Eight -c- of the RIR Pictures Pages
A lap of RIR in 8mm VegaKam frames

- c -  Turns Seven through Main Straight at Seven-A merge

This could be a very, very long load at 28.8:
maybe as much as 22 seconds.
Your mileage may vary
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Click THIS TEXT to see the original laps on YouTube.

This is one of the most satisfying spots on the track, if you got the first part of Seven right: you can be at the absolute limit of lateral adhesion with just enough forward to accellerate fully from here on out. It is a little off-camber, and not easy to maintain, as evidenced in the tire marks leading into the dirt inside Turn 7a.

To our right rear, out of view, is the link from Seven to the long straight. I call it 7a, but it may be 7b in some sources. Ahead is the uphill to the crest before Turn Eight, part of the Grand Prix (Long) Course, and of the NASCAR Course. The Vega didn't accellerate much after beginning the incline, kind of like at Willow's Turn Two.

View to the crest of the hill, 7-8 straight. In a fast car, there is undoubtedly a little apprehension, as the ridge hides Turn 8. In the infancy of Can-Am aerodynamics, I saw a speedy racer take off from this crest as if from a ski jump. He did a flat spin for a hundred yards in the air, landed and skidded to a stop without turning over.

From the crest or a little after, a view of Turn 8 as it bends around to the right. The Armco parallels a 5 or 6 foot bluff. Beyond that, a parking area and a fence next to California Highway 60. I was always able to get around this one a good deal faster than much of my competition, who never seemed to have figured it out.

It takes a little learning to get over the idea that at this point Turn 8 is not going to get tighter and go off-camber before releasing you to the left exit apex. This is at about the location of the Mazda coupe on Second RIR page. Click this text to see that page.

Here's the spot where Turn Eight goes off-camber, just as you're tempted to full-throttle your way to the third apex and down the straight. On a subsequent page you'll see the misadventures of someone who mis-estimated. This is also the place Phil Hill spun off in the 1960 Formula One Grand Prix of the United States.

Here we finally feel release from the more-than-180 Turn 8. From here it is full-on accelleration for a long, long time in a Vega. The lap times of a Can-Am racer on the Grand Prix Course were within a few seconds of a minute faster than my Vega times on the Short Course.

Looking down the long straight toward the Champion bridge and Turn Nine. On the right see where the exit of Short Course Turn 7a merges. Click HERE to see the MGB roadster at the edge of the straight after negotiating 7a. This straight is close to a mile long, I think.

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To ARRC 1964

There is a wonderful resource for photos of early 60s California sports car racing and these RIR locations at Tam's Old Race Car Site.