Dantzig Racing
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Hopes were high when we arrived at Lime Rock. Thursday's event was a driver's ed, and was held in a light but steady rain. Peter changed the car to rain tires while Jol attended to his flagging duties at station four on the short chute after Big Bend.

The day's sessions were informative and despite the less than perfect weather, quite enjoyable. It was apparent that the valve cover gasket replacement had not stopped the oil leak however. The DeMan crew showed up at around 2:00 as planned, and we began to settle in and prepare for the race.

Friday: Practice

Things started well on Friday. The track was a little green, but dry. Jol set out in the second group for practice. The car was running well, but blowing smoke on the left-hander before the esses. There was work to be done, but the car was quicker than ever.

Paul and John put some solid laps down in the Yellow 911 GT4 car, turning laps in the 1:08 region. Paul was happy with the setup, so it looked pretty good for Saturday's proceedings.

The DeMan GT1 with Rick DeMan at the wheel was clearly at the head of the class right out of the box. Rick was turning laps in the high to mid 50s and getting faster. Rick reported that everything felt great.

Race Day, Saturday: Warm up

The sun shone on the beautiful hills of Connecticut welcoming us to what was to be a very wonderful and exciting day of racing at Lime Rock. The morning warm ups went well with the exception of Jol's car having developed a low oil pressure condition and was showing a small amount of oil on the right side of the motor.

Qualifying

For the qualifying session that afternoon the DeMan crew had done what they could to shore up the problems with the 914. It was time to make the best of it, so Jol headed out for qualifying. He had it down in the 1:07 range and was carrying more speed on a very hot lap when everything unraveled in the last turn.

Known as the "diving turn" Lime Rock's turn 10 is a downhill right-hander that sees the car at red-line in fourth. Just after the apex the car started to come around. The attempt to countersteer was met with no result, and once the car was totally sideways there was nothing to be done except lock the brakes, put in the clutch and hope for the best. The car left the track at the outside of the turn exit, bounced across the gravel and then onto the grass. The last 10 m.p.h. or so was scrubbed off very effectively by the tire barrier. Our day was over.

Ouch! Fiberglass fiasco for sure.

Meanwhile, there was more qualifying to do. Paul and John had split the duties in practice but it was Paul who was to race, as he had more experience at LRP. Paul qualified the Yellow 911 fastest in class with a time of 1:04.9.

Rick then went out with the GT1 car and immediately started turning great times. We all watched with glee as he creeped into the mid 50s. The car was a rocket! The DeMan Motorsports GT1 was on the pole with a 56.5! It looked like Rick would be tough to beat, but Steve Savino's 944T wasn't far behind with a 56.8.

The team and guests on the observation
deck get a bird's eye view of the action.

Rick's Bad Ride

Although the Dantzig 914 was out, there was still much excitement in the camp as there were two races for our contingent. First up was Paul in the GT4 car, which circulated with increasing speed. By the time 27 laps were completed, Paul had brought it home 2nd in class (12th overall) with a best lap of 1:03.9. An awesome result for the first time out in PCA racing.

Next, was the GT1 race... the main event you might say. This is the big daddy class where the timid need not apply. Rick lined up next to Steve Savino's 944, and the pace lap began. As the pace car came in and the green flag dropped, Savino got the launch and beat Rick into Big Bend. Everyone was on pins and needles as the cars tip-toed around on cold tires.

As the pace picked up, Savino increased his lead turning a 56.4 in the ninth lap. This would be his fastest lap of the race. For the next sixteen laps it was nip and tuck, with Rick gaining and losing ground as the pair cut through lapped traffic. At one point Rick was three wheels in the dirt at Big Bend, scrambling for grip. Somehow he kept it together and resumed the chase. As the tires got hot and traction got scarce, Rick was just a car length behind.

Our radar gun caught the pair exiting West Bend at 102mph with barely a space between them as they accelerated down the hill to turn 10. Then, on the next to last lap Rick went next to Steve on the uphill and took him for West Bend. Managing to hold the 944 Turbo at bay for the last few miles, Rick took the checkered flag with a lead of 0.3 seconds!

Next Event

With a tremendous result for the DeMan crew, all of us are looking forward to Watkins Glen. With a little work, the Dantzig 914 will be back in shape and ready to try again. Check back for more developments.

Jol would like to thank Carla, Peter and Robbie.
Couldn't do it without you.

AND to Rick, Nyol, Gaspare and Junior
thanks for all your help and encouragement...
you guys are the best!

Victory Celebration: Junior, Rick, Joe,
Nyol and Gaspare