Adelaide ALMS 31/12/2000   Thursday The Race Of A Thousand Years   Rob Schirle provides the first indication of the popularity of the Adelaide event. “The track and organisation are superb and many countries and clubs would do well to learn from the effort put in 'down under' “. This comment comes despite one or two problems with one of the cars he is associated with. The #37 and #66 Porsches passed scrutineering without a problem, but the #67 Pilbeam in Roy Baker’s hands has been less fortunate. Michael Mallock, the youngest driver on the entry list, has an international C licence and needs a B for this race; it is not yet clear whether this problem can be overcome. As regards the Pilbeam itself, Schirle explains that “before the event we were aware of some problems with the car due to cockpit dimensions. Roy has worked hard to fix this and met the stringent requirements, only to face the prospect of more changes. Grills have to be to be fitted, the exhaust is 1/4'' too long, but the biggest problem was that the crash box did not match the homologation form the ACO have, although Pilbeam have had the crash test done to pass the Le-Mans test and the FIA test. Such is the small difference in these championships: this highlights the fundamental problems we have to face in sportscar racing.” Roy Baker and the Project 2000 team were still working at 23.30 on Thursday to rectify all the jobs required to pass scrutineering. The weather is apparently getting hotter by the day, but the atmosphere of a big race meeting is building up already. Further news here on Friday morning, UK time. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport