Ken,
It was good to see you at Snetterton on Saturday.
I did,nt exactly trundle round but had to restrict revs to 6000 and stay in fourth gear, thus backing off half way down the Revitt straight and at the end of the pit lane exit. I elected to start from the back of the grid in both races as i could only run in fourth and would not be a nuisance to my fellow racers. I actually started the second race in third gear in order to see just what torque she could give me off the line and whether i could take any prisoners before having to try and select fourth gear and then stay in it. I overtook six by the first bend and then started to lose out on the straigh once i tried to select fourth.
All i can say is that once i,ve got the 917 sorted and developed properly i can mothball the 40. There is no comparison... Trying to be quick throught the Esses, Russel chicane and Sears in fourth gear is just not possible as you could see. Still, with Spa and Snetterton under the 917s belt the testing information gained is invaluable and i am so indebted to Willi Kausen, David Piper and Harald Deutcher for their input. Willi said to me at Spa that i must be mad to have done that circuit as its first race and that it would take months of testing to get it handling right. And they had all the Porsche empire and JWA behind them.
Not only did we have major gear selection problems but also lost compression on 4 and 5 cylinders and had 5 drive pins work out of the hub, thus allowing a front disc to come loose. I was determined to finish the 2 races, not only to get track time testing in, but also to keep my 100% race finish record going. Since i started racing in 1969 i,ve finished every race, including the one when i broke a crankshaft and coasted across the line at Brands.
Regards,
Graham @ GTA.
