Ask Tony 'a2z' Adamowicz what his most fun race was, and he'll anwer 1970 24hours of Daytona.
Tony's path to that '70 race started out with an SCCA driving school on the previous Marlboro course in Maryland. with Bob Tullius Group 44 team in '66. Adamowicz would instantly make his mark and make history at the same time, sharing the more than 2. liter course win with Tullius inside a Dodge Dart in the very initial Trans-Am race ever held at Sebring. Adamowicz says That was a huge break. It marked a major opportunity for him like a beginning driver. When he had gotten a taste of Trans-Am racing, tony 'a2z' adamowicz idea, that he was heading somewhere. Tony a-z Adamowicz Said that SCCA national racing is fantastic, nevertheless it wasn't truly proceeding anywhere for him.
Tullis and Adamowicz would go on to win a second time in Trans-Am that year, taking the 12 hour Marlboro, Maryland win, this time finishing first overall and establishing yet an additional milestone by becoming the very first to get that race in an American car. However Chrysler wasn't committed to Trans-Am racing and Tullius wouldn't otherwise find the funding required to return for the series, leaving a2z stranded. "Then I got this call from Marvin Davidson," states Adamowicz. Marvin was a Wall Street banker and knew Tony and thought he'd be perfect for his Trans-Am project tony a2z was organizing. Davidson was planning on working Alfa Romeros, and wanted to ask Tony his opinion.. Do you want to win? asked Adamowicz, go with Porsche. Tony dominated the sub-2 litre class in Trans Am in a little orange Porsche 911, taking home six trophys in all.
Adamowicz was now eyeing F5000 after his win in Trans-Am. Tony a-z Adamowicz believed the open-wheel series would most likely be his next logical move. Davidson seemed to agree. Marvin looked to capitalize on Adamowicz's achievement in Trans-Am and go the team for the following degree. "I could see that Formula 5000 was also leading into the big time," states Adamowicz, who believed the open wheel series was the next logical step. Tony felt that he could get recognition in open wheel if he could do well... and survive. "Little did I realize that this was a incredibly significant work as far as efficiency compared to what I'm used to using the 2.-liter Porsche."
Indeed, Tony initially struggled to come to grips with the fire breathing Five.-liter engine mounted within the lightweight Eagle MkV chassis. "It was a rude awakening," admits Adamowicz. So, Marvin brought in Carroll Smith to help and lead the team.
Tony and his crew was able to take the 1969 championship by one point! Despite earlier challenges, they had also won two previous races. Adamowicz would have never won this race without Carroll's presence.
Now, Tony was boasting two wins and it seemed like he was flying up the race circuit. But fate would throw a different hand at Adamowicz. With two wins and everything looking great, Davidson was getting out of the racing biz in 1970, just as tony was on a roll. Since Davidson decided to not continue to fund a race team, tony a-z adamowicz leveraged a relationship he got with Ferraris Luigi Chinetti to help Adamowicz in getting a ride for the 1970 Daytona 24 Hour. "Marvin Davidson bought a couple of Ferraris and tony a2z talked to Chinetti, who Chinetti believed it would be great to have a champion behind the wheel at Daytona," explains Adamowicz.
The chance could be significant for Adamowicz on a variety of levels. Being a life-long fan of Ferrari, it was not lost on Adamowicz that he was about to step into the endurance racing world in a car sporting the Ferrari badge and a real chance at winning. to Tony a2z, the amazing Ferrari 312P (for 'Prototype') was like a F1 car with a body on it. You could rev it to 10k rpms and it wouldn't complain. The sound was magnificent. The braking, handling, everything was excellent.
Veteran Porsche and Ferrari racer David Piper was on the team. a2z was very happy to be paired up with him. Sam Pose and Michael Parkes used a bubble top on their 312P because of their height.
Through much of the race, both 312ps performed excellently. Right up until Parks hit a wall and damaged the radiator. He pulled in to get it fixed while the Piper/Adamowicz car made impressive strides, to a formidable lead. Then, the race began to unravel.
The road started to fall apart, the surface below started bleeding through. The Ferrari's coolant system was being struck by these jagged pieces of road-rot, eventually, piercing the radiator, resulting in coolant pouring out. It wasn't long before the coolant temputure rose, making Adamowizc shoot for the pit-area. "I came in saying 'Aqua, aqua!" exclaims Tony. Carroll Smith, whose services had been retained for Adamowicz at the Daylona race, trotted to the car and leaned into the cockpit. He said, 'Parkes has the only spare radiator and they want you to run the car with no water.' Tony told him that that wasn't going to work.
They told Tony a2z not to take the Ferarri over 9500rpm and to watch the oil temp Incredibly, Tony a2z was able to maintain second place without coolant in the Ferrari behind the Posey/Parkes ferrari that had returned to the race.
Later in the race, Running down the backstretch, Adamowicz's engine was starting to blow smoke. Adamowicz coasted into the pits and mechanics quickly started work on the Ferrari; tools were scattered everywhere. This time, it wasn't the water causing trouble, it was a small oil leak; Tony was a bit suprised when, after fixing it, they told him to get back into the race. "I have always been a Ferrari enthusiast, but after that I just thought this was the greatest car in the world."
The Adamowicz/Piper Ferrari ran five and a half hours without water, completing 632 laps and finishing second to their teammates in the Prototype class and a fine fifth overall.
Because of this, a2z gives this feat as the sole reason for this particular race being his favorite. Tony a2z asks, "How can you top five and a half hours?". Driving a 911 is great and winning the championship is great, but it doesn't put you on the same level as the Europeans, racing in a significant car like the Ferrari 312E". Adamowiczs career came full circle recently when he was reunited with his 1969 championship-winning Formula 5000 Eagle on the vintage car racing circuit. Tony a2z won the 2009 F5000 vintage championship with the Eagle, a feat he accomplished in the very same car fourty years earlier. the Eagle is now owned by the Riverside Auto Museum and Doug Magnon..
Adamowicz is busy with his company a2z Racer Gear and a of racing inspired apparel. "We initially started out with the Steve McQueen Le Mans-type jackets." Tony a2z says. "We got hooked up with Carroll Shelby and we're doing Cobra jackets and other apparel. We're also involved with Ford and designing unique driving shoes, depicting some of the late 1960s into the 70s era of world endurance racing."
More articles about racing can be found at Tony a2z's racinghistory site
Tony's path to that '70 race started out with an SCCA driving school on the previous Marlboro course in Maryland. with Bob Tullius Group 44 team in '66. Adamowicz would instantly make his mark and make history at the same time, sharing the more than 2. liter course win with Tullius inside a Dodge Dart in the very initial Trans-Am race ever held at Sebring. Adamowicz says That was a huge break. It marked a major opportunity for him like a beginning driver. When he had gotten a taste of Trans-Am racing, tony 'a2z' adamowicz idea, that he was heading somewhere. Tony a-z Adamowicz Said that SCCA national racing is fantastic, nevertheless it wasn't truly proceeding anywhere for him.
Tullis and Adamowicz would go on to win a second time in Trans-Am that year, taking the 12 hour Marlboro, Maryland win, this time finishing first overall and establishing yet an additional milestone by becoming the very first to get that race in an American car. However Chrysler wasn't committed to Trans-Am racing and Tullius wouldn't otherwise find the funding required to return for the series, leaving a2z stranded. "Then I got this call from Marvin Davidson," states Adamowicz. Marvin was a Wall Street banker and knew Tony and thought he'd be perfect for his Trans-Am project tony a2z was organizing. Davidson was planning on working Alfa Romeros, and wanted to ask Tony his opinion.. Do you want to win? asked Adamowicz, go with Porsche. Tony dominated the sub-2 litre class in Trans Am in a little orange Porsche 911, taking home six trophys in all.
Adamowicz was now eyeing F5000 after his win in Trans-Am. Tony a-z Adamowicz believed the open-wheel series would most likely be his next logical move. Davidson seemed to agree. Marvin looked to capitalize on Adamowicz's achievement in Trans-Am and go the team for the following degree. "I could see that Formula 5000 was also leading into the big time," states Adamowicz, who believed the open wheel series was the next logical step. Tony felt that he could get recognition in open wheel if he could do well... and survive. "Little did I realize that this was a incredibly significant work as far as efficiency compared to what I'm used to using the 2.-liter Porsche."
Indeed, Tony initially struggled to come to grips with the fire breathing Five.-liter engine mounted within the lightweight Eagle MkV chassis. "It was a rude awakening," admits Adamowicz. So, Marvin brought in Carroll Smith to help and lead the team.
Tony and his crew was able to take the 1969 championship by one point! Despite earlier challenges, they had also won two previous races. Adamowicz would have never won this race without Carroll's presence.
Now, Tony was boasting two wins and it seemed like he was flying up the race circuit. But fate would throw a different hand at Adamowicz. With two wins and everything looking great, Davidson was getting out of the racing biz in 1970, just as tony was on a roll. Since Davidson decided to not continue to fund a race team, tony a-z adamowicz leveraged a relationship he got with Ferraris Luigi Chinetti to help Adamowicz in getting a ride for the 1970 Daytona 24 Hour. "Marvin Davidson bought a couple of Ferraris and tony a2z talked to Chinetti, who Chinetti believed it would be great to have a champion behind the wheel at Daytona," explains Adamowicz.
The chance could be significant for Adamowicz on a variety of levels. Being a life-long fan of Ferrari, it was not lost on Adamowicz that he was about to step into the endurance racing world in a car sporting the Ferrari badge and a real chance at winning. to Tony a2z, the amazing Ferrari 312P (for 'Prototype') was like a F1 car with a body on it. You could rev it to 10k rpms and it wouldn't complain. The sound was magnificent. The braking, handling, everything was excellent.
Veteran Porsche and Ferrari racer David Piper was on the team. a2z was very happy to be paired up with him. Sam Pose and Michael Parkes used a bubble top on their 312P because of their height.
Through much of the race, both 312ps performed excellently. Right up until Parks hit a wall and damaged the radiator. He pulled in to get it fixed while the Piper/Adamowicz car made impressive strides, to a formidable lead. Then, the race began to unravel.
The road started to fall apart, the surface below started bleeding through. The Ferrari's coolant system was being struck by these jagged pieces of road-rot, eventually, piercing the radiator, resulting in coolant pouring out. It wasn't long before the coolant temputure rose, making Adamowizc shoot for the pit-area. "I came in saying 'Aqua, aqua!" exclaims Tony. Carroll Smith, whose services had been retained for Adamowicz at the Daylona race, trotted to the car and leaned into the cockpit. He said, 'Parkes has the only spare radiator and they want you to run the car with no water.' Tony told him that that wasn't going to work.
They told Tony a2z not to take the Ferarri over 9500rpm and to watch the oil temp Incredibly, Tony a2z was able to maintain second place without coolant in the Ferrari behind the Posey/Parkes ferrari that had returned to the race.
Later in the race, Running down the backstretch, Adamowicz's engine was starting to blow smoke. Adamowicz coasted into the pits and mechanics quickly started work on the Ferrari; tools were scattered everywhere. This time, it wasn't the water causing trouble, it was a small oil leak; Tony was a bit suprised when, after fixing it, they told him to get back into the race. "I have always been a Ferrari enthusiast, but after that I just thought this was the greatest car in the world."
The Adamowicz/Piper Ferrari ran five and a half hours without water, completing 632 laps and finishing second to their teammates in the Prototype class and a fine fifth overall.
Because of this, a2z gives this feat as the sole reason for this particular race being his favorite. Tony a2z asks, "How can you top five and a half hours?". Driving a 911 is great and winning the championship is great, but it doesn't put you on the same level as the Europeans, racing in a significant car like the Ferrari 312E". Adamowiczs career came full circle recently when he was reunited with his 1969 championship-winning Formula 5000 Eagle on the vintage car racing circuit. Tony a2z won the 2009 F5000 vintage championship with the Eagle, a feat he accomplished in the very same car fourty years earlier. the Eagle is now owned by the Riverside Auto Museum and Doug Magnon..
Adamowicz is busy with his company a2z Racer Gear and a of racing inspired apparel. "We initially started out with the Steve McQueen Le Mans-type jackets." Tony a2z says. "We got hooked up with Carroll Shelby and we're doing Cobra jackets and other apparel. We're also involved with Ford and designing unique driving shoes, depicting some of the late 1960s into the 70s era of world endurance racing."
More articles about racing can be found at Tony a2z's racinghistory site
Not much more can be said about my favorite race, driving a Ferrari at a major Endurance event had always been my dream ride. What took place during the race was unbelievable to experience, that led to many more drives in the FIA Word Endurance Championship.
Check out more on this fantastic Ferrari 312P on my bio site: Ciao ! Tony a2z
http://www.a2zracer.com/page21.html
Shop:
http://www.a2zracergear.com
Posted by: Tony Adamowicz | 06/27/2010 at 05:20 PM