Results from Enduro

[kenneth]

On Saturday 11 January racers came together at Pandoras Circuit for a scale Le Mans 24hr race. The lead up to our first team endurance race for the year was filled with anticipation and drama just like the real thing.

This was a first team endurance event for a few and it proved to be a great mix of fun & concentration by having the race in 10 minute heats and each team member had to run 2 lanes, so by the end each team would have raced all lanes and 20 mins each.
As a newcomer to this format I realised that 10 mins is a long time.!!

Paul turned up about 1.30pm as a head start for our team to go through some cars and strategy as we were team mates. I was very lucky that Paul had some finely tuned cars with him. We went through a few to pick a consistently fast car for both of us to drive, Paul is a good driver and I needed a car I was confident to run at speed for the whole event.
After 1/2 hr Alan & Ken had arrived to get some track time in as well, and over the next 1hr or so everyone trickled in to get some practice. Some drivers turned up fashionably late just to keep all in the dark as to how many teams would be competing.
Some old faces from the past had turned up and complimented the event.
Norm had gone to the trouble to supply trophies in pairs for the teams that finished up the pointy end. Thanks alot Norm.
Pandoras Circuit is a small track which has a technical feel about it and after turn one it all gets a little tight as I made it to have narrow lane spacing all the way to the last turn, so it was going to be fast but you need to pick your passing points. A fast lap is about the 4.6 to 4.8 sec.
As the race was for box stock cars with weight and after market tyres allowed from the pre & early 70s period of Le Mans - roofed and unroofed. Scrutineering had to take place and Norm patiently checked every car for parity.
There was a great selection of cars from Ferrari 512s & 312PB, Lola T70s, Porsche 908s, 917s, and the like.
By the time we were ready to start and put the names into the computer we had 7 teams in total. It was going to be a good race.
The team pairings were as follows.
Glen / Alan
Paul S/ Jordan
Phil / Bob
Ken / Justin
Paul / James
Norm / Kev
Peter/ Daniel

Heat 1 saw the extent of what 10 mins was actually like on track. Not too many offs & bingles but enough to make everyone aware of passing areas, but it was to set the pace of the event in terms of speed and laps completed.
( due to me actually resetting the results on the timing system this morning I am going on my memory, which was affected by my refuelling too often in the pre race preparations)
10 mins seemed longer , and at the end of Heat 1 saw Paul Stevens at the top with apprx 121 laps and Glen only a couple behind him.
Heat 2 saw cleaner driving , but it was my first time out and with Paul S setting a team example I wasn`t about to throw it all away. It was a good heat and my biggest threats were overdriving the car and chasing Kev & Al. At the end of a very long 10 mins I came home on top of the lap count.
Heat 3 saw everyone pushing hard and few nudges from almost everyone, and the kink in green lane proved a challenge to a well seasoned driver ( yes you Justin). Phil had an unusual car problem, not the norm for this race veteran of extremely well prepared cars and put a kink in the event for the team. Norm / Kev & Glen / Alan proved a threat in all areas with consistent speed and cleanliness. Once again the concentration on for 10mins on a small track took it`s toll.

Into the final heat and the race was close , clean & fast. Once again after a very long 10mins the results were viewed.
The overall result was as follows

Paul S(The Texan) & Jordan (Kenneth) 458 laps
Glen (Perro) & Alan (Big Al) P 451 laps
Norman (Stormy) & Kev (Buzzard) 436 laps
Justin (Goon Boy) & Ken (Scannerman) 421 laps
Paul C & James 412 laps
Bob & Phil (The Wonder Wix) 397 laps
Peter & Daniel 391 laps

It was a great night and I hope there are more team enduro races in the future this year.
Thanks to all racers & Norm for the event & trophies.

[Perro]

Good report young scribe. actually Jordan the 1st heat was won by Paul on 121 laps and I was 50mm short of completing my 121st lap when the track powered down, that's how close we ended up. I would like to thank my team mate Alan for doing a great job with steady nerve to get us home just behind yourself and Paul, who were always going to be a tough pairing to crack. It was great to see some of the faces from the recent past with Paul and James turning up and putting in a great show. Having these guys at the meeting really gave the night a kick along and fortunately Jame's son Daniel came along as well and teamed up with Pete who was at an end for a team mate. Daniel drove a very strong race and it pleases me no end to have had James ask if Daniel could turn up more often and compete on a more regular basis. You 3 fellas are welcome any time.

Thanks for hosting the event Jordan and as usual your hospitality was amazing and special thanks to Norm for running the meeting and organising everything and finally to Kev for his generosity in donating the trophies for the 1st 3 places.

[Buzzard]

Hi Guys,

I have to agree with Perro again, a great report and a great meeting.

Maybe 10 minutes weren't enough for the brain fades to kick in.......

Maybe we might have to go to 15 minutes on each lane for each of the drivers.

Please look forward to more of the same, later on in the year...
So better teach all of the B grade drivers & a few A grade drivers how to survive for long periods without coming out of the slot.

[wixwacing]

I must admit I am one of those who doesn't like a race too short and likes a race too long even less! Apart from the drive, I feel that after four or five minutes racing on our style home tracks, the order in 98% of races doesn't change and the rest is academic! I would rather get on with another class or two and some more mayhem. I'm afraid ten minute heats or even longer to me have little value. They should be left to the plafit, wingcar and wompy groups and their four second lap races.

That by no means detracts from the organising of the event which was with the best, but I have to admit that whilst looking forward to a good afternoon's race session, it ended early in an anti climax. It's my view that if you are going to organise a mini enduro then you should have some kind of support event(s)

Good report Jordan and well done on your win