A week end at Limerock

A week end at the Empire Jaguar Club Limerock track day
by Pascal Gademer

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There are so many ways you can enjoy your E-type... you can restore it down to the last nut and bolt, you can place it on a lawn and admire it, you can lock it in a garage or confine it to a trailer, you can use it as a daily driver around town... or you can drive it 3500 miles in the course of an extended 5 day week end.

Oh yes, you read right... not 350 miles... Three thousand five hundred miles...

Did I mention that would include about 60 laps of the famous and challenging Limerock race track ?

Every year, the Empire Jaguar Club holds a two day school at Limerock where its members share the track with the VSCCA racers. I'm not sure how many years this has been going on but it's a very succesful event open not just to Empire Club members but to any Jaguar owner along to non Jaguars as well as they need a certain number of entries to pay for the track rental. I first heard of this a year ago, when a couple of E-type owners mentioned on one of the Jag-Lovers list how much fun they had driving their cars on the track... A few pictures on the Jaguar Touring Club web site added to their stories and raised my interest... But Limerock is almost 1500 miles from Miami and after the initial interest I discarded the idea...

Then again, the Limerock event comes up on Jag-Lovers, mentioned by two fellow E-type owners Warren Hansen and Mike Frank, and I started thinking about it some more... bad sign... Asking a few questions such as "how much track time do you get ?" was a mistake as I knew from that point on that I'd be going... it's only 1500 miles... I quickly requested and returned the entry form... and started counting the days like a child before Christmas.

Limerock isn't just any race track. It's not a few turns carved into a modern oval without soul. It's one of the oldest track in the country having been build in the mid fifies, the golden age of motor racing, where race cars where still cars and drivers raced on road courses, not artificial stadiums. Limerock Park is also located in a very scenic area, the Berkshire Mountains close to the Massachussets and New York state lines in North East Connecticut... the perfect week end get away...

Image102 (2).jpg (79683 bytes) A scenic drive up the coast...
There is something very exciting about taking a 29 year old car on cross country trip and when on Wednesday May 30th at 1:30am I fired up the V12 and it roars to life, it feels like something special is happening. Despite all the preparations, spare parts and tools, there are still 1500 miles of unknown between us and Limerock. I-95 is nice and empty at such hour and soon the miles start adding up, along with the state lines... Georgia, South Carolina. In order to avoid crossing Washington DC thru New York in afternoon rush hour traffic, I go inland thru Columbia SC and Charlotte NC to get on I-81, a very scenic interstate thru the mountains; It adds about 100 miles to the trip but bypasses the northeast corridor and its traffic.

Only glitch on the trip would come up thru Harrisburg PA, where I-81 is extremely rough and the speedometer stopped working, stuck on 1242 miles since home; it will turn out to be a broken angle drive on the transmission. Soon after that a slight noise, a whine started appearing but I wasn't sure of what it was... or if it was even real... When you spent so many hours in a car and near the end of a trip, you seem to become more attentive to noises and a little thing that would be ignored 50 miles from home seems much more serious 1400 miles away. Finally, after 20 hours on the road, I pulled in the parking of my hotel near Limerock. Except for the speedo and that noise, the car hadn't missed a beat, averaging 76 mph including the fuel stops.

I had left thursday open as a just in case day and since the drive up had been smooth, I used the time to meet with another V12 2+2 owner, Rick Lees, from the Jag Lovers list and he took me to visit a great shop, Stew Jones Restorations, who specializes in V12 E-types. Stew Jones is a very interesting man who knows just about everything there is to know about the series 3 E-type. His shop sits right on the shore of a lake in Winstead, CT and contains some terrific cars, from JCNA Champions to modified race cars. They can supply many parts including some of their owns packages such as 18" alloy wheels..., and do any prject including body and paint thanks to an all new state of the art paint booth. While I was there, we put my car on a lift to check things out; they removed the broken angle drive and topped off the differential which had lost just a bit of oil. Unfortunately, I was still so focused on the differential that we didn't even look at the front wheels.. more on that later...

limer01-2.jpg (29902 bytes) After lunch, I spent the rest of the day just driving around a little bit which might sound odd immediately following an 1500 miles marathon but those of you who've been to NW Connecticut will understand... Let's just put it this way : if South Florida had only 30 miles of road that nice, a law would be needed requiring advance reservations to make sure we all get our turn... Thursday evening was another opportunity to meet another Jag-Lovers member, Warren Hansen, and follow his "Silver Bolide" ( a 70 Coupe ) on more nice country roads for dinner. What's best than two silver E-types driving on a country road...

Playtime !
Friday of course was when serious things were to start and the weather was just perfect : cool and sunny, the perfect day to play at the track... I got to the track early and was not disapointed as Limerock is indeed more of a park than anything else with rolling hills around the course and plenty of trees. The paddock was full of exotic vintage races as the VSSCA is racing that week end and sharing the track with us. After tech inspection and registration, only a short hour classroom section stood between me and the track... mandatory for first time participants.

The Empire Jaguar Club doesn't organize a former driving school event, it's more like an introduction to track events with a limited, safety oriented classroom session where basic track operations are reviewed. We also spent some time going over each corner and the best way to go thru them, something that would be made easy by cones set up to indicate the best turn in points and the apexes. After the class, newcomers were teamed up with instructors who would spend a few laps in each car showing us the line around Limerock; Gary Hagopian, one of JCNA's best slalom driver, was my instructor.

Gary Hagopian's E-type racer The first laps on the track were absolutely thrilling has Limerock is simply breathtaking... Out of the pits, you exit near the end of the main straight and quickly approach Big Bend, a wide hairpin which sould actually be driven as two separate turns, the second one being of a decreasing radius. Immediately after Big Bend and a very short section straight enough just to move to the right side of the track to set up the car for the first Esse, a 90 degree left hander with a late apex so that get as much speed out of the second Esse, a right hander which leads you on the not so straight and climbing back straight... The next corner is a right hander after which the track climbs even more and quickly crest over the hill... if you haven't completed your turn by then and still have some steering going on ... happy landing... A short no name straight leads into another right hander followed by a short downhill section leading into the appropriately name Diving Turn onto the main straight. Blow the line thru the diving turn, apply a little too much power in the turn... and there isn't much left to do to avoid the tire wall. Yet this turn is ctitical as it launches you on the main straight.

A few laps following Gary instructions familiarized me just enough with the track to know what not to do and not get in trouble and after a few practice laps, the checkered flag fell on that first 20 minute session. Track session were rotated between the other Jaguar Club groups ( intermediate and experienced ) and the 4 VSCCA groups. The other two sessions of the day would provide more practice at increased speed and while this was not racing, it's natural to try to catch the guy in front... human nature... and the track is place where you can actually drive close behind without being called reckless... well to some extent... Passing was only allowed on the front main straight and slower drivers were expected to point out which way they wanted to be passed, something most of us were pretty good about. The main straight isn't that long at Limerock, but it's long enough for my E-type to reach just over 100 mph before the braking zone for Big Bend, clearly marked by 100 feet markers and any passing must have been completed by the 5 or 4 markers to ensure eveybody's safety... this was a school event, not a race...

Pascal following Mike Franck's E-type

There were a variety of cars on the track since in order to have enough cars to pay for the track rental, the Empire Jaguar Club opens the event to non Jaguars as well. Of course, there is nothing like following another E-type and sometimes it's just fun to do a couple of laps without even trying to pass; most of cars in our groups are coupes or 2+2 since roadsters must have a roll bar... finally something we have over them...

an new aluminum Cunningham body Back to the 50s...
Lunch break on friday was made special with a visit of the Cunningham shop, right across the track, arranged by Mike Frank (webmaster for the Jaguar Touring Club). The Cunninghams, originally built in West Palm Beach Florida and powered by Chrysler V8s were very succesful in the fifies taking many wins, and are being recreated, by hand in a new shop now located just across the Limerock Park. We were lucky to see a raw body which had just been completed, all aluminum and hand build, absolute work of art. A complete car was there in the shop as well, well driven example with bugs on the front of the hood.

That first day ended with a big party and dinner in a tent on the hill overlooking the track for both the VSCCA racers and the Jaguar Club members. Present at the track and dinner was SFJC members Joan and Sid Silverman; Sid was racing an MG racer in the VSCCA races.

One of the topic of discussion that evening was the weather, with clouds moving in the late afternoon and rain forecast for saturday.

Rain... and hot brakes ...
And sure enough, I woke up early saturday to rain and low clouds and when I got to the track it was much quieter than it was the day before. It was also quite a beautiful sight, with the low clouds hanging in the trees on the hills around the track, but not the kind of weather you want to practice at Limerock. When I registered for the event, my first concern was what happens if it rains, and was told that only snow would force a cancelation... At the drivers meeting we learned that the track is really too wet with mud running off in parts of the back stretch but that the weather forecast called for improvement later in the morning. Unanimously, drivers decided to wait a little longer before calling it a day...

I decided to use the time to check a few things on the cars having realized that the noise I was hearing on the way up wasn't coming from the rear but from the front. Jacking up the car I noticed that the front left bearing had no play but was noisy. Something to watch...

Finally after a couple of hours, the rain stopped and because a number of drivers already left, the run groups were reorganized at the 2nd driver meetings with all of the Jaguar Club drivers running in the same group regardless of experience and the VSCCA racers split in 2 groups. Our group was called on track first... great, we'd be the one drying the line for the other ones.

On the false grid, the less experienced drivers ( like me...) were warned that there were some pretty fast cars in the group and to watch our mirrors... passing was still allowed on the main straight and now on the back straight as well but only if the passed driver signals. The wet track made that second day just as exciting as the first one, if not more... but once again I was happily surprised by the way my E-type handled, very balanced and very predictable. It's easy to feel how far the car can be pushed in a corner and when I applied too much power causing the rear to start sliding it was very easy to bring back in line.

mvc-252s.jpg (38350 bytes) One interesting moment came when I was following a series 3 XJ6, staying close so that I could pass him on the next straight, and he got loose exiting the Esses... I come to nearly a full stop watching my mirror for another E-type closing in... Watching a big saloon sliding around a wet track is exciting but after over correcting to the other side he managed to keep it on the track and pointing the right way... nice driving...

Despite the warnings, I didn't see many faster cars coming blasting from the rear, a good sign I guess. Some of the E-type racers, driven by experienced drivers, passed me along with a few modern cars too. The front straight was tricky when passing, or being passed, which often occured simultaneuously, because of the spray and a few pudles; once I came in too fast for Big Bend on one lap and went for the escape road realizing I wasn't go make the turn... at least not facing the right way. Again, high speed braking from 100 to 30 or 40 is tricky especially on a wet road !

The second session would be run with a track still wet but which would start developping a drier line resulting in slightly higher speeds. The longer sessions, 30 minutes instead of 20 the day before, would prove harder on the brakes and at the end of the last lap, my brake pedal felt really spongy becasue of the fluid heating up. By the time I completed the cool down and reached the paddock, I had no brakes left... The final session was called within half of an hours but which time my brakes has coolled off but not fully so I decided not take any chance.. 1500 miles home and no trailer kind of thing...

By early afternoon, the day came to a close with the traditional parade laps where corner workers are given slow laps around the track in a way to thank them for their help; they give their time staffing the various flag stations so that we could have fun and play... no corner workers... no racing !

MVC-267S.jpg (46616 bytes) Jag Lovers Annual Picnic...
But for me the week end wasn't quite over just yet as on Sunday I had decided to stop by the second Jag-Lovers picnic in New Jersey so that I could meet many of the list members I only knew by email yet. For the second year, a few subscribers had invited others to gather at a picnic ground to meet in person. I left Limerock early on sunday and got there in about 2 1/2 hours. The weather was still rainy in many places prompting many not to come but there was still some 30 or 40 Jag-Lovers there. Beside the picnic itself and talking about Jaguars, we also took a 70 miles drive on the back roads which included some nice streches.. I would have never guessed that New Jersey could be so scenic so only 50 miles from New York city !

After the drive, I took another look at the noisy bearing and decided to accept the offer of one of the list members, Jeb Boyd, who suggested I went with him to his British car shop in Carlysle PA, only about an hour away. Despite the fact that this was a sunday afternoon, he'd put the car on a lift and change the bearing to ensure a trouble free drive back to Florida. I accepted and drove with him to his shop, located just outside Carlisle. He replaced the bearing which was definetly of the crunchy type... despite being only a few months old, and by 10 pm I was on my way home...

Following his directions, I took a road leading towards Washington were I was able to get back on I 95. My plans were to stop somewhere along the way but feeling in good shape I kept driving stopping just twice in the late night for two 45 minutes naps and made it back to South Florida early in the afternoon, once again averaging around 77 mph including the fuel stops.

Of course the most tense part of the trip were the last 50 miles on I 95 between Palm Beach and Miami... heavy traffic and mad drivers zippng in an out of lanes, when not just simply racing each others... in SUVs... Welcome back to South Florida !

Looking back on this week end, it was indeed a lot of fun. The driving itself was great, I've done this kind of trip before and am still amazed at how well the car performs, running for nearly 20 hours straight, stopping only for fuel. The bearing problem was odd as the suspension had been fully rebuilt with new bearings only a few months ago but it was not a terminal problem and it didn't prevent me from enjoying the drive and the track ! It's also amazing to see how comfortable the series 3 E-type is; despite the long hours at the wheel, I still felt fresh and not as tired as one might expect. No cramps, no back pain... and I'm no teenager... yes, I am significantly older than the car !

At the track, these 2 days in which I had about 2 hours of track time were a great experience because of what I learned. Driving on track even in a non competitive situation, allows you to push the car far closer ot its limits than you could on a public roads but a non competitive event mean that you do not need to push to the limit either.

scenic Limerock... little margin of error though !

Just one way to enjoy your cat...
As I said at the begining of this page, there are many ways to enjoy an E-type and therefore there are may way to restore one and maintain it. You can strive for perfect originality down to the last nut and bold, you can trust Lucas components and pray to Gods of darkness before every trip, you can respect original tire sizes to make judges happy comes concours day... On the other hand, you can build the car so that it gives you maximum pleasure on the road by being reliable and a good performer which is the option I chose.

While I haven't had much work done to the engine (beyond modern MSD ignition, alloy radiator, high flow exhaust and modified air filters ), suspension components were upgraded to improve handling and the results are superbs. I got the parts from Classic Jaguar in Austin Tx including billet aluminium adjustable shocks, uprated front swaybar and uprated torsion bars. In the rear, matching springs are fitted to the adjustable shocks allowing the ride height to be set. For tires, right before the trip I replaced the 225/60 P 6000 with a set of high performance P Zeros, 225/50 ZR 15; Pzeros are standard equipment on the XKR, XJR and other high performance sports such as 911s and Ferraris and provide a huge amount of grip.

Image050.jpg (198656 bytes) The result of these mods is a car that handles extremely well, corners flatter, hugs the road with a precise feel. The ride is firmer than a stock E-type but is not too harsh, a nice compromise which is ideal for track / street use. I was really surprised of how well the car handled on the track especailly considering it was my first time...

To make sure the car is reliable, I always get it checked out by Thierry at Jaguar Doctor before any long trip just to make sure everything is in order. Any noise or glitch is checked, no matter how little. For example, I had noticed a slight miss when pushing the car hard in corners, especially left handers. Nothing major, that would only occur under certain rather extreme conditions and it would have been easy to ignore it but it was solved it by slightly lowering the float level in the front carbs; apparently the recommended float high is marginal under some circumstances.

From a human point of view, driving up to New England and meeting people who share the same passion was great and even better as I had been in touch with many of them before through the internet. It was great to put a face on names and cars or seeing people I had met before such as Gary Hagopian of the New England club, an even more enthusiastic driver than I am !

Next trip will be the big one, not mileage wise, but in term of excitement and number of participants... Franklin Tn. and the JCNA Championship Challenge... are you going ? It's only 800 miles away !

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