While the Nürburgring Nordschleife is the last place I'd expect to have noise limits, there was one in place for the ill-fated VLN Race #1, where two of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus' SCG 003 cars were racing this weekend. Both cars got black flags for noise. Turn down for what?
It's hard to tell from the video since it's a race and everybody's loud, but the SCG 003s just sound a little noisier than the rest. It's this teensy-weensy difference in volume that pushed it over the edge.
The VLN's sound limit is 130 dB. The glorious roar of the SCG 003 was only over by just a hair. "A simple exhaust change will fix that," explained Jim Glickenhaus.
Sound limits usually exist at tracks and other car events to so that they can remain a good neighbor to whatever's nearby. (I'm going to blame those cranky-pots at the theme park for this one.)
SCG 003 chassis numbers 001 and 002 were running in 6th and 18th place when they were flagged for noise, respectively. This was the first time either car had run the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and they were still tuning the setup for the harsh historic track, according to Jim Glickenhaus. The cars were also very, very fast.
"Our best lap ([Grand Prix course + Nordschleife]) was 8:12 which is 28s faster than [the] P 4/5 C ever went," explained Glickenhaus. "That is about a 6:42 [Nordscheife] lap."
The black car, chassis 002, even kept its New York plate on the rear. Awesome.
Jim Glickenhaus is touched by how well his two cars were doing, and impressed by both fan and competitor reactions to his creation.
"Saying Bye, Bye To Ferrari is really something for me," he explained. "When Enzo passed his first Team Alfa Romeo he said, 'I feel like I've killed my Mother.' I'm beginning to see how he felt."
Glickenhaus also confirmed that he's aiming for a 2017 Le Mans entry when we asked about the SCG 003's sound. "Our goal remains to design, engineer and build an LMP1 from the ground up and race Le Mans in 2017 while we continue to race SCG 003C around the world in 2015 and 2016," he added.
Where will it race next? The team was signed up to do the Nürburgring 24 Hours, although the car's SPX class is one of the classes banned for competition at the moment until a thorough investigation into competitor and spectator safety in the faster race classes is complete. The team is excited to continue racing there once the 'ring ensures that racing can go on safely.
The team is also actively looking for more opportunities to enter these cars, and is in talks with several series at the moment.
Race all the things everywhere. I like this guy already.
Photo credit: Hide Ishiura