SSME 4 Hour Enduro #1 2019

[Mark Fox]

Hi All

The first SSME 4 hour Enduro for 2019 was held last Sunday 14 April and attracted 4 teams into the fray.

With previous winners of this event - Ric's Raiders (twice) and Team OZ (once) not able to attend it was going to be a new team to take out the win this time.

The Race

So we all lined up after a bit of practice and set off for glory.

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The Baxters set off like a rocket to lead by 16 laps over FASTUFF at the end of the first bracket with SSME a further 12 laps back. Gangster's car was seriously lacking legs and it showed as they were well back on SSME.

The second bracket saw FASTUFF wake up and they set fastest time and most laps in a bracket for the day to claw back some laps and be only 2 laps off The Baxters who had pulled further away from SSME and Gangster Racing whose car was still slowing.

FASTUFF fought to the lead by 3 laps to relegate The Baxsters to 2nd while SSME also suffered a slowing car to the point of being out of contention for a win whilst Gangster slowed even further.

So we then adjourned for lunch and what a nice gesture by Ron to prepare snags, bacon and eggs with lovely fresh bread for sambos - a great way to recharge the batteries.

For those that have not participated in these races let me say that we are all about a bit of fun and so at the lunch/medication/toilet break we allow any remedial work required to be done on the cars.

Darryl worked a little magic on SSME's sled whilst I think Gangster decided to swap everything under the body to try and get up some pace and enjoy the last half of the race. This was allowed to be done in the spirit of having fun and also they were way back so nothing was going to affect the result and nobody was going to lose a sheep station over it.

Over the next 2 brackets both SSME and particularly Gangster's cars were a real match for the two leaders which certainly added to the enjoyment of all concerned. Gangsters times were from well on the pace in the mid 4-5 second range whereas previously thy did not break into the 4's and they managed to claw back about 40 laps on SSME!

Going into the last bracket we had FASTUFF leading The Baxsters by 15 laps but they were finishing on the difficult Red lane whilst The Baxsters were on the very fast Green lane - it was a close race for first place honours! SSME and Gangster were virtually locked into 3rd and 4th respectively at this point.

Off we go and my teammate Stoo drove a fantastic opening 20 minutes to only drop 5 laps to Wayne leaving me 10 laps to defend the race against Andrew.

Well I did my best to blow it but held on to the lead to win by 2 laps - the closest finish in any of the 4 hour Enduros held at SSME or HSC to date.

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FASTUFF set fastest times on all lanes and shared the spoils of most laps on a lane with The Baxters with 3 each.

Interestingly the 2 teams dominated one half of the track each with The Baxters holding down Green, White and Red and FASTUFF doing the same on Blue, Yellow and Purple at the other end.

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Driver Analysis

As can be seen it was Stoo all the way with fastest time on 5 of the 6 lanes (me the other - Blue).

He also racked up most laps for a 20 minute segment on 4 lanes outright and being beaten by Wayne on 2 (Red and Green). A fantastic effort by the FASTUFF driver who showed once again he is in a purple patch of form at the moment for Enduro racing.

The Baxter brothers were very even in performance as were Kenny and Darryl in SSME whilst Jason was the quickest and made the most hay for Gangster.

KEY:- Pink = Best Overall, Yellow = Best for Team

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Past Years

Not the most laps ever but a good effort and if you were not there you missed out on a good race and a fun day.

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Lunch and Thanks

Thanks to Ron for organising the event and in particular for cooking up a storm to supply a great free lunch.

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Ron extends an invitation to lunch (I have been told that there was no such thing as a 'free lunch' but that was wrong) and the next Enduro on Sunday, 15th September 2019.

Cheers

[stoo23]

Hey Mark,.. thanks very much for the Great report and Analysis,.. again

This was another Very enjoyable Race and a really Nice Sydney Autumn day, spent Way out West in the Sunny 'climes of Luddenham in Western Sydney
I KNOW I Really enjoyed the day AND the racing and can Only Imagine Everyone else that attended Also thoroughly enjoyed themselves !!

Although, I am also sure that Both SSME and Gangster Racing, would perhaps have Enjoyed themselves Even More, had their respective Cars Performed as Well (In the first half of the Event), as they did in the 2nd Half !!!!

This really would have made for an even Closer and more competitive race had We ALL had such similar Pace, from the 'Get-Go'.
I think we All had some Great Side by Side 'Dicing' at various points during the day, which made for a Lot of Great Racing and quite simply,.. Great Fun as well.

As can be seen from Mark's analysis, the Team pairings were Very Equal in Lap times and Totals, which provided everyone with Great Racing in Every Bracket !!

Kenny and Darryl made for a Great Pairing, especially once they got their car going Well and I don't know What car Gangster Started with OR what they Changed to for the 2nd Half, but Boy, it Sure Worked a Treat and I am sure made (at least) the 2nd half of their day even More fun !!,..

As far as the Baxters go,.. well Gee I mean what can be said, other than What a Great Effort, by Both of them !!
As Mark alluded to, they were Very Even Performance wise and their car was Most definitely 'On the Money' from the Start and All day and in fact Had they changed Tyres at some stage towards the end of the race, May have provided a slightly different outcome,.. or at least made it even harder for us to Protect our very Slender lead !!,..
They BOTH drove Really Well !!,.. As in fact did everyone really.

As Mark has also already suggested, the Relaxed atmosphere, Close racing and Great Food etc, once again made for a Fun and Memorable Slot Car Race/Event.

What can I say other than Fantastic Racing and Great Fun !!
Thanks to SSME, Ron and All who attended

,

[dtslot]

Hi all, yep , a great day of racing and fun,,,lot's of fun,,,,,thank's Kenny, for the ride,,,very good car,,,and to Ron for running the race and giving me his place with Kenny,,,,, tons of side by side racing,,,,just love it
hope to see all at the SRC ON TUESDAY
DARRYL

[Mark Fox]

Yep SRC - count me in