B20 wins Le Mans !!

[Kevin MacBride]

Well, not really...the annual running of Classic Car Live at Mondello on the 20th was my 2nd and best win of the event. We had a Le Mans type start in front of a packed grandstand (doing up belts whilst racing is not to be recommended). After 2 laps I was just holding of an XK Jag when one car had a mishap and ran off into the gravel, no damage to man or car but the race was red flagged and re-started on the grid. I had massive clutch slip and the XK took the lead, I nearly had a Frazer Nash as a bootlid ornament as I struggled to get going. I managed to catch the Jag and we had a fine battle for about 10 laps, swapping the lead a few times, I had a do or die dive on the final lap and held off for a win. Photo is a candid shot of myself and family and some of the cars. We had pre war, 50's, modsports, 70's and old Formula Fords. Plus almost 1000 'classic' cars in the infield, and a celebration of 100 years of Alfa Romeo. Add to that temps exceeding 25 degrees is was a good day for all.

[Jai Sharma]

Excellent!

[St Volumex]

Well done!

[HF_Dave]

I was there, what a great race. I think you provided the best entertainment of the day, well done.

[DavidLaver]

Let me guess....you're glad you didn't sell it 

[Kevin MacBride]

I have a DVD of a few laps of the race, when I figure out how to post it on utube, I'll put up a link.  I am glad I didn't sell the car. The last time I drove it was at the last race in October, the day before this event I checked the oil, fuel and water, started it up, gave the tyres a kick and a pump, drove it to Mondello and left it in a pit garage overnight. the first run it had was in practise, which sorted out the brakes and shook off the cobwebs. Even after 10 years with the car, it never ceases to amaze.
For those of you who've never driven an Aurelia, they are hard to define, as you tend to forget just how old they are. I was thinking of them recently when reading the article in Viva Lancia about the opinion Ferrari racers had of the D50's. they disliked the cars because of the 'neutral' handling. An Aurelia is very much the same, very little understeer or oversteer till you reach the limit...thing is...you very rarely have to reach the limit. I found that all I had to do was 'drive' the car reasonably fast to keep with the XK, safe in the knowledge that I'd eventually pass. Observing the Jag from my seat was interesting, each exit from it was a mass of oversteer, followed by a squirm under power as he pulled away, eventually all I did was hold an inside line whilst he found himself sliding away whilst the B20 held its line to the next corner. If only they'd developed the engine a little more, even 50 hp more would make it uncatchable with contemporary machinary.

[Parisien]

Kevin, did you ever up-load the DVD of your B20 racing?

P

[Kevin MacBride]

Kevin, did you ever up-load the DVD of your B20 racing?

P

No, for some reason the dvd will not load onto my PC. It was recorded by a spectator, who gave me a copy on disc. I can watch the disc on the pc easily enough, but if I try to download it, all I get is a 'still image' of the opening frame of the video.