My Baptism into Motorsport:

By Richardd Adams : July 2012

Back in 1967 Dad owned trucks which he serviced himself. Dad also had a 1959 De Soto V8, which he occasionally worked on, like dumping the manual gearbox and fitting an automatic so that Mom could learn to drive. Mom did not take up the challenge and we had to continue to walk to school.

At night the De Soto had to be moved out of the garage so that dad could work on the trucks. Dad had two volunteers to do that, me a 12 year old and my 14 year old brother. So our introduction to the skills of driving the automobile came at an early age.

                                         The Pits

Dad loved stock car racing and on a Saturday night, once a month we would pack the cooler bag and be off to Goodwood Showgrounds to see the local V8 races. These were stripped down American cars running without silencers, on wide tyres  and fitted with steel cages inside. The racing was always entertaining as they raced on loose gravel and bumper bashing was part of the action. We loved it.

Dad often frequented the local Police Auction which had confiscated cars up for sale. Soon there were three American V8s in the home compound and within days each were being prepared for our very own entry into the world of stock car racing. The whole extended family of elder brother, cousins and brother in laws were soon buying racing overalls, while the 12 & 14 year olds became the race car preparers and service crew.

After all, to prepare a racing stock car you simply had to add lightness - that is strip off as much as possible and the car will go faster – we could manage that.

Some family weekends were spent on a local farm practicing on a makeshift track. The trucks could carry two to three cars and the local farm had a ramp for off loading. So no racing trailer was required.

This practice turned into a real spectator sport and soon friendly races were being organized and new stars were born. It was at one of these meetings that a special race was allowed for the race mechanics driving the stock cars themselves. As our “racing team” had no such mechanics, the 12 & 14 year old were allowed to don oversized racing overalls and enter the race.

Well, as history would have it, there was no way a teenager was going to allow an adult to win. When the start flag dropped we floored the accelerators and never let up. The race marshals put out their flags, waved their arms and all but ran onto the track to slow the kids down. But adults should know, no teenager listens and by lap 8, the 12 & 14 year old had overtaken all the racing mechanics and finished first and second, much to the joy of the farm workers.

Let it be told that the rumor that we teenagers kept the cars in 1^st gear for the duration of the race was largely based on rumor. However, I can tell you that it is extremely difficult for a 12 year old to floor the accelerator and depress the clutch to change gear at the same time! So the gear changing could have lost out.

Stock Car Racing can be good family fun: see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJYfR7LJYMo

My years as a Porsche driver: (Episode One)

It was sitting on a used car lot one Saturday afternoon, looking dull after many years in the African sun. A 1960 Porsche 356 Speedster replica, with a low price stuck on the window. The little boy in me was out and drooling over this find, even before my car came to a stop.

                                         Porsche 356 Speedster:

However, an inspection discovered that somebody had hacked a watercooled VW Microbus engine into the Porsche and as a result, the local Porsche purists would not touch it. The low sticker price explained that, or maybe the local greasy used car salesman had just run out of zeros.

My mind premeditated all the reasons it should be bought and totally discarded why I should not (it’s a male thing I think).

So Monday afternoon I drove off into the sunset with the Porsche hood down. Or rather, drove off into the side winds at the first traffic light.

When shopping for a convertible, no one tells you that to drive a car without a roof, is not good for you. Your receding hairline recedes further. Your girlfriend’s makeup now appears on the back of her neck and birds are very good at accurately dropping, well, last night’s supper. In addition you continuously tan on all the exposed parts of your body.

By the second weekend, we had done the Saturday night cruise, the Sunday morning breakfast run and Sunday afternoon beach drive. Yes it was a babe magnet; they had this thing that after spending on having their hair done, it is ideal to be seen in a convertible to display their new found beauty. However, around 30 mph, the hair just reshapes itself straight back.

Monday, it was off to work at 6 am. However, first I had to invest in a very padded jacket, leather snoopy helmet and big welding goggles, as no one had mentioned the early morning cold in a classic convertible either.

A week after purchase, I came to realize that the top down thing ain’t my scene and as I was soon walking a wide arc around the new toy, as it was surrendered to the garage.

A month later, on a sunny hot Southern Hemisphere day, we took the Porsche down to spectate the local drag races.

With the noon sun beating down on my head, the high octane penny dropped. You see, I had discovered driving around town that this car with the high torque VW motor, was always quick against the local taxis at the traffic light drag races. So with a borrowed helmet and the work week’s petrol money, we entered the drag races under class D Altered or something.

Like good racing folk, we checked the oil and convinced the officials of a built in (non-existent) roll cage. Soon we enthusiastically crept onto the starting line for our first run. On pull off, the Porsche gearbox moaned its smelly objection, the bodywork shuddered like a tsunami and we did a 15 second run, or thereabouts.  The spectators were amused at this obvious hip hop attempt at passing a driving test.

Thereafter, after every John and Peter had provided their advice, we dropped the rear tyre pressures and were told that we should launch the car at around 3000 rpm. On the next run it immediately ran a staggering 13.1 second ¼ mile, beating the yuppie guy in the turbo Golf GTi and setting a very quick time.

By our 6^th run we had won D Altered for the day. We were very impressed with ourselves and our new found talent as potential world drag race champions.

Mr. Bell was still busy inventing cell phones, so we rushed off to the local to tell the normally skeptical friends, of our win.

However, when Sunday morning came around, we heard the new career destroying news that by leaving early and by not attending the drag race prize giving, we had forfeited our winning trophy and all prizes.

After altering my C.V. to now exclude drag racing, I had to avoid the local for a while, as the normal skeptical friends were still there, being cynical …. and we still held no evidence of a trophy to prove our obvious talents.

A year or two later the Porsche was swapped for a Works Rally Toyota, but that is another story…..

Why I love a Porsche Speedster replica, see the video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oi8-S6RsO8&feature=related

The Mountain Pass at Rally Speeds       

By Richardd Adams July 2012

During my short spell in off road rallying, I soon discovered a little weakness I had. As a highly talented and fearless racing driver, all collapsed when confronted with a high mountain pass with shear drops on one, or both sides.

                                      

Don’t get me wrong, we never went off over the edge to tumble down smashing everything in sight. No, we never went off, as it is difficult to lose control at 5 km/hr. That is the speed we were doing, motivated by fear of doing the over the edge trick mentioned above.

Unless it was a tarmac surface, then nothing could delay an old Works Toyota, it was taken to its limit and beyond, until the shocks broke free from their sockets or the navigator relieved himself in an expensive racing overall.

When the dealer supported VW Golf GTi arrived, it too was exposed to the abuse on tarmac surfaces, beating even the mighty Audi Quattro and multiple rally champions on occasion. So, with the fear of the loose surface mountain pass firmly established, Pikes Peak in the U.S. was never gonna see us, unless we were walking.

Since then, they have gone and covered half of the way up in tarmac, leaving the rest in loose gravel. Now, us entering this event in 2012 would mean, we would be extremely fast in the beginning, but finishing awfully slowly ……

I then checked in with the experts on how they would do this race up the mountain … just watching them work, made me realize that we would be awfully slow, all the way up!

Now, join 2011 winner, Suzuki driver Monster Tajima, the only man to complete Pikes Peak in under 10 minutes …. that’s after, over the last kilometer, the engine gave up its need to live.

You are not gonna believe this ride:  Tighten your seat belts, as 10 minutes is a long time to be fighting 700 kw in the back seat:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VAJaZAV-gQ