As the title suggests, and I guess, somewhat amazingly, the 2nd round of the HSC Plafit series for 1/32 modern GT and 1/24th Historics, was held this last Saturday evening.
I guess, because so many people had running and competitive cars, (after the recent APC), I was expecting slightly More entrants than what we had.
Somewhat reminiscent of the last Plafit round we had for Group C's and F1's etc, which was also a rather Poor turnout.
In Total, we had 5 Starters!
Fortunately, we had a few Extra 'bods' about to help with the marshalling and a great thanks must as always go to those that help in this manner yet do not race, like Wayne, Joe, Garry and on this occasion, Myles?,..thanks a bunch guys, although I guess it was for the most part fairly clean racing.
Having spent quite a bit of time prepping my cars for the APC and then Missing these two classes due to sleeping in !!,..DOH, I was in many ways looking forward to having a run.
As I had re-assembled my Div'2 Aston Martin I figured I'd give it a run, as it really was Quite quick,..But, having also continued to mess with the Scalextric Maserati MC12 body, (to replace my Heavy Carrera version), I was also keen to see if it Now finally handled as I had hoped it would.
I had tried running this body a couple of times previously, but was Not happy with the way it worked, so had set about modifying the body and re-mounting it.'
I was I guess somewhat shocked to find that we were also going to be running this race Backwards !! (meaning the direction of travel compared to normal).
After trying the new Maser in the normal direction to make sure it Was working how I had hoped I changed the cars to run in the opposite direction.
I quickly found that Yes, the Aston Was incredibly Quick, but having tried the Maser, chose to run it, as it was more forgiving, something I figured might be good running in this New untried direction.
It also has to be said the evenings racing in this direction was definitely 'aided' by the still existent traction and rubber laid down at the APC, so we Did actually have a Very good surface to run on this evening.
It was great to have young Stephanie having a run with us this evening as well and as usual, driving very well and is bound to become a real threat once she has her head around this track and the cars!
1/32 Modern GT
After swapping motors in the Maser' (the initial motor being a bit old and sad), I was feeling relatively confident of a half decent run and so it proved. In fact I was actually mildly surprised, just How good my car was in this direction, which sure made it easier to Learn the track in this direction.
I was pretty happy with my run really, although I should have done a better lap total on Blue, when Stephanie grabbed the top spot.
There wasn't a Lot in it at any time, Especially with the rest of the field, with 2nd and 3rd being swapped almost race long, with eventually 2nd, 3rd and 4th all being just one lap apart at the end.
We were All obviously getting better at this backwards driving, as many turned their Best lap totals in the final bracket, young Stephanie turning a Very 'Hot' 19 on Green !! Well Done !!
Overall, a rather enjoyable race.
Final Outcome;
1st Stoo 132 laps
2nd James 129 laps
3rd Jake 128 laps
4th Steph 127 laps
5th Brad 123 laps
1/24th Historics
After missing the APC event, I thought I would change my car back to the Local 'Spec' for this race, mainly so I could compare my previous car, with the one I had intended to run at the APC. My normal car works great and so I did Not want to 'mess' with it for the APC and was rather Happy with my testing performance for the APC and knew the car Was quick.
Running the Porsche 917 body, doesn't really allow for a huge quide lead, but anything Longer than the 114mm is a Definite advantage around the HSC track and I'd have to say on the night, the car was really very good.
Once again, the racing was very close in the mid-field and was pretty clean as well, considering we were All New to this direction of racing, which once again Was definitely Helped, by the available traction on the night.
Jake had some troubles right from the 'get Go' turning Only 9 laps in the first bracket and 10 in the 2nd! Not sure what the problem was, but after that he was turning similar laps to everyone else, so that was a Tough start to the race,..bad luck Jake.
James and Stephanie, were battling over 3rd and 4th for the Whole race, with Brad seemingly Cemented in a Fine 2nd, Until the Very Last bracket, when James managed to get past with a good lap total on green whilst Brad had a slightly less than exceptional run on black.
Once again, a fun and enjoyable race and personally rather pleased with the performance of my cars and pleasantly surprised by my driving on the night, especially considering the direction of racing !!
Thanks to All who turned up and had Fun and as usual a Hearty thanks to James for running the event.
Final Outcome;
1st Stoo 150 laps
2nd James 138 laps
3rd Brad 137 laps
4th Steph 136 laps
5th Jake 125 laps
HSC 2011 Plafit Series Rnd 2. 1/32 GT & 1/24th Historics
HSC 2011 Plafit Series Rnd 2. 1/32 GT & 1/24th Historics
- Attachments
-
- The 1/32 cars at the start;
Brad, James, Stephanie, Stoo and Jake - SAM_1180.jpg (69.61 KiB) Viewed 5350 times
- The 1/32 cars at the start;
-
- The 1/24th Historic cars at the start;
Jake, Brad, James, Stephanie and Stoo - SAM_1181.jpg (63.27 KiB) Viewed 5350 times
- The 1/24th Historic cars at the start;
Re: HSC 2011 Plafit Series Rnd 2. 1/32 GT & 1/24th Historics
It should be 'Noted' by the way, that the Reason for running this Race in the 'Opposite' direction to our Normal direction, was to allow those racers intending to run in the upcoming Model Car Nationals to get used to the 'Reverse' direction and to get in some useful and arguably 'Needed' Practice prior to the event.
In fact, the Next 'Scheduled' Plafit round, to be held on Saturday the 23rd July, will be for the Cars/Classes that will be raced in the MCN,..being 1/32 Modern GT's, Mini Z's and JGT's !!
Allowing for practice and setup checks etc.
Not Lexan Group C's and F1's as scheduled.
So there is an opportunity for some of the Locals to try and 'get a Handle' on the track being run in this direction.
As can be imagined, the track Does drive somewhat differently this way, so the chance to get in some Extra practice is certainly warranted.
See you all there!
Cheers
In fact, the Next 'Scheduled' Plafit round, to be held on Saturday the 23rd July, will be for the Cars/Classes that will be raced in the MCN,..being 1/32 Modern GT's, Mini Z's and JGT's !!
Allowing for practice and setup checks etc.
Not Lexan Group C's and F1's as scheduled.
So there is an opportunity for some of the Locals to try and 'get a Handle' on the track being run in this direction.
As can be imagined, the track Does drive somewhat differently this way, so the chance to get in some Extra practice is certainly warranted.
See you all there!
Cheers