DESERT REGION – LAS VEGAS CHAPTER
1st Quarter 2020
Written by John Ratto
Edited by Chuck Damus
Man, it has been an eventful three months.
It all started way back in January, when tensions flared and war with Iran seemed likely. The stock market (and the populace) simply ignored these events and continued its march to the stratosphere. Problems with Iran dissipated, only to be quickly replaced by protests against the Chinese government held in Hong Kong. This looked to be significant, but it too fizzled out without having an impact on our economy, or the stock market. Ditto for impeachment: it looked like a big deal, but it came to nothing.
Lots of smoke … no fire.
Then came the Corona Virus and the roof fell in. Isn’t it amazing how something like that can cause mass mayhem? Concerts and events (the NFL Draft party, conventions, the NBA season, the start of the Formula 1 season, business trips, vacations, cruises), restaurants … all cancelled or closed. Casinos closed (what – I never thought I would see that). Fear of significant impact to the economy led to a wildly gyrating stock market…then significant impact to the economy. In a speech on March 11 to the citizenry, President Trump tried to allay fears; the Dow responded with a 10% drop the following day. Then we were told (and then ordered) to stay in our homes and practice social distancing (new term to me). Life and business ground to a standstill, and there seems to be no end in sight. The mandate was through March … then through April. Now? Your guess is as good as mine. At first, it seemed the government was over reacting, which led me to a question that I hated to ask: Does the government know more (bad stuff) about this Virus than they are revealing? As it turned out, the answer was yes. Bad got worse, and soon the death toll began to rise. And here we are in early April with no end in sight, still confined to our homes with nothing (no sports anyway) to watch on TV.
As I said, an eventful three months.
Meanwhile, on another front, as predicted in the prior Report, the cadre of hopefuls vying for the Democratic nomination has dropped like flies: Klobuchar … Steyer … Mayor Pete … Blumberg (Bloomberg? He wasn’t around long enough to leave an impression) … O’Rourke … Yang … and finally the big one, Elizabeth Warren. Did I skip anyone?? This leaves Bernie and Biden as the last (old) men standing.
Enough politics and civics, let’s have a look back at the events (and the fun – do you remember fun?) that we managed to have during the first quarter of 2020.
January 8: Board Meeting at the Home of Elda and Dave Fanucchi
We again had an impressive turnout, with more than 12 in attendance. We all thank Elda and Dave for again hosting another Meeting. Glitches with the computers at the National level seem to have prevented the seating of new Board members from being finalized, but that should be resolved shortly. Our new treasurer, Ted Schlazer filled us in on our current financials and reported that the turnover of financial responsibilities (from Scott Howard) is in progress. The Board notes that Scott’s tenure was long and very successful, so we thank him profusely for his efforts. The planning of upcoming Socials and Drives was then discussed. With spring just over the horizon, we have an extensive docket of activities in the hopper, so PLEASE visit our Website – ferrariclubvegas.com for more information.
January 23: Social at Piero’s
We experienced another very strong turnout for this social, held at one of the most renowned Italian restaurants in all of Las Vegas. And it did not disappoint, as everyone seemed very pleased with the food and libations. The conversations were lively and I was especially pleased to have the opportunity to really get to know new members Sandy and Katlyn Cornelius, whose first attended event was the recent Christmas Party. What nice people, be sure to meet them soon. While this may ostensibly be a car club, the interesting people to be met is really the number one attraction.
February 27: Social at Prosecco in Henderson
Want to know something? Socials at fine Italian restaurants are popular. More than 20 attended this one at Prosecco, a Henderson hot spot where the food was excellent and the drinks were more than generous. As an added bonus, after sating our hunger and thirst, we all re-convened at Oz and Jeannie’s home to gab and gawk at his small collection of some very nice and very significant automobiles. It was the perfect dessert to an excellent meal and evening. We thank Oz and Jeannie for their hospitality.
March 11: Board Meeting at Siena Ristorante
Despite our return to an old favorite, the Meeting was sparsely attended with no general members in presence. Perhaps the Virus is beginning to impact people’s desire to get out and mingle. None-the-less, your intrepid Board soldiered on. It was noted that Scott Howard’s continued illness has prevented the final turnover of the Treasurer position to Ted Schlazer. We continue to work hard to make this happen. The next order of business was discussing upcoming socials. Be sure to visit our website for information on the following: 3/26 at Nora’s, 4/23 at Lemoncello, and 5/28 at old favorite Table 34. Also in the works are two drives. The first, to the Valley of Fire, is scheduled for Saturday 4/4. The second, to Laughlin, is planned for early May. The next Board meeting is scheduled for May 13.
Mid-March: Extra! Extra! Everything cancelled, postponed, rescheduled!!
Well, the Virus hit the fan in mid-March. Progressively, everything ground to a halt. Everything was shuttered. Everything was cancelled. This has forced your Club to cancel or postpone all events that were planned for the near (at least through April) future. Keep your eye on our website for news and information.
FORMULA 1 NEWS
Testing in Spain
Good news: My spy in Spain has managed to escape incarceration and is once again providing the inside scoop of what transpired during testing in Barcelona.
As usual, it was obvious that none of the teams wanted to post a really fast lap in order to hide their true capabilities. Drivers were easing off the throttle a hundred yards from the finish line to mislead their competitors. That said, James (real name) Bond (not so real) indicated that Mercedes looked to be fastest, but also reported that they were experiencing repeated engine reliability problems. He also noted that the Alfas (now called the Alfa-Tauri), Racing Points, and McLarens looked quite stable on the track, but that the Red Bulls (surprisingly) appeared nervous and not well planted.
It is to be noted that the teams will be using the same tire compounds as last year. It is believed that this uniformity will add stability to the proceedings, as there will be one less new variable stirred into the soup. This should help the lesser teams as they lack the resources to fully explore the implications of any change, much less one to a factor as critical as the tires.
And finally, protests lingering from last season regarding Ferrari’s engines and fuel management system have spilled over into 2020. The other teams continue to insist that Ferrari is cheating, but the FIA cannot seem to determine whether this is true or not. In any case, the outcome of the FIA’s investigation was a secret agreement between Ferrari and the FIA stipulating what would be allowed and what would be rejected. Naturally, the other teams were up in arms, accusing Ferrari and the FIA of collusion. This imbroglio will likely continue well into the future.
Initially, the Virus situation caused the race in China to be postponed or cancelled. Then, at the very last minute, the first race of the season (Australia) was also cancelled. Then a bunch more were cancelled. As of now, it cannot be said with any certainty when a race will be run, or even IF a race will be run in 2020. The season, as so many other things, hangs in limbo.
Hoping that you are all well, I wish you all good luck in the days ahead.