February 2006

Vol. 6  No. 2

The year is off to a great start despite one glitch with the meeting room at the the Carriage House on Friday the 13th.  Thanks to Dan and Ro's generosity, the meeting was rescued and the evening of January 17th turned out to be very special.  Twenty-seven members enjoyed some good food and quality time at the Bryant's home. 

Our January event at Hurricane Harbor was well attended.  

At least 19 club Corvettes with drivers and navigators joined the 40 plus cars from the other clubs for lunch.  Our own Ken and Bonnie Porter stole the show with their Velocity Yellow 2006 Z06.  Thanks to all who supported this years first event. 

Here's waving at you...........
D Kesler

The Name Says It All!

Contact Greg Williams
Corvette Specalist
For all your Corvette Needs

567-8371

The 54th running of America's greatest sports car endurance race takes place on Saturday March 18th. The premier race of the American Le Mans Series will feature several new cars attempting to win the oldest road race in North America.

Penske Racing will enter 2 Porsche prototypes, it has been 15 years since the German manufacturer has had an over all win at Sebring. Audi has a new R10 LMP that may be ready in time. Dyson Racing has a new Lola prototype ready. The new factory Mazda Courage is already running in the series.

The GT class with Corvettes, Aston Martin, Saleen and Ferrari will be among the entrants.

Sebring Raceway has a variety of tickets available. (see the website).

Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan comment is "We're here to defend the hill and that's exactly what will do."

This year the Corvette Corral will the biggest ever with space for at least 300 cars. Space is limited for the corral SO get your tickets soon.

As always the entertainment will be 24 hours a day.

MEMBER BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays for February

Birthdays for March

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Harry & Linda Fallon

DINNER MYSTERY RIDE

On January 31st we had our monthly dinner cruise in. It was a great turn out and we have several new couples in their Corvettes join us.

Ron and Mary choose Mama Clara’s Italian Cuisine. The food was great and plenty of it. Free wine since they don’t have a liquor license. Ron and Mary did a contest of trivia for fun while waiting for the food. Mama Clara’s is located in the plaza behind Outback, with plenty of parking. This was a great restaurant selection by Ron and Mary.

LOADS OF RACING &  FUN AT THE ROLEX 24
& MILESTONE DAY

Milestone day at Dayton Speedway is a great experience. Vi & Betty, Harry & Claudia, Dan & Ro and Tom and I were off for a great weekend with loads of driving and lots of racing. Thursday was cool weather and windy but the short races and time trials were fun.

Friday is MILESTONE Day and starts at 9 AM with continental breakfast and some information about the track. Then at 10:30 it's out to the track for LAPS! The trick to this is to fall back and let the cars ahead of you go and then go as fast as you can till you have to slow down.

Back to the Milestone building to look at all the other cars and talk about how fast you got to go. Benny Parson was the speaker and told stories of his racing years during lunch. Benny was also the Grand Marshall for the Rolex 24. He also came over and ate several meals with our gang during the two days of the Rolex race.

The racing was great and having full run of the Goodyear Tower is always fun. Great to get out of the cold, have a drink, all the food you could eat and in house TV screening everywhere. The roof with rows of seats and full view of the whole racetrack is fantastic.

Sunday after the race ended we sat in the Winners circle and took pictures of all the teams as they got their Rolex watches and trophies. What a great way to end the weekend.

Save The Wave,

Hollyann

April 20 - 22  C5/C6 Bash Included is a Corvette Racing dinner to honor the team's 2005 accomplishments, unveilings by the GM Engineering team, road touring adventures, etc. 

MAY 4 - 6   C4/ZR1 Included will be seminars, special displays, driver in competitions, special displays and much more. this will be the 10th Anniversary of of 96 Grand Sport edition.

MAY 25 - 27  CORVETTE CRUISE IN FORUM Activities  developed for member of the popular Internet forum, but is open to all. Road tours, seminars, a banquet and auction, a car show and more for the weekend.

JULY 20 - 22 THE Z06 FEST Events will focus on speed and power. Drag racing and auto cross combined with seminars on vehicle performance.

AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 3  LABOR DAY WEEKEND A must attend for all vette owners and fans. Features the Corvette Hall of fame Ceremony, celebrity car show and membership festivities.

SEPTEMBER 28 - 30 R8C/XPERIENCE Corvette owners previously enrolled in these programs will come together to share their delivery experiences, enjoy road-tour excursions to area attractions and take part in seminars and banquets.

OCTOBER 12 - 14 1968 - 1982 C3 EXTRAVAGANZA Reuniting third generation Corvette owners for a weekend of road tours, special displays, and more. This event is primary focused on the C3 but all Vette owners

CLUB ACTIVITIES Happy February!!  We have some fun events coming up! This month’s club event will feature the Andretti Thrill Park followed with lunch at Texas Roadhouse Saturday, February 25^th. We are scheduled to ride go carts, play mini golf, hit some balls, play laser tag and much more for a couple of hours before lunch. Andretti’s reps say that the morning is not as crowded so we shouldn’t have to fight too many kids for the fastest go cart! We’ll be leaving the Mobil Station on 90^th Ave and Route 60 at 9:00am.

Our March club event is the 12 Hours of Sebring. Discounted tickets are only $170-$190 if you buy them BY FEBRUARY 28^TH. The deadline to purchase carral tickets for the regular price ($190-$210) is Friday, March 10^th. These prices include four day passes for two and one parking pass. For more information about the 12 Hours of Sebring visit 12 HOURS OF SEBRING or call 800-626-RACE or 863-655-1442 or e-mail us at sirrace@sebringraceway.com.

CLUB CHARITY Starting in April, we will start collecting bath, body & beauty products for the Women's Refuge at every meeting and club event. Products desired are products that would build the self-esteem including nail polish, bath gels, lotions, make-up, hair accessories, manicure/pedicure kits, deodorant, toothbrushes, hair brushes, etc. A detailed list of donation ideas will be provided. The women's refuge was touched by our support. The event will end in June with a cocktail party where we invite the leaders of the Women's Refuge and present them with their gifts.

NEW EVENT IN THE WORKS!! Attention Members…we are in the beginning stages of gathering all the Indian River Car Clubs together for a local car event. If you have any connections with a local car club or have any input or ideas contact me at Bonnie@ircorvettes.com.

See ya at the next event!!

I have had a NASA group 3 qualification which I got in Texas before I came to Florida.  Last year I started attending PBOC events and was placed as an advanced student as I had not been certified by them. 

 To be sure that I qualified last week end I hired Paul Mazzacane to be my instructor.  Mazz is an experienced sports car racer and instructor. 

 Saturday we had 4 sessions.   The first was Mazz drove my car and showed me the line, ie. Where to put the car at the start of the corner, when to brake, where to turn in for the apex, when to accelerate out of the turn and where the car should be pointed as you came out of the turn.  Sounds real easy, and sitting in the passenger seat, you think, I can do that.  Sebring has 17 turns in the 3.71 mile track and 2 of them (1 and 17)are among the most difficult of any tracks in the US.  My first session out was not quite a disaster, but I did not follow the line correctly.  Mazz provided constant feedback on what and where I was wrong.  Second session I improved and maybe was correct on 50% of the lines through the turns each lap.  I was right one lap on a turn, but wrong the next time through the same turn.  Third session I improve some more, but was still making mistakes.

Sunday we had 2 sessions.  I was feeling good after a good dinner, a few beers and a good nights sleep.  The first session it seemed like for the first 15 minutes I forgot everything from Saturday.  Mazz’s feedback was ‘stronger’ in correcting my mistakes.  My main problem was not looking ahead.  I was missing the apexes, not letting the car drift out to use the maximum amount of track, and I also was looking in the rear view mirror 2 much.  After the session, I asked Mazz how I could correct my problem of not looking ahead.  Answer was simple.  I needed to concentrate on doing that.  Mazz also sat down with me and we went over the instructor’s evaluation of the student.  I received all good and excellent ratings except for looking ahead and hitting the apexes.  I told Mazz I would make him change those ratings after the next session.  Session 2 was like I had been doing this all the time.  I believe I only missed 2 apexes out of 10 laps (170 turns).  Mazz was happy, I was happy, and it was the most fun I had at Sebring.  The car was fast because I was smooth. I was turning laps in the 2 minute 40 second range.  Mazz told me that I carried more speed into turns 1 and 17 than I did all week end.  Mazz moved my ratings up to good on the 2 that needed improvement and recommended that I receive my Solo qualification.

Great week-end.