Feature: First R8 Rally
02/01/2008
Participation in the California Mille entails a few basic restrictions. Rule one: Drive a car built before 1957. Rule two: Obey all traffic laws. With a little help from Audi, I managed to violate the first regulation before the rally even began—my 2008 Audi R8 missed the mark by more than five decades. But I left serious infringement of the second to my codriver Rinaldo ‘Dindo’ Capello, Audi’s official Le Mans and factory driver, who seemed to regard posted speed limits as an opening bid."See that yellow warning sign?" said Capello as we approached a sweeping right bend, during a dash from Little River to Sonoma. "It says 30 mph. Right now I am going more than double." I tightened my hold on the R8’s carbon fiber grip handle as he accelerated toward the curve, watching as the speedometer spun upward, 77…78…79…80, climbing, climbing, climbing as Capello tested the car’s limits. The 19-inch Pirelli P-Zero tires on this all-wheel-drive, mid-engine marvel adhered to the asphalt with unwavering poise. As I attempted to maintain similar composure on this g-heavy ride, I imagined that Capello—a true endurance racer from Asti, Italy—was likely envisioning a similar stretch of road from his home country.
"With all of these vineyards and olive trees, you think that you are right in Tuscany," says Martin Swig, founder and organizer of the California Mille. "When I coordinated the first rally in 1991, I really wanted to incorporate a few concepts from the Mille Miglia. I knew that northern California would be the perfect place, because the topography and culture are so similar to many Italian regions." The first American to participate in the Mille Miglia Storica—back in 1982—Swig indulged his passion for that historic Italian race with an annual Stateside homage. This year, almost 70 classic cars gathered at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel for the 1,000-mile rally Swig breezily calls a "brisk tour of venerable classics."
Some owners began prepping their cars before the sun came up, as Bay Area residents already crowd streets near the starting line. The vintage automobiles grunted and growled to life on the Fairmont’s red carpet, many spewing black clouds of exhaust from weathered pipes. A parade of Alfa Romeo Giuliettas, Ferrari GTs, and Mercedes-Benz 300SLs made their first right-hand turn onto California Street with honks, waves, and smiles. But cars such as the 1936 Auburn 852, 1954 Talbot-Lago T-26GS, and 1925 Lancia Lambda garnered the most praise—that is, until the appearance of our black Audi R8 beneath the white banner, with its sinister LED headlamps aglow. Small children pointed and reached out toward the car; women gave a double-glance; men ogled with wide eyes and gaping mouths. We quickly left this exuberant scene and the Fairmont behind, racing out of the city, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and into the less congested countryside of northern California.
The caravan of classic cars stopped only for lunch on the first day’s 193-mile route to Yountville, which several vehicles were unable to complete. Such setbacks should be expected when cars are often older than their drivers, and many participants garaged an extra car nearby as a hedge against electrical gremlins and mechanical ailments. For Swig, these hindrances do nothing to thwart the spirit of the rally. "It seems like the worse it gets, the better it is," he says. "When we get together at the end of the day, at some charming place with a drink in our hands, there is a wonderful sense of triumph and shared adversity that just makes the problems of the day fade away."
A relaxing dinner with multiple wine pairings from Étoile at Domaine Chandon served as a convivial venue for stories of the day’s victories and defeats, and to discuss the 283-mile journey to Eureka slated for day two. Among the highlights of the drive along the Mendocino coastline and into the northern knolls: a multitude of picturesque views and panoramic hilltop imagery.
Only the route for day three remains a constant in the ever-changing rally. "The roads have never been the same two years in a row, but there is one bit of back street that we have never left out," says Swig. "It is called the Lost Coast." Steep, craggy mountains and other unruly terrain interrupt the Pacific Coast Highway for 100 miles between Rockport and Ferndale. Although the area is not amenable to typical beach cruising, it is prime real estate for the spirited participants of the California Mille. The 70-mile leg loops out to the ocean at Ferndale, snakes into the verdant countryside, and ends with a humbling jaunt through a massive redwood reserve on a road aptly named Avenue of the Giants.
The roar of our R8’s high-revving, 4.2-liter V-8 bellowed through the hills, as I kept the tachometer above 6,000 rpm. Even the livestock grazing in the field raised their ears in response to 420 of their mechanical brethren calling from the Audi’s glass-covered engine bay. Navigating these patchy roads is not as straightforward, though, when you are at the helm of a classic.
"It’s not easy getting an old car around on some of these roads," says Charles Goodman, owner and driver of a 1936 Auburn 852. "It requires tact and a dedicated effort. In fact, some guys choose not to travel certain routes because they fear it may be too taxing." A majority of the rally cars run on skinny tires, with weak brakes and no power steering—many of the classics tax their drivers as much as the roads tax the vehicles.
"Most of the people out here know their own limits, as well as the limits of the car," says Swig. "It takes real skill and attentiveness to drive one of these old crocks well, but you learn a lot about driving from behind the wheel of an old car."
I, on the other hand, learned a lot about driving from the passenger seat of the R8 as Capello drove on the fourth and final day. The gated shifter moved in sync with the clutch, brake, and throttle at his feet, and like clockwork, he hit every apex without the slightest misstep. "It’s too bad this is not a closed course," said Capello, who holds 16 victories with the Audi’s Le Mans prototype, which bears the same R8 appellation. "I could really drive it hard." As we swung around a blind corner in the opposing lane I began to question his sanity, but never his ability. I just hoped to make it to the end of the rally—for very different reasons than the drivers of vintage entries.
Much like the first Mille Miglia in 1927—in which 54 of the 77 drivers returned to Brescia—only two-thirds of the original 67 cars that left San Francisco actually crossed the finish line. Cheers from several schoolchildren waving flags on the lawn of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa rewarded the vigorous and tireless driving. The celebration grew as each car made its way down the final stretch, and their drivers joined in the party. "If you spend four days traveling through northern California on the little country roads that no one ever really drives on, you will witness the beauty of this event and understand why we do it every year," says Swig. "It’s really quite magical."
Audi, www.audiusa.com
California Mille, www.californiamille.com