News From Across the Pond by Les Johnson. Pictures arriving very soon.

I have just returned from California where I have enjoyed three days at Sears Point with the Van Diemen that we have over there.

I was surprised when I discovered David Ferguson was to be the pilot of the car for the final ACRL race of the season. I had expected to have Jeff Glen driving for our first race in the US, Jeff has done the testing to date and would have given me great confidence in the car. David was an unknown quantity, had only tested the car the week before at Thunderhill and although he was happy with the car I thought it was a risk to pitch him in against possibly the fastest car driver combination of Michael Scully in his highly modified Lola. It was the first time I had met David and he is a real character, jovial and likable, supported by an amazing wife Ellen, who not only does the usual food and comfort bit but also is first class around the car.

Testing on the Saturday was the chance for me to evaluate the car/driver combination. I was immediately impressed by David's smooth style of braking and overall commitment, he was on the pace straight away. Laps under the official record were recorded in the first session and he remained fastest sports 2 runner in both sessions, ahead of the main opposition Michael Scully.

Eric Purcell was in charge of car preparation, Robyn his partner had the car looking pristine whilst Eric sorted set up and mechanicals. I have been fortunate in selecting Eric to run the Van Diemen in the US, he is well known, very hard working and extremely capable in all aspects of car preparation. Eric had made a few adjustments to the car for Sears Point and after the first run with David, both driver and manager expressed satisfaction with the car.

The Race.
A rolling start saw David get the better of Scully into the third corner, a battle royal then commenced, Scully trying to overtake at every opportunity and David defending both the inside and outside lines as required. Scully was quick on the high speed corners and made his moves on the entry to the slow speed corners, each time David covered the move and then got the power down and pulled out a gap. As the race progressed it was clear to see that the Lola could not stay close to the Van Diemen on the slow corners and if Scully tried to stay close he lost ground all round the circuit, his only response was to drop back a little and charge around the fast bend into the slow corners, this was covered by David and on the third from last lap Scully tried to go round the outside of the Van Diemen and out braked himself. This gave David a breather; he could take his lines better and recorded his fastest lap, two laps from the end.

I offer my congratulations to both drivers, a stunning race with Michael and David driving with passion, style and above all supreme skill that allowed the race to run its full course whilst keeping both cars in one piece.

All in all a great weekend, a brilliant start to our campaign in the USA, new friends made and old ones reacquainted. I met Steve Romac who has an original Van Diemen which he is now converting to the later spec. Steve Raymond, his raceteam boss , Paul Hass and his wife, the “ Feyerabend” of the ACRL. John Lombardo Jr and the incredible Peter Zarcades, who is the fittest senior citizen you will ever meet. Fred Michael, John Osland, Jeff Glen and many others who made the weekend memorable.

I drove to Sonama on Sunday night to enjoy a meal with Jim and Yvonne Prickett, old friends who live in San Francisco.

Monday dawned bright and sunny, as I drove south on highway 101, to what is without doubt one of the finest and most beautiful entrances to any city in the world, the Golden Gate bridge, the radio played. I have always marveled at the Americans love affair with the predominately English music of the sixties, the Beatles, Stones and Rod Stewart, this combined with the huge pickups, hummers and gas at a dollar a gallon made me wonder if I was crazy to be going home.