VIR Summer Heat

First  Previous      Next  Last 
      Page 1 of 7

This was bad timing even by our frustrating standards for this season.  Bobbie was set to make her return to racing her new 944 thanks to a brand new engine as we headed back to VIR.  Long story short:  Bobbie didn't even get to practice on Saturday when the engine blew up in testing.  On top of that, a film crew was there to get footage of Bobbie on track.

Click for larger image.
_11X4431
Click for larger image.
_11X4432
Click for larger image.
_11X4433
Click for larger image.
_11X4533
Click for larger image.
_11X4552
Click for larger image.
_11X4553
Click for larger image.
_11X4604
Click for larger image.
_11X4653
Click for larger image.
_11X4654
Click for larger image.
_11X6187
Click for larger image.
_11X6195
Click for larger image.
_11X6196
Click for larger image.
_11X6197
Click for larger image.
_11X6198
Click for larger image.
_11X6263
Click for larger image.
_11X6264
Click for larger image.
_11X6277
Click for larger image.
_11X6278
Click for larger image.
_11X6339
Click for larger image.
_11X6440
Click for larger image.
_11X6441
Click for larger image.
_11X6442
Click for larger image.
_11X6446
Click for larger image.
_11X6447
Click for larger image.
_11X6540
 

With Bobbie's care dead and no replacements available, Bobbie ended up driving the white eVisory Cobra for a little stint for the film crew while Dan replaced her for qualifying and the race.  Later Dan drove the camera man around while he filmed Bobbie driving again.

The Cobras still haven't been fully repaired from damage earlier in the season and the good guys working on the cars had done a great job of just getting us to the track.  Dan qualified an uninspiring 11th while testing some a new suspension configuration and Harry was somewhat further back.  It was a great start for Dan as he moved up near the front only to go sailing off deep into the first turn of the race and the tires and suspension did not cooperate.  That let 35-40 cars go by before he could return to the track where he promptly set off picking his way back through the pack.  In the end, he was lucky to get back to an 11th overall finish.  Harry was doing pretty well before a spin on the last lap left him with some minor contact.

Sunday wasn't better.  This time we were testing new tires and the car was much slower.  Fortunately, Dan had a relatively clean lap while his rivals were in traffic during qualifying so despite being 2.5 seconds/lap slower, he was only in 12th position on the grid.  The team decided to go back to the old tires for the race.  This time the start was even better as he moved up to 4th place on the start and got cleanly through the first few turns before engine trouble developed at the top of the hill called 'roller coaster'.  Dan came flying down the hill and across start finish looking like an F-16 with white smoke billowing from both pipes all the way down the straight before the engine locked up.  A few laps later, Harry's car quit with a fuel pick-up problem which left Team Elam with a dubious weekend casualty count of one DNS and two DNFs.

All three cars had to be pushed into the trailer.  Some fun.

 

(Many of these pics courtesy our good friends at EuroImage.us)