Forza Amelia - The Finish!

Thursday: The finish.

Dad & I get up and enjoy a leisurely breakfast... almost too leisurely in fact as we are one of the last cars out of the morning's checkpoint. Feeling optomistic we have the top down and are enjoying a long leg north to the Don Garlits museum of drag racing. To the west is an obvious large thunderstorm, but we hope the route takes us away from it. For a while it does as we race the clouds north, but soon it is clear that we are heading into the storm. About halfway there we catch up to three rally cars, two ferrari's and the Fischer's Porsche. Just as we pass them we see that we had better get the top up or risk getting really wet.

Above: Rain just beginging to fall.

We bob and weave all over northern Florida and finally find ourselves at the museum and our first checkpoint. Thankfully the sun is back out and it seems that most of the rally cars are here. Nice time for a photo shoot, *after* we cross the checkpoint of course. The run is easy and incident-free, and we collect no penalty time.

Above: two shots of two 300sl's. Below: David Fischer buttons down the top.

Above & Below: The ever smiling Lisa and John Weinberger in their rebodied bright yellow 1959 Ferrari 196 Sport.

Dad & I wander around the museum for a bit. Lots and lots of drag racers, plus a great collection of 30's vintage Fords. Gartlis also has a wonerfully restored 1950 VW... I have a soft spot in my heart for Beetles. =)

We have a short transit to lunch at a country club, where I suck down about 6 glasses of water and two iced teas.

Above: The Glace's Jaguar XK-140.

Above: The start of the after lunch TSD segment.

We find ourselves at the front of the pack after lunch, which is weird since we were at the back earlier in the day. Maybe we ate faster than everybody else? We are about the fifth car to check out and head north for our lone Georgia checkpoint. I'm driving so there are not too many pictures from this leg. Except this one:

...Louis & Bobbi Bevilacqua's 1992 Ferarri 512 Testarossa in my rear-view mirror.

When we arrive at the checkpoint it is a crowded roadside affair at a gas station. It it raining and muddy and I ended up sitting on the door sill trying to stay cool. Monty Montieth took a picture of me, which I have a print of, that I'll put up here as soon as I can scan it. It is a funny picture: a hot 'yankee' stuck between a rock and a hot place so to speak. The 300sl is very hot inside. I imagine the gull-wing cars were unbearable. The roadster is fine so long as the top is down, but if you are sitting with the top up, like me, you end up choosing being wet over being hot. My Dad, the natural born Texan that he his, sits comfortably in the sauna. We finish the segment, check out for the next, switch drivers and head off to Amelia Island on the final leg of the rally.

Above: Dad & me through the 300sl windscreen.

I spend the leg doing minimal navigation duties since it has several long stretches. And instead do my best to take a lot of pictures. Well actually I spent the leg hanging out of the side of the car trying to cool off, using the excuse of doing some photography as an excuse! I did get some cool shots though. Here you go:

Above: The rear wheel of the 300sl with a Ferrari approaching from behind.

Above: I love this shot of Dan & Michelle Kary's blue 1959 Ferrari 196 Sport.

Above: getting passed by a Testarossa.

Above: Gary & Helen Pace's 1962 300sl.

See, you can get some great pictures hanging out of the side of a car!

We finish the leg in the pouring rain just outside the Amelia Island Plantation. Joining the lineup for the final checkpoint we re-sort ourselves back in the proper order and finish with no penalty time.

Final Results: Dad & I come in 3rd Overall. Not bad, but better than expected due to the first checkpoint fiasco.

We won our class in the speed events!
(but then again, nobody but us is carzy enough to take a 300sl out on a racetrack!)

Thanks for coming along for the ride! I had a great time, and I hope you enjoyed it too. Big thanks to Rich & Jean Taylor, and *all* of the folks at Vintage Rallies for the great time. Big thanks to my Dad, Charles Goolsbee for having me along. And most of all huge thanks to my mom, Carol Goolsbee, for letting her boys play with her new toy. =)

Now head on back to the...



	Thursday: The finish. Dad & I get up and enjoy a leisurely breakfast... almost too leisurely in fact as we are one of the last cars out of the morning's checkpoint. Feeling optomistic we have the top down and are enjoying a long leg north to the Don Garlits museum of drag racing. To the west is an obvious large thunderstorm, but we hope the route takes us away from it. For a while it does as we race the clouds north, but soon it is clear that we are heading into the storm. About halfway there we catch up to three rally cars, two ferrari's and the Fischer's Porsche. Just as we pass them we see that we had better get the top up or risk getting really wet. Above: Rain just beginging to fall. We bob and weave all over northern Florida and finally find ourselves at the museum and our first checkpoint. Thankfully the sun is back out and it seems that most of the rally cars are here. Nice time for a photo shoot, after we cross the checkpoint of course. The run is easy and incident-free, and we collect no penalty time. Above: two shots of two 300sl's. Below: David Fischer buttons down the top. Above & Below: The ever smiling Lisa and John Weinberger in their rebodied bright yellow 1959 Ferrari 196 Sport. Dad & I wander around the museum for a bit. Lots and lots of drag racers, plus a great collection of 30's vintage Fords. Gartlis also has a wonerfully restored 1950 VW... I have a soft spot in my heart for Beetles. =) We have a short transit to lunch at a country club, where I suck down about 6 glasses of water and two iced teas. Above: The Glace's Jaguar XK-140. Above: The start of the after lunch TSD segment. We find ourselves at the front of the pack after lunch, which is weird since we were at the back earlier in the day. Maybe we ate faster than everybody else? We are about the fifth car to check out and head north for our lone Georgia checkpoint. I'm driving so there are not too many pictures from this leg. Except this one: ...Louis & Bobbi Bevilacqua's 1992 Ferarri 512 Testarossa in my rear-view mirror. When we arrive at the checkpoint it is a crowded roadside affair at a gas station. It it raining and muddy and I ended up sitting on the door sill trying to stay cool. Monty Montieth took a picture of me, which I have a print of, that I'll put up here as soon as I can scan it. It is a funny picture: a hot 'yankee' stuck between a rock and a hot place so to speak. The 300sl is very hot inside. I imagine the gull-wing cars were unbearable. The roadster is fine so long as the top is down, but if you are sitting with the top up, like me, you end up choosing being wet over being hot. My Dad, the natural born Texan that he his, sits comfortably in the sauna. We finish the segment, check out for the next, switch drivers and head off to Amelia Island on the final leg of the rally. Above: Dad & me through the 300sl windscreen. I spend the leg doing minimal navigation duties since it has several long stretches. And instead do my best to take a lot of pictures. Well actually I spent the leg hanging out of the side of the car trying to cool off, using the excuse of doing some photography as an excuse! I did get some cool shots though. Here you go: Above: The rear wheel of the 300sl with a Ferrari approaching from behind. Above: I love this shot of Dan & Michelle Kary's blue 1959 Ferrari 196 Sport. Above: getting passed by a Testarossa. Above: Gary & Helen Pace's 1962 300sl. See, you can get some great pictures hanging out of the side of a car! We finish the leg in the pouring rain just outside the Amelia Island Plantation. Joining the lineup for the final checkpoint we re-sort ourselves back in the proper order and finish with no penalty time. Final Results: Dad & I come in 3rd Overall. Not bad, but better than expected due to the first checkpoint fiasco. We won our class in the speed events! (but then again, nobody but us is carzy enough to take a 300sl out on a racetrack!) Thanks for coming along for the ride! I had a great time, and I hope you enjoyed it too. Big thanks to Rich & Jean Taylor, and all of the folks at Vintage Rallies for the great time. Big thanks to my Dad, Charles Goolsbee for having me along. And most of all huge thanks to my mom, Carol Goolsbee, for letting her boys play with her new toy. =)
		Now head on back to the...