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Thread: Legal and Safe Gnarlyness

  1. #1
    Lighting Specialist jaudette3's Avatar
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    Legal and Safe Gnarlyness

    OK, to qualify for a post here your activity has to have been legal and safe, and not endangering anyone other than yourself.

    A few years ago when I owned Stubby, a '67 911 factory rallye build that many here are familiar with (dyno'ed at 220HP, weighed 2,000lbs.), there was a very large real estate development next door to where I lived. It included an 18 hole golf courses and hundreds of lots. Fortunately for me, the first thing that they did was to build the roads. It was a twisty two miles or so on the main road from the entrance to the back exit. Nothing but open desert and sage brush. And there was a roundabout about in the center.

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    John's Private Track: 1972 911S Targa in the back, 1974 911 Euro Carrera in the Front

    The road was not open to the public for many months and was thus private property. There were wide open shoulders with no brush and sidewalks set back a ways from the road which were infrequently used. At certain hours the entire property was deserted. So great visibility and no traffic or other activity.

    Well, what would you have done?

    No one has ever had a better place to exercise a high performing car dropped in their lap like that. Which I took full advantage of. It was like a private race track. I got to know all of the lines intimately. The roundabout became a perfect chicane. No laws broken, no safety concerns.

    What a great, great time. I'm having Christmas Eve Dinner at that resort tonight, which is why I thought of it I guess.

    Merry Christmas Everyone,
    John
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  2. #2
    Moderator Chuck Miller's Avatar
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    Thumbs up

    I think this thread would fit nicely over here in 'Adventures'...........

    '2007 RGruppe Treffen, Mike Messcaro in front in the '74 Carrera, me in my '73S, and Chris Tallon in his '73E 2.7 REALLY all alone on the back roads around Cambria CA. ......... fun, fun, fun .........
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    Chuck Miller
    Creative Advisor/Message Board Moderator - Early 911S Registry #109
    R Gruppe #88

    TYP901 #62
    '73S cpe #1099 - Matched # 2.7/9.5 RS spec rebuild
    '67 Malibu 327 spt cpe - Period 350 Rebuild

    ’98 Chevy S-10 – Utility
    ’15 GTI – Commuter

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Miller View Post
    I think this thread would fit nicely over here in 'Adventures'...........
    Adventures?
    I have been fortunate to have a few but remember one particularly well. It certainly meets criteria of being totally “legal” because I was required to sign formal legal release of liability disclaimer and be given a check-over from a medical doctor before being allowed to do it. It so sure how “safe” though …..


    15 laps in a two seater F1 car — two lots of five driven by Damon Hill, the other lot by a younger driver still looking to make his mark in F1. I had arrived very early at the track before things had been fully set-up so just went to join the team who were there working in in the garage. I knew one or two of them so was offered a bacon sandwich and a mug of tea. When the prep for invited guests got underway the Dr smelled the food on my breath when doing the medical checks so advised I let that settle. In fact he insisted. I had to wait. The good Dr wasn’t wrong. Suffice to say you get thrown around a lot in an F1 car despite being strapped into seat so tight by the race team member.
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    Some weeks later I ran into Damon at a motorsport industry event in central London where he was a special guest — so I reminded him I’d been his human ballast in the rear seat. He joked( I think) that I was very brave as he wouldn’t have got in the back with a young aspiring driver who was looking to catch the team’s eye. He said not same risk with him as he was already an F1 world drivers’ champion by then so wouldn’t have taken any chances. The G forces were phenomenal— despite having had a lot of time on a private test track from my prior work I was still unprepared for the difference to an F1 car; the braking in particular was beyond my comprehension. Never managed to recalibrate the stopping power even after 15 laps. Neck muscles gave in quickly — i was glad the experience was broken into three lots of five laps. I certainly wouldn’t have made it though 15 straight. Both unpleasant and exhilarating at same time.

    Iirc they ran these charity event for several years.
    Culminated in an F1 two seater race complete with passengers.
    These got quite lively at times
    https://youtu.be/l6BwK8rYe3I
    Former World Champion Nigel Mansell ran into the rear of then rookie but future double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso’s car — the race-car got airborne — both these special two seater cars with passengers! To be clear I was only in car for practice not race and for one of the years. Celebrities and charity high bidders were the folks who got to be passengers for the races. From the footage of 2001 they were the brave ones !

    https://youtu.be/8ONFSljOI4E
    https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gr...54366/5054366/
    I was invited probably because around that time I was leading a formal strategic review of motorsport for the governing body FiA / RAC MSA, the U.K. motorsport industry and HM Government.

    Quite a poignant “adventure” for me to be in a two seat F1 car. While Donnington is not as well known as Silverstone or Brands Hatch as GB venue for F1 racing it is a special track because in 1983 (Damon’s late team mate) Ayrton Senna had his first run in an F1 car the successful FW08 for owner Frank Williams whom was I was working with closely.

    Some rare footage of his first test https://youtu.be/-xwZCqHpX7Q

    Steve
    Last edited by 911MRP; 12-24-2022 at 07:28 PM.

  4. #4
    That adventure will be tough to beat…..

  5. #5
    Moderator Chuck Miller's Avatar
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    That's about as good as it gets Steve... Envious !!!
    Chuck Miller
    Creative Advisor/Message Board Moderator - Early 911S Registry #109
    R Gruppe #88

    TYP901 #62
    '73S cpe #1099 - Matched # 2.7/9.5 RS spec rebuild
    '67 Malibu 327 spt cpe - Period 350 Rebuild

    ’98 Chevy S-10 – Utility
    ’15 GTI – Commuter

  6. #6
    Special memories for you Steve. Thanks for sharing.
    David

    911 S Registry # 1054
    1970 911 E Coupe Signal Orange (#1414)
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    2014 Jetta Sportwagon TDI DSG ( sold back to Volkswagen)
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by runsub5 View Post
    Special memories for you Steve. Thanks for sharing.
    This journalists does quite a nice write up of the two seater F1 experience. Far better than I can. The comment about maximum height and girth reminds me I ended up getting more sessions than originally planned because of a group from continental Europe — probably Dutchman— we’re all far too tall to physically fit in the confined space in rear. Passenger legs have to lie either side of the driver seat — enveloping the driver down either side of cockpit — in doing so have to thread limbs through gaps either side of drivers seat-back when entering car. My enforced wait due to the “ tea and bacon buttie” turned out to be blessing too as I missed the rain affected early runs so turned out to be a better much faster lapping experience on a dry tyre setup. As the team owner/ driver gleefully explains the experience of braking of these machines in particular was beyond comprehension. It wasn’t just the “braking for them” it was also about passenger’s tensing the muscles for the anticipated braking forces always far too early compared to when the driver actually braked — every time woefully out of synch — even after 15 laps!

    https://www.andrewnoakes.com/?id=105:ride-of-your-life

    Steve
    Last edited by 911MRP; 12-26-2022 at 08:25 AM.

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