Watkins Glen US Vintage Grand Prix Follow Up

[pooldoctorstl]

I don't think there was much interest in this but I'll throw it out there anyway. I spent the weekend at Watkins Glen for the US Vintage Grand Prix. I guess the worst part of the weekend was sleeping on the cold floor of the race car trailer, next was the poor showing of Fiats. There were 2 that I found, a white Abarth 1300 Coupe that ran in Group 1, it was a nice car and ran well. The other was a red 124 Spider running in Group 3. It was a very nicely equipped car but on Thursday morning something broke in the left front suspension, it let go, and the wheel folded under the car. The cross member had been welded up and they couldn't get the lower control arm bolt out, so they packed it in. Being Thursday, I would have cut the cross member off and had parts Fed Ex'd from one of the suppliers like IAP or Vick and got it back on the track Friday, but they put it on the trailer for the rest of the weekend.

Alfa Romeo was the featured marque, so there was a strong showing with about 50 of them, ranging from pre-war to Alfa powered sports racers and a lot of GTV's and Spiders. And if you're into that kind of thing (which I am), there were a lot of nice cars like Shelby GT-350's, Vettes, a couple real 289 Cobras, Can Am and open wheel cars too. And of course there were about 15,000 MG's.

Here's what I don't get that someone might be able to answer: Why aren't there more Fiat Spiders racing? It seems to me they are much more suited for road racing than an MG, and easier to work on and cheaper than an Alfa, so what's the deal? One of the reasons I went to this event is that I want to build a SVRA Group 3 1800 Spider and was hoping to see some race prepped cars to get a good look at.

Thanks for any input..

Jeff

[baltobernie]

It may be blasphemous, but I think they simply aren't competitive.

[pooldoctorstl]

Bernie, I would agree with you if we were talking about current SCCA racing because of the later model stuff that would be in the same class, especially rice rockets. But why wouldn't a 124 be competitive with an early 70's MGB or Alfa Spider in vintage racing? I should have been a little more clear with my statement, but I was referring to vintage.

JM

[Timo]

I'm not sure why there aren't more Fiats out there either. I think it likely a case of popularity, and the lack of trickle down from earlier campaigning- I'll bet not nearly as many Fiats have been road raced in the past as Alfas, therefore not as many existing race cars available or knowledge about prep commonly available.
I don't agree that these cars are not competitive. Essentially in road racing, aside from some subtleties, it comes down to horsepower/weight ratios. And the Fiat is allowed to run 100lbs lighter than an Alfa Spider in SVRA.
Though the 124 I'm driving is running a 2.0 liter motor (which bumps us up to CP, though this motor is very mildly tuned to about 155 hp max), the car is far from thoroughly developed, yet has run comparably with or beat some of the fastest DP MGs, and bested plenty of Alfas.
My feeling is that well developed cars are competitive, and there is nothing inherently wrong with the 124 that inhibits its potential.
And, yes I'd love to rub elbows with more Fiat crews in the paddock.

[pooldoctorstl]

Tim,

With any amount of luck I'll be seeing you next year at some vintage events. I'm picking up the car tomorrow that I hope will be my race car. A 1970 Spider with 1438 motor. I know the 1438 isn't the best choice for racing so instead of building it, I will probably build a different motor depending on what class I decide to race in. I hope you got the front end fixed ok, you have a great looking race car.

Jeff

[Timo]

Hi Jeff.
We'll have the car back together. I'll take the opportunity to make some upgrades while most of the front end will need to come apart.
There are lots of blocks around if you want to build a 1600 or 1800, and I think the head from your 1438 is the same. If you need any help finding one let me know. I know that F.U.N. in Jersey has many.
/Tim