Vintage Racing Club of BC

The Spirit of Westwood Lives On!

October 1, 2012

The ‘Bimmer Battle’ earlier this season: Leigh Anderson (1967 BMW 1600) leads Ian Thomas (1971 BMW 2002) – Brent Martin photo

The beautifully prepared ‘Battling Bimmers’ of Leigh Anderson and Ian Thomas are just two of the VRCBC racers already registered for the final Vintage races of the season at Mission Raceway Park Road Course on Saturday, October 6th. The Vintage races are part of the SCCBC’s season – ending ‘Flying Feathers’ Weekend. You can find the full race information and weekend schedule by clicking on ‘Driver Information’ on the SCCBC web site ( www.sccbc.net ) or just click here.

Note: The Vintage races are usually held on the Sunday but for this weekend only, they will be on the Saturday.

The Vintage races are on the Saturday because the SCCBC is bringing back the old Westwood tradition of ending the racing season with an Enduro on the Thanksgiving weekend. The last race on Sunday October 7th, will be the 4 Hour ‘Done Like Dinner’ Enduro (see the schedule for info) presented by Nixon Prosports Ltd.

Attention Vintage Racers: There will be prize money! Maybe you should enter the Enduro too, and show those modern cars how it’s done – and also take some money home!

 

September 28, 2012

Mark Brown ‘three-wheeling’ through Turn 9 on September 23rd – Mike Stanway photo

Thanks to some clever camera work by Mike Stanway, we now finally know why Mark Brown is so fast in that dang Lotus Seven of his – he only uses three wheels! The reduction in friction must be worth at least a couple of seconds per lap! Thanks Mike; we are all in your debt.

You can look for more of Mark’s secrets on his personal racing web site here. You can check Mike’s Facebook page here.

September 28, 2012

Race 1 – ‘Which way did he go?’ – Mark Brown photo

The other stories described Dennis Repel’s very ‘interesting’ day at Mission during the Volunteer Memorial Weekend. In Race 1, he made lots of smoke (as in tire) while dealing with a sticking throttle in Turn 2. Then in Race 2, his Camaro made more smoke (as in goodbye engine!) when a rod let go on the overrun as he entered Turn 1.

Race 2 – ‘Goodbye engine!’ – Mark Brown photo

You can see it all from the best seat in the house – Mark Brown’s following Lotus Seven. Look for the video on the right (or just click here) to watch.

September 27, 2012

Dennis Repel (Chevy Camaro) lays down a smoke screen in Mission’s Turn 2 in an (unsuccessful) attempt to confuse second place Mark Brown (Lotus Seven S3) – Michael Stanway photo

Dennis Repel was leading the first race on September 23rd when his throttle stuck open entering Turn 2. Mike Stanway captured the moment as Dennis laid on the anchors big time while a startled Mark Brown, who was right behind, tried to figure out what to do. Mark said later: “My instincts told me to steer towards the air without tire smoke and it seemed to work.”

With judicious use of the kill switch through the rest of the race, Dennis was able to recover back to second place. In the subsequent laps, it was Phil Roney who got to watch the display. (See the other photos below.) Great photos Mike; thanks.

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September 27, 2012

Ralph Zbarsky and his former BMC Works Team MGB GT – Brent Martin photo

Updated again: October 9, 2012

Sunday, September 23rd saw some of the VRCBC’s finest hit the track at Mission Raceway Park for two Vintage races during the SCCBC’s ‘Volunteer Memorial’ Weekend. In addition to some excellent racing, this event saw the Mission debut of Ralph Zbarsky’s former BMC Works Team 1967 MGB GT, now beautifully restored. Ralph raced this car at Sebring in March of this year – see our earlier story here. (Don’t miss the link to the You Tube video showing the car’s roll over at Sebring in 1970. Hint: It wasn’t Ralph!)

The first race got off to a great start. Dennis Repel was leading until about half distance when the throttle stuck open going into Turn 2. Major streaks of rubber were required to get the ‘Heavy Chevy’ (with its dyno-proven 406 hp) Camaro stopped in time.  Judicious use of the kill switch enabled him to get back to second place behind Mark Brown before the finish. They were followed by Phil Roney, Ian Thomas, and Roger Flescher. The next three places featured a close fight between Ian Wood, Al Harvey and Paul Haym. Then Peter Valkenburg and ‘the Zbarsky Train’ of Mike and Ralph. Al Reid had to retire his MGB after only nine laps.

At the start of the second race, Mark and Phil tried desperately to outbrake Dennis into Turn 1 but couldn’t manage it and Dennis took the lead, only for his engine to let go in a (very) terminal way, entering Turn 1 on the fifth lap. Mark managed to see through the spray of oil well enough to take charge, particularly since Phil had already broken an axle shaft after only two laps. Roger took second, followed by Ian Thomas and then the scrapping trio of Ian Wood, Al Harvey and Paul Haym. (Just to show how close these three were: on the fourth lap, each of them turned a lap time of 1:24.1!). The Zbarskys were next. Peter Valkenburg and Al Reid had issues and were several laps down.

The full results are available here.

Update – October 9th: Gerry Frechette has added his 148 photos of the Vintage action on September 23rd to his web site. ( http://gerryfrechette.zenfolio.com/  ) or just click here to go directly to that album.

A big thank you to Brent Martin for providing the photos below. You can see the rest of his photos on his web site: www.martinsactionphotography.smugmug.com or  just click here to go directly to his September 23rd Vintage album of 136 photos.

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