Fourm members with racing expierences...other than Europas

[Lou Drozdowski]

Hats off from me. I think Rally drivers are totally bonkers and extremely skilled drivers. Not sure where the balance is, but I'm always impressed by Rally drivers. You guys seem fearless.....

I've never won a cent of prize money. I've got a bunch of trophies that cost an awful lot of money to win 

Alex...(4129)....I second the sentiments, to run in Rally takes an altogether different breed of courage mixed with a little insanity!

Having run most of the time on a shoe string budget, as an private entrant, I was never afforded the luxury of buying my way to the grid. Every effort to compete against the big money entrants was my satisfaction...Ours was a brother venture, where we pooled our sweat and spare change for the chance to accomplish a dream.

I recall one rainy cold weekend at Lime Rock...I had to load and trailer up by myself, drive all night to get to the track where I was to meet my brother the following morning. After sleeping in the van, pushing the car to get it through tech, no breakfast, then the sky opened up.

I had one set of fresh slicks for the weekend...that's it...a fellow competitor offered me a ratty set of rains as the stewards would not let me on the track with dry tires. What to do?

Lying in the mud, off came the slicks, to head over to the Goodyear service truck to have the rains mounted. Made it with 10 minutes left to qualifying and put in only one flying lap. My time put me on the next to last row...30Th!

I was really frustrated, ready to pack it in and call it a lesson learned...suddenly the sun came out!

Still with no help, I figured, if the track dried enough, I'd gamble and start on the slicks with every one else on wets...back to the service truck to have the tires swapped over again. I was just about finished when my brother finally arrived. He had spun off the road earlier that morning and had to wait to get towed out of  ditch.

I still had not eaten anything, it was close to race time and the track was still damp. I went over to race control and asked if I would be allowed to start on dry tires...throwing caution to the wind they said it was my call.

In the end, it turned out to be the most satisfying day in my racing career. I took the chance while everyone was on rains, my slicks started to work by lap four, and from dead last I passed 20 cars in the remaining eleven laps to finish 12Th.

I learned a lot that day...not for racing, but more for life, as never to give up on your dreams, no matter how tired, hungry or wet you get.


   

[BDA]

Great story, Lou! That's a good lesson to take to heart and it's a hard lesson to learn. It can be really difficult to push through when so many things feel aligned against you.

[Certified Lotus]

Great story Lou. I can completely relate. Lack of sleep, lots of prep for the time trials and races, Blown engines, wrecked cars (I totaled my first Exige S in the rain without rain tires) and the constant upgrading and ever increasing budget. I quit while I was on top and never looked back with no regrets. It was worth every hour and every penny.

[SwiftDB4]

I raced several cars from 1977 to 2004. Started in the S1 Europa I still have. Stepped up to a Brabham BT38 Formula Atlantic (SCCA).
Gave pro racing a try in a GTU Datsun 280Z in IMSA and Trans Am 1981-1984. Had fun running with the big boys including AJ Foyt, Rick Mears, David Hobbs, Bobby Rahal, and Paul Newman. I should say I occupied the same track as they passed me in GTP cars capable of 200+mph at Daytona, Road America, Road Atlanta, and Mid Ohio. Managed to win $1700 in prize money which was a pittance compared to expenses.
Raced a S2000 Tiga and a SwiftDB2 after that in SCCA.
Finished my racing days with a Swift DB4 Formula Atlantic. With full ground effects it was my fastest race car. Probably raced at 25 race tracks from Daytona to Portland.
Wild and crazy times included breaking a steering wheel at Mid Ohio and watching an all girl corner crew At Road Atlanta drop tops on our pace lap. Sorry no photos on that.

[BDA]

That's quite a racing career, Swift!  I wish somebody had gotten a picture of that corner station!

A buddy of mine who raced Formula Atlantic bent his steering wheel. I asked him how he did that. He said he had a death grip on the wheel! I'm still amazed but now I found someone who broke a steering wheel! I guess I never graduated to breaking or bending steering wheels! 

[JR73]

Reading about everyone's competition history and the cars that you have run has been very interesting.

Started out in 2000 racing my Europa (see members cars section), did pretty good on a limited budget for a few years and even managed to collect a decent number of trophies for all the late nights and early mornings that I'm sure everyone else who has competed are familiar with?!
Decided that I didn't want to risk the Europa anymore so built a V8 Esprit as I figured it was interesting, quite similar in many ways to the Europa and there weren't that many Esprits being raced....flip side of that was I had to make pretty much everything for it myself (lightweight bodywork, suspension, brakes, rollcage, reworked Aero and cooling etc etc....) which took a bit of time so whilst that was in progress I got to drive a good friends Motorsport Elise in some intermarque races that involved driver changes (mini endurance!!). The Esprit proved to be competitive and damned quick which attracted a small amount of sponsorship which was nice! Continued to add to the trophy collection (no prize money in the clubman events I competed in - Doh!) until work started to get in the way a few years back.... Managed to continue getting my fix on the odd track day here and there but I intend to resume the racing as soon as possible.
Anyway, selection of pics below;