Team Thunder Valley Racing The 25 Hours in a Factory Five Racing Type 65-R Coupe - The Legend Continues!
Not since the legendary days of LeMans racing the 1960's, has a Daytona Coupe replica taken on an endurance race of this magnitude. Following in the footsteps of its racing heritage, Team Thunder Valley Racing campaigned a Factory Five Racing Type 65-R Coupe in this year's 25 Hours of Thunderhill, making it the first ever replica to attempt a 24 hour+ endurance race.
Team Thunder Valley Racing owner/driver Karen Salvaggio, along with co-drivers Paul Kaiser, Rick Anderson, and Troy Lindstrom logged over 1,200 racing miles, and ran a total of seventeen hours during the competition. More than 20 volunteer crewmembers braved the daytime winds and nighttime cold, and supported the Coupe with flawless pitstops and fast, effortless driver changes. The team faced a few mechanical issues along the way, but only one issue occurred during the entire first 12 hours of the race, moving the #28 Type 65-R Coupe into the history books as the longest running Coupe replica to compete in a closed course competition.
Team Thunder Valley Racing Type 65-R Coupe 25 Hours of Thunderhill Video
Unique to this team was the story that developed on the very active FFCobra.com website, wherein a dedicated and passionate group of Type 65 Coupe owners and racing enthusiasts followed the team's every step during race preparations, track testing days, and throughout the 25 Hours race on a pit-side live webcam which broadcast throughout the race, and which forum members actively followed the racing action. Type 65 Coupe FFCobra.com Forum thread: (440+ posts; 17,900+ views in less than two months) http://www.ffcobra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230830.
Following the race, team owner/driver Karen Salvaggio commented, "Kudos to my co-drivers and teammates Paul Kaiser, Rick Anderson, and Troy Lindstrom, who did an awesome job piloting the coupe in a very big and speed diverse field. Through the day and into the night, the coupe ran wheel to wheel with some very fast cars, and we held our own. We finished the race virtually without a scratch (save the big crack in the left front fenderwell that cracked through the paint (from the inside out) as a result of a large rock flying off the tire.....A battle scar that we'll probably leave there....It adds character...
The Thunder Valley Racing crewmembers (all volunteers) were awesome, and took care of the car day and night in fine style. Pitstops with full 30 gallon fuel loads were accomplished in under 1 minute. You guys rocked it out!!! Lots of our enduro competitors eyed our fueling set up (grassroots, inexpensive, but lightning fast), and I think we'll see some other folks using a similar system next year...Hard to beat 10 gallons in 10 seconds!
I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the members of the FFCobra.com Forum for taking me under your wing and guiding, advising, cheering, and just plain offering any support you could for our effort. When you own an FFR, you become a member of a truly wonderful community, and our team sends its greatest thanks to all of you for believing in us and encouraging us as we made our assault on the 25. I want to also send a big thanks to Factory Five Racing owner Dave Smith, and all of the team members at Factory Five Racing who understand the passion each of us have for these cars, and who helped us along the way. Dave sent three FFR tech folks out from Massachusetts to help the team, and in these economic times, you just don't find that kind of "Factory" support...On behalf of the entire Thunder Valley Racing team, "Thanks Dave!"
Team Thunder Valley Racing learned a lot, and like all good race teams, the table napkins were already filling with dinner scribble the night after the race for improvements next year. Special thanks to NASA's Jerry Kunzman and all of the NASA Race Officials, Fire Safety & Rescue Crewmembers for making this race accessible for all of us grassroots racers!!! You guys/gals rock!
Go Team Thunder Valley Racing! See you in 2010!
Dr. Karen Salvaggio
Team Owner/Driver
Thunder Valley Racing
