A number of things certainly became Evident during this event.
One being how Popular these SRC events have been and obviously Still are, as Having finally been able to attend these recent events, it has been Great to see the good Numbers Attending AND How Competitive Both Classes are.
The Others being both How Fast and Closely Competitive the GT-1's are AND, (especially after having driven it recently in the Retro Enduro), just How Damn Effective the New chassis of Mark's is !! (More on this later).
GT-1 (Big Track)
On a personal level, this was a rather annoying and disappointing race,... Sigh,.. as I 'expressed' on the night during the race,.. I think I need to go and spend a LOT of time,.. Re-Learning HOW to Effectively Drive that Dreaded Big Track "Race Wrecker", RED Lane !!!
After the slightly disappointing Experience/Performance encountered with My car on Blue Lane at the last round at SSME but Also the Enjoyment/satisfaction had with the Side by Side racing with Darryl and the 'Hot Times' he and I managed to set on the night, I was Pleased to find my car was Still Quick at HSC,...... BUT,... it Has to be said, APART from the fact that Darryl is a Great, consistent AND Fast driver, His car Sure IS Quick as well !!
I must admit, I think I may have allowed myself the (as it turned out), False Luxury of believing I might have had this race,.. 'In the Bag' as it were, considering how Nicely My car was running on the Night And 'feeling' that I was finally managing to Drive this track far better than I had in the Past,.... Until,.... I hit the "Demoralizer",.. being,... Red lane.
What an Instant 'Downer' that was, talk about HERO to Zero !!,.. LOL My Final placing being a Very Disappointing result from what appeared to be possible only Minutes Earlier,..
BUT,.. what was/is amazing, was just how Close the overall results for the event were, with the Top 9 Places separated by Only 4 Laps !!
With 4 people finishing on 171 laps !!
Great stuff and fantastically Close racing.
Heat 1
Here we had Joe, Wayne and Neil 'Dukeing' it out for the Whole race, with Joe taking the lead from Niel after the first bracket till the end, with Wayne seriously 'Nipping' at his heels the Whole way !!
Andrew B, Paul and Steve were also having a great battle with the individual positions changing right through the race until the last few brackets and with Paul's eventual Demise due I believe to a failing motor.
All in all, a great close race, with the finishing order as follows;
1st Joe 171 laps
2nd Wayne W 171 laps
3rd Neil 169 laps
4th Andrew B 160 laps
5th Steve 158 laps
6th Paul R 114 laps
Heat 2
Whilst being perhaps a bit disappointing for myself, this too was a fantastic and extremely close race, with Mark, Darryl and Gregg T swapping places behind me for the whole race but there was very little in it, never being more than a few laps covering all 4 of us.
We weren't alone either, as Wayne Baxter, was chasing us Hard the Whole way, with Brad running consistently (as would be expected), but perhaps lacking overall Pace on the night and Stephan also running well, bringing up the rear.
Mark had pretty much secured 2nd from the 4th bracket, with Gregg and Darryl tussling over 3rd and 4th, until the 7th bracket, when My poor lap total on red dropped me to 4th in one fell swoop and Darryl Moving past Mark into the lead and holding it till the end.
I was So annoyed with myself, but realistically, Darryl would have still won anyway, when one reviews the Lap charts.
1st Darryl 173 laps
2nd Mark Fox 171 laps
3rd Gregg T 171 laps
4th Stoo 170 laps
5th Wayne B 169 laps
6th Brad 167 laps
7th Stephan 154 laps
The Final Placing's being;
1st Darryl 173 laps
2nd Mark Fox 171 laps
3rd Joe 171 laps
4th Gregg T 171 laps
5th Wayne W 171 laps
6th Stoo 170 laps
7th Neil 169 laps
8th Wayne B 169 laps
9th Brad 167 laps
10th Andrew B 160 laps
11th Steve 158 laps
12th Stephan 154 laps
13th Paul R 114 laps
It is Also 'Interesting' to Note that the Podium Places were made up of 3 x different Chassis !!
Two being different JK versions along with one of the 'Newer' Mosetti versions.
Retro CanAm (Small Track)
Heat 1
Once again,.. a somewhat disappointing Overall result for myself, with a perhaps rather 'Average' performance with regard to Lap totals when compared to the Overall Totals.
After starting on Purple, it took a few brackets to finally manage to get ahead of a Very consistent Neil with an 'Inspired' Stevo chasing Neil Very hard race long, with both of the Baxter 'Boys' having their Own race Duel and performing quite well on this Very 'Tricky' little track.
A good race, but it's Always difficult to 'Pace' oneself effectively against what would turn out to be a VERY Fast 2nd Heat, (as will be seen below) and as suggested above, a perhaps mediocre Lap total from myself on the night, as the car (and myself), have produced better results than my final total, in the past although even with a better total it would still have been 'Lacking' enough laps to have improved my overall result !!
1st Stoo 171 laps
2nd Neil 161 laps
3rd Stevo 158 laps
4th Andrew B 148 laps
5th Wayne B 144 laps
Heat 2
Well,... What Can One Say,.. other than WOW !!!!
This was Really a Fantastic race, with virtually the Whole field ending with Race winning Lap totals !!
As Track Marshalls, we had virtually Nothing to do race long, as there were Very Few De-slots, by a Very Fast and capable field of drivers, allowing for some Extraordinary Overall lap totals.
If one looks at some of the more recent Retro rounds at HSC and Especially the recent Enduro, it can be seen that Mark Fox's current Chassis, is a rather 'Effective' weapon,.. lol
Having partnered Mark in the recent enduro and having had the 'Pleasure' of driving it myself, I would Have to suggest, it is easily, One of THE Best Slot Cars I have Ever had the pleasure to Experience,.. Especially around the HSC Small Track !!
The Car itself, really has NO 'Vices' whatsoever and allows one Great confidence in how smoothly and effectively it can be driven, to the point where one begins to wonder just How hard you could drive it !!,..
in a fashion reminiscent of my old Plafit (Lexan bodied) Group C car from the past, it's a car that Inspires confidence and feels like it will Not De-slot,... EVER !!!,.. LOLAnd,.. So it Proved once again in This Heat.
Whilst the Car IS very Good, one Has to accept that Mark is also No Slouch when it comes to driving and with this car at his disposal, is a Very Effective and race winning combination, allowing him to set what I am sure IS and Will be a VERY Hard Lap Total Record to either Equal or beat.
With a 'Worst' total of 22 on Black !!, he managed to turn 23's on all the other lanes Except Red, where he managed to turn a 24 !!
Sorry to 'Prattle' / 'Rave' on,.. but ending with a 2 Minute Bracket race Total of 184 laps, is both Extraordinary AND a New (Unassailable??) Track Record !!
During the Enduro, Mark and I worked out Our Average, was 178 laps for 2 Minutes, which in itself is pretty impressive, but 184 is somewhat demorallizing ??,.. lol,.. for the Rest of us,.. Especially considering Mark even Did De-slot in the last bracket and had a slight 'issue' earlier on, suggesting the Overall Total,.. could have Possibly been Even Higher !!,.... Eeek !!!
BUT,.. enough of all that,.. I mean,.. What a Race !!!
EVERYONE, Was absolutely 'Stonkering' around, with even 5th Place turning a Theoretical Race winning Lap Total of 175 laps !!
Both Darryl and Brad, did their best to try and Keep Mark Honest and Within Sight,.. lol along with Gregg and Steve K All only a couple of laps apart at various points in the race, as well as Paul,... although the Final positions were in effect set in stone, from quite Early in the race and absolutely 'Wiping the Floor' with virtually ALL of us in Heat 1, with the First 5 positions Holding those places in the final outcome !!
The Overall result behind the 'Colour Me Gone' Pink car of Mark's being;
1st Mark Fox 184 laps
2nd Darryl 180 laps
3rd Brad 178 laps
4th Gregg 175 laps
5th Steve K 173 laps
6th Stoo 171 laps
7th Paul 169 laps
8th Neil 161 laps
9th Stevo 158 laps
10th Andrew B 148 laps
11th Wayne B 144 laps
All in All, a Very Impressive performance from All those involved and a Fantastic end to Another Great evening's racing.
