NASSAU SPEED WEEK

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30632, 24 December 1964, Page 9

NASSAU SPEED WEEK

By

BRUCE McLAREN

TF you want a combination of holidaying and motor racing there can be no better place than Nassau during the Speed Week. Cocktail parties every night, water ski-ing during the day under the Caribbean sun, and the most delightful light-hearted atmosphere when you do have to go motor racing. We arrived in Nassau a couple of days before activities started, so I had time

to have a quiet look at the circuit, 4} miles of tricky medium speed corners connected by straights just long enough to allow full use of 500 or 600 horsepower. Entries

Among the entries there were Formula Vees (single seaters made out of Volkswagen parts), Ferraris, a couple of Ford GTs, Lotus 30s, Brabhams, Coopers, Chaparrals, Chev. Corvettes, Jaguars and Porsches, and even a McLaren-Elva. By midday Sunday the week of racing was under way. A whole week—it’s a bit surprising really because there are no spectators to speak of, but apparently the racing “circus” crams the hotels to capacity, then goes home to tell their friends what a great time they had, and the Bahamas Department of tourism are delighted with the publicity they receive. To begin with there was a rush of five-lap races for everything on four wheels except the big sports cars. I started out with a Ford GT and then stepped into a Formula Vee—a quick drop from 190 m.p.h. maximum to something struggling to top 95 m.p.h.l The only similarity between the two cars was that they both had engines in the back. VW Race

Going along with the carefree spirit of Speed Week, the idea was to recruit all the Grand Prix drivers for the Volkswagen GP. Consequently Dan Gurney and Indy-winner A. J. Foyt drove Volkswagen saloons, while Phil Hill, Pedro Rodriguez, Peter Revson and I were signed to drive Formula Vees. They are not much faster than a good go-kart, but they provide the true amateurs with a lot of lowcost fun. Most of these Vees seemed to have about the same terminal velocity, so the idea was to take the smoothest line through each corner and slipstream on the straights, because every fraction meant an advantage in the closing laps. The helter-skelter dash from side to side as another Vee exponent and I tried to I out-fumble each other for the

flag would have done credit to those last-lap sort-outs at Rheims or Monza! As it turned out I placed third, but the two Vees ahead of me were disqualified in a mass dismantling at the scrutineering bay after the race.

The winner’s cheque for this Vee race was well over what a Grand Prix winner could expect to receive in Europe!

Phil Hill and I were driving the Ford GTs in the Tourist Trophy, but the suspension broke on my car during a preliminary heat and I was a spectator for the race while Phil tried everything he knew to get higher than fourth or fifth behind Ken Miles in a seven-litre Ford Cobra, Roger Penske in a six-litre Stingray Chewy, and stock-car driver Jack Saunders in another Stingray. Power Needed The GTs were fitted with 4.7 litre VBs which just

weren’t in the power race, and while we were able to make ground through the corners and under braking, it wasn’t enough to make up for the thundering acceleration of the bigger cars on the straights. Roger Penske started off a winning week by carrying off the Tourist Trophy in his white Stingray after a determined battle of power and pace with Miles in the big Cobra, which apparently was churning out 550 b.h.p.! We picked up a Hertz Chewy Malibu convertible when we arrived on the island, and used this automatic monster for our prepractice tour of the circuit lit made me realise the advantages that Roger Penske has with his automatic Chaparral. He certainly put it to good use in the next two races. The Governor’s Trophy was a lOOmiler a couple of days before the main 250-mile Nassau Trophy and Roger rushed off into the lead. Dan Gurney caught and passed him with his Lotus 198, but later retired. This left Roger in front and even a last-lap stop to tighten loose wheel nuts did not endanger his win. This was our first run for the McLaren-Elva at Nassau, and after battling for a while I decided, like Dan. to put the car away for the main race. Main Raca This was a sodden shambles at the start. We stood across the road from the cars getting soaked by a tropical downpour as we waited for the starter, and then we were running, scrambling into our cars, firing the engines, and accelerating away with wheels spinning. At least that is what should

have happened. I managed all the first bit, but the engine did not fire and 1 was late getting under way. The track was like a skating rink and there were cars spinning in all directions. The safest thing seemed to be to stay out of everyone’s way until the rain stopped and the track started to dry. The bigger powerful cars were finding their horsepower a handicap and Clive Baker with his little Sprite was running well ahead of most of the six and seven-litre giants while the track was wet. Penske went off the road in his Chaparral early in the race and broke the suspension but his team-mate. Hap Sharp, was doing a good job out in the lead. Pedro Rodriguez took over from him in his open Ferrari, and after 26 laps I managed to wrest the lead from him. The track was drying quickly and those people with a lot of power were not long in discovering that they were able to use it advantageously again. Penske had taken over Sharp's Chaparral, he had caught up with Gurney, and these two were flying. However a pit stop was mandatory, and as Penske had made his with the driver change, Dan and I had a built-in handicap that we could not overcome—even if we could have headed the Chaparral! Dan’s clutch broke, and 1 was pleased to motor home in second place about a minute behind Penske, with Pedro’s Ferrari a full two laps behind me.

After this annoying motorracing business had finished, we were able to spend another day at the beach before the grand prize-giving ball where all the cheques and trophies were dispersed.