So it was at last weekends meeting. Glen had chosen three breakneck classes for a bunch of SCM’s (me being one of them!) to do their damndest!! And they did!! Classes for contesting where Modern GT, Nascar and LMP ,
Woooooooah!
Another minor period of track maintenance was called for in the practice time as one controller’s brakes stopped working. The fault was identified and very soon the count down began for the first heat of the first class!! This was Modern GT!!
Some interesting model for this class, I was expecting a field of GT1’s but as it turned out there was a good selection of models including Scaley GT3’s, Dodge vipers, Listers, Ferraris and even a GT Ford?? With fourteen people in attendance and thirteen racing it was to be a good turn out and some great racing. Heat one saw the GT1’s take to the track and after a good start I was feeling confident, until my model shed a front wheel (and it wasn’t a Scaley!). Hastily I replaced it with a DBR9 but by then all was lost
Next up was a battle of wills. Glen and Eggy went wheel for wheel, lap after lap and as the race entered the closing stages Eggy decided the pressure was too much and deslotted, leaving Glen to win that heat. A couple of heats later, group ‘b’ racer Jordan pulled out all the stops with his Scaley GT3 and romped home in front of everyone else, with almost a fault free round. Another good show a couple of heats later saw Chris and Jordan finish in front of Paul and Glen.
This first class was proving to be a bit of a shake up for some. I couldn’t swear to it but I suspect Norm spent nearly as much time on his roof as he did on his wheels. But he must have been playing with us as LMP was to be his class to shine. Jordan slipped in a 6.262 sec lap and almost confirmed he might not be a ‘b’ grouper for long!! Bob, on home turf, edged in a 6.283, well done guys.
Results Event 1 GT Modern 25 laps Position Position overall Group B Driver 1. Chris 2. Justin 3. Paul 4. 1. Jordan 5. Phil 6. 2. Alan 7. 3. Bob 8. Eggy 9. Glen 10 Robert 11. 4 Bill P 12. 5. Peter 13. Norm
It is hard to believe sometimes that the Nascars drive as hard as they do and I was surprised to see these models go almost as fast as the GT class, but they do!! The Scaleys take to Ninco track like a duck to water but the troublesome side of the SCX model shows if you try to race them un prepared. I decided t do the full blueprint prior to the race meeting and it paid off with my SCX model being a high finisher for an SCX model. Most of the guns had chosen Scaleys and there was little else to do but keep up!
Heat one of Nascars got off to a blinder but several laps into the race there was a call for a faulty controller. After some jiggling and a swap, the heat was re run and Norm took it upon himself to stamp his mark on this heat. But would he do it for the race?? Heat three was another mammoth tussle with Paul and Justin duplicating Eggy and Glens GT duel. This also went most of the race distance until surprisingly, Paul was the one to leave the competition abruptly with a deslot only a lap or two from the end.
A couple of heats later there was a controversial result when Eggy beat Justin by half a lap. In spite of what people were saying Eggy, I believe you won it fair and square!! I was put into a ‘soft ‘ heat by the computer and where as I should have cruised to the finish, I managed three or four deslots but amazingly still won the heat. There’s a lesson there some where, I’m sure! Inspite of the Scaley onslaught Paul and I both managed 7.0 laps with our SCX’s, which, if you could stay on, was a winning time. Finally the race was over and the last heat was run and this is how it went.
Event 2 Nascar 25 laps 1. Justin 2. Paul 3. Norm 4. Phil 5. Eggy 6. Glen 7. Chris 8. 1. Bob 9. Robert 10. 2. Alan 11. 3. Jordan 12. 4. Peter 13. 5. Bill P
Last event was LMP, also restricted to 18,000 rpm motors @12v. This of course is a guide and some of the models in this class are veritable missiles and very hard to keep up with. Favourite for the event looked to be Norm’s sinister black Fly Lola. It was hammering out sub sevens before the race started and a good sub seven was to be only just good enough. There were also another couple of Lolas lurking in the back ground and a Scaley one, which used to be king of this event. A Scaley Porsche fronted up and dark horse was to be the Fly Joest Porsche, two of which took part.
In this class the pace got hotter and hotter as the racing went on. A well prepared LMP of Paul’s pipped Justin at the post in their first head to head. I was having some good runs in my heats with my Spirit Reynard which was quick but could be even quicker in the right hands. Justin’s Fly Lola was also a quick car but things started to become unravelled after he lost a whole rear wheel whilst on a hot lap near the finish. Next up Paul opted for his Fly Joest and the bar was raised another couple of notches.
All this time Norm had been putting in some scorching laps with his ‘black death’ on wheels bringing the fastest lap down to early sixes, but so far he hadn’t had any truly ‘head on’ racing, but that was to change. Heat nine saw Paul, Norm and myself on the grid for the first time. Expectation spread through the gathered throng and the lights were green. A spectacular race by any standard where the lead changed several times each lap, but to no advantage. Finally Norm dropped back after a couple of mistakes and Paul and I went off, Lola v. Reynard. We traded corners for a good few laps and eventually Paul’s model let go, I took full advantage and for the last few laps I backed off to preserve my position. Paul closed on each remaining lap but by the finish I took the heat by about five car lengths.
Other racers too were having their own battles and one good performance was Chris with a brand new Ninco Acura. Ninco go well on their own track and Chris managed to defend his corner well against some stiff opposition. Young Rob too turned out an early BMW LMP which, although not on the pace. Had enough go to make it entertaining. Jordans earlier turn of speed had deserted him and Alan rustled up a very nice Porsche 917 Spyder minus driver to race himself.
Last heat raced and the results panned out as follows:
Event 3 LMP 25 laps 1. Paul 2. Phil 3. Norm 4. Eggy 5. Justin 6. Glen 7. Chris 8. 1. Bob 9. 2. Jordan 10. 3. Alan 11. Robert 12. 4. Bill 13. 5. Peter
Yet another great afternoons racing and stiff competition in all classes and both groups. Many thanks to Bob for hosting and for Julie for catering. It was greatly appreciated. The circus moves on to Graceville on the 25th for the ‘Slotcar Legends’ October meeting. Stay tuned!!
