rec.autos.simulators

    I just got my first practice laps at the NR2k3 version of
Bridgehampton.  To my knowledge, I've never watched any TV coverage of a
race there, nor been to this track.  But it seems VERY familiar to me.
About the only place that I can even guess that I might have been exposed
to this track is a James Garner movie that he made AFTER Grand Prix.

   I looked it up on the Internet Movie Data Base and found this 1968
documentary.  One that I saw several years ago on Speedvision.
  Once Upon a Wheel.
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

  It was kinda like a home movie of his summer owning a private team racing
in the F5000 series.  Mario, Al Sr.  lots of big names and even***
SMothers.  I only vaguely remember the movie, but one portion had a road
track with lots of sand, one that I didn't recognize.  I wonder if this was
featured in the film and if it was Bridghampton.  

   Took me about 15 laps to get the cojones to race down the hill near the
2/3rds part of the track.  

I'm usually about 5 to 6 seconds off the speedmerchants of the tptcc
league..so far I'm only 3.  

dave henrie

Dave,
There used to be a track in WI along what is now I-94 that we used to race
SCCA club races that was also VERY similar. The first two downhill,
high-speed right handers still give me chills. It was wide open in my TR3
that I ran back then. (ok, showing my age now). I can't for the life of me
remember the name of the course, but I am sure it was named after one of the
small towns there. It was actually busier than Road America (read cheaper)
and used each and every weekend. Couldn't do a damn thing with those Minis
back then........:-). I have had Bridgehampton for some time and the first
time I drove it, it was deja vu. There were a lot of nice roadies in the MW
back then and it is too bad most of them are now gone. I wish I could find a
version of the old Elkhart Lake (Road America), the pre 1967 version. Now
that was a hoot. If you have ever been to RA, the access road that takes you
around the track to the various viewing areas is mostly the old, narrow
course.

Ed

I looked up the director's c.v.: most of his movies seem to have the word
"kill" in the title...except for "Linda Lovelace for President"!  He
apparently got his start at age 9 as a choreographer, and eventually became
a kinda road-company version of Roger Corman.  I've never heard of him,
altho "Once Upon a Wheel" was filmed in my era, so I easily coulda run into
him...or over him.

A track w. a lot of sand, Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Cesar Romero, Stephen
Boyd, Chuck Conners, and Artie Johnson ("Verrry interesting, from Laugh-In)
stongly suggests Riverside.

The rendition of Bridgehampton that Lou Magyar did for GPL is spot on.  He
worked on it for years until every last grain of sand was exactly where it
was supposed to be.  The ver of Bridgehampton for N2003 was done by some
flim-flam artist and bears little or no resemblance to the real thing (it
has the main straight running downhill, whereas in fact it ran steeply
uphill).  Taken purely as a fantasy track, however, it's quite good; prolly
my favorite N2003 track, alongside such classics as Riverside (a ver of
which was done by the same dude), Elkhart Lake (another track with serious
departures from the original), and Zandvoort (another track set in the sand
dunes).

I can only hope and pray that somebody will do a decent ver of The Bridge
for GTR.  It was occasionally the venue for an official FIA GT race: The
Bridgehampton Double 500 (500 klicks, that is, not miles).

If yer really interested in Bridgehampton, there's an eponymous book out by
the very knowledgeble Joel Finn.  Only 2000 copies were printed.  The price
was originally $80, but it's up to about $200 on eBay already.  Think I'll
sell some WorldCom or Martha Stewart stock....

--Steve

I hate to be rude and jump in the middle here, but are you the Steve
Smith from Steve Smith Autosports? http://www.ssapubl.com/

Thanks,

Kerry

Bruce.

from Steve Smith Autosports? http://www.ssapubl.com/