PITTSBURGH, PA On July 15th I towed the Bavaria Racecar with my faithful '78 Metallic green and white Dodge Maxivan to the 17th Annual Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. This is an event that attracts the finest pre-1960's vintage cars on the East Coast and is held on the last natural road course (no barriers) in the United States.

For the second year pre -1976 BMW's were accepted for their own race on Saturday. The course is approximately 3 miles long with close to 20 turns, including a series of hairpins, making it very tough on brakes. There are also no spinouts or off-course excursions on this track, only wrecks.

Friday started with tech inspection and drivers meetings, and ended with some 8pm orientation laps where we were going slow enough too see all the granite curbs, stone walls, light poles and other objects that might hinder your progress. No problems in tech and the car seemed to be running OK.

Saturday was busy with early morning practice, noon qualifying and a 5pm race. All I did was check fluids and tire pressures and lined up on the grid. After a 30-minute wait we were turned loose onto a wet track courtesy of the city of Pittsburgh who decided (or were told) that 9am was a better time than say 6am to wash and sweep the track. Oh well, not much too learn in this session, just aim for the dry spots. Lap times were 20 seconds off so it was hard to tell who would be up front.

Qualifying went much better although we were only allowed 4 laps, as I would find out this was very adequate. I decided to try and follow one of the guys who had run last year, as I had no idea how to get around. This ended up being a good idea as I qualified 5th overall. I even out-qualified the guy I was following! I was very happy with this result. The cars in front of me were a Chevron, IMSA 320, EM2002/m3 and a PP2002.

For the race I put on Carbon brake pads as I was worried that my brakes were my weak link. The '02's have 2000 to 2200 lb. and the same brakes as my Bavaria, which weighs 2,750 pounds. My race strategy was to let the guy immediately behind me go by and follow him until the closing laps and then pressure him into making a mistake or pass him on the last straight. Along with this was the hope that some of the cars in front would become victim to mechanical problems and drop out. I would have been very happy with a 3rd or 4th place.

As the race started my plans went out the window as I passed the 4th place car on the first lap. I then decided to try and hold my ground and felt pretty comfortable as the car I passed was holding off the crowd behind me. This all changed in a couple of laps as my brakes and tires got a workout. Two cars loomed in my mirror and about the time I decided to let them pass at the next straight I touched a curb, blowing both left side tires and giving me an instant 6 or 7 degrees negative camber. I had been distracted by the guys behind me; they did to me what I had planned to do to them.

Well, crashed out while running 4th, no real damage to the car. I still had a great weekend, the hospitality was great, Pittsburgh was nice, and the vintage races were great to watch. I went to the backside of the course on Sunday to see where I hit. Several people said they had seen it and commented that I was lucky. In the second race I saw what they were talking about: an Abarth Zagato Double Bubble hit the same curb about 20 feet from where I had. He flipped several times, hitting a Granite historical marker that tossed him back across the track where he ended up on his side. The car was destroyed; aluminum makes a strange sound when being crushed. The driver was unhurt, amazingly.

Next up for the Bavaria is an open track day for testing at the new Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina. The next race is the HSR vintage event in at Roebling Road in Savannah, Georgia in October. I will keep you posted.

- Al Taylor


Look for Al and his full race Bavaria at the Brumos Savannah Historic Races at Roebling Road, Savannah Georgia on October 22-24, 1999.

Please check out Al's report on his action at
Virginia Beach, VA.


NOTE: This article originally appeared in Vol. VIII, #29 of
"It's Not a Series," the Senior Six Registry newsletter published quarterly for SSR members. For membership info, please contact William Gau or Jim Bartridge


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