By Jim Parker (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Leroy Burnell
The Post and Courier
Karl Troy of European Road and Racing in North Charleston re-creates his excitement with winning the Porsche 944 Super Cup championship at Mid-Ohio raceway earlier this month
Karl Troy just couldn't sleep in his rural Ohio hotel room.
His 1999 Porsche 944 had failed a dynamometer test, topping the allotted 200 hp and wiping out his first-place qualifying run. It meant he would have to start in 10th out of 11 slots for the upcoming road course race Sept. 16.
"I was so upset with myself," said Troy, owner of the European Road and Racing auto shop in North Charleston and an avid race car driver.
It was nothing like 2006, when Troy bested the field by nearly one minute to win the Porsche 944 Super Cup championship at the 2.4-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio sports car course in Lexington, Ohio. "It was like a Sunday drive," he said.
He wanted to prove the win wasn't a fluke. After dozing off at 4 a.m., Troy rose at 7 a.m. to get ready for the championship. While back in the pack, he still was just five rows from the leaders based on the two-car-per-row lineup. By Turn 1, he was in fifth. He had moved into third on Turn 7 and then into second. After seven or eight laps, he passed the leader and went on to claim the 18-lap race by a mere 3.7 seconds.
After a wait to inspect his Porsche again to see if it met horsepower standards — this time it did — Troy was declared the winner. It wasn't a big celebration. He returned to the Charleston area with his trophy and a bottle of Korbel champagne, unopened.
Troy said he had trouble all week. He had not raced on the track since the year before, and close to half the field was from the Greater Columbus, Ohio, area about one hour away and knew the track well. "Everything helps you against good drivers," he said.
In qualifying that built up points for the championship race positions, he finished no better than second. Once, an opponent jumped the start without being caught, he said. It took several laps to catch up. Then in the final qualifying run, Troy had the best time in the first race and in the second run before being docked for the sports car's power that rung up at 203 hp. He had tested the car in Charleston before leaving for Ohio, and was at 197 hp. "I assumed (it was OK), and you know what that means," he said.
Weather conditions can affect horsepower, and the test was on a cold day. And dynamometers, the noisy devices that check, in this case, the horsepower on the rear wheels, can vary.
One way to counteract the over-the-limit power measurement is to add more weight to the car, which under race rules permits higher horsepower. Troy added 100 pounds of free weights to push his allowable horsepower to 208. But the weight still was a drag on the quick-steering car. He made up ground through his driving specialty, diving into turns almost at full speed and with a touch of the brake, steering out with a charge of speed. He averaged close to 90 mph, reaching top speeds of around 130 mph.
"I'm always running against faster cars," he said. "One of my strong points is outcornering."
Troy said the victory this year is satisfying because he had to overcome adversity. "Last year, it was going to national as a driver. That would be cool."
He didn't really think much about winning. But he was the defending champion for the 2007 race. "Now, you have to prove yourself again.
"This," he said of the weekend races, "was hard work."
Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or
jparker@postandcourier.com.