Johan, wish I knew you were there as it would have been nice to see your 935 and to meet a fellow forum member. Next time. :thumbsup:
BTW I thought of some other interesting tidbits the forum members might find interesting and these are coming from the drivers of the MK 1 GT 40's in attendance and also from personal observations. Both cars are 1965 versions with the dual tail-light rears.
The tires used by both cars (s/n 1041 Walker & s/n 1018 Wilson) were Avons and not the wide variety. The rears were fairly "skinny" (maybe 8" at the rear) compared to some of the other "steam-rollers" seen. The brakes were solid disks and glowed like fire as the cars approached turn 1. Chris Wilson (said he believes he was doing about 198 mph (!) on the banking, while his co-driver stated the track is much narrower then it looks on TV and paid HUGE respect to the Nascar guys for doing what they do 3 abreast. Both GT40's had problems at the rear of the car due to the banking and stresses put on the rear upright. I believe both cars suffered driver side issues at the rear with 1018 suffering a cracked bolt holding on the half shaft and 1041 had issues too. 1018 also required an engine replacement during some of the practice sessions.
1018 was crewed by Lazante out of England who also serviced the Mclaren GTR to victory in the 1995 24 Hours of Lemans. Dean Lazante and his crew were well dressed, polite and were always insuring every thing was checked and re-checked for the drivers before each session.
The co-driver for 1041, (Mike Jordan) said he thought his door was going to come off while coming of the last part of the banking heading down the main straight as he looked up to see the drivers side door lifting almost an inch off the spider! The crew fitted an additional brace to hold the door on at speed.
All the drivers said it was a thrill to finally drive at Daytona and loved the setting over all. Compared to Lemans, one stated, its so well lit and not dark like Lemans and with the grandstands being so close to the track it was really spectacular. The weather was a blessing to as it couldn't have been nicer. They all really loved that as England in November is absolute crap.
The seats in both 1018 & 1041 was of modern design which says volumes about the originals. Only the MK II car held on to the original seats. BTW it too suffered from "door lift" on the passenger side as copius amounts of duct tape were seen covering the door.
There is no doubt the GT 40 design is one of the greatest of all time. Sure I'm biased cuz I own one but when you see the 40 out there with so many others from that era the car is simply gorgeous.