The Piper/Hales 917 Court Case

[Stacy]

Graham,

I'm more than happy to accept that and move on, although I imagine the sources of assistance for your 917 project are somewhat limited. In any case you are also quite correct, we should stick to what you can say as fact and perhaps we should start again with that in mind. No hard feelings and all that.

You can put some internet conjecture to bed about the strip though. You mention a broken rocker? Were the crankcases pulled apart too? What else if anything was broken/damaged?

Think you can add some valuable insight here.

Regards

Stacy

[backfire]

Yes I agree that it is facts not opinions that matter most, although opinions can be interesting.
Fact, I have been involved with many track tests for magazines & here's how the proper guys do it - there will be specific photo only sessions (usually car to car) where the speeds will be very low (40mph or so), then proper testing by the journalist to base his impressions on. The snapper will probably cover this from the track-side as well. Drivers such as Mark, Tony Dron and, going back a few years, Willie Green will drive pretty quickly, but with respect. They have to expect the car's preparation to be sufficient for this. As often happens with any competition car, it is not unusual for mechanical faults to arise during the day, I can't remember an occasion when the driver was blamed, but many when the owner was embarrassed that his car had let the side down.
I have often stopped reading a track test features half way through, thinking this guy does not have the ability to give an opinion on how this car really behaves. I have always read Mark's features to the end - Fact.

[gt917]

My FINAL say on this whole matter.

I have always had a "love affair" with 40s and 917s with since 1969 when first at LeMans. I built up and race my two humble replicas, mainly with my own abilities and low resources. David Piper has been of great help on somethings, but it is my own knowledge, research, hands on and observation since the start, and my personal ties with Gulf Oil which keep me going in my lowly fashion.

Any body want to buy or swop my 917 replica ? Never did i think that the 917 and its pros and cons could cause so much grief.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by gt917

Never did i think that the 917 and its pros and cons could cause so much grief.

I don't anyone did... least of all Mark Hales.

[skeggy]

Originally Posted by Stacy

I should also like to confirm that the mechanic who supports this car is paid £100 per day. Did I misunderstand that somewhere, apologies if so.

May I pick up on that point?

I assume Stacy means 'would GT917 confirm that the mechanic was paid £100 a day'.

If so, could GT917 confirm that £100 a day is a reasonable sum too pay someone to look after after replica 917?

I ask because a couple of years ago I helped out with a club race car a lot less complex than a 917 and got paid at little less than a £100 a day but, to be fair, a bit more if you take in the food and beer supplied!

[mountainstar]

It's a 42 year old race car that was fragile enough in it's day and this is a car cobbled together from bits and pieces. I hardly doubt it was in "perfect" condition.

[midgetman]

Aren't we in danger of straying into areas that have nothing to do with us? Too much conjecture here IMO.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by skeggy

May I pick up on that point?

I assume Stacy means 'would GT917 confirm that the mechanic was paid £100 a day'.

If so, could GT917 confirm that £100 a day is a reasonable sum too pay someone to look after after replica 917?

The court report makes that clear. The mechanic was paid £100 per day.

Originally Posted by midgetman

Aren't we in danger of straying into areas that have nothing to do with us? Too much conjecture here IMO.

yes we are. I think this has run its course. The conclusion is that this case won't make a blind bit of difference to us weekend warriors.

Thread closed.

[John Turner]

Agreed; beat me to it Peter.