2006 SPRING WEATHERLY HILLCLIMB
“Sometimes you get the bear…”
This
year’s Spring Weatherly Hillclimb, the second in the series of SCCA TIME
TRIALS/PHA events for 2006, unfortunately proves the old adage about the
bear…at least for some of the drivers…
Seventy-nine
drivers (sixteen of them novices) competed in thirty-seven classes setting four
class records over the course of two days worth of timed runs interspaced by
some delays caused by “incidents.”
A
combination of relatively cold weather, a cold road surface and tires that, at
least until Sunday afternoon when temperatures moderated, just couldn’t seem to
“hook up”, contributed to an unusually high number of “off-road excursions.”
Fortunately,
there were no reported serious injuries to any of the drivers, but some of the
cars involved sustained damage (none of the novices were involved in any of the
incidents).
Having
dealt with the downside of the weekend, it should be noted that the other
aspects of the event were up to Weatherly’s usual high standards. Registration and Tech were held in the
expanded pits near the start line, saving entrants the necessity of taking
their cars to
Special
thanks are extended to the officials and workers who were able to keep the
event on focus and moving forward despite the sometimes serious nature of the
events’ happenings, and further thanks are due to Tim Royer, NEPA, and the
Weatherly Hillclimb Assoc. for their efforts.
The
following drivers set class records: in ITS, Greg Kaspryzyz in his BMW 325i at
64.442; in DSP in a Neon, Mike Ancas at 63.125; in ESP, Avent Beck in a VW R32
at 63.443 and, in F500 in a Raptor DE3, Darryl Danko at 56.004.
Kurt
Eikenberg set FTD in his DSR at 55.849.
The
following are some observations on the event… Bill Miller had a “hood raising” experience…maybe next time Stephen Sincavage will
let Mary run without the traction control on… Adrienne Vrabel showed no respect
for her dad…there was perhaps too much negative camber on the rear of Mike
Ancas’s Neon…the Maloney brothers took FV- again…Darryl Danko had quite a
ride in Bill Kotyk’s F500…Lloyd Geib has his MGA on course again… it’s good to
see Bob Damore in his Kellison…Mary Anne beat Chuck in that ring-a-ding Saab…
Jim Kuzo showed what can happen to a cougar on a
weight reduction plan and steroids, and there are now 4 teams competing…Thank
you, COOL SHIRT!
Reportedly,
the Weatherly course will be paved by the Fall so
that, bad weather excepted, we can return and set all the new course records we
had hoped to set this Spring. Thanks
again to all who contributed to the running of this event, including the
entrants. I’ll certainly be back in the Fall.
The
next event is Pagoda Hillclimb… see you on the hill! Joe Foering, #37