In Reality, only a Small-ish crowd of the 'Usual Suspects' this evening, with once again, a Few Extra Faces, not always seen each round.
This was Also the First round where the Group C class, could run Lexan bodies.
Not Really being a Big Fan of Hard Body racing per-se, I Can understand the relevance and durability of this change of body style for the Class,..but am unsure as to the Need as such, after having Now run Both styles.
Sure it IS a different chassis, but, is Now arguably VERY Similar to the Existing CanAm class, especially along with it's 'suggested' pre requisite of attempts to be made towards Scale Accuracy etc.
It also precludes those that Really DO enjoy racing their Hard Bodied cars in this class, as it is Truly Chalk and Cheese performance wise.
Personally, I Do think the Group C cars Look Good,..Heck Any Very Scale like 'Model' looks good, especially with these cars that Did Look good in the first place.
So I guess in some ways it IS arguably a bit of a Shame, that the class Has changed,..a bit like the 'Vintage' guys running Plafit chassis,..it just isn't the same as such.
My Only Real concern as noted, is it's now extreme similarity to the existing CanAm class.
Anyway,..On to the Races;
1/32 Modern GT;
Six of us in this class tonight, Jacco, Jake, Dale, Troy, JJ and myself.
I had 2 cars to choose from, my usual Maserati, (now fitted with the Scalextric body) and a New Aston Martin,..in hind-sight, it probably would have been better to jave run the Aston,..just for the Heck of it, but I ran the maser'.
I think as well, due to the temperature and being the First cars on a Well prepared track,.. it Was perhaps a bit Stuck, so my experiences with the car are perhaps somewhat understandable, but although arguably Quicker than the Carrera body, it did Not Handle with the same secure and predictable fashion as the Carrera! Although, in reality, the Scaley setup is Not yet Complete, as I had intended to fit the Flat body mounts, (Purely as Low down Weight) and from it performance onm the night,..Will be fitted for it's Next Run !!,..lol
It was a relatively Close race, (if one discounts Troy!,..lol), as he basically just 'cleared off' into the distance, steadily and incrementally as the race progressed!!,..lol
This left Dale, Jacco and myself to battle for the Mionor placings, with JJ and Jake having their own battle a few laps behind.
It was a Fun and friendly race (as usual!) and was pretty fast and clean,..perhaps as Noted, with just a bit too much traction.
1st Troy 143 laps
2nd Dale 135 laps
3rd Jacco 133 laps
4th Stoo 132 laps
5th Jake 120 laps
6th JJ 117 laps
1/24th CanAm/Sports GT;
Race 1
We had 8 starters for CanAm, and obviously, due to a slight lack of enough marshals, ran 2 x races with 4 in each.
First up, Ray, (making the journey, to have a race with us,..great to see you Ray,..Do come again!!, Always good to see the SR4 'In action'!!,..lol), Jacco, Jake and Dale.
As would be expected, their was Very Little de-slotting, so was a pretty fast and clean race.
Initially, Dale and Jacco headed towards Purple and Black and whilst Jacco held 1st for the first 2 brackets, Dale, amazingly Grabbed 1st at the end of the 3rd bracket, and held it to the end. Jacco slipped to 3rd in the middle brackets, with some fine driving by Ray stealing 2nd for a while, until Jacco took it back in the 6th bracket!!
Jake, whilst Close, could but just 'Look On', as the action happened up front,...lol
1st Dale 157 laps
2nd Jacco 151 laps
3rd Ray 149 laps
4th Jake 143 laps
Race 2
In this race we had Troy, JJ, myself and Gregg T.
As Also would be expected, another Very Clean and Fast race,..in fact Very Fast for myself,..to the point where if I hadn't been having so much Fun and enjoying myself, I could very possibly have broken the lap record!!,..DOH !!
I wasn't bothering to look at the screen to keep track,..although Troy did make mention of the fact,..lol
Admittedly, My car IS Very Nice, and IS rather Quick,..but on the night, it has to be noted that whilst Troy had Re-set his Wheelbase/guide lead etc after the APC, he had Not changed Gear ratio, so was, shall we say, somewhat 'Hampered' by the 10 tooth pinion!!
I am sure I would NOT have had such an easy time of it, had his car been as it was Prior to the APC,..which would have had us Both close to the record I'd venture !!,..
Troy took 2nd in the 2nd bracket and held it to the end, with Gregg grabbing 3rd by the 3rd bracket and witgh JJ (obviously), in 4th, it stayed that way till the end,..although quite close for the others, overall.
The performance across both races, was Very similar, so pretty even really.
1st Stoo 161 laps
2nd Troy 154 laps
3rd Gregg 151 laps
4th JJ 148 laps.
So, Overall, we have;
1st Stoo 161
2nd Dale 157
3rd Troy 154
1/24th Group C;
As there was Only 6 starters in this class and was equally divided between Hard and Lexan, cars, we ran 2 Races.
Dale, Gregg T and Troy, ran their Hard bodied Group C cars, with Dale resurrecting his somewhat 'Broken' From-A Porsche, with GreggT, running his beautifully built Jaegermeister Porsche, with Troy running his very nice black Sauber he ran at the APC.
To be honest,..the race was a bit of a 'procession' as such, but that is Not to take Anything from the drivers,..just kinda what you expect from 3 very clean drivers!
Troy, took and held 1st from the 'Get Go' till the End.
similarly Gregg T held 2nd, with Dale obviously holding down 3rd!!,..lol
1st Troy 146 laps
2nd Gregg 141 laps
3rd Dale 137 laps
Race 2
The LEXAN race,..lol
As I had been up the Central Coast, I availed myself of a lift to the track with WayneB and as Cody was not racing, he presented me with the Jaguar Group C he had built up and suggested I could give it a run to see how it went.
During Practice, I had noticed it's handling, whilst obviously good and Better than with a Hard Body as such, was in Fact Not completely Over the Top, when trying to comfortably stay ahead of the likes of Troy. As it turned out the Jag actually still needed the required Extra 'Ballast' to bring it up to 'Spec' weight, but atleast we Know Where to put the weight Now !!,..lol
I did get 'used' to it's handling, and in hindsight considering the traction on the night, could have been 'Happier' with 'Narrower' Rear tyres!!,..lol
I have taken a few pics of Some of the cars raced this evening (for your Viewing Pleasure,..lol)
The three Lexan Group C's,..Did Look pretty 'Snappy',..Especially Jakes Mazda !!!
You know,..you really have to keep an eye on Young JJ these days,..
,..the Bugger is Quick! and he isn't de-slotting !!,...JJ (Troy)
and I had a race long Duel, swapping 1st and 2nd a number of times,..with Both of us having our own Silly little dramas in the Last Bracket, that allowed me to JUST 'Pip' JJ virtually Right at the Line !! Both of us finishing on the same lap!I guess we kinda left Jake behind, but I am sure he was just luxuriating in watching his Great looking car go around !!!,..ROFL
1st,..(Just!) Stoo 150 laps
2nd JJ 150 laps
3rd Jake 138 laps
So Overall,
1st Stoo 150 laps
2nd JJ 150 laps
3rd Troy 146 laps
Overall,..just another great nights racing at HSC !!,..
,..Pics to come,..