Australian Slot Car Racers Association

With it being 'Bathurst' weekend and with Mark F away overseas, a slightly Smaller group of 6 Racers turned up for Coupe's and F1's on the Flat track.

Aided by the Extra Bod's on hand to help in Marshalling (Thanks Guys !!), we had some very enjoyable & Clean racing on the Night.

Having arrived early, I had the opportunity to (Finally,...sigh,..lol) got around to 'Dispensing' with the Previous 'Set' of Tyres I had been Struggling with on My CanAm.
"Old Faithful", IS getting rather 'Long in the Tooth', and does need some Re-Fettling but for Some reason the recent set of JK 'Big Hub' tyres seemed to cause all manner of Un-Predictable Performance.
So (with the Fitting of some Previously Used "Big Daddy's", a Tyre the Chassis has Always seemed to respond well to), it was good to get it Back to it's Normal 'Mode' of operation. Although I'd venture with the current Coupe body 'fitted', it Doesn't seem to Handle the Last part of the track nearly as well as it usually does, with the MAC Long Nose style of Ti22 body and actually took me Some Time to get 'Back in the Groove' as it were with it during the Race.

I also managed to give the recent Slick7 F1 chassis a quick Run/Test,
( some Pictures of it Here; http://forum.ascra.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1352 ) and whilst Not being as quick as my normal F1,
(I just chucked an older Cheetah!! motor in @ 9:28), it was somewhat surprising How Quick it Was.
With a bit of Tuning (More Weight, better motor/gearing etc), could make for an 'Interesting' future 'Option'.

Anyway,... on to the racing;

Coupe's

On a personal level, I think I could have driven this race a bit better. With a few Less 'Un-Forced' errors on my behalf, I may have been able to get just a little bit Closer to both Matthew and Darryl who were both running rather well, both putting in some 23's & swapping 1st & 2nd places with each other until Darryl finally Moved ahead in the last 3 Brackets.

Early On, it was a Very Close race between Darryl, Neil, Matthew and myself, with there being only a lap or two between all four of us until the 4th bracket.

Steve King had an Un-charachteristicly Poor run on Black in the 1st bracket that put him 'Behind the 8 Ball' for most of the race although by the end of the 4th bracket had managed to get himself within 'Striking Distance' of Neil and the two of them remained on the Same Lap for the last 3 brackets and finished on the same lap Only .249 Sec's apart at the end !!

Although Joe was entered for this race, he chose Not to run, due to some 'issue' with his car.

Once again, a good clean and fun race

Results:

1st    Darryl               177 laps
2nd   Matthew F	 174 laps
3rd   Stoo                  171 laps
4th    Neil                   163 laps
5th    Steve K             163 laps

F1's

Once again, I tried Mark's more recent method of starting on Yellow, (which has seemed to have served Him and Us well of late) and so it proved in this race.

All in all, another very good and arguably even Cleaner race than the Coupe's, (although I Had a Serious "Flight" Off-Piste at one stage after a Simple and humorous mis-undertsanding with Matthew,.. .

Was once again a quite close run thing in the early stages, with only 1 or 2 laps between Darryl, SteveK, Neil & Myself.

Darryl led the 1st bracket with myself moving into the lead after the 2nd bracket, with Neil, Darryl and Steve swapping positions until around half way, when the order remained the same till the end.

Both Matthew and Joe had (for themselves I imagine), dissapointing 1st bracket totals putting them down the order from that point forward, with Joe also eventually having serious Front Wheel / Tyre issues after a coming-together through the last corner onto the Main straight. The 'Dreaded' JK Front Wheel Tyre "Separation" issue Striking again !!,..

As in So Many races in recent times both Darryl and I had some great runs together, with him Seriously 'Keeping me Honest' never letting me get too far ahead and whilst at one stage I Did have a 3 lap advantage, he was finishing on Faster lanes than myself finishing on Purple and Black.

Having been 'stonkering' around on most of the lanes, I was somewhat surprised to find the overall Traction somewhat lacking on Green !!?? and was wondering whether I was Fooling myself or that something was 'amiss' on my car, until I moved to Blue, where once again, all seemed Normal. I guess perhaps Green had simply had More running on it leading up to the Racing ?? Not sure if anyone else experienced similar 'slipperiness' on Green though.

I managed to Hold my advantage over Darryl right up until the Last bracket, where a couple of Stupid Un-Forced erors by myself, allowed him to get within a Lap !! and after the Late 'Track-Call' with Only 19 Sec's to go, I was Seriously Worried that he Might actually manage to catch me, (as he Has successfully done in some previous races !!,..lol), but I managed to 'Keep it on the Black Stuff' and maintain a good Lap Speed and managed to cross the Lap Counter Just Slightly before the end of the race, in effect giving me that Extra Last Lap,.. ,.. Phew !!

Results:

1st     Stoo              176 laps
2nd    Darryl           174 laps
3rd     Steve K         171 laps
4th     Neil               166 laps
5th     Matthew F     162 laps
6th    Joe                  68 laps

Once again, Thanks to James and the other 'Marshals' for providing another Enjoyable evenings Retro racing at HSC.

Apologies for Not managing to get Pics of the Winning Cars etc,... to Busy 'Chatting' and enjoying myself !!,..

Thanks Stoo.
Lovely to catch up on all the news whilst kicking back on the terrace of our Marrakech Hotel
Can't wait to mix with you guys on the flatster fot the State Champs Rnd 1 - I arrive back just before so will see if I can drive with jet-lag
See you there.

Thanks for the report Stoo.
Yeah, down on numbers, but high on fun.
I stuffed up by forgetting to set my car up with a Coupe body , and borrowed a shell from James.
She didn't handle too well and caught me out big time on black and purple, being too 'tippy' through the turns onto the straight.

Good report Stoo
Yes a big thanks to the marshalls,,,,made for an early night,,,,great!!
As Steve said ,,,a good fun night of racing had by all. I think we are very lucky to do what we do and have such great tracks to race on,,,,,a big thanks to James for having such a venue and always having the tracks in great shape,,,thanks!!!!
Darryl PS sure do miss Brad not being there,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and Mark

Thanks for the report Stoo, good reading
AND
Thanks to Greg and John for being volunteer Marshalls. Part of me will be sorry when hit the track;
1. Because they will be faster than me
2. We won't have an early night when they Marshall for us.
But even with the low number the racing was good. Steve and I had a great fight in Can Am - I only got him on the last corner of the last lap!
166 laps is a PB for me in F1.
Like Stoo needing to practice on Red on the big track, I need to practice on black on the small track. I rarely get more than 18 laps, not enough now that i have go past 166.
Cheers
Neil

Thanks Neil,..

Hey !!,.. Well Done for the "PB" !!!!

At Times I Too feel like I Have reached, a 'Median' Number of Laps, where I feel I could Almost 'Take Bets', on the Probability of my Ending lap totals in Both CanAm & F1's !!,..
Mind you, I theoretically Could achieve higher totals,.. If,... I Didn't Fall Off ,... Occasionally,... Grrrr,...sigh,...

I think the thing with Black, especially regarding Practicing, is it Needs Good 'Traction', when doing so !!
I have often found the Last 3rd of the Big Right-Hander can be a 'Wee Bit Slippery' and does need a good 'application' of the Spray Goo,.. I think.
As, probably like Most tracks, the Outside lanes Don't get used much. Especially on that Track !!...

Hello Gents.Good to see some nice lap totals being clocked up there Stoo.Nice to see everybody starting to come to terms with SSME track.I can see Foxy running the NSW champs with a FEZ on his head or some other cultural changing garment if he keeps hanging around these ancient places on the map.Hope your having a good time Mark.Anyhow guys,keep the hammer down and I will see you,s all later.Regards Brad.