28 — Sunday, August 30, 1998 — North Shore News

~_—--)

iif

VS

Allers hopes for
a Slick Saturday

Andrew McCredie
. citer andrew@nsnews.com

FRANK Allers is the
only person who will be
praying for rain during
the Vancouver Indy
weekend.

“If we can run in the rain
anything can happen,” the
North Van
shop owner savs. “If it’s wet, I
think I could win this thing.”

“This thing” is the Adantic
Series race this Saturday in
Vancouver, and for the veteran
driver it is one of three races he
will compete in this season. So
far Allers has raced just once
this season — in Toronto
where he finished 15th.

For the past few years Allers
has driven the _ Keen

Engineering 1993 Reynard.

owned by Tom Johnston.

~o—gpe The blue open-wheel race

car parked in the corner of
~ Aller’s Lower Lonsdale shop
looks very much like the new
Swit 008.a chassis, however,
the Reynard is five years old —
a lifetime in terms of racing
technology.
For Allers, the goal isn’t so
mitch to win the race; it’s to
-finish in front of as many Ralts
and Swifts as he can. Only one
other team runs a Reynard.

“We've only had one DNF

in the past 30 races, so the con-
sistency is there,” Allers said.
“And we've been the front

running Reynard for the past”

_ few years.”.

Which brings us to the rain.

lers says that if the heavens
‘open up on race day the Keen
Engineering Reynard will be

~#n a more equal footing with
the new Swifts.

‘And with his years of seat
experience, Allers is confident
he can outdrive most of his
Avantic competition.

Another factor in his favor,

Porsche service |

he says, is the all-new crack
sctup at this vear’s Vancouver
Indy. All the drivers will be rac-
ing the circuit for the first time.

“Frank has aly been
good on street circuits and
seems to do well on tracks that
are new to everyone,” team

owner Tom Johnston said of

his driver. “I've been down to
the track and it looks really
good.”

What also looks positive tor
Johnston, his driver Allers and
chief engineer Peter Griffiths is
the possibility that they will be
able to run the Reynard next
season.

At the beginning of this
year the Johnston team was
expecting the 1998 season to
be its last with the five-year-old
car. According to the serics
rules, the "93 Reynard would
not be eligible to compete in
1999.

However, a Tecent
announcement by Atlantic
Series operator Pro-Motion
Agency could breath new life
into the team.

The Adiantic series will be
bringing back a separate “C2”
class for the Ralt RT-40 and
Ralt RT-41 chassis for the
1999 championship season.

“The series was approached
by a group of current Ralt RT-
40/41 owners who- requested
that we consider running the
C2 category for these cars in
1999,” Pro-Motion president
Vicki O’Connor stated in a
press release. :

With the appearance of the
Swift 008.a this season, the
Ralts were to be phased out
next year.

However, the Swifts are not
living up to expectations. In
fact, the older Ralts are quicker
than the new Swifts, and the

series has been forced to penal- *

ize the Ralts by limiting their
horsepower and installing a
wooden board under the car to

HYUNDAI

SERVICE &

‘Auto Repairs
‘Of Alk.
Makes And

‘Mechéitiical &
Body karts

DEROSA AUTOMOTI

I 10 FELL AVERUE 988-

&_USED PARTS .

Ss

Models.

“MARINE DRIVE

2239

slow them down.

Johnston contends that
since the Ralt RT-40 is a con-
temporary of his Reynard, his
car should be allowed to com-
pete next vear in the C2 class.

Bur thar can wait until the
end of the season in October.

The immediate geal of
Johnston and his team is to be
x ttitive in Vancouver.

nd if the dollar doesn’r
go to zero we'll be going to
Houston for the final race of
the year,” Johnston said of the
Oct. 4 race through down-
town Houston,

Does it ever rain in Texas?

Power windows, & locks, air-conditioning,
AMI/FM cassette, dual airbags

AS he has for the past few years, Lower Lonsdale Porsche service shop owner
F:ank Allezs will pilot Tom Johnstone’s Reynard duzing Vancouver Indy week--
end. The green flag drops on the Vancouver Atlantic race on Saturday, § pt. 5.

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