Nurburgring

The length, difficulty to learn, numerous turns, elevation changes, location in the woods of Germany, amazing history.  Gayle and I went there last year for the first time in almost 20 years. We couldn’t believe how built up it is now. It used to be a place in the middle of nowhere with one hotel.  Now there are many hotel choices, restaurants, shops, etc. In addition to the great track experience it is now a comfortable place to visit.

SPA

Length, high average speed, challenging corners, elevation changes. Great spectator viewing. There’s nothing quite like standing along the expansive Eau Rouge front straight as a car blasts by on its way up and over the hill to turn three.  Don’t forget to pick up some of Belgium’s finest chocolate while in the area. At the track I personally lean toward the fries with all their various sauce options.

Elkhart Lake

America’s national park of tracks.  Beauty for both the drivers and spectators.  Going to a race at Elkhart is like a beautiful weekend picnic with fine automobiles racing by. The best of both worlds. If you can, rent a golf cart as the place is expansive and you’ll want to enjoy all of it. Be sure to fit in a Johnsonville bratwurst and a frozen custard.

Laguna Seca

The infamous corkscrew. Nothing else like it in the world.  Unlike the previous tracks I’ve mentioned, the track isn’t hidden by trees so it’s fairly easy to find a spectator location where you can view several corners and a fair amount of the track.  It’s also a place where we always see great friends and the restaurant options in Monterey and Carmel are endless.

LeMans

The course is mostly run on local roads that are closed to the public during race week.  The allure of Le Mans is not so much the track it’s the race that occurs there.  Running flat out for 24 hours for the cars, drivers and spectators gives this course a unique reputation and feel. The tradition and history of a race that’s been run since 1923 is evident. The racing is also good as the ACO’s quirky French rules are designed to push ingenuity vs. convention. Le Mans… it has rightfully earned its place on almost everyone’s bucket list.

Pikes Peak Hillclimb

It’s not really correct to say this is one of my favorite race courses. It used to be a completely different challenge before it was paved. Now, with the road fully paved to the top it’s still a race like no other. You can be sweating in the bright sun at the start line and freezing in the wind and snow at the finish line on the peak. The cost of running off course is huge as the earth falls away for hundreds of feet if you get off-line at the wrong spot!  To continue my commentary on track food…. the night before the ‘climb Gayle and I buy a box of donuts. The next morning we place the box in the engine compartment. The donuts get toasty warm and fresh as we climb the mountain at 3 a.m. to find the spot where we’ll be all race day.

Baja

The course changes every year which adds some intrigue and required research to determine where and how you want to watch. Baja is like sex….it’s all good but some is really special. Once you learn a great spot to watch you can go back each year (if they run that same part of the course). The cars run on a particular section only once so if after they go by you the first time, and you’d like to see them again, you can get on the main highway and move farther down the course to watch ‘em come by again or maybe go across the peninsula and catch them heading for the finish. It will feel like you are also part of the race just to get there before they pass. Anything can happen in Baja which is part of its allure so stay flexible and enjoy… it’s an adventure you’ll never forget and you’ll feel you’re part of it.

Bonneville

There’s nothing in the world like the almost limitless expanse of the Bonneville Salt Flats. Bonneville is about getting up close and personal with the cars and teams. Everything moves very slowly at Bonneville, except the cars! Even after the cars are prepped the line to race can easily take a couple of hours. This is the time when you can spend quality time talking to the crews and drivers.  Their work is done and there’s time to talk, learn the history of each class and what makes each car so special. Watching the cars run can be interesting too, but be sure to bring a set of binoculars...and a lot of sun screen!

I’d like to hear what your favorite race courses are and why.

I was thrilled of course but by the end of the ’64 season the Coupe was already well-proven. What I felt most about the’65 Championship was elation for driver Bob Bondurant. He went to the mat with the Coupes in Europe. Alan Mann, team owner and manager for the Cobra team in ’65 in Europe, was rough on Bob. He made it clear to Bob his English drivers were to win over him. Bob employed the adage of success is the sweetest revenge and went to work. Not only did he take the Championship win at Reims but he did it on July 4^th, America’s independence day from the British. Now that’s a movie!

For myself, the highlights with the Coupe were mostly in ‘64:

• The Coupe’s first test day at Riverside that February where it broke the roadster’s lap record by 3.5 seconds.  Up until then few people in the shop at Shelby’s believed in the Coupe.  At that first test, Ken Miles called Shelby from the track and said: “this thing’s a rocket ship.” By the time we had the car loaded and back at Shelby’s, the center of the floor had been cleared out for it and it was decided it would race at Daytona the next month. I still met some resistance from Phil Remington on my design for a rear air foil but it was clear the Coupe was staying. Prior to this point the guys in the shop referred to the Coupe as “Brock’s Folly”. That wasn’t heard again after the Riverside test.
  
• The Coupe’s stellar performance at Daytona (its first race) on February 16th. The Coupe was so efficient we found we could throttle back the performance to be just slightly faster than the Ferraris and be 25% more fuel efficient than our Cobra roadsters! All that was required to win was to lead the Ferraris until it was time for them to pit.  At that point we could put a couple of laps on them before pitting for fuel.  Over the hours we were some seven laps in the lead until we had a pit fire. We were so far ahead of Enzo’s Ferraris at the time of the fire the crew were sure they could repair it and still win the race. For whatever reason Carroll decided to pack everything up and the Coupe’s first win would come a few weeks later at its next race, the 12 Hours of Sebring.  With the Coupe now proven to be a winner against Ferrari we were well on our way to achieve Carroll’s goal of beating Enzo.
• The Coupe’s win at Le Mans in June with Bondurant and Dan Gurney.  I think this says it all.

Heading into the end of the ‘64 season we had Ferrari beat with two more Coupes being completed. Had him beat, that is, until Enzo got the sanctioning for the late-season Monza race cancelled so we couldn’t get the points needed to take the Championship away from him that year.  We learned never to underestimate what Enzo would do to win. 1964 was the year the Coupe made Shelby American an international success even though the record books don’t quite show it. Not that anything in racing is a “given” but the Coupe winning the FIA GT Championship for Ford and Shelby in ‘65 was as certain as possible. The Daytonas’ superior speed all season long even forced Enzo to announce he was quitting GT racing after Monza. The Cobra team’s success against Ferrari in ’64 convinced Henry Ford II to hire Shelby to develop and race the prototype Ford GT40s in ’65. Enzo would focus all of his energy on the prototype class against the GT40s.  So in ’65 the question wasn’t really if the Daytona Cobra Coupes would win the championship but which driver would win the championship in them, English or American? July 4^th, American driver Bob Bondurant racing in Reims, France brought home the FIA GT Championship to Shelby, Ford and America.

Happy 4th of July to the Daytona Cobra Coupes and Bob Bondurant!!

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