like older, drum brake cars more and more.

The Spridget is *just* able to make 6000 rpm before Big Bend. I think this is right around 101 mph. I am running a 3.9 final drive with fourth gear being 1:1. This is with 185/60-13" tires.

I'm glad they paved the new track. It really needed it. I guess all the stuff that Skip did to raise money (the "club thing") must have worked. Funny, but Summit Point repaved without anyone really knowing it was in the works. Maybe paving is cheaper in WV (although a friend of mine was just at the NASA Hyperfest and he said some of the new paving is starting to break up already).

To be honest, I don't really like Lime Rock but the history there is great. The new optional turns will slow things down, if they are used. I know almost no one used the Morton Chicane, so I wonder if these new chicanes will be used?
As you may recall, I was in the race where the fellow in the Radical Sports Racer lost his life in '05. After that, they widened the uphill but this looks like even more of an effort to make that area slower.
It still looks like they have no runoff before the bridge.....I hate that part of the track.

The new pit entry looks loooong. I didn't think the old one was a big problem. Oh well....

Here's the LR official track map.

https://www.limerock.com/files/pdf/Lime_Rock_-_Basic.pdf

While I was going over the Spridget today, I discovered a crack in one of the suspension pickup points. I must have done it at NH. Anyway, it's all welded up now. Put in new brakes and hub seals today too, so I'm good to go.

See you next weekend.

 

[Michael Oritt]

The new pit entry looks loooong. I didn't think the old one was a big problem. Oh well....

Here's the LR official track map.

--------------------------------------
The map not withstanding, pit entry is still after the turn and off the beginning of the front straight. I just revisited my video and there is nothing whatsoever of modifications #'s 1 and 2 shown on that map. #'s 3 and 4 are the chicanes I mentioned.

 

[aeronca65t]

The map not withstanding, pit entry is still after the turn and off the beginning of the front straight.

Good....the pit-in on the map looks terrible.

I just revisited my video and there is nothing whatsoever of modifications #'s 1 and 2 shown on that map.

Yeah, somehow, #1 looks like a first-gear situation to me. I bet it would never get used.

 

[Michael Oritt]

I arrived at the track on Friday afternoon and Skip Barber was using #1 for their Formula cars. I guess these chicanes punish all equally in different ways: For big high-powered cars they are tight entries/exits and for small low-powered cars such as ours they rob us of momentum.