St. Louis ad hoc get together at Gateway for Ferrari Driver's Ed

[matteni]

For anyone we don't know in St. Louis. Several St. Louis owners are thinking about getting together at Gateway International Raceway this Sat. around 9:30 to see some sweet Ferrari's run.

If you are not at NSXpo and want to drive out - I am sure you will see some other NSXs there and you will meet some great guys/gals in the process.

------------------
Nick M

91' Red/Black with Many Mods
99' Honda Odyssey with Many Kids

 

[sjs]

Well it was interesting if not thrilling.

Len and I did a couple hour drive before heading to the track. His stomping grounds are like the autobahn compared to mine. Long fast open and mostly flat stretches where you can really stretch your legs. But we only did about 1/3 of his favorite loop. It proved to be the best part of the day and I'm anxious to see the rest.

The track event attracted quite a few Ferraris, a bunch of Vipers and Porches, and a variety of other cars. The F40 showed as promised but the owner wasn't pushing it. A stock Porsche TT was running circles around him and everything else, but of course that was to the driver's credit. There were several F355s including a spyder, a passel of 308/328 variants, a 512 BB (clean and nice), a 512 TR and 360 (not running. Whimps!), and a few others. Not bad for this part of the country.

The Viper guys lived up to their reputation as "spec Miatas on steroids". Early in the first "unlimited" session one of them tried to pass two cars under braking on the outside of turn one. Mistake! Not sure if it was the "marbles" out there or the fact that his tires were still cold and he was braking with the wheels turned, but he got sideways while still at triple digits and hit the end of the concrete wall with the passenger door. Fortunately he was one of the few running without a passenger because that seat had him pinned against his door. It totally collapsed the side in, bending the car n half at the passenger seat. The driver went away in an ambulance was said to be OK.

Next time out another Viper did at least $20k in damage against the tires, and another nudged some tires doing minor damage on the front, left, and rear. These guys are good! I gave up after the lunch break but something tells me they weren’t through.

Unfortunately only Len, Randy and I showed up from our ranks. Next year the Porsche club and BMW club will do two events each, and the F-club plans to return as well. Too bad the track isn’t better!


[This message has been edited by sjs (edited 09 November 2002).]

 

[matteni]

Great update Steve!

Wow that Viper guy is lucky to be amoung the living if he hit the turn one concrete wall!!! I have seen what that can do to a 300z so I know it well.

My son Nicky had a birthday party so I couldn't make it but I was thinking about you all!

I know what you mean about Gateway not being that great. Damn I wish they hadn't torn up the "old" track. That really was a pretty neat course - broken pavement, grass growing through, terrible facilities and all!

Len - you have been holding out on me with the "autoban run". Can't wait to check it out in the spring.

If someone doesn't sooner - we will need to talk about a post holiday get together. Maybe get the dealer to host something or meet up at Steve's garage for a little St. Louis tech session? Or maybe just a 03 planning session? I am out for a couple weeks so I am going to be away from all my "babies" but glad you all made it out.

be good / keep in touch...

------------------
Nick M

91' Red/Black with Many Mods
99' Honda Odyssey with Many Kids

 

[len3.8]

Steve, Nick , All.
It was fun and Steve filled you all in perfectly on the Vippers. They were putting on a show. I think the Ferrari club will most likely change it's format for their unlimited group after this day. I left shortly after Steve. It started raining so I don't know what happened after that, heck maybe one of the vipers went around the track backwards. I know one thing I will not own one. The 996TT was being driven by John Severein, and Steve is right. He was putting on a clinic for those guys. The F40 Comp owner had a extremely nice rig and trailer.
Ferrari 330, BB512, TR512, Vipers, Porsches,
NSX's, Vettes, BMW's, Supra's, you name the mark and it was probably out there. It was a nice day for watching cars. However, Myself and Steve and later a Mustang or 2 had some nice runs. Steve and I were reaching triple digits on our drive and it was safer than those guys on the track with the vipers. Plus we got more drive time.:^) Seriously the drive is nice if you get out very early.
We were out at 7am steve was out earlier than that, he had to come North to meet me.
It was a nice surprise when he called me in the morning to meet. We had missed each others comunications late last night.
We can definately do the entire drive in the spring time. Now that we have tested the ferry boarding. If done carefully the cars will not drag. But the route is fast with some small towns here and there, It is relatively safe. There is great visability and the roads are freshly paved. Wonder how they will hold up over the winter.
Steve's car is very fast, and it's not running at it's best. I can't wait to get my slow pos tuned. Steve can also drive the hell out of it. A few rules and Steve is my witness, 7:00am is 7:00am My brother was late and we left him. Get behind and we leave you after the 2nd offense.:^) If we do this drive, Leave the wives/significant others at home. It is not for the meek or timid.:^) The entire route is very long and we could stop for gas in spots. We found that little towns often carry nothing more than 91 octane. We will definately do this in the spring.
Steve it was funnn hanging out.
Len
n9s5x-t
I want twin turbo's with an intercooler now.
and Big Brakes.

 

[sjs]

Well, I don't recall the triple digit parts, that would probably be illegal.

Hey, what happened to the rest of my post? Repeating...

The fun was all mine Len. Man you know a lot of cool people and they seek you out to say Hi and BS. All I did was stand around and enjoy the stories.

I don’t know about you, but I plan to do a lot of driving between now and the spring so don’t hesitate to suggest a drive when you have the time. Hopefully others will join us.


[This message has been edited by sjs (edited 11 November 2002).]

 

[len3.8]

Originally posted by sjs:
Well, I don't recall the triple digit parts, that would probably be illegal.

Hey, what happened to the rest of my post? Repeating...

The fun was all mine Len. Man you know a lot of cool people and they seek you out to say Hi and BS. All I did was stand around and enjoy the stories.

I don’t know about you, but I plan to do a lot of driving between now and the spring so don’t hesitate to suggest a drive when you have the time. Hopefully others will join us.


[This message has been edited by sjs (edited 11 November 2002).]

Steve, we will definately tear up the road over the winter. Most likely in my Pcar though. The NSX will be getting it's spring prep. New brakes, Tires , Wheels? A/F tuning.
ect.ect. ect. The guys that you met are all just like us, car nuts. You see that you fit right in. I just love being around cars and talking about them. There is some serious talk about traveling to some tracks in the spring and summer. If you or others don't mind a one make/model outing it can be big fun. Myself I like the diversity, I like hearing that their 911 will outrun the NSX
or whatever they are driving. It was really fun, we ended up hanging there a good part of the day. Nick , Dave, Kelly, Tony, Paul,all next Saturday the 30th is supposed to be clear. Lets get some cars together for the last drive of the fall. Let me know.

Len


[This message has been edited by len3.8 (edited 13 November 2002).]