HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-04-08, Page 6
ci.c•k Spoils"
By FRED YOUNGS
They are going to kill one of the rdost promising classes
of automobile racing in North America very shortly, just
like they killed the Trans-Am and Can-Am series, as the
organizers rush to ensure that the American auto industry
be given its chance at producing a winning car, though they
remain mired in knee-jerk, paltry imitations of the cream
of the class,
IMSA has gone blithely ahead and banned the Turbo-
Porsche Carrera. They knew a good thing when they saw it
and they didn't want it.
When IMSA started out, the idea was to provide a class
of competition where American autos could compete with
the hybrid strains of European cars on a level basis. Cars
were classified and handicapped and the initial idea was
roundly applauded. It hasn't been so successful though, as
the Europeans got onto the idea and Porsche, natural
winners in car racing circles, have walked away with a str-
ing of titles over the past three years leaving their competi-
tion in the back end of the field.
Porsche has been successful on a wide scale, winning
races in every class they entered. Their cars have won the
Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Le Mans 24 Hours, FIA World
Championship of Makes, and most recently the Can-Am
where they fielded what is considered to be possibly the
finest fastest car ever, the Porsche 917 under the guiding
hand of Roger Penske and the late Mark Donahue.
It literally swept away the series, ending the domina-
tion of MacLarens, which had run downhill and showing up
the class for what it was in its final year, a group of
hackneyed, second hand lunkers which couldn't compete
against a class automobile.
The car and the team were superlative, a reliable com-
bination with Donahue pitting his mammoth skills against
the hairy, turbocharged beast dressed in blue and yellow,
Naturally, the SCCA moved to eliminate the problem. They
put fuel restriction on the cars, which would have had the
917 pitting far too often to make it a feasible auto to race.
Happy that they had quelled the monster, they sat back and
watched Porsche haughtily withdraw and then watched the
series collapse, as UOP and their Shadows, the only
megabuck team left, walked away from the used car lot in
the back of the field. UOP did so well in fact, that they
would decide which driver, Jackie 011iver or George
Follmer, would win which race.
The same is happening now with IMSA, who have bann-
ed Porsche's Turbo Carrera RSR.
The turbo version of the RSR is the logical successor to
the RSR, a car which has dominated the IMSA series for the
last three years. It can be loosely termed an "over the
counter racer." Interested, rich parties can fly over to
Stuttgart and with cheque in hand, lay down his $37,500 and
walk out with a racing car that is, ostensibly street legal,
with a muffler. That is, however, if the owner wanted to sit
at a stop light and foul his plugs and overheat.
People who get that one in a lifetime chance to drive it
call it one of the finest cars ever constructed, with its raw
power acceleration stiff ride and superlatively set up
suspension that is a handling dream.
It would, undoubtedly, walk away with the IMSA series,
where its only competition would be John Greenwood's
Corvette, a one of a kind car that has certain reliability
problems and the factory BMW team, who gave Porsche a
good run for their money this past year. But IMSA will have
no part of the car, preferring instead to ban turbocharging
in order to allow the Monzas and Cougars, which put in
valiant but futile efforts, to catch up this year,
Automobile racing is a game of advancement, to win
and keep winning one has to change the equipment almost •
weekly. Each advance that will chop a hundredth of a se-
cond off the lap time is essential, and Porsche knew that the
RSR, which had served them well for the past three years,
was reaching its time to be put out to pasture, Like the
Lotus 72D of Grand Prix fame, it dominated the hustings in
its day, but other teams, notably BMW and Greenwood, •
have shown considerable promise and they are starting to
catch up, but the Monzas, which seem to be IMSA's biggest
area of concern", continue to wallow about in underdevelop-
ment and unreliability,
One of the joys of the IMSA series has been watching
the Porsches, but it will not continue much longer. Like the
Can-Am switch, Porsche has decided to withdraw their sup-
port of the series, knowing full well that their old flagship
can't keep up. They have also spent considerable sums on
the development of the Turbo, money which was to be
recouped from the sale of the street version (approximately
$19,000) and the racer. Now, they won't get it back and
Porsche, if anything, is a proud marque and they won't con-
tinue to field and build a car they know will be beaten.
If there has been only one or two of the older version
RSR's tearing about the track, dominating the proceedings,
it would have been a wise move on the part of IMSA to ban
the Turbo version, but since there were sometimes upwards
of 15 of them in a single race, there was still a competitive
aspect of watching Porsche vs. Porsche, in battles that, for
the most part, came down to the ability of the driver.
IMSA's sudden restriction, however, eliminates this part of
the class, which leaves one 'Vette, two BMW's, a couple of
Monsas, who are still considerably slower despite recent
advances, and very prone to breaking, and the backmarkers
of the Porsches, rich men who can afford to run their own
racing team and their own car, who rarely finish highly.
Not 'even Porsche will argue with IMSA's reasoning
behind the ban, the idea that crowds should be increased, to
provide greater revenue to promoters and teams alike, but
they do contend with the method, which leaves them out of
the competition and will, eventually, lead to the downfall of
the IMSA series, the same way the Can-Am and Trans-Am
series went. They continually outruled competitors who had
an overpowering advantage, in their belief that the more
even a race starts out the more evenly it will be run and
that it is far easier to drop the front runner or seriously
restrict them, rather than try and upgrade the slower cars.
What IMSA doesn't seem to realize is that there is still go-
ing to be a large disparity between the Detroit racers and
the European boys. What IMSA has done is not eliminate a
front runner, they have merely created another void that
will be filled quite handily by one of the BMW's or
Greenwood, rather than continuing the string of Porsche
victories and teams, which at least amounted to more than
three cars.
c4.17-7",
/ Working Men
Know It's Wise
To Protect
Themselves
A second day of registration for
the Exeter Centennial Soccer
League has been scheduled for
Apirl 12 from 10 to 12 p.m. at
South Huron District High
School.
The second day, and, a possible
third for late registration, are
being arranged in order to allow
late corners and those who
missed the first day to register
their children for league play,
The club is entering its fourth
season of play, after what
Damian Solomon called three
"quite successful years."
They will again be entring
teams in the Squirt, Atom,
Mosquito, Pee Wee and possibly
the Bantam divisions.
The Centennial team will also
be playing in the Ausable League
again this year,
Solomon said coaching i§ still
undecided. No replacement has
been picked for Dave Silcock,
who left the Squirt team amidst
controversy three weeks ago.
Silcock resigned after the
Squirts trip to England had been
cancelled. He had made the
Squirts the most successful team
in Exeter soccer history, with
them subsequently being ranked
sixth in North America and being
chosen one of the top two teams
on the continent.
The Centennials start indoor
practice next week, in an-
ticipation of their fourth season in
Ausable play.
The Ausable league has been
expanded to include eight teams
this year. Last year the Cen-
tennials were ranked third,
Solomon said that many of the
players from last year are
returning again this year..
The club also plans to stage the
Centennial cup again this year.
The tournament, held over the
July 1 weekend, includes teams
Bowling season cut
short for playoffs
Because of a predetermined
banquet date, one week of
regularly scheduled men's bowl-
ing has been dropped in order to
allow the playoffs to be com-
pleted and a champion deter-
mined before the banquet on May
8.
The top six teams in the men's
B league; the Times-Advocate
(148 points), the Albatross Jrs.
(137), Co-op (116), Boozers (103),
Yer Whats (101), and the Hawks
(82) will play off for the cham-
pionship in a five game total
point series that began April 7.
The remaining four teams: the
Odds 'n' Ends (76), the Huron
Parkers (59), the ER's (59) and
the Bowling Stones (55) will
compete with two "A" league
teams for the Consolation trophy
on the same basis.
The "A" league teams are the
Hellcats and the Kinsmen.
In the event of a tOtal point tie,
the team with the highest pin
count will take the series.
The remaining schedule is as
follows:
April 14, 7 to 9 p.m'.
Hellcats vs. Bowling Stones
Odds 'n' Ends vs Kinsmen
Huron Parkers vs. Eli's
9 to 11 p.m.
Hawks vs. Boozers
Albatross Jrs, vs, T-A
Co-op vs. Yer Whats
April 21, 7 to 9 p.m.
Yer Whats vs. Albatross Jrs.
Co-op vs Hawks
T-A vs Boozers
9 to 11 p.m.
ER's vs Odds 'n' Ends
Huron Parkers vs. Hellcats
Kinsmen vs. Bowling Stones
April 28, 7 to 9 p.m.
Huron Parkers vs. Kinsmen
Bowling Stones vs Odds 'n' Ends
ER's vs Hellcats
9 to 11 p.m.
Co-op vs T-A
Boozers vs Albatross Jrs.
Yer Whats vs Hawks
May 5,7 to 9 p.m.
Albatross Jrs. vs Hawks
T-A vs Yer Whats
Boozers vs Co-op
9 to 11 p.m.
Odds 'n' Ends vs. Hellcats
Kinsmen vs ER's
Bowling Stones vs
Huron Parkers
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BY
LARRY
SNIDER
Real science-fiction stuff: U.S.
Bureau of Standards is testing
sensors that "hear" ap-
proaching cars and
automatically light up lane
markers.
If a new law passes, you'll be
able to make right turns on
red lights. Measure is expected
to save 50 million gallons of
gasoline a year.
New security clamp lets you
padlock your battery, keep
thieves away.
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The earliest car in history was
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Page 6 Times-Advocate, April 8, 1976
Centennial soccer club prepares
for bigger fourth season
* 4
IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! John Rasenberg, left, Secretary of the Exeter Centennial Soccer Cub,
registers Dennis Eisenschink, age 9, for the summer season, Saturday. T-A photo by Sharon Specht
LOOK AT ME! Matthew McClure
demonstrates a hand stand mount
on the parallel bars.
T-A photo by Sharon Specht
ADVERTISE YOUR
GOOD THINGS IN THE
from other muncipalities in the
area. Solomon said that the club
has tentative plans to enlarge the
tournament, possibly inviting
more teams for the competition,
Stratford was one area men-
tioned. Stratford has not com-
peted in the tournament before,
and Solomon said letters have
been sent to their club.
The Centennial club has been
the subject of controversy over
the past month, after the
proposed trip to England
collapsed and Silcock resigned,
Solomon refused comment on
many of the criticisms, saying
only "the club has had its ups and
downs over the past three years
and will have more ups and"
downs but we are going to keep
going."
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