After the excitement of the ADC last week it was back again for the first round of the regular Retro racing season on the HSC short track for CanAm and F1 cars.
A good field of nine were ready to rock including Stoo (missing in action for most of 2016 – something to do with work – hmmm vaguely remember those days – gotta tell you Stoo and I am sure that Darryl and Brad will back me on this BUT retirement is great for having time to sort the slotties out) and newbie Steve.
Nine starters meant two races of 4 and 5 and so off we go.
Apologies but I forgot the camera so no photos this round.
I have however put an ‘Overall Positions’ sheet together again for both races – I will continue to do this as it makes it more interesting to compare performances.
These sheets are composed as per my notes in the ADC report.
CanAm
Race 1
Procession here going – Mark, Brad, Matthew and Joe. Joe had a broken lead wire in the 6th bracket which didn’t help at all while Matthew was solid to finish only 5 laps down on Brad.
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Darryl and James swapped the lead around a couple of times but by the 4th bracket it was Darryl all the way followed by James, Stoo, Neil and Steve. Only 4 laps between the top 3 so it looked like Stoo was in good shape after his outing last week.
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Well my car was an absolute rocket as the times show BUT Darryl again beat me - by 2 seconds – upping the margin from the 1.8 seconds he beat me by in the ADC. The annoying thing is that after a bracket change I had put my car back on the wrong lane – for how long you ask – at least 2 seconds - before I realised and got a marshal to fix it for me – brain fade is real.
Having said that however Darryl drove superbly and I don't think he had a deslot while I had trouble on Red which cost me.
James was also going strong and finished only 2 laps down whilst Stoo charged home to be 2 laps further adrift and 4 laps up on Brad.
Mathew and Neil held down 6th and 7th respectfully all the way whilst Steve finished 8th ahead of Joe who lost a lead wire.
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Race 1
Except for Matthew and Joe swapping 2nd and 3rd after the 1st bracket it was a procession going, Mark, Joe, Matthew and Brad.
Brad busted his car in the 2nd bracket and after a lengthy time trying to fix it he took up the offer to drive Darryl’s spare car – it’s a long drive for Brad to come and not have a race so it was a nice gesture by Darryl.
Brad said if he could make it go he would put it in his box and then leg it – I’m not sure he got away in time but he sure could drive it and loved the car – Darryl’s cars are smooth and sweet to drive.
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James led for the first 3 brackets as he, Darryl and Stoo entered a three way arm-wrestle (funny to watch that) until Stoo popped up to lead at the end of the 4th bracket. There was nothing in it however as all three were on 83 Laps.
Darryl put his finger down in the 5th bracket to break clear by 2 and just kept on going to the line to win by 4 laps whilst Stoo managed to get on top in the battle for the minor podium.
Meanwhile mere mortals Neil and Steve held down 4th and 5th respectively.
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Well Darryl and I lead for half the race each – unfortunately he led for the second half which is the bit that counts.
I lost the left front tire whilst on Black which sorted me out of contention – I figure I lost a min of 2 laps here and so in all likelihood it would have gone to a bell lap time difference again between us.
I must say that I normally never cast aspersions on a given manufacturers offerings but I am totally over the JK fronts that have sleeved aluminium hubs – this car had those – a new pair replaced an existing near new pair before the race as I had noticed that these had tires coming adrift due to little/no glue holding on to the tire and the same thing happened again. I have had many failures with these and only use them if I can’t get the plastic rims which seem to be much better. I need a solution – probably will use cut down rears in the future.
Back to the race and Stoo and James were on the same lap for 3 brackets - up to the start of the 7th bracket when Stoo found his mojo on green at the precise moment James lost his on Red to ultimately pick up 2 laps behind me and 3 ahead of James in 4th.
Joe and Mathew finished a lap apart for 5th and 6th followed by Neil, Brad (with his new car) and Steve.
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A good nights racing on a super track which allowed some fast race times (BTW I was cutting into the 4.8’s in practice so the track was in real good shape given the hot and potentially slimy conditions) so thanks to James for the work he puts in for us.
Another thanks to Cooper for helping us to marshal and his Mum for putting up with us all while he did.
See you all on the Big Track on 4th March.
