Not counting the annual Empire Jag Club at Lime Rock Park racetrack events, we Jaguar owners had never held another HPDE till this one at Pocono, PA, on August 4th.

We are lucky that there are so many groups running track events these days, that we have a wide selection of dates and tracks from which to choose. Pocono was chosen because its location is central to so many JCNA members. CART, the group with whom we ran, charges only $150.00, and simply hangs out the green flag!

About a dozen JCNA folks battled horrendous weather just to travel to Pocono on Sunday. The same weather greeted us on Monday morning, but dried out enough for us to begin our practice laps. A few of us acted as "facilitators", showing the novices the proper line. After the novices had been driven three laps around the 1.12 mi. South Course, they were allowed to run practice laps on their own. Our group consisted of several makes of cars, from E types, to BMWs, to Talons, and finally, to a huge but powerful Bentley! Member clubs represented were JANE and JTC, but others were just plain Jaguar owners.

We got off to a reasonably good start on the mostly dry track, and had run several laps with only one spin-out that occurred right in front of me. I could see it developing as two wheels dropped onto the low shoulder. The recovery move started him sliding sideways and off the track into the wet and muddy grass. Within a few minutes, an XJR that was part of our group inadvertently tried to move the concrete wall! That incident cleared the track while the crew set to clearing the glass and oil! The driver was chagrined, but unhurt, and swears that he'll be back for our next event there on Sept 5th.

In the time that it took to clear the track, another storm cell blew in and drenched us with three more inches of rain! The accompanying photos of the paddock area between the garages will give you some idea of the amount of water we were dealing with. I had parked my E type in a bad spot where the water's depth reached above my tailpipes, filling the exhaust system! I had to start it, and rev the motor to blow out all the water. The yellow Spec racer shown, had been driven into deeper water and stalled, but by the time I got the camera, he'd been mostly pushed out. Even after the rain stopped, weather radar showed another cell on the way, forcing our decision to "pack it in".

Although, our first foray to Pocono was basically a washout, I think that enough good was experienced to whet the entrants' appetites for a September 5th return!

Gary Hagopian