SAABS AT TALLADEGA

by Tim Winker

What a month October was! I turned 45, my favorite Saab 99 was damaged in a minor traffic accident, I ordered my first set of bifocals and turned a lap of 147 mph at Talladega Superspeedway!

As some background, Saab took three 9000 Turbos off the production line in 1986 and drove them non-stop at Talladega International Speedway, setting average speed records up to 100,000 kilometers in the FIA’s 2.0-liter supercharged category. Last year Saab decided to attempt to break eighteen of their own records up to 25,000 miles with 2.0-liter 900 Turbos, plus establish records in the 2.5-liter and 2.0-liter normally aspirated categories with V6 and four cylinder engined 900s. In addition, 120 international motoring journalists were invited to participate as drivers, though one of the Turbos would be driven strictly by Saab test drivers and employees. The U.S. contingent was the last of the invited driver groups, so we would be aiming to break the records established earlier during the eight day run. While the Saab Team 900 Turbo was driving non-stop, another couple of Turbos, the pair of 2.5-liter V6s and single 2.0-liter 4 would only be on the track 12 hours a day and at the hands of the journalists.

As one of the journalists invited to participate in The Saab 900 Talladega Challenge, I was hoping to be able to keep up a pace good enough to help Saab set some records. It wasn’t important to me to be the fastest, but I sure didn’t want to be the slowest.

When we arrived at the Alabama track after driving down from Atlanta, we were provided with an FIA legal Nomex driving suit, a Peltor open faced helmet (made of lightweight carbon-kevlar, as used by FIA World Rally Cup drivers), a duffel bag to carry them in, and a license issued by the FIA and ACCUS (the U.S. member of FIA; all race sanctioning groups in the U.S. that issue licenses that may cross over to another club are part of ACCUS). The license reads: Category - Land Speed Record.

Simo Lampinen, Finnish former rally driver for the Saab factory (as well as for Triumph, Ford and Lancia), gave some brief instruction on pit procedures, driver changes, and driving the high-banked Talladega tri-oval. Then drivers were given a few laps of individual instruction by Uno Dahl and Frederick Gustafson. Dahl was my instructor. As we went out onto the track and onto the 33-degree banking in one of the 900 Turbos, my stomach made a jump and I thought I was gonna puke. I got over it quickly and listened intently as Dahl demonstrated the fast way around Talladega. The G-forces were tremendous and the track had some sizable dips and bumps in the surface. He took one lap at rather slow speed (maybe 40 mph) to demonstrate the banking and what areas to avoid. The banked surface at slow speed gives the illusion that the car is going to flip right over. After a couple of laps, Dahl pulled into the pits and we switched places.

I tried to follow his line to the letter and did pretty well getting used to the car, the track and the speed. A couple of laps later and we pulled into the pits for my solo run. Since this was only practice and there were two 900 Turbos out there still working on records, I tried to stay out of their way. But the car I was driving, #7, clearly had a little more top end than the other Turbos. I hoped I would draw that car for tomorrow’s run for the records.

Our driving assignments were handed out at dinner that night, and I was scheduled for the #3 Turbo at 8:00 am, the #5 V6 at 3:55, and the #4 V6 at 5:50 pm. That meant I would be driving the final shift in the #4 car, after sundown. Though I wouldn't be in the #7 Turbo, I did get two shots at the V6s. The first of the journalists would be hitting the track at 6:40 am, so everyone headed to their rooms early for a good night’s rest.

Weather on October 24th was good, with clear skies and some wind, but not enough to affect the record runs. Well before my turn at the #3 Turbo arrived, I was suited up and ready. Len Emmanuelson of Motor Trend was in the car before me. He helped me to get strapped in, the pit manager gave me the signal to go and I headed out onto the track. It took over a lap to get up to full speed, then it was a matter of sticking to the plan for fastest lap times. Though it was 55 minutes, or 48 laps, before I was called into the pits, it seemed like a very short amount of time. When I handed the car over to John Matras, I discovered I had worked up quite a sweat despite the cool morning temperatures.

I retired to the Media Center to get something cool to replenish body fluids, and to write up the experience for the Motor Sports and Automobile Forums on CompuServe. Since my next shift was many hours away, I also took advantage of the break to visit the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame Museum at the track.

I returned to the track and suited up, all set to go with plenty of time to spare, and climbed into the #5 900 V6 right on schedule. Though we were warned not to try drafting like the NASCAR stockers do it, that is nose-to-tail, it was impossible not to notice that the cars picked up a little top end speed whenever they were within 100 yards of the car ahead. Though I stayed several car lengths behind (I was trying to stick to the fast line. Sure, that’s it!), I could see that the top speed on the speedometer was a couple of mph higher on the straights, and lap times improved a little whenever I was within ten car lengths of one of the Turbos.

My final driving shift came immediately after sunset, which was’t bad for awhile as the sun wasn’t in my eyes, but as it got darker, even the high beam headlights weren’t enough to light up the track a decent distance ahead, especially on the banking which was like trying to drive on an ever increasing slope. The only lights on the track itself were at the main grandstand, with the yellow caution lights casting small puddles of light at various places around the track. All this meant was that it was more important to stick to the fast line around the track and not go playing on the higher lane in the turns.

Finally it was over, my driving shift and the end of the record run for Saab. When they called me in, I was instructed to drive the car behind the pit wall and into an area equipped with tools for more extensive repairs. No sooner had I shut off the engine than Saab engineers began draining the fluids in preparation to tear down the engine. As I stepped back and watched, the FIA inspector snipped the seals off the engine and transmission, and the technicians proceeded to dismantle the still hot engine for evaluation.

After that, all of the participants - from Saab, NASCAR, Michelin, track workers and the invited drivers - were treated to a Southern barbecue. There I learned, much to my surprise, that I had set fast lap of the day in a V6, a time of 1:05.115 on the 2.66 mile oval, for an average of 147.063 mph. And my name will be in the FIA record books as one of the 12 drivers who set a 12-hour record in that car at an average speed of 139.231 mph. Altogether the Saabs set 40 International records at distances ranging from 10 kilometers to 25,000 kilometers and from 1 hour to 24 hours. Look for details in the March, 1997 issues of most major automotive magazines.

Copyright 1997, Land O'Lakes Region.
Last revised: May 5, 1997