Bob Woodhouse
Enthusiast
St. Petersburg, Fl. Round Two of the Speed World Challenge. 4/3/2006
Dear reader, I wish it were possible to put you in this experience, to give you the anxiety, disappointment, adrenaline; all those feelings, and that’s before you get in the race car. The acceleration, braking and corner g-loading; just sensational, but it looks like a walk in the park on camera. Remember the commercial where they drop the pearl in a bottle of shampoo? Maybe you could equate it to you being the pearl and Godzilla were shaking the bottle. One wild ride.
The Place
This race week end brought all that, including deafening noise and sun drenched panoramas of beautiful buildings, airplanes, yachts. As I said last year, St. Petersburg Florida thinks they are Monaco. The city gets a 10 when it comes to putting on entertainment. Mid-afternoon fireworks displays streaking down the grandstand straightaway in front of thousands of fans marked the opening festivities of the Indy Race.
Perhaps that was more dramatic than our two World Challenge Races but no less gripping. You cannot get more show for the money. There were hard fought duels all through the pack, mucho grandee body contact with a number cars delegated to scrap iron.
The GT Race:
The SCCA crew snuffed the flames out on one of the Aston Martin DB9 race cars during our parade lap, no driver harm, just an extra 8 minute delay. Finally the lights go out and the Woodhouse Auto Family/ Kicker/ Viosport/ Viper Competition Coupe #13 makes a strong launch. Out of the 10th starting position heading for turn one with 30 other anxiety stricken drivers determined to come out of turn one in first place, or at least several positions better than where they gridded.
This makes turn one look like a zip filed Disneyworld parking lot during a Mickey Mouse convention. No way are all of these cars going to fit. I am surrounded, left with
no maneuvering options. There’s a bump, oops, another, oh and another, and by turn three I log four body taps before a wiggly bumper to bumper congo line begins to form. Just 50 minutes or 31 laps to go before we know who survives this concrete jungle.
I digress to tell you once again that this fine city of St. Petersburg builds a street coarse that comes with a mandate of a higher order. To be off your line or brake too deep by a couple feet will reward you with a concrete wall that does not negotiate outcomes.
Through the course of the next 28 laps, the bravest of GT drivers found this truism. (What is it the pilots say? There are old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold pilots?) More details can be found at www.world-challenge.com
Two laps from the end running in 6th position came my fight to survive. Approaching corner 10, I witness dust and spinning cars to find James Sofranos and Lou Cheetalotti (oops my spelling is so bad) digging themselves out of the tire wall catch area and coming back up to speed. I happen to pass the two of them as we move on to the next straight. In front of me is the Porsche GT3 of Imory and it appears to be slowing as we approach corner one and overtaking begins between corner 4 and 5. I am thinking gee what a nice driver, slowing to allow me by. Not. I think now, that he might have been protecting the inside line. As I move toward the corner five apex his car appears to have fixated a bulls eye on my passenger door, hmm, better be a gentleman and leave room in case he thinks this is still a race. As we exit the corner, whether a love tap happened or the off line grip loss, I slide wide as Imory drives back by and I find a hard brush of the tires on corner exit. (note to city of St. Pete: send apology for shredding their Firestone sign) Hey, no story ****** yet, this is just the build up. Lou “despite what he tells you, is not my closest friend” and I do not know who started the rumor that AARP called and wants to do a story on the two of us. Bill, any leads?.
So as this event unfolds Lou goes to the outside of the left hand corner six. A very imaginative passing spot since it allows you to stare at the wall in corner seven. Lou is always the inventive one. Apparently this dawned on him about then, and he decides to take my space while I am still in it. Kawhump! I respond by rolling on a bit more throttle to reach corner seven in front.
Unknowingly the previous fracas harvested a valve stem from one of my rear tires leaving me with three (I can do the math at this level) to finish the last half lap of the race. Knowledge of this has not entered my little brain and it decides we have alignment issues from the contact adventure. So I become one of these “don’t worry honey, hold my beer and watch this” kinda guys for the next couple of corners thinking I can hold on and keep the pace. Meanwhile Lou has his car so buried up my posterior I could read the part number on his rear view mirror.
Through the “S” known as corner 11 and 12 an awareness of the car condition became front page news as I look straight ahead over the drivers door. Eeeyow, this just isn’t handling that good and I spend the distance from 11 through corner 14 trying to abate a “tank slapper” (you bike enthusiasts know that one, for the rest of us it is correcting a slide, then correcting an opposite slide then…… yeah and you think it is never gonna end). OK back under control at turn 14 and Lou Gillotti (maybe that’s how you spell it, not sure) has half the nose of his Curvette sticking over the corner rumble bumps and the other half up my butt creating new meaning to the words “bump steer”. Finally he breaks free, stealing several large chunks of the Viper’s rear quarter panel on his way by. I suppose he figured an even trade since we found yellow Corvette fascia pieces with “last race” super glue still on them stuck in our rear quarter. (Subtle message there in case you read that too fast.) That put Lou across the finish line in 4th position on the final straight and a still happy and grinning Woodhouse team across in fifth. One point behind second place Andy Pilgrim this early in the season is way more than we expected, but don’t think we intend to give any back. Keep the loud applause and shouting coming.
TC Race
Brian Smith, the driver of our Woodhouse Auto Family /Kicker /Viosport / Dodge SRT-4 will also write you a love note. But I want to say something in his honor. He has been robbed. Yes, a good result has been stolen from him on this season’s two opening races. Dealing with the teething issues of a new race car, a la’ mechanical issues at Sebring and then this: On Sunday Brian set the teams new mark for the shortest race in team history by making an immaculate start that saw disaster before turn one. No he and others were not hurt. When an “elbowing for room” contest several cars in front of him got ugly, it sent cars sliding sideways and bouncing off walls. Brian did what looked to be a safe way through only to get met by the concrete almighty while another unaware driver sent him to the wall a second time. Tears came to my eyes watching him get out of the car and wait while the wreckers picked up the scraps of four wrecked cars. Seeing him standing there in silence, the looks on all of the faces of our team, the body language from all of them, the sacrifices given, it just swept over me. This won’t crumble a good team. We will make it happen. Remember the fine people that allow us to do this: www.woodhouse.com Woodhouse Auto Family
www.kicker.com for making music sound it’s best
www.viosport.com for action camera equipment
www.dodge.com see the hot line-up of SRT products
God Bless
[email protected]
Dear reader, I wish it were possible to put you in this experience, to give you the anxiety, disappointment, adrenaline; all those feelings, and that’s before you get in the race car. The acceleration, braking and corner g-loading; just sensational, but it looks like a walk in the park on camera. Remember the commercial where they drop the pearl in a bottle of shampoo? Maybe you could equate it to you being the pearl and Godzilla were shaking the bottle. One wild ride.
The Place
This race week end brought all that, including deafening noise and sun drenched panoramas of beautiful buildings, airplanes, yachts. As I said last year, St. Petersburg Florida thinks they are Monaco. The city gets a 10 when it comes to putting on entertainment. Mid-afternoon fireworks displays streaking down the grandstand straightaway in front of thousands of fans marked the opening festivities of the Indy Race.
Perhaps that was more dramatic than our two World Challenge Races but no less gripping. You cannot get more show for the money. There were hard fought duels all through the pack, mucho grandee body contact with a number cars delegated to scrap iron.
The GT Race:
The SCCA crew snuffed the flames out on one of the Aston Martin DB9 race cars during our parade lap, no driver harm, just an extra 8 minute delay. Finally the lights go out and the Woodhouse Auto Family/ Kicker/ Viosport/ Viper Competition Coupe #13 makes a strong launch. Out of the 10th starting position heading for turn one with 30 other anxiety stricken drivers determined to come out of turn one in first place, or at least several positions better than where they gridded.
This makes turn one look like a zip filed Disneyworld parking lot during a Mickey Mouse convention. No way are all of these cars going to fit. I am surrounded, left with
no maneuvering options. There’s a bump, oops, another, oh and another, and by turn three I log four body taps before a wiggly bumper to bumper congo line begins to form. Just 50 minutes or 31 laps to go before we know who survives this concrete jungle.
I digress to tell you once again that this fine city of St. Petersburg builds a street coarse that comes with a mandate of a higher order. To be off your line or brake too deep by a couple feet will reward you with a concrete wall that does not negotiate outcomes.
Through the course of the next 28 laps, the bravest of GT drivers found this truism. (What is it the pilots say? There are old pilots and bold pilots but no old bold pilots?) More details can be found at www.world-challenge.com
Two laps from the end running in 6th position came my fight to survive. Approaching corner 10, I witness dust and spinning cars to find James Sofranos and Lou Cheetalotti (oops my spelling is so bad) digging themselves out of the tire wall catch area and coming back up to speed. I happen to pass the two of them as we move on to the next straight. In front of me is the Porsche GT3 of Imory and it appears to be slowing as we approach corner one and overtaking begins between corner 4 and 5. I am thinking gee what a nice driver, slowing to allow me by. Not. I think now, that he might have been protecting the inside line. As I move toward the corner five apex his car appears to have fixated a bulls eye on my passenger door, hmm, better be a gentleman and leave room in case he thinks this is still a race. As we exit the corner, whether a love tap happened or the off line grip loss, I slide wide as Imory drives back by and I find a hard brush of the tires on corner exit. (note to city of St. Pete: send apology for shredding their Firestone sign) Hey, no story ****** yet, this is just the build up. Lou “despite what he tells you, is not my closest friend” and I do not know who started the rumor that AARP called and wants to do a story on the two of us. Bill, any leads?.
So as this event unfolds Lou goes to the outside of the left hand corner six. A very imaginative passing spot since it allows you to stare at the wall in corner seven. Lou is always the inventive one. Apparently this dawned on him about then, and he decides to take my space while I am still in it. Kawhump! I respond by rolling on a bit more throttle to reach corner seven in front.
Unknowingly the previous fracas harvested a valve stem from one of my rear tires leaving me with three (I can do the math at this level) to finish the last half lap of the race. Knowledge of this has not entered my little brain and it decides we have alignment issues from the contact adventure. So I become one of these “don’t worry honey, hold my beer and watch this” kinda guys for the next couple of corners thinking I can hold on and keep the pace. Meanwhile Lou has his car so buried up my posterior I could read the part number on his rear view mirror.
Through the “S” known as corner 11 and 12 an awareness of the car condition became front page news as I look straight ahead over the drivers door. Eeeyow, this just isn’t handling that good and I spend the distance from 11 through corner 14 trying to abate a “tank slapper” (you bike enthusiasts know that one, for the rest of us it is correcting a slide, then correcting an opposite slide then…… yeah and you think it is never gonna end). OK back under control at turn 14 and Lou Gillotti (maybe that’s how you spell it, not sure) has half the nose of his Curvette sticking over the corner rumble bumps and the other half up my butt creating new meaning to the words “bump steer”. Finally he breaks free, stealing several large chunks of the Viper’s rear quarter panel on his way by. I suppose he figured an even trade since we found yellow Corvette fascia pieces with “last race” super glue still on them stuck in our rear quarter. (Subtle message there in case you read that too fast.) That put Lou across the finish line in 4th position on the final straight and a still happy and grinning Woodhouse team across in fifth. One point behind second place Andy Pilgrim this early in the season is way more than we expected, but don’t think we intend to give any back. Keep the loud applause and shouting coming.
TC Race
Brian Smith, the driver of our Woodhouse Auto Family /Kicker /Viosport / Dodge SRT-4 will also write you a love note. But I want to say something in his honor. He has been robbed. Yes, a good result has been stolen from him on this season’s two opening races. Dealing with the teething issues of a new race car, a la’ mechanical issues at Sebring and then this: On Sunday Brian set the teams new mark for the shortest race in team history by making an immaculate start that saw disaster before turn one. No he and others were not hurt. When an “elbowing for room” contest several cars in front of him got ugly, it sent cars sliding sideways and bouncing off walls. Brian did what looked to be a safe way through only to get met by the concrete almighty while another unaware driver sent him to the wall a second time. Tears came to my eyes watching him get out of the car and wait while the wreckers picked up the scraps of four wrecked cars. Seeing him standing there in silence, the looks on all of the faces of our team, the body language from all of them, the sacrifices given, it just swept over me. This won’t crumble a good team. We will make it happen. Remember the fine people that allow us to do this: www.woodhouse.com Woodhouse Auto Family
www.kicker.com for making music sound it’s best
www.viosport.com for action camera equipment
www.dodge.com see the hot line-up of SRT products
God Bless
[email protected]
