[DeTomaso] NPC - Mike Drew and Charlie McCall playing in Spain

[Charles McCall]

Hi all,
 
This afternoon I took advantage of the fact that the meeting I had scheduled
was cancelled, coupled with the fact that Mike Drew had just dropped in,
literally, as he landed at 7am this morning at the US base at Rota (15
minutes from my hotel) and we went to go play this afternoon....
 
We have managed to coincide here in the south of Spain a couple of times,
and previously we had gone to visit a go-kart racetrack and it had always
been closed. This time we were in luck!
 
It was hot - 32C and not a cloud in the sky, so of course a dark suit is
perfect for go-karting, right? 
 
Hygiene is important, so they made us put on little hairnet things to
protect us. Protect us from what, I'm not too sure...
http://members.aol.com/PanteraGT5S1985/Misc/mikethebaker
 
Once the hairnet was in place, on went the helmets and into the cockpits!
What a blast! Mike started first and I chased him for a couple of laps. Mike
stopped and let me pass so that he could chase me for a while. We had a
couple of fantastic laps - He'd pass me on the corner and go slightly wide
with mild oversteer and I'd swoop in the inside and pull ahead... we'd swap
places several times each lap more or less in the same places... it was fun
to see how your lap times improved as you learned the course... where you
could take the corners wide-out, where you needed to brake, which corners
you did well and which ones took longer to figure out. Amazing how much fun
you can have with a lawn-mower engine and four wheels! 
 
Oh, and in case you want to know in the end I crossed the finish line first.
Mike's power steering failed on him, which meant that he struggled on the
last few laps ;-) 
 
(full disclaimer is that before his power steering failed, he let me
ahead...)
 
http://members.aol.com/PanteraGT5S1985/Misc/mikeandcharlie
 
(note that if you don't have Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you may need to
put the .jpg suffix to see the pix. I keep forgetting to add it...)
 
After the exertion on the track we headed back to the base. Mike took me to
a US grocery store (its for the military so you pay in US dollars, and all
the products are American) where I picked up a box of Apple Jacks and some
Fig Newtons... Ahhhh, home. 
 
As I type, Mike is heading for Irak where he'll basically touch down,
refuel, and turn around. He lands tomorrow in Germany about 45 minutes from
the Nurbrungring. So you KNOW where he'll be tomorrow!
 
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon... 
 
Charles McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://members.aol.com/PanteraGT5S1985/