Just thought I would 'Paste' the small section of my report of the HSC ADC 2011 Retro race, as,..it makes for a very 'Appropriate' Beginning for This years Report, with realistically, Few Changes !!!,..lol
See 'link' to 2011 ADC here; http://forum.ascra.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=497Well, as I write this, I would say the dust has probably now settled at HSC, after what one would have to suggest by the racing action and quantity of people/racers and the all round great vibe, was another Fantastic weekend of racing at HSC's regular 'Australia Day Classic' event.
After a bit of a layoff since last year, it was certainly great to get back to some really good racing again.
A perhaps slightly diminished group of Retro runners for this event, as some of the regular runners like Cody and Troy, were busily engaged in the many other classes of racing being held over the weekend.
As they were THIS year as well.
Dale was strangely absent but we were joined this time by Charles Rickards and Geoff Little which was great and meant we had a Full Field of Retro racers.
Also True.
So, Only 8 starters,
(Unfortunately this time Only 7 starters)
but all great racers and as one could imagine, it proved to be a Very fast and clean race, with Most of the various places changing throughout the race.
With Only enough Retro starters for a Final, we were obviously a bit Short on marshalls, so a Very Great Thanks to the 'Wing 12' racers who volunteered to marshal for us, along with the other regular attendees who invariably hang around and provide us with their usual great marshalling. Once again,..Thanks Guys, it IS very Much appreciated and the marshalling was Excellent !!!
AND,..Once Again a Great thanks for the Assistance This year,..although it was a pretty 'Clean' race, so at Worst, I hope you Enjoyed Watching the Race !!,..lol
Qualifying;
For a change, it was Not Mark Fox or Cody who TQ'd.
Also True,..but for perhaps Slightly different reasons. Cody as mentioned above was engaged in other matters of racing but Poor Old Mark Fox,..was 'Unable' to attend due to his ongoing recovery from a rather Badly Broken Leg. (mark hopes to be back "On Board" by the Next Retro race)
This time,..quite unexpectantly, I managed to TQ !!,..(and THAt don't Happen too Often !!,..lol), with a 5.109, 5.128 and 5.144 Seconds followed once again by Charles Rickards being 2nd fastest in qualifying as in 2011.
So, as I said it really made for (as it Most definitely turned out), to be a truly 'Repeatable' Description !!!,..
Also, as I have often mentioned in previous race reports, the Driving 'Standard' is Continually Improving !!
The Racing last Night was Fantastic and Immense FUN.
EVERYONE was running really well and Fast, as the final Lap Totals will show and to be Honest,..whilst I Knew I was running well, I had Only glanced at the lap counter once to check my position, so I had NO IDEA of Who was Leading Who by Whatever number of Laps etc.
Mind you I Also Knew, (as you can in a race, as you get used to Who you pass and Who you Don't !!,..lol), So I kinda 'Figured' that James was Most Certainly "THERE" or somewhere Damn Close !!!,..
Having had my Previous motor in this car fitted for some time,and whilst still a suitably quick motor, I decided I Should fit a 'fresh' motor if for nothing more than durability !!,..lol As I had to travel to Sydney the previous Day and as I also wanted to try another class of car I had recently built and as I had 2 x New CheetahII motors, took the opportunity to try Both of them,..'On Track' and Oh Boy am I GLAD I did,..as one of the motors, (the first one I tried), was a Complete Dud !!,..Easily the Slowest Cheetah motor I have purchased !!
Fortunaley,..the 2nd motor, as it transpired, was a "Pearler",..
RACE;
As can be seen from the Pics,..we had Stephanie, Geoff, Charles, Darryl, Brad, James and Myself ready to do 'Battle' for the 2012 ADC Retro CanAm race.
I must say,..this race proved to be a LOT Closer than I had thought it was.
During Racing, I often Don't bother actually keeping an Eye on the Lap Totals, (tending to just run my own race and run the brackets as they come), although I occasionally just 'check' what Position I am in,..lol
At the Start, beginning on blue I managed to pull ahead and at the end, had managed to turn 33 laps and get a 1 x lap lead over James and Darryl, who was running well, holding 2nd for the first two brackets.
Charles was almost instantly 'In the wars' and was experiencing difficulties with his car and the traffic and unfortunately, this seemed to continue for most of the race,..eventually pulling out towards the end of the race, which was a shame, especially as his car was working So well last time out. One of those days you would rather Forget I guess,..bad luck Charles,..
I managed to have a couple of Silly 'Minor Bingles' with Geoff when on Purple and he on Black, which dropped my lap total a bit from what I would have liked to have done,..all My Fault ofcourse,..so Sorry Geoff. A perhaps somewhat More cautious end to my run on Purple and then Black, dropped me to 4th at the end of the 3rd bracket, with 93 laps.
James had moved into 1st with 96 laps followed by Brad who had managed to grab 2nd with 93 laps and Steph' in 3rd also with 93 laps.
The 'Pace' of the race was really Very Fast, with everyone's lap times on All lanes, with the Slowest Lap being a 5.817 !!
I managed to turn a 33 on Yellow, which got me back into 2nd by the end of the 4th bracket, on the same lap as Brad, also on 126 laps and James on 128.
I then had a 'brace' of 32's on orange, White and Red, allowing me to grab 1st, BUT there was Never More than a single Lap between James and myself for the Last 4 brackets, in Fact we were invariably On the SAME Lap !!
I Honestly had No idea it was this close and in fact May have gotten a wriggle on had I realised, as I was really just trying to drive Fast and Neat, trying to Avoid any traffic or bingles and had some great runs with both Brad and Darryl, who were having a great tussle with themselves as well as James.
Steph' was at times running well and probably would have finished Higher, had it Not been for a less than ideal run on red, which dropped her Just behind the placings at the end.
Geoff, was running smoothly and consistently, his car seeming to be handling quite well, but perhaps lacking in Overall Pace against the competition 'on the day'. Mind you, he Only gets to run on this track a couple of times a year, compared to Us Locals that are racing regularly on this tricky track, so was, realistically doing quite well.
Charles as previously mentioned was having any number of woes and after a disastrous run on green in the 4th bracket (managing Only 5 laps), decided to stop the 'torture' at the end of the 5th bracket.
Try as I might, I could Not get an Extra Lap on James in the last bracket and eventually crossed the Line 4.282 seconds ahead of James, with Both of us on 255 laps !!
Brad having a Really good run with his New 'Bramble Built' Warmack chassis, was in a serious Battle with both Darryl and Stephanie race long, but managed to Grab a Fine 3rd place, with 251 laps,..Well Done Brad !!!
Darryl was Close behind, as was Steph, with the two of them ending with 250 and 249 laps respectively, followed by Geoff with 242.
I guess this Wasn't the Cleanest race we have had, but it certainly Wasn't very 'Messy', as we were ALL Motoring along at quite a Clip, with everyone doing Very respectable lap totals on All the lanes.
It was in Fact a really Very enjoyable race, with plenty of great Side by Side action and both cordial and courteous racing.
Once again,..a whole Heap of FUN and as is typical of this class at HSC,..Great Racing.
Final Outcome;
1st Stoo 255 laps
2nd James 255 laps
3rd Brad 251 laps
4th Darryl 250 laps
5th Steph' 249 laps
6th Geoff 242 laps
7th Charles 129 laps
I apologise for Not managing to get More Photos of the Event, (Especially pics of Brad's New Car etc), but I Will attempt to get pics of both brad and James' cars and 'post' them later.
Once again, thanks MUST Go to James and Wayne, for providing us all with what appeared to have been a Great weekends racing across ALL the various classes and for the Great Trophies.
All in All,..a GREAT Start to Retro Racing in 2012,..Thanks guys and gals !!!,..
