GRASS VALLEY GRAND PRIX

April 15th 2023 – Oregon Raceway Park

Eighteen cars out of the 28 attending started the main event, a one hour LE MANS endurance challenge. Some cars driven as a team and others driven solo. Some cars pitted to refuel and/or switch drivers, others were able to do the entire hour without refueling; several ran out of gas on the track very near the end of time. There were a sprinkling mechanical problems, three cars black flagged and one time penalty served.

The day began with a long free practice during which we attempted to sort out our rented transponders. Four, seven car group heats were run: MONZA, INDIANAPOLIS, PRESCOTT and SILVERSTONE. The intent was to have similar temperament cars/drivers run together. Things got a little jumbled by the end with cars moving to different heats as we battled mechanical issues and the temperamental transponders.

No results for these exhibitions will be posted or known to people not at the event.

But we can say the cars were run very vigorously on this challenging (and satisfying) 2.3 mile road course. Fastest lap was 3:11 (43MPH average speed) with typical times in the 3:30 to 3:50 range (~38MPH).

We had very high expectations for this event. These were easily exceeded!

We aspire to return next year. We gained a good sense of how many cars/drivers we and the facilities can handle and will be setting a hard cap on attendance. Preference will be given to active organizers and others attending the first event.

Gittreville events are never just about fast driving (and seemingly endless wrenching). Mobile Bar Torino served aperitivi late Friday afternoon and the BRDC Pub was packed to overflowing Saturday night.

2024 details will emerge over the next few months after we digest what we learned from our first try.