STPR '97 Notes

[Autobahn01@aol.com]

Another whirlwind week-end gone by, and Tuesday night before I can get to the
PC....

Prelude: May 11/12 '97 
I went down to see the sights at the SkiSawmill Divisional ProRally last
month and got a chance to talk shop and see some action out on the course.
It's great to wander the pits as a civilian 'cause you can usually get in two
or three pointed questions before somebody says "Hey, you drive one of these
things?"  ;^)

Highlights included a quick lookover of the twinturbo 90q of
Hadjiminas/Bellefleur. A neat install with programmable EFI(Haltech
methinks), modified 5000 struts and subframes, and state of the art equipment
inside. Unfortunately it wasn't running due to a driveability/EFI problem.
I'm sure Graydon can sympathize!

With all the RIPP bashing of late, I'll cast a vote for Ross. We had
breakfast together on Sunday and spent the better part of an hour going over
his car out front. He may come of a bit harsh in our forum, but sit down with
him and you'll see it's just enthusiasm for the breed. He's come up with some
creative solutions to problems we all know well, and without the benefit of
the qlist sounding board. He had roasted the turbo that week-end, so test
runs were out; but he knows the invite he extented me to visit in NY won't go
unused...

On a final note for Sawmill, it was good to see Jon Kemp win an event in his
'84 4000tq. A smooth, consistent driver too often let down by mechanical
failure, IMHO. I wonder how much of that improvement was at the hands of
Frank Sprongl. The last time I saw Kemp's car it was being worked over at
Four Star Racing last year. Anyway, quite a change from MtWashington 4yrs ago
when Jon was so frustrated with an overheating problem he declared to me "I
wish I could just sell it off!" I 'spose any racecar builder has had similar
fleeting thoughts during a teething period.

Which brings us to this past week-end, I didn't have the luxury of a
spectating postion as I was crewing for the #26 '84 4000TQ of Ivan and Olga
Orisek. This was an anxious week-end for us as it was the first event to run
the newly dialed in EFI setup. Stott and I left after finishing up our
respective jobs, his in Maine, mine NH. As a result, our 2200hr departure
time from NH put us outside our hotel(SkiSawmill) at 0400. Ivan had chuckled
at me when I'd told him where Stott and I were staying. I hadn't thought much
of it then, but now I know why! Sawmill has no afterhours service, so we had
told them to leave the key in the door for us. Our weary eyes scanned the
doorknob on 7A for any signs of a key, but no luck. Assuming it to be our
mistake, we walked the perimeter of the building looking for *any* keys in
*any* doors...nothing. Armed with our reservation paperwork and the tenacity
of two grumpy people in need of a bed and shower we knocked on the door of
#7A, and knocked, and knocked. And apparently woke up a gentleman who bore a
striking resemblance to Constantine Mantopoulas(#25 200TQ). A short
discussion followed over who had title to the room in question. We caught him
at a weak moment and in all fairness we were a bit desparate by this point. A
compromise was clearly in order, his wife and child would remain in bed, I
got the other bed and Stott drew the floor. Constantine retreated to the van
outside. All was well, if a bit strange, and we fell into the heavy sleep of
a crew that knows they have a breakfast meeting at 0800 across town....

The rally itself went quite well for us, although Ivan wasn't completely
pleased with the stage times. Others weren't so fortunate, as the twinturbo
90q DNF'd, Constantine DNF'd, and Bruno uncharacteristically rolled his ur-q
three times. Damage contained to roof, RF fender, tail, LF A-pillar, cage,
ouch!

The Orisek's car ran flawlessly all day and night, our most major service
consisted of repairing a CV boot clamp that had wandered off, other than that
it was gas/tyres/lights and go. Any of our listers who rally would consider
that good karma, right Scott, Kevin, Paul, Mark?

Results? Oh, 7th in class and 18th overall. Consistently strong for a field
of 60 entrants and 29 finishers, and a car with more envelope to explore.
They've got a divisional event conflict with Mt Washington but we'll all be
up for Maine Summer Forest soon enough.

-Cheers
-Chris Semple