Well, we certainly had some 'Interesting' and for Some,... Very FAST racing, Especially in the GT-1 class this evening.
Numbers were Slightly Down from last time, what with Mark F being overseas and Brad sadly not racing with us any longer plus a few others absent but once again, some really good, Fast and Close racing (for Most of the Evening), was enjoyed.
Personally, I had a Really LONG day, as I had a Very Early starting 'Event' at my Work, which would have been OK normally, but it Ended Earlier than expected, which meant I was somewhat at a 'Loose End' for a number of Hours between work finishing at Potts Point and the Race Starting at Luddenham but the Weather was Very Nice and I had a 'Pleasant' journey out, allowing me to enjoy the General 'Atmosphere and Environment,..
Once again, the Track was in Great 'Condition', although I guess after having seen quite a bit of racing on the New Surface, could Possibly do with (as discussed), some Slight 'Re-Jiggling' of the Track 'Surface', especially at the Junction of the Straight out of the Bank, leading into The Loop. Currently requiring a Bit 'Extra' Clearance at the NOSE of one's cars to Avoid any Untoward Effects caused by the Body making contact 'At the Join' but was Not really an 'Issue' for anyone and Hey, the Track is Almost as Old as Many of the Racers !!!,.. LOL
Stupidly, through perhaps being pleasantly Relaxed on arrival, I Stupidly Didn't bother to Change the Rear Tyres on my Retro, (which had seemed to have been causing some abnormal and slightly Un-Predictable behaviour of late), which Did cause me Some issues during the racing, let alone My Driving !!,..
but,... Onto the Racing.Retro CanAm
Heat 1:
In this Heat, we had Steve K, Darryl, Gregg T, Paul R, Neil and myself linig up to do 'Battle'.
As mentioned above, I really could have done a much better job of driving in this heat, which may have allowed me to have gotten closer to Darryl and Steve, but had a Great 'Dice' race Long with Gregg.
Both Steve and Darryl pretty much Stamped their Authority on the race from the 'Get-Go', with Steve (as Usual,..lol), setting a High Standard and (once again), driving off into the distance !!
Paul and Neil were having their own very close race, constantly swapping positions until the last 2 x brackets.
With Steve Sailing Home and Darryl well ahead of Gregg, it was Only during the last bracket through an unfortunate accident involving Gregg that I managed to Just edge past hime in the dying moments of the race, and provided some very enjoyable 'dicing'.
Heat 1 Results;
1st Steve K 157 laps 2nd Darryl 153 laps 3rd Stoo 148 laps 4th Gregg T 147 laps 5th Paul R 140 laps 6th Neil 137 lapsHeat 2:
Here we had Wayne, Casey, Stephan Bill, Ando and young Jacob lined up for the Start.
Wayne and Casey proceeded to have their Own race here, with the final outcome nor=t necessarily indicating How close it had been during the race with Both of them swapping positions a number of times, until Wayne made a bit of a break in the last 2 brackets.
Similarly, both Stephan and Bill were also having their own on-going 'Dice' race long along with Ando, mixing it up with them in the earlier brackets, with Stephan only managing to get ahead of Bill during the last bracket.
Young Jacob, was certainly having a bit of a Hard time with a Strangely Very 'Noisy' car, which was also Either Running Well or Being Strangely VERY Slow at different times during the race, with the Cause finally being recognised Only right at the End of the race. The problem being caused by a Very Slightly Loose Wheel (on the 'Flatted' axles he was using), allowing the Gear/Axle to slightly Move from side to side, which meant the Back 'Edge' of the Spur Gear to Rub on the Rear section of the Chassis,... and (In Effect), acting like a Brake !! which was Bad Luck,..
Heat 2 Results;
1st Wayne 146 laps 2nd Casey 142 laps 3rd Stephan 138 laps 4th Bill 136 laps 5th Ando 128 laps 6th Jacob 103 lapsOveral Placings:
1st Steve K 157 laps 2nd Darryl 153 laps 3rd Stoo 148 laps 4th Gregg T 147 laps 5th Wayne 146 laps 6th Casey 142 laps 7th Paul R 140 laps 8th Neil 137 laps 9th Bill 136 laps 10th Ando 128 laps 11th Jacob 103 laps
GT-1's
Heat 1:
This race, had Ron, Steve K, Casey, Bill, Stephan and Jacob taking the Start.
In all Honesty, one would have to suggest this was probably NOT one of the Best OR Cleanest Races the various entrants had ever experienced !!,.. LOL
It could also be one of the Longest 'Heats' Ever Held on the Track, with a Truly Extraordinary number of 'Track-Calls' being Made !!
To suggest it was a Bit Messy,.. would perhaps be a slight Understatement !!,.. LOL
But,.. there was some rather Close racing happening through the 'Mess' !!,..
, with Ron, Casey and Steve K constantly swapping p[ositions until the final order was sorted in the Last Bracket, with both Steve K and Casey finsihing on the same laps, only .537 Sec's apart at the end.Bill pretty much had a lonely race, as did Stephan, both virtually holding their positions from the 2nd bracket to the end, with Jacob,... bringing up the rear, seemingly Enjoying giving his Dad a bit of a Hard Time but also perhaps causing some others Some 'Distress' along the way, with a somewhat,.. shall we say,.. "Variable" performance on the evening,.. ??,.. lol
Heat 1 Results;
1st Ron G 162 laps 2nd Steve K 159 laps 3rd Casey 159 laps 4th Bill 139 laps 5th Stephan 133 laps 6th Jacob 105 lapsHeat 2;
Well, after the 'Mess' ?? and Length of Heat 1 We were Really Hoping we could have a Much Cleaner race than the previous one !!,.. lol
As can be seen from the overall Lap totals,.... We DID !!
In fact, this was a Fantastic race, with once again, (as has often been the case of late), I had a Really Fantastic and enjoyable 'Dice' Race Long with Darryl.
I think it would be 'Fair' to say that Both our cars Were 'In a class of their own', as can be seen from the resulting Lap totals and lap times.
I don't know about Darryl but I had a Real 'Ball' but Really had to Stay on My Toes, as both of us had a number of brackets where were circulating Side by Side for the whole bracket !!,.. (Great stuff !!) or separated, but not making ANY ground on each other.
We were 'Matching' each other being virtually on the Same Laps until the last 2 brackets, when I finally managed to Eeek out a 3 lap advantage but with that said, Darryl was really Motoring in the Last bracket on Blue and was really Only a late De-Slot (strangely for him), in the Bank, that stopped the final result from arguably being Even Closer.
Both of us had a number of Sub 4 Sec' Times going even Quicker than the Last Round and managing quite a few 30 lap brackets, with Darryl managing a 31 in the last bracket !! Great stuff
Code: Select all
Stoo Blue White Red Green Yellow Purple TOTAL
28 28 27 30 30 30 173
3.919 4.064 4.122 3.986 3.898 3.938
Darryl 31 28 27 28 30 27 171
3.919 4.077 4.039 4.096 3.971 3.948
Gregg and Paul were occasionally exchanging positions during the race, with Neil and Wayne also having a fairly close run with each other as well, with Wayne creeping slowly towards Paul and eventually finishing on the same lap only .6 Sec's behind.
All in all, (as hoped for), a Really Super Fast, Very Clean and thoroughly enjoyable race !!
Heat 2 Results;
1st Stoo 173 laps 2nd Darryl 171 laps 3rd Gregg 162 laps 4th Paul 154 laps 5th Wayne 154 laps 6th Neil 152 lapsOveral Placings:
1st Stoo 173 laps 2nd Darryl 171 laps 3rd Gregg 162 laps 4th Ron G 162 laps 5th Steve K 159 laps 6th Casey 159 laps 7th Paul 154 laps 8th Wayne 154 laps 9th Neil 152 laps 10th Bill 139 laps 11th Stephan 133 laps 12th Jacob 105 lapsOnce again, thanks Must go out to all the SSME guys and my fellow racers for Another Great Evenings racing !!
