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L.A. GRAND PRIX FINALLY STARTS; RACERS HAVE TROUBLE WITH OVERCROWDING.


Byline: Rizza Yap / Daily News Staff Writer

There were a few firsts on the second day of the Ford Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850.  Grand Prix Grand Prix  
n. pl. Grand Prix
Any of several competitive international road races for sports cars of specific engine size over an exacting, usually risky course.
 Vintage Races - like racing.

After a frustrating start on Saturday - in which extra construction around the track caused a four-hour delay that left only enough time for practice runs - Sunday featured a full slot of 10 races.

Drivers also paid tribute to Britain's Princess Diana Noun 1. Princess Diana - English aristocrat who was the first wife of Prince Charles; her death in an automobile accident in Paris produced intense national mourning (1961-1997)
Diana, Lady Diana Frances Spencer, Princess of Wales
, who was killed early Sunday in a Paris car crash. At the urging of British racers such as Nigel Olsson, a friend of the princess and former drummer for singer Elton John Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March, 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. , British-made cars drove a silent, counter-course lap.

Nearly 40 cars - from MGs to Morgans, Austin-Healys and Jaguars - joined the parade lap A parade lap, also know as a formation lap or warm-up lap, is a lap before an autoracing race begins, in which the drivers go around the track at a slow speed (usually between 30 and 70 MPH), and, in some cases, behind the safety car.  led by Olsson alongside British Airways British Airways
 in full British Airways PLC

International passenger airline based in London. In 1936 British Airways Ltd. was founded through the merger of three smaller airlines.
 vice president Jake Warren, who carried the British flag. A similar tribute will be held today after the 10:30 a.m. opening ceremony.

Ken Rodenbush of Sherman Oaks claimed the first win of the three-day race, which runs through the historic Plaza District of Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or  and involves more than 400 vintage automobiles. Rodenbush ran the E Production class race with his red 1966 Volvo P1800S and registered a fast-time of 1:16.15 on the narrow 1.6-mile, 11-turn course.

Northridge resident Dale Shore finished third in the same event, which had 57 entries.

``It's not a high-speed circuit and it's really hard on the car,'' said Shore, who drove a '67 Austin Mini Cooper. ``You have to be more conservative and careful - I saw a lot of cars touch each other and the wall. There were too many out there.''

Geoffrey Shanklin, a Glendale resident who finished second in the Cobra class, said the course called for more conservative driving.

``It's fun and challenging, but there's absolutely no room for mistakes,'' he said. ``But that's the problem with street courses. You have to know the people you're racing with and have confidence that they're going to do the right thing and not run you into a wall.''

Two cars did end up alongside the wall, causing their respective races to be red-flagged. But their accidents resulted from car trouble, not from overcrowding overcrowding

overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding.
 on the track.

Late in the D Production race, Steven Young of Beverly Hills spun his car sideways and stopped alongside the wall on the 11th turn. The engine in his 1959 Devin ``SS'' caught on fire when its fuel fitting broke, said Cris Vandagriff, general manager of the Vintage Auto Racing Association, which helped organize the races.

Then the following F Production race was stopped when a broken rear suspension component caused a 1970 Zink C4 to hit a wall during the second lap. The driver, Chuck O'Connor of Watsonville, was taken to a hospital but was immediately released, said Jack Gerken, public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most  director for the Grand Prix.

Sunday's races drew an estimated 50,000 - quite an increase compared to Saturday's 33,581 attendants. During planning stages, Gerken said the event's organizers were aiming for a three-day total of 50,000 spectators.

``I never thought it would be that big of a turnout,'' said Gwan The, driver of a '67 Datsun Bluebird bluebird, common name for a North American migratory bird of the family Turdidae (thrush family). The eastern bluebird, Sialia sialis, is among the first spring arrivals in the North. It is about 7 in. (17.8 cm) long.  SS shipped last month from Yokohama, Japan, just for this event. ``(And) I never thought I'd be racing in the streets of L.A.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Rick Morris of Tarzana guides his 1960 Triumph TR3A through Turn 1 of the E Production race.

Myung J. Chun / Daily News
COPYRIGHT 1997 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1997, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Title Annotation:SPORTS
Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Sep 1, 1997
Words:577
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