Narrow-bodied Ruf RCT...0-60 in 4.1s


Day two of the autocross and the track was really heating up. Unfortunately the F40 was OUT OF RACE because Amir 'forgot' to bring extra brake pads (you just can't go down to the local Autozone for F40 brake pads). Same goes for the red Viper GTS. Then Wolfgang's brakes failed on turn 5, thus letting him sail off the track, tearing the front spoiler in half and ruining the oil cooler. Fortunately the Ruf mechanics got him up and running again an hour later. Even so, he needed new tires after just a few hours of track time. Imagine the tire store's reaction when the 50,000 mile warranty tires were returned the DAY after they were purchased!!

Curve after curveThe next few hours went by fairly uneventfully until Molly Westrate failed to come back around the track after she took off some 2 minutes earlier. As it happened, she lost it on turn 9 near the bridge and SMASHED her Ferrari F355 into the wall, rear end first! Luckily she was unhurt, but her car had a much worse fate. The once beautiful F355 was now in total shambles---it was almost unbearable to look at!

At the end of the day, everyone once again took their timed lap with chase cars. I hopped in with Wolfgang to take a nice in-car video of turbo-Ruf fun. We were chasing the much slower 914-4, so naturally Wolfgang slowed to a crawl and let the 914 get totally out of sight somewhere around the track. Then he says, "Let's go!" as he floored it in 2nd gear (he blew 1st at some earlier point in the day). I taped as he smoked his way around the track until we rushed upon the 914 as if it were standing still. We did a 4-wheel drift around the last turn, punched it, and roared up onto the 914's bumper. He slammed on the brakes just in time, I smiled and looked over at him, smiling just the same...

More of the same...

A few minutes later, I jumped in Frank's black CTR2 to chase the Hennessey Viper. I settled into the soft, thick leather Recaro seat, buckled my 5-point, and got ready for the chase. He had the A/C on top notch, which made the cockpit refreshingly cool. I shut the door, the suction pressured up the cabin, and all the exterior noise was immediately vanquished. All that could be heard inside was the calm purr of the 520+HP flat six behind me.

The CTR-2 has the EKS clutch (no pedal), and Frank slid it into 1st. The Viper took off, and Frank hit the gas. The boost gauge, which is in the clock's position on the 5-gauge dash (and just as big as the clock, too!), shot 3/4 of the way around the face and bottomed out somewhere over the 2 Bar line! The car LEAPT forward with a rush so powerful, so smoothly, that is almost beyond description. He gave the shifter a few quick jerks, I looked over at him then the dash to discover the speedo passing 150mph with no sign of stopping. The Viper was looming right before us around the first turn, Frank tapped the brakes bringing it back down to 140mph, and got right back on the gas. We hit turn 2 at 100-something when he stomped on the brake pedal, scrubbing off 60mph in less than a second. Carbon Fiber is wonderful, isn't it?

Acceleration after acceleration, it was like a roller coaster slowing to a crawl at the top of the peak and then free-falling off the 89 degree incline on the other side.....Except this was HORIZONTAL MOTION!!

At this point, I will stop describing the ride, for it is utterly impossible to put it into words. If you need an ending to the story, all I can suggest it for you to sit down in a CTR-2. There IS no other was to explain it, so I won't even begin to disgrace the automobile and its builder by trying to put this into words.



Special thanks to Estonia and Alois Ruf, Frank Beddor, and each and every person that attended to make World of RUF 1998 such a wonderful event!!

To the World of RUF Image Gallery!
Back home