New Jersey Motorsports Park

I went last weekend to help out a friend, Sherman Chao, and his wife Vivian, with their Stohr DSR, for a practice day Friday, SCCA regional race on Saturday and Sunday. It was a rainy/sunny day of Fri and Sat., but Sunday was a nice, clear day. Helped Sherman overcome some electrical problems in his car, and all went well in the race – he got a great start from P2, and lead DSR the entire race, ending with a handy margin of victory.

It was also fun to see some friends from my many years of racing a Mini Cooper in GT5, SCCA. Bob Spreen was there with his FP MG Midget that he raced with me, and Dave Dartt with his basically vintage Mini Cooper on 10″ wheels, running for fun in GTL.

Dave will be running next at Watkins Glen, for the historical re-enactment of the original race, Sept 12-13th.

BRAUN Racing

BRAUN Racing

Originally uploaded by pbraun

Finally, the name is getting the recognition it deserves. If only Ross would spell it correctly.

Michael Alan Ross

Michael

Originally uploaded by pbraun

A great local Porsche fan and photographer, who has done several books, and working on more. Michael spoke to the local Porsche club monthly meeting about his art. Several MINI owners from NEMINI.org were in attendance and enjoyed this event very much.

See: http://www.michaelalanross.com for some of his work.

Our 1963 Austin Healey BJ7 Mk II is on the cover of his Westport Concours 2007 book.

Watkins Glen International Race Track

GLEN DAY1.3 1759

Originally uploaded by uptick

Here I am with GP 1636, at Watkins Glen, http://www.theglen.com/forum/index.cfm, earlier this year for a three day on-track event with Trackmasters.  There were quite a few – around 12 – MINI Coopers attending the event on Saturday and Sunday, due to the efforts of “Shoe”, aka “Lord of the Flies” on nemini.org. This is in the inner loop, or the Bus Stop area on the track, a high speed chicane following a very long straight away, and just before a long, sweeping, off-camber and falling elevation right hand turn going into the “boot” part of the track.

This was a great weekend with very good instruction, and a trill to get back on a track that was always one of my favorites! Thank you, uptick, for the fine photo!

For more information about Trackmasters, see: https://www.trackmasters.com/Page.asp?Script=1

West Bend, Lime Rock

West Bend, Lime Rock

Originally uploaded by pbraun

This is my GP – #1636, whose number this blog is dedicated to. For the first time in about 15 years, I was on track, at speed, in April of 2007 at Lime Rock Park, the famed “Road Racing Center of the East” (http://www.limerock.com). This event was organized by SCDA – Sports Car Driving Association (http://www.scda1.com/), who ran a very smooth high speed driving experience.

It was great fun, although I was nervous and constantly looking in my mirrors the first few sessions, by the end of the day, I was feeling quite comfortable once again.

This year, in May of 2008, I went to a three day event at Watkins Glen, run by Trackmasters (https://www.trackmasters.com/Page.asp?Script=1). It included exposure to many different instructors, luckily for me, and a lot of track time. The classroom experience was outstanding, featuring a well know chief instructor, Tony Funicello, who is also in charge of instruction for the Ferrari Club of America as well as the Monticello Motor Club in Monticello, NY (http://www.monticellomotorclub.com/?gclid=CMPmpLbY25MCFQQcHgodr3M-ZA).
The quality of the instruction was top tier, with attention to everything a driver needs to be aware of, from the proper seating position and safety gear, the lines of course, looking ahead down the track, flagger stations and numerous other little but important things.

I am eager to drive again on the repaved Lime Rock.