In-car video from the Silver State Classic - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

need2speed · #1 10-02-2011, 11:52 AM

This was our third appearance at the Silver State Classic auto rally in Nevada from September 15-18, but this time I had a new navigator with my son-in-law substituting for my spouse (much to her relief).

Four days of race activities began with a reception, technical inspections and registration. The tire inspection was conducted by a local tire shop owner who became very excited upon seeing my old-school OZ Racing 3-piece rims and we had a very enjoyable discussion about all things related to wheels and tires. The following day Zack was delighted to participate in a track session at Las Vegas Speedway as a requirement to one day driving the event. It was also a rare chance to see my own car from outside as it blasted around the road course. Following this, we escaped the urban chaos for a three-hour drive to the high Sierra Nevada town of Ely and the actual race venue; Highway 318. Imagine a procession of 200 or so un-muffled race cars mingled with foreign exotics and plenty of American iron snaking along lonely desert roads escorted by the police (for the public’s protection I have no doubt).

Another day was consumed by more receptions, a parade through town and a car show. Turns out there were teams from Japan, Norway, Sweden and a large Canadian contingent. Some of the more interesting vehicles, besides Vipers, Ferraris, Aston Martins, Panteras, Corvettes (yawn), etc., was a brilliant yellow Ultima GTR and a red Factory Five GTM, lengthened by the owner for a real LeMans profile. My personal favorite was a Superformance Cobra Daytona Coupe in blue with white stripes, just as I picture building one day. The only other Mercedes-Benz was an E55 in the 110 mph class.

A side-event called the One Mile Shoot-out was used to fine tune our vehicle by blasting down a mile stretch of highway flat-out to see if anything breaks. When I smelled oil after the first run, I naturally blamed it on the Corvette in front, but when I saw smoke coming from under our hood I discovered that high revs had revealed a weak gasket in the oil filler cap which was easily fixed by flipping the gasket and bending the cap's tangs a bit tighter. That was our first and last mechanical glitch (except for the support vehicle which started howling loudly on the second day out, until we threw fistfuls of money at a mechanic to make it stop). Interestingly, all five runs recorded an identical 131 mph, regardless of launch technique or even ejecting 200 lbs of navigator. Need more road...

Race day began early in the morning with a short parade out of town to the staging area. Vehicles were then allowed to the starting grid by class. This was a classic Time-Speed-Distance rally where participants race the clock, not each other. You chose an average speed category to drive the 90 mile course and those who arrive at the finish closest to a perfect time for their speeds are victorious. We signed-up for the 130 mph category along with eight other vehicles. Therefore, we knew that our objective was to cross the line in exactly 41.5385 minutes from our starting time. The requirement for safety equipment increases with each speed class, which starts at 95 mph up to Unlimited.

Everyone's attention was drawn to a transport trailer that unrolled Hennessey Venom GT and Raptor supercars at the starting pits, but without race numbers. Turns out they were there for a photo shoot for an English car magazine, using our massed presence as a backdrop. Shame they were all show and no go.

Our run went very well and the time spent beforehand measuring distances and developing our strategy seemed to work out. However, the final click of the stopwatch showed we were almost 3 seconds early, which is an eternity in these events. So we were elated to later learn that we’d placed third, and nearly had second, with a variation of 2.4828 seconds from perfect. To put this in perspective, however, a factory Buick team running a pre-production version of a new sport sedan, complete with a trunk-full of secret electronics plus their own helicopter and airplane, managed 0.0009 seconds in the 120 mph class, which I’m sure is a new record for both accuracy and gall. The only other four-door sedan to run at 130 mph or higher was a wicked Dinan BMW Stage III M5 that was well-driven by its owner in the 150 mph class for a podium finish. The driver claimed the car was good for 192 mph and I don't doubt it!

We made it all the way back to Ely before learning that an Unlimited car had crashed on the course, killing both occupants. Apparently a tire blew at over 200 mph, sending the car off the road where it burst into flames. While I did not know either victim, the navigator’s mother was well-loved by all as an event staffer. Needless to say our remaining time in town was very somber. This was actually the first fatality for the event in 19 years, although every year sees some off-road incident, usually followed by serious injuries. Tires are the usual cause so the safety checks are beyond thorough. They must be less than four years old from date of manufacture and meet or exceed the speed and load rating for the class being raced. A tire expert examines each for compliance and overall condition - twice! Finally, four course workers crawl alongside each car as it approaches the start to ensure that no debris or nails are embedded in the tread. In spite of this, ***** still happens...

Our YouTube clip of race start: Mercedes 500E at Start of 2011 Silver State Classic rally - YouTube

Our YouTube clip of the slowest part of the course; a canyon section called the Narrows: Mercedes 500E at the Silver State Classic rally - YouTube

400Eric · #2 10-03-2011, 05:04 AM

Thanks for the excellent write up Dean! I feel like I was there!

Did you post anything about this on Uncle Gerry's site?

Some of us are talking about doing the Mojave Mile this coming spring. You interested?
Regards, Eric

need2speed · #3 10-03-2011, 11:43 AM

Hi Eric: Yes, a similar post was made at the 036 forum, with additional video! Part of the SSCC is a one-mile shootout and we did five back-to-back runs, hitting 131mph each time. Didn't matter how I launched or losing my navigator for 200lb savings, still 131mph. Need more road to hit the top 157mph, and different gearing to go past that.