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Friday, April 29, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
CTTC Entry List Released!
The official entry list for Mt. Washington has been posted at www.climbtotheclouds.com.
Here is the press release that accompanied the entry list:
2011 Mt. Washington Hillclimb Competitor Entry List Revealed
(April 15, 2011) Officials at Vermont SportsCar revealed the invited driver list today for the return of the legendary Mt. Washington “Climb to the Clouds” Automobile Hillclimb, to be held June 22-26, 2011. The Mt. Washington Hillclimb, known as the Climb to the Clouds, was first run in 1904 and is considered to be one of America’s oldest motorsports events. The 2011 Climb to the Clouds, which makes a comeback after a ten year hiatus, will be a 5-day festival of motorsports with a 75-car competition field filled with some of the best drivers and cars from around the world competing for “King of the Hill” honors. The entry list includes three of the past five course record holders, former and current rally champions, several high-powered open-wheel cars, a vintage class filled with cars steeped in motorsports history and a first for the event; a purpose-built race-truck!
Gunning for overall victory and a new overall course record will be a trio of past record holders. They include multi-time rally champion Tim O'Neil from Whitefield, NH, seven-time SCCA ProRally Champion Paul Choiniere from Shelburne, VT; and current Climb to the Clouds official-record holder and six-time Canadian Rally Champion Frank Sprongl from Ontario, Canada. These drivers all hold records within a minute of each other and will be racing in the Open Class at the Climb to the Clouds.
Other notable drivers going for the overall record include Jimmy Keeney of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Todd Cook from Tempe, Arizona – both of whom will be driving purpose built open-wheel hillclimb cars with upwards of 900 horsepower, but only two-wheel drive. Keeney was the 2nd fastest qualifier at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb and Cook is a multi-time class winner at Pikes Peak. Two other open-wheeled cars are the 1968 McKee MK8, a Formula 5000-based car raced by Robert D'Amore from Arlington, MA, and “The Patriot”, a bespoke hillclimb car built and raced by Jerry Driscoll. Driscoll, who makes his home in East Randolph, Vermont, set the current Speed Record of 113mph on the Mt. Washington Auto Rd. course in 1998 driving the very same car he’ll be racing this June.
The Vintage Class features a lineup of prestigious racing cars from the 1930's and 1950's. Although all the entered vehicles are steeped in motorsports history none maybe as much so as an extremely rare 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 that won Le Mans with legendary Grand Prix driver Tazio Nuvolari at the wheel. The 8C was shipped across the Atlantic, and in 1937 it raced and won the Mt. Washington Hillclimb – it returns this June, restored as it was raced, to compete 74 years later. Also competing will be a 1934 Reuter Special known as "The Old Grey Mare," a 1953 lightweight special known as "The Cheetah" and a 1951 Jaguar XK120 known as "The Beast." The Vintage Class roster will also feature a 1931 Studebaker factory Indy car – one of only three that were built – that won the pole at Indianapolis in 1931, as well as raced and won Pikes Peak the same year. All of these historic cars have raced at Mt. Washington before and will return this June!
The Mt. Washington Auto Road will see a truck race up its narrow serpentine course for the first time in its history as daredevil Mike Ryan of Santa Clara, California takes his purpose-built Freightliner 14.7 liter turbo-diesel-powered race-truck up Mt. Washington in the Hillclimb Special Class. Ryan, a Hollywood stunt-driver by trade, holds the current record at Pikes Peak in the Super Truck Class and will forgo the Colorado event this year in favor of the unfamiliar Mt. Washington Hillclimb.
The two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive Rally classes will be headlined by defending Rally America, North American and Canadian Rally Champion Antoine L'Estage in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and Former Subaru factory rally driver Ramana Lagemann from Somerville, Massachusetts in a 2010 Subaru WRX STI. The all-wheel drive class will be a showdown between the makes as five Subaru and five Mitsubishi rally cars are entered.
Four additional classes host race cars which normally compete in the New England and Pennsylvania Hillclimb Championships that include cars from the 1970's: BMW 2002, Datsun 510, Opel Ascona, Chevrolet Camaro, and even a Triumph Spitfire; the 1980's: VW GTI, Mazda RX-7, Peugeot 505, Saab 900, and Porsches; the 1990's Nissan Sentra, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Dodge Neon, BMW M3, and the thrilling 240RS Maxi, and the 2000's including modern Volkswagen, Subaru WRX STI, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution entries.
The Climb to the Clouds will also host a vintage car show during the event weekend displaying cars and machinery with impressive ties to Mt. Washington. Highlights include the 1904 Orient Buckboard that raced in the first-ever Mt. Washington Hillclimb in July of 1904, a 1907 Bailey Electric from Amesbury, MA identical to that of a Bailey Electric that completed a 1,000 mile loop from New York City with Mt. Washington on its route, and the 1961 Volkswagen with Porsche Carrera power that Bill Rutan from Moodus, CT drove to the overall record in 1961 – 50 years ago this June.
Here is the press release that accompanied the entry list:
2011 Mt. Washington Hillclimb Competitor Entry List Revealed
(April 15, 2011) Officials at Vermont SportsCar revealed the invited driver list today for the return of the legendary Mt. Washington “Climb to the Clouds” Automobile Hillclimb, to be held June 22-26, 2011. The Mt. Washington Hillclimb, known as the Climb to the Clouds, was first run in 1904 and is considered to be one of America’s oldest motorsports events. The 2011 Climb to the Clouds, which makes a comeback after a ten year hiatus, will be a 5-day festival of motorsports with a 75-car competition field filled with some of the best drivers and cars from around the world competing for “King of the Hill” honors. The entry list includes three of the past five course record holders, former and current rally champions, several high-powered open-wheel cars, a vintage class filled with cars steeped in motorsports history and a first for the event; a purpose-built race-truck!
Gunning for overall victory and a new overall course record will be a trio of past record holders. They include multi-time rally champion Tim O'Neil from Whitefield, NH, seven-time SCCA ProRally Champion Paul Choiniere from Shelburne, VT; and current Climb to the Clouds official-record holder and six-time Canadian Rally Champion Frank Sprongl from Ontario, Canada. These drivers all hold records within a minute of each other and will be racing in the Open Class at the Climb to the Clouds.
Other notable drivers going for the overall record include Jimmy Keeney of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Todd Cook from Tempe, Arizona – both of whom will be driving purpose built open-wheel hillclimb cars with upwards of 900 horsepower, but only two-wheel drive. Keeney was the 2nd fastest qualifier at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb and Cook is a multi-time class winner at Pikes Peak. Two other open-wheeled cars are the 1968 McKee MK8, a Formula 5000-based car raced by Robert D'Amore from Arlington, MA, and “The Patriot”, a bespoke hillclimb car built and raced by Jerry Driscoll. Driscoll, who makes his home in East Randolph, Vermont, set the current Speed Record of 113mph on the Mt. Washington Auto Rd. course in 1998 driving the very same car he’ll be racing this June.
The Vintage Class features a lineup of prestigious racing cars from the 1930's and 1950's. Although all the entered vehicles are steeped in motorsports history none maybe as much so as an extremely rare 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 that won Le Mans with legendary Grand Prix driver Tazio Nuvolari at the wheel. The 8C was shipped across the Atlantic, and in 1937 it raced and won the Mt. Washington Hillclimb – it returns this June, restored as it was raced, to compete 74 years later. Also competing will be a 1934 Reuter Special known as "The Old Grey Mare," a 1953 lightweight special known as "The Cheetah" and a 1951 Jaguar XK120 known as "The Beast." The Vintage Class roster will also feature a 1931 Studebaker factory Indy car – one of only three that were built – that won the pole at Indianapolis in 1931, as well as raced and won Pikes Peak the same year. All of these historic cars have raced at Mt. Washington before and will return this June!
The Mt. Washington Auto Road will see a truck race up its narrow serpentine course for the first time in its history as daredevil Mike Ryan of Santa Clara, California takes his purpose-built Freightliner 14.7 liter turbo-diesel-powered race-truck up Mt. Washington in the Hillclimb Special Class. Ryan, a Hollywood stunt-driver by trade, holds the current record at Pikes Peak in the Super Truck Class and will forgo the Colorado event this year in favor of the unfamiliar Mt. Washington Hillclimb.
The two-wheel drive and all-wheel drive Rally classes will be headlined by defending Rally America, North American and Canadian Rally Champion Antoine L'Estage in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and Former Subaru factory rally driver Ramana Lagemann from Somerville, Massachusetts in a 2010 Subaru WRX STI. The all-wheel drive class will be a showdown between the makes as five Subaru and five Mitsubishi rally cars are entered.
Four additional classes host race cars which normally compete in the New England and Pennsylvania Hillclimb Championships that include cars from the 1970's: BMW 2002, Datsun 510, Opel Ascona, Chevrolet Camaro, and even a Triumph Spitfire; the 1980's: VW GTI, Mazda RX-7, Peugeot 505, Saab 900, and Porsches; the 1990's Nissan Sentra, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Dodge Neon, BMW M3, and the thrilling 240RS Maxi, and the 2000's including modern Volkswagen, Subaru WRX STI, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution entries.
The Climb to the Clouds will also host a vintage car show during the event weekend displaying cars and machinery with impressive ties to Mt. Washington. Highlights include the 1904 Orient Buckboard that raced in the first-ever Mt. Washington Hillclimb in July of 1904, a 1907 Bailey Electric from Amesbury, MA identical to that of a Bailey Electric that completed a 1,000 mile loop from New York City with Mt. Washington on its route, and the 1961 Volkswagen with Porsche Carrera power that Bill Rutan from Moodus, CT drove to the overall record in 1961 – 50 years ago this June.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds
The Mt. Washington hillclimb, known as the Climb to the Clouds, is recognized as one of the oldest motor sport events in the United States. Arguably one of the worlds most difficult hillclimb events, the Climb to the Clouds runs from the base of the auto road to the summit. The 7.6 mile course winds up the mountain and is lined by steep drops, boulders and trees. Combine that with Mt. Washington's unpredictable weather, and you have the makings of something very interesting for drivers and spectators alike. No doubt, this is a very exhilarating road at speed!
The first timed ascent of the Mt. Washington auto road in an automobile took a massive 2 hours and 10 minutes. However, the first official event was held in 1904, with a winning time of 24 minutes, 37 seconds set by an early Mercedes. The event continued to run annually until 1961, with auto manufacturers using it as a way to showcase their new vehicles. During that time many notable and talented drivers took part, including the legendary Carroll Shelby, who drove a specially prepared Ferrari 375 to a record time of 10min 21sec in 1956. Shelby's record would fall in 1961 to Bill Rutan, a New England native, who set a time of 9min 13sec.
After a 29 year hiatus the Climb to the Clouds returned in 1990 and ran yearly until 2001. During this time 6 records were set by three drivers. The current record of 6min 41 sec, was set by Frank Sprongl in 1998, driving his 500 horse-power Audi S2. A video of the record run can be seen here.
After not running for 10 years the Climb to the Clouds is returning as part of the auto roads 150th anniversary. Some of you may have heard of Travis Pastrana's record breaking run back in the fall. While his time of 6min 21sec is impressive, it is not considered an official record, as it was not done during competition. However, it did show that Sprongl's record will likely fall this June. The event will run from June 22-26th, and is open to spectators. More information can be found at the official Climb to the Clouds webpage. The expectations for the events return have been set high, but from what I hear, the organizers have planned quite an event. I would urge anyone who can to attend!
The entry process for the event began early this year and continued until February. After entries were received, 75 were selected to compete, and I am very excited to be one of those drivers! While the official entry list has not been released, I have feeling that there will be an impressive group of cars and drivers competing. Rumor has it that 4 of the 5 living record holders are slated to drive at the event. It is slightly intimidating to be part of such an affair, but Im confident that we can record some respectable times and represent Saab well. Hopefully we will have our new car completed in time to get some testing in before June. Thats not a long way off, better get back to work!
Friday, April 8, 2011
My history with our 900
Until a few years ago I knew nothing about cars. Then one day I watched an episode of a British car show called Top Gear. At first I only watched it because I thought it was very entertaining, but then my interest in the cars that they had on the show began to grow. Now because of Top Gear I know quite a bit about cars. It must be said that the cars I do know about are mainly super-cars and that I still don't really know much about the inner workings of any car.
Around the same time that I started to watch Top Gear my brother Pascal started to race in Rally-x and Hill climbs. I started to learn more about rally racing because of Pascal. Since he introduced it to me my enjoyment and knowledge of it has only grown. One thing that made me really start to get interested in rally racing was when Pascal took me to the New England Forest Rally. At first I wasn't very exited about going, but after the first day of spectating I couldn't wait for more.
About a year ago my brother came to me and asked if I would like to buy a Saab 900 SPG with him. My fist reaction was no, because I was only 14 and would have to wait two more years before I would be able to drive it. Pascal then explained to me that it would be a car that we could use for racing and also that it didn't run and would need a lot of work. Reluctant at first but with ever growing enthusiasm I agreed to pay for a portion of the car and to help work on it.
After we bought it we had it towed to where my brother worked. For the first few months we didn't work on the car, because it was winter and we didn't have a garage to work in. We decided to wait until summer to work on the car. Just before summer we found out that our house had been sold and that we would be moving. We also found out that our new house would have a two car garage that we could use to work in. So we delayed working on the car until we moved, thinking that it would be best to wait until we could permanently set up shop in our new house. By the time we moved into the new house it was nearly September and me and Pascal both had to go back to school. When Pascal came back for winter vacation we started to work on the car. At first it was just Pascal who worked. Slowly I began to work as well, and by the end of winter vacation we had stripped most of the car.
After Pascal left for school I tried to put in a few hours each week on things that he had left for me to do. Now with time running out he's been coming home every weekend so that we can get more work done. So far we've made some good progress and will hopefully complete it before the first event of the season.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Course de côte SPG
I am excited to say that work on a new car for 2011 is currently well underway, and with the first event of the season fast approaching, the pressure is on.
This project started about a year ago when my younger brother and I purchased the car, a 1985 900 SPG. It was in a pretty sorry state when we got our hands on it, but we were attracted to it for several reasons. First, the shell lacked a lot of the typical rust so often found on New England cars. Second, the interior was gone, except for the dash. Since the interior would have been removed anyway, it was convenient, and helped lower the price. Finally, the suspension was in good shape and included Koni adjustable shocks and Swedish Dynamics springs that should be well suited for hillclimb.
The first step was to pull the engine and suspension off the car so everything could be cleaned, refurbished or replaced. This was also a good time to box the A-arms for added strength, and despite being in good condition, select bushings will also be changed. We did find three areas of rust that had been hidden. Those areas were cut out and new metal was welded in. Of course, we also had to remove the interior sound deadening material. This was done the old fashioned way, with a hammer and chisel, and I have to say it was a miserable job. While the shell is bare, the engine bay, wheel wells and interior will be getting a coat or two of white paint. Unfortunately, we will be forced to wait for warmer weather before we can start spraying.
After removing the engine and transmission we found that they had previously been replaced with an 86' unit. We decided to send the transmission to Charles River Saab where Peter Maitland and Mike Clancy are rebuilding it. We also made the decision to use a 92' Turbo engine, instead of the old 86' unit. With the new engine having over 200,000 miles, it seamed like a good idea to pull things apart to see what was what. Luckily these engines are very robust, and not much was needed. The factory cross-hatching was still present on the cylinder walls, and the oil pump surfaces looked brand new! After cleaning the block it got painted a nice cream color, a new timing chain was installed, and everything was re-assembled with new gaskets and seals.
Currently, the engine is 95% assembled and will be ready to go in the car once the transmission is finished. The front suspension components are also ready to go back on the car. The most recent progress has been on the cars roll cage. More on that, and other details later.
The full album of build pictures can be found at my picasa account.
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