The SCG003C Gets a Celebrity Driver, Kicks Ass at Nürburgring
It’s been a hot minute since we first interviewed Wall Street mogul James Glickenhaus about his life as an automotive guru and his utterly insane, SCG003 carbon hypercar. For those of you who are not familiar with the SCG003, this is a twin-turbo, Honda V6-powered supercar that has the curb weight of a lightning bug, more sexy lines than a Friday night on the Vegas strip, and a price tag that easily tops $2.6 million. It also is offered in a street legal version, and carries with it a staggering amount of press, as Glickenhaus’s race team remains a rabid underdog mauling the ankles of some of the most well-funded race teams on the planet.
After some contrasting highs and lows, a black flag for being “too loud” at the Nürburgring, and a small slice of downtime at this year’s Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance in Cernobbio, the SCG team is back at it again, and this time Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is hell-bent on owning the Nürburgring Nordschleife. This is a small but dedicated group of individuals who despise idle hands competing aggressively over the weekend at the latest round of the VLN Series, something often referred to as “a championship for thoroughbred cars, based around the most fearsome race track in the world.”
But this time around, the capable powerhouse had an extra weapon at its disposal: Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus landed renowned British motoring journalist Jethro Bovingdon as a key driver. Bovingdon, who writes for the publication, Evo, is quite familiar with this particular track, sharing a car with Nürburgring expert, Thomas Mutsch, and American racer Jeff Westphal. Commonly referred to as “Macchinadue” due to it being the second SCG003C chassis produced, Bovingdon’s carbon-clad rocket ship was 10th overall after four hours of racing, and at one point was running as high as second overall in the race.
No first place wins this time around, but a solid finish from Bovingdon, who was still unfamiliar with the car (yet considers the track as one of his favorite haunts). James Glickenhaus himself said that he was “Absolutely delighted to welcome Jethro to the team and give him the opportunity to describe to everyone what it’s like to drive our car in competition.” This comes on the heels of what Glickenhaus calls “a really good test” at the Nürburgring, where a special set of Dunlop tires were first applied, with the results being a car that he calls “fast and flawless.”
Fielding two versions of the SCG003C, the team is using these experiences to prepare for a grueling 24 Hours at the Nürburgring next spring, which to everyone in the paddock is the reason why they race in the first place. All of this experimentation and sweat has been designed to “hone the SCG003C into the ultimate road-racer,” and is why the Nürburgring remains the ultimate proving ground — if one wishes to test the limits of a car, there are few better places to do it. After snagging first in its class last time around, and owning the track as fastest car for a healthy period of the race, engineers have made even more improvements to the SCG003C, with the addition of those Dunlop tires being the most recent upgrade.
This latest foray took place over four hours on October 17, and despite the weather behaving like a temperamental four year-old with IBS, the Italian-based American team finished second in its class overall. With very little preparation, the SCG003C crew jumped from 12th on the grid to the top, even when its sister car was paddock-bound due to repairs following a collision on the opening lap.
Despite the serious setback, both cars and their crews were able to fine-tune the SCG003C over the course of the race, as they battled damp, foggy conditions, and unsavory road temps. Besting the latest Porsche 911 by a tenth of a second in qualifying, the SCG003C was then knocked back to second in its class by the avenging automaker, which apparently was being driven by one of this year’s Le Mans winners.
When asked what he thought about the car after the race, Bovingdon told reporters, “It was a brilliant feeling to take the car to the finish and I really enjoyed driving it all weekend. I didn’t get the chance to have much time in it before we started, but it felt easy to drive and comfortable straight away.”
This marks Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus’s second consecutive top-10 finish at the Nürburgring, after taking a class win back in September. Chris Ruud, the owner/driver of “Macchinadue,” sums it up best: “We go from strength to strength, having completed a very busy testing schedule all weekend that includes work on tires, aerodynamics, and suspension.” Ruud then praised the latest addition to the SCG team. “Congratulations to all our drivers, and especially Jethro, who we were delighted to welcome from Evo magazine. He didn’t put a foot wrong from start to finish and we are so happy to have given him this experience.”
Being genuine fans of this thoroughbred underdog, we too are excited to see that Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is growing stronger with each consecutive race, and and can’t wait to witness what this talented addition can do behind the wheel next spring when the checkered flag flies at the world’s most grueling race track.
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