An Interview with Lu Ryba

Lu Ryba was born in Prague, the Czech Republic, in October of 1962. He moved to California in 1990. He has two Mechanical Engineering degrees, one from Delft University, Amsterdam (where he met his wife, Eeke Van Der Wal), and one from Cal State Long Beach. Recently married, he frequently talks in terms of "we" instead of "I."

Lu races a 1976 Datsun 280Z, which he usually drove to the track. In addition to winning championships in the Las Vegas and Cal Club regions of the SCCA, he was awarded Cal Club's 1993 "Pete Sharland Memorial Trophy" for being the best "Low Bucks Racer of the Year."

When did you get started in racing? 1993, though we did some slaloming before that for two years. We ran rallycross in Europe too, but that was pretty small scale.

What motivated you to get into road racing? I've always loved cars, obviously, but until we got to California there was no way to afford road racing. The kick is just tremendous. Racing door handle-to-door handle, there's nothing like it. Catching up on my life, as it were. Another reason is that when you hear car nuts talk, it's always "My carburetor is bigger than your carburetor." Road racing puts an end to all that, because when the green flag drops....

Who were your first sponsors? Tokico Shocks was the very first and they took very good care of us. A relationship with a sponsor is a very important thing. We try to take care of them as good as possible with pictures, in-car videos with the sponsors' names on the dash. We do ride-and-drives and try to keep the car available for appearances. I've heard horror stories from other competitors, but we've been really lucky. Our sponsors have taken really good care of us.

You've only been racing for two years, yet you've already acquired a measure of success. What championships have you won? In 1993, our first year, we won the Las Vegas Region's ITS championship and finished second in Cal Club. After that there was the Three-Ring Circuit, SCCA's first oval championship series, which I won. I also just won the 1994 Las Vegas and Cal Club regional championships and am working hard to earn the Divisional crown. [The divisional series, called "SPaRCS" for "Southern Pacific Racing Championship Series, is aimed at promoting regional racing at all the division's tracks (except for Hawaii for obvious reasons).]

Tell us about oval racing an ITS-prepared Datsun. It's a great experience. You really get to practice your feet, because footwork is even more important than in road racing. And also it teaches you about traffic. No matter how small the field is, you're in traffic constantly. There also doesn't seem to be the speed differential like you find on road courses so the cars are more evenly matched.

What are your racing goals? Right now I'd like to make it as a pro driver.

Which series? Next year I should be able to run a full Firehawk schedule. We have a car ready to go, a Mazda RX-7. Right now we're also talking about a Sportsman ride.

And your ultimate goal? Trans-Am. This is a tall order and I realize that, but even if that never happens I can honestly say I had a lot of fun along the way.

Is education important for a potential racer? My mechanical engineering background really helps in racing. It's basically because you know what to do and why--in terms of, for example, suspension setup. At the track you'll often see us using tires other drivers have discarded. Because of suspension dial-in it's not a handicap for this car.

You just married your crew chief. Yes, I did. That was a joint discussion after a double race over the Labor Day weekend. The decision was made long before, but this seemed like a convenient time. We just piled into the race car and drove it to the courthouse.

Tell us more about driving a race car on the street. We're really proud of our earning the Pete Sharland Memorial Trophy. Throughout 1993 and for the first half of 1994 we stretched our budget by driving the car to the track. We strapped the race tires on the roof and tossed a tent inside, since the budget didn't allow motel accommodations. We drove the car all over the place that way. We raced out of state in Arizona and Nevada, as well as going to Sears Point, which is an 8-hour drive.

Didn't you worry about crash damage? Nope! It never came up! Once the green flag drops you're focused on driving as hard as possible. You worry about repairing crash damage after the race.

Why are you towing the car now? The main reason is that this way we can arrive at the track with much more precise suspension settings that are otherwise destroyed by driving the car (full of tools, parts and people) on the street.

Tell us about your Z car. It's a 1976 280Z. Pretty much all of it's been built with the car parked in front of the house on the street. We do everything on the car ourselves. For machining, we rent shop time. That's what makes it possible to run this car on a low budget.

If you didn't drive the car on the street, how much more performance could you extract from the car? We could probably build a so-called "loose" race motor. Many ITS cars currently on the track run motors that have been built to only last 10 to 20 race hours. Our motor typically lasts a full season while being driven to work on weekdays. As a result we're slightly down on horsepower and we don't rev it nearly as high as the other competitors.

Obviously you prepare your car mechanically for racing. How do you prepare the driver for racing? I try to put in as much seat time as possible. I teach for driving schools at several tracks and that helps me stay in touch with tracks and cars and such.

Are you still active in Solo II? Yes. I drive at every opportunity possible because it's good practice. Unfortunately most of the dates conflict with road racing.

What's the secret to learning a new track quickly? Slalom experience helps, but the main thing is just to go around the track once without sliding the car around so you find the smooth lines.

What about following those drivers with experience at that track? I never do that. Your goal is to be faster than the other competitors, not imitate them. If you copy their line, you will, at best, be equally quick. The same goes for car preparation, by the way. You've got to find your own way to be quick.

Eeke races the car once in a while. Yes, she puts in as many appearances as possible. Frankly I'm surprised how difficult it is for a female driver to get herself taken seriously. She enjoys driving and she hangs in there.

What's your pet peeve? Believe it or not, at every race there's at least one person who will come up to me and tell me they'd be a much more successful racer if they had as much money as I had. At one point at Willow Springs somebody in '94 Corvette told me that! What can you say?

Do you have any advice for wanna-be racers? Just do it! Never quit.

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