It took me just under 6 hours to get here. The first part of the trip through eastern New York and Vermont was absolutely beautiful - but the roads were narrow, twisty and hilly - I drove by the entrances to the Pico and Killington ski resorts - so the tow car struggled. Most of the trip through New Hampshire was on divided highways - always seemingly uphill - and somewhat boring. I struggled to maintain a 55 mph speed in a 70 mph zone!

I unloaded and parked in the upper lot (gravel), then brought the car through tech with Earl Tucker as the examiner. I asked what he thought of my left front wheel bearings. He was unimpressed with any claim of play and said he didn't think the wheel would fall off. I have often jokingly accused Earl of driving a Bondo bath-tubbed bodied MGA race car (1954), but back at the hotel I saw what I think to be Jim Bottomly's MGA street car. What caught my attention was the fact that the front and rear fenders appeared much more rounded than on my car. It sort of had the styling cue from the Porsche 356. The tires were also set back well within the fenders whereas mine are close to even with the fenders. I never knew there might be fender differences between the early and later cars, but this might help explain (justify?) my description of Earl's car.

 

Good luck racing this weekend! Glad you made it up there safely. We were in Vermont a couple weeks back and it really is very beautiful.

SCDA was a good time. Rico, John, and Anthony were there along with Dennis and I. Monday had some really nice sessions. Tuesday was a bit mor eventful. Session 3, with 5 minutes to go, my front brake hose gave out right before the bus stop. Thankfully the car came to a stop before re-entering the track. Unfortunately, didn't bring spare hoses.

My neighbor overnighted the hose so was able to bring the car home yesterday. Overall good time. Going to replace all brake hoses on the S. Pretty sure the existing ones are from 2006!

 

Freddy - glad you are ok. If you don’t already have them get SS brake lines.

 

Thanks Ashish! Yes, that will be my very next purchase. Any recommendations?

 

I had Science of Speed based on Jake’s recommendation for the S2000. On the Civic I have Goodridge SS lines that are supposed to be best for racing applications. Just check what the vendors are offering and see which ones are rated best for track use.

replace them every 3 years or so based on use and you’ll never have a failed line again. The weakest point in the lines is always the crimp so replacing regularly ensures you avoid risk of any failure at that point.

 

Another suggestion and this is something I always do especially when I ride curbs or am on a really long straight - tap the brakes with your left foot to ensure they’re still there. This should give you an idea of how brakes are before your next big brake zone.

 

Thanks for the recommendations and excellent tip. Will incorporate that going forward and do the 3 year replacement. Amazing it hasn't failed sooner considering it's a 2006 but glad it happened at the bus stop.

 

July 11-12, 2025, Club Motorsports (White Mountains Vintage Grand Prix – so called)
It took me just under 6 hours to reach the track on Thursday, coming from Saratoga Springs. The first part of the trip through eastern New York and Vermont was absolutely beautiful - but the roads were narrow, twisty and hilly - I drove by the entrances to the Pico and Killington ski resorts - so the tow car struggled. Most of the trip through New Hampshire was on divided highways - always seemingly uphill - and somewhat boring. I struggled to maintain a 55 mph speed on a 70 mph highway!

I checked in and was banished to the upper lot (gravel), unloaded and then brought the car through tech with Earle Tucker as the examiner. I asked what he thought of my left front wheel bearings. He was unimpressed with any claim of play and said he didn't think the wheel would fall off.

I have often jokingly accused Earle of driving a Bondo bath-tubbed bodied MGA race car (1954), but back at the hotel I saw what I think to be Jim Bottomly's MGA street car. What caught my attention was the fact that the front and rear fenders appeared much more rounded than on my car. It sort of had the styling cue from the Porsche 356. The tires were also set back well within the fenders whereas mine are close to even with the fenders. Earle and Jim later told me that there was no difference in our fenders.

On Friday, I made my way to the track in time for the driver’s meeting. The mist was shrouding the mountain as I drove into Club Motorsports, but the sky cleared and the sun was beaming down as I prepared for my first run. As this was booked as “practice”, I anticipated a leisurely few laps. I decided not to run my cameras, but should have because I had several “dices” in close quarters that would have proved interesting on video.

The track is, and will be, difficult to master. It is 2.5 miles long with a claimed elevation change of 250 feet. Since you go uphill, then downhill, then uphill, then downhill, my suspicion is that the total elevation change is substantially greater (the Mt. Washington Vibe described a lap as having over 700 feet of up and down elevation change!). Suffice it to say that it drives like a roller coaster. There are 15 corners. Turn 5 (the “Stinger”) is sharp and steeply uphill, requiring a downshift to second with tires sometimes spinning before finding grip. Turn 6 (the “Snake”) is a steep, downhill, off camber corner. I once saw a Fiat Abarth roll three times after getting a rear quarter panel love tap from a Mini here. Then there are a series of downhill and uphill left handers (the “Whip”) that you want to take flat out but don’t have the nerve. These leads to a complex, diminishing radius Turn 11 (the “Nightmare”) at the top of the hill that you must take slowly – even if you get the line right! Finally, a fast downhill section leads to a very sharp, off camber Turn 15 (the “Slide”) that makes you sweat as it slows you down for the Main Straight. Needless to say, with all those corners ready to bite you, it is easy to lose focus, forget where you are and what you need to do next!

In the practice session (I think on Turn 1) I managed to bottom the car after bouncing off the apex curbing. I was tired by mid session and came in – sacrificing 3 or 4 laps – but I went back out. I had several laps in the mid 2:11s.

I was paddocked next to Bill Bazley, the 84 year old who took up vintage racing at age 80. He’s driving a MG Midget, so in the second outing I followed him around for a few laps in case I wanted to send him some video footage. Eventually, I took off and was driving the course by myself. The session ended about midway under “black flag all”. Once I left Bill, I was running mostly in the 2:11s, but with my best lap a 2:10.99.

I was leaking oil into my cockpit more profusely than usual so I was checking both the transmission and engine oil. I apparently was distracted and neglected to return the oil cap. The third run was a race start. While much of the pack slipped away, Butch O’Connor was still in sight and Earle Tucker was behind. But my throttle jammed more or less wide open with the oil cap so I had to abort the race – coasting on the downhills and turning on the throttle to get over the crests of the hills.

The 4th run was a race start with me towards the rear of the grid. The start is always somewhat exciting – and this one was no different – but the pack pulled away by the second lap. So I tried to work on my line and technique through some of the difficult corners and felt I had improved somewhat. I was about to lap a few of the much slower H-Modifieds, but Storm Field (’70 Caldwell D13) and Graham Scaife (’53 MGTD) tangled up in the off camber Turn 6. So the race ended under “black flag all”. I ran a couple of 2:09.5s in laps 3 & 4 – a sign that my lap times were improving. But my tires did not appreciate the hard work and slowed me down, sliding and squealing, as the run progressed, leaving me with a 2:12.0 by lap 7.

At 6:30, we had a VSCCA pot luck dinner – but I never did get a cheeseburger! I schmoozed with the assembled and then went to the local EconoLodge for the night. About 1:00 A.M. violent thunderstorms rolled through and I worried about the security of my EZ-Up and car cover, neither of which I had battened down for heavy weather.

On Friday, I failed to get any rear camera video footage because my remote didn’t seem to want to start the rear camera. On Saturday morning, my remote was completely dead. So I had to revert to manually starting the front camera and foregoing the rear.

I was running late after futzing with the cameras and the mist was still hanging low over the mountain when I arrived at the track. I scrambled to get ready for my first run and was late to the grid. I was initially puttering behind the #321 red Alfa and the H-Modifieds; and the track was still damp in spots but I didn’t notice. I caught up with a 5-car pack of slower cars and after working my way through them, I was again behind the #321 Alfa. The gold Bugeye passed me (I never know who is driving that car! Ben Tarlow? Willem Oswald?). I got by the Alfa and was losing the Bugeye chase over the next few laps. I finally had Mark O’Day’s #23 MGTD in sight, but the yellow flag was out. Graham Scaife had spun his MG TD and hit the Aarmco between turns 9b and 10. He thought the spin was caused by damp curb paint – which may be the case – but by tracing his skid marks back, my video suggests that he might have dropped two wheels. In any event, the session was over under black flag. Scaife was OK, the car damaged but repairable. My best lap was a 2:11.2.

The schedule changed and Saturday's Race 1 was a combined groups all comers race. Many of the faster cars lined up to the rear of the false grid so I jumped into a spot that placed me 4th at the start – meaning I would suffer a lot of passing. Earle Tucker (MGA) was starting in 3rd and I was determined to keep pace with him. Only six cars passed us in the first lap! But everybody else leaked through before the race was over. I seemed to be a bit faster than Earle on the straights, slower in the corners, but was never able to generate enough momentum to safely pass him. In lap 7, I (we) ran a 2.07.2, but after that we needed to slow down for Turn 1 (yellow flag) and were running 2:10s. This race was a lot of fun!



The cloud descended upon Race 2 - also an all comer’s race - shrouding us in a grey mist. One by one the faster cars got past and away and I was mostly racing against the clock. I had some interesting handling in the tricky corners as my tires chose not to cooperate. I ran seven out of 10 laps in the 2:08s, with my fastest lap, lap 6, at 2:08.054. Marc Cedron, in his ’57 Tojeiro Climax, passed me and then got away. I later found him spun out in Turn 6, but he had collected himself and stayed in front. I chased and a lap later ran him down at Turn 10. But I could not make the pass stick and he got me on the front straight for the checkered flag.

The only thing left was a Preservation Class run. Ray Quaranto (’67 Alfa Romeo Duetto) wanted to go out. We gridded at the front of the field and conspired to race until we reached the slower cars. I kept close on his tail for about 7 laps until he finally got sick of the pressure and pointed me by. When I finally caught the H-Modifieds, I stuck with them to finish out the weekend. The only negative was that Jim Bottomly, running Preservation in his street MGA, blew his head gasket and came in on a flat bed.

It took me more than an hour to pack up and I was headed home at about 5:00 p.m. The trip homeward was pleasant and I seemed to make better time that I had on Thursday. The car has a profuse oil leak somewhere at or behind the rear engine plate that I should look into. In the meanwhile, since I’ve moved and lost my original engine pulling system, I have to figure out if I can get an engine lift under my car or whether I need a gantry to pull the engine.

 

Great account Jeff. Just watched the video as I’m home sick and it was good to see all the cars out there with typical NH mountain weather. When is the next event?

 

Some photos from the Club Motorsports event. I'm not sure who to credit as they were posted to the Club Motorsports Facebook page.



Butch O'Connor






Earle Tucker




Butch chasing me.


And some other MG action - mostly me.