Another win for Audi @ Pikes Peak (long)

["Ben Howell" <bhowell@rmii.com>]

 It has been exactly one decade since there was a winning Audi at Pikes
Peak. With the help and participation of LOTS of listers, that all changed
on this past 4th of July at the 75th running of the PIkes Peak Hill Climb. 

  Wed. the 2nd, 7:45pm: I am napping on the couch and Valerie is working
out in front of the TV. A white 87' 4kcsq loaded to the hilt is pulling up
in front of my house. Val wakes me up and asks if I know this person.
"hmmmmmm......I wasn't expecting anyone untill tomorow and espically at my
house". Turns out it is James Marriott and Wife and Tom Nas (from Holland).
Well, after all introductions are taken care of and we swap a few laughs,
James tells me that he is at my house for a new fuel pump. It would appear
that Rabbit Ears pass was not kind to the 4kcsq with 3 people and mass
quantities of stuff. (go figure). Over pizza that night, we decide that we
will get him a new one in the mourning and send him on his way. 

  By this point in time, both Scott Mockry and (Unka) Bart Chambers are in
Colorado Springs and anxiously awaiting more people to play with. :)


Thur., the 3rd, 7:00am: James and the gang are all back at my house and we
are on our way to the new fuel pump (lucky for him, it's a stocking part
for my local wharehouse). Back at my house for a trouble free, straight
forward, fuel pump swap (ok, so we had a small hose clamp problem, but
nothing big).The car is running like new again and they couldn't be
happier.  They are now under way to Colorado springs and the lovly Apache
Motel. 

 Thur., the 3rd, 10:30am: with James and Gang under way and me taking the
day off to be a good "host", what do I do untill more people show up? Wash
and wax my ride of course! :) 

 Thur., the 3rd, between 11am and 8pm: LOTS of calls!!!! Lots of people on
the way, wanting to know who is where and what is going on, etc etc
etc.....The next big event came around 1pm when I got a call from Jim
Griffin saying that Bob Myers coolant return hose had erupted and they were
fixing it. An hour and half later, they are on the road again and trying
their best to make up time. :) At this point in time, I had planned on
meeting everyone in Colorado Springs for a round of drinks, but now I am
wondering if I should just have these guys drive into Denver and we cold
eat up here and save myself the 1:20 drive into the Springs.  That didn't
work and at 7pm, I was on my way to Colorado Springs. 

 Thur., the 3rd, 8:15pm: Arrive at the hotel that everyone is staying at
and meet (Unka) Bart, Scott Mockry, Chad Clark and Adam. Finally, the
eastern contigent shows up and we flooded the hotel lot and the streets
with Audi's.....What a sight! 200's, V8's, UrQ's, 90q's, 4kcsq's, CQ's,
5kcsq's.......there was just cars everywhere....and we were all loving it.
After some time of meeting everyone and introductions, someone got smart
and broke out the names tags. NOW we were getting a hang of everyone's
name! I saw LOTS of smiles and heard a lot of laughter. Laughter and smiles
turned into hunger for the folks that had been on the road all day and for
myself who hasn't had a bite to eat all day. 

 Thur., the 3rd, 8:55pm: We arrive at Beau Jo's Pizza place (that closes at
9pm) with 22 (I think) hungry Audi Guru's! Luckily they welcomed us with
open arms and we let them live. :)   Lots of Pizza, an entire salad bar,
pitchers of pop, one long table and a lot of Audi talk completed our night
and we made our plans for the Audi onslaught on Pikes Peak. 5:45 is the
planned meeting time and that is approx. an hour from the last place that I
plan to stop in the mouring. "Oh Sh!t, it's going to be an early mouring!" 

Fri., the 4th, Midnight: I am home and just beginning to pack for the day
on the hill. Cooler, warm threads, sunscreen, etc etc etc........It's 1am
and I am JUST getting to bed. Alarm is set for 3am............it is sure to
be one hell of a long day!

 Fri., the 4th, 3am: "I'M UP I'M UP!!!!!!!!" Valerie and I are moving VERY
fast in order to make all of our arrarange meeting points. Our
instructions: Wait on the side of I-25 somewhere after I-76 and Dave L.
will flash his lights to let us know that he is coming. What are the
chances that this is going ot work? What are the chaces that I am going to
be on time. What if I am late and he isn't? will he wait? Who would have
thought that this plan of attack would have worked? NOT me!? :) Low and
behold, We are waiting for a total of 1 minute and what do we see, but
flashing headlights! Go figure. Now, we have Dave L., ALex C. and Brendan
R. in tow and we are on our way to meet Bob C., Ron H., Todd H. and Kelly.
This is about 15 min. south on I-25. AGAIN, it all worked out. We are under
way with our own little "Parade" south on I-25 and within 1 min. of the
schudle that I set for ourselves. 

Fri. the 4th, 5:50am: We have made it and are only 5 minutes late at the
PIkes Peak Headquarters in Manitou Springs. Everyone is present and
accounted for and we ALL have smiles on our face (despite the time). All
introductions are made and all are getting accuantied and.........WHOA we
need to leave! I was told that we neede to be through the gates by 6:30 and
here it is 6:15! 

6:15am: On our way up to the hill........We now have one HUGE train getting
back on to the highway and it looked GOOD!!!!!! I winder what that cop
thought about 18 Audi's going past him ina row AT the speedlimit? :)  Then,
approx. 75 feet from the turn off to the neede road, Brendan and Carl
decide that they were going to be "hotdogs" and blow by everyone......and
right by the turnoff for that matter!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I don;t want to
say stupid, but...........

6:30: through the gate and ready for the day! I am in the lead and I pull
everyone off the road at an appropriate place (see: enough room). I am
going to make damn sure that people know we are here and who we are! :) A
friendly 928 pulls out into the road and blocks traffic for us, so we can
all be in a row! What a guy and he ended up parking with us during the race
(had to show our appreciation somehow). It is now a slow task to get up to
the starting line (lots of comotion make for slow traffic). After the
starting line though, it's all us. The road is relatively clear and we are
free to make ourselves be known. I have heard a few people say that they
thought it was going to be a faster accent, but having BTDT before, I KNOW
Tha they frown upon that. Speeding is HUGE NO NO and they will ruin your
day if they catch you. I REALLY didn't want anyone's day ruined, so I offer
NO apology for going slow. :(  Anyway, I don;t knwo about the people behind
me, but I saw lots of waves and thumbs up from the crowd and it felt nice
to be recognized. Perhaos they were just waving to wave, but I thought I
was nice anyway.

7am: We are at "our spot" and ready to take in some sights. Parking takes
us a minute or two, but we get a hang of it and we are all set for a "day
at the races". Now the talking can begin. We are all introducing ourselves
and making sure that we say hi to as many people as possible. We could have
been there on any day of the year........there just happen to be a race
going on while WE were there. :) It was like there was BIG gathering of
"Q-Heads" and 75k people decided to join us....wouldn;t you know it, ESPN
was there to cover it too. :) 

10am: The race is under way. The mouring sessions are pretty boring (IMHO),
but like the rest of the gang said, the Rigs were a sight. That white one
at the end was HAULING! (no pun intended). The afternoon was the highlight.
The turcks were OK and as usual Vasholtz in his Explorer (not much Ford
left on this baby) won this class. The best of the day though, was "PIkes
Peak Open" class. Paul C. in his Tibourn was Stunning!!!!! He drove like a
man who was possesed! Anyone who can out drive a Pair of Ruf Twin Turbo's
in a Hyndai, deserves credit! :) The, of course, was the highlight of the
day....Rod Millin. Nothing can, will, or has ever come close to the speed
and grace that this guy has on the hill! To quote Michelle Mouton "It's
like a Ballet!" And the sound that tubo makes!!! I am jonesin' for a fix of
that sound as I type this! 

3:45pm: State Patrol informs us that we will be allowed to decend the hill
directly after the race cars parade down!!!! How can his be? This is the
greatest gift we could ever get! This 2.5 hour decent has now turned into
45 minutes! What a treat. A new rule keeps the race cars at the top of the
hill for port-race inspection and we are waved off even before the race
cars! We OWN PIkes Peak now! :) We made our mark and I think that several
thousand people know it. I don;t care if they were pissed that we got to go
before them or that we were there reprensenting the marque we
love......they KNEW we were there. :)

7:30pm: Chad and Dave recommend an "OK, restuarant, that has good food" to
us and then decide that they are not going to join us........yeah, right!
What a dive! Picture if you can: a group of 20 people who have been up
since 4:30am (some earlier), been on the dusty hill all day, some
recovering from the altitude, and are all VERY hungry going in to a place
that asks you to seat yourself, order yourself, and pick it up yourself and
the whole time, they are making cheap parody's of your name when they call
it........I wanted Chad dead!  Definatly not good food either. By the time
I got my food though, I was to busy stuffing my face to care. A somwhat
humorous end to a GREAT day though. Thanks Chad.

Sat., The 5th, 11am: I am up and I have been asleep for 12 hours.....trust
me , I needed it! I meet Bendan, Chad, MIke, and Dave at Stapleton for the
PCA "Club" Event (each reigon of the PCA only get one event a year that is
wheel to wheel racing and it is called the "Club" race). Lots of nice
rides, but I have seen better turn outs. Then, all the sudden, the place is
ouver run with Audi's. Evenone turns up for this event too. :) Then I get a
call on the Cell Phone from James asking if I wantedto come out and do a
little racing on the carts at Malibu. Next thing I know, I have everyone
rounded up and we are headed out there for a little competition. Lots of
fun was had and we all had smiles again. I would also like it to be known
that I reall apprecite Ingo pickin up the Licences and passing mine around.
As if I didn;t like pictures of myself already. Tanks man, that was great.
:) It really is a great shot of me though. 

Thanks:

 Jim Griffin: This was really your brain child and you put a lot of work
into this event. Thanks and I hope that we can do it again sometime. 

 The people at Pikes Peak (namely Pat though): They treated us GREAT and we
owe them BIG time. She will be getting flowers from me. NONE of this would
have been possible without them! 

 Ingo: Beautiful car! Thanks for letting me poke my nose around under the
hood. It one thing to have 3 motors, but seeing where the bits and pieces
connect is another.

 Scott M.: Thanks for putting my 200 to shame when it was parked next to
yours. :) ..and although I never used it, thanks for the bringing the Sh!t
Tickets. 

 Brendan: Thanks for bringing the fencing. It was nice little touch. BTW,
where did you get that stuff? :)

 Paul C.: Thanks for coming out. I think this is the first time I have seen
you at ANY event and it was good to see your car out in the open. 

 Bob Myers: Your jokes had everyone rolling, thanks for the laughs. 

 Scott J.: Thanks for letting me knwo that you wern't going to be there. :)

 Dave L and Alex C.: You couldn't have been any more on schudle. You made
that mouring so much easier.

(unka) Bart Chambers: Thanks for dinner at Beau Jo's. That MORE Tan makes
up for your $2.00 mistake. I apprecite it and I am glad that you were
available to make it to this event.

 Ron and Todd H.: I knwo you guys had a good time and it is always great
having you around. Next stop, Steamboat!

Dan H: I am truely glad that we finally got to meet. Me thinks that 2nd
Creek didn't count. I wish that we had more time to talk, but these things
happen, eh? 

James: Thanks for getting me out of bed at 6:30am on my first day off in a
year! :) I enjoyed it though. Hope that Rabbit Ears didn't fry another
pump!

Tom N.: Your euro brochures made a huge impact! How can I ever repay you
for that beautiful S8 "book"? Thanks again!

 To everyone: Thanks for being there and making this what it was. You do
realize that this HAS to be an annual event now, don't you?     

  To everyone that didn't come: HA! You missed out BIG time! :)


If I forgot anyone or any details, I am sorry.It was unitentional, but this
report is long enough as it is. 

That's all from end in Colorado. ....and to all, a good night! :)

Laters, Ben
bhowell@rmii.com
Thornton, CO