Fairways Racing Complex Forum

RACE REPORT #306 - Feb 25th 2023 (KBnm, APCnm, VSGTnm, VSPRnm)

We had turnout of six guys who included O'Brie, Steve, Keith, Luke, Peter and of course myself at our event for Kitbash, American Pony Car, Vintage Sports GT and Vintage Sports Prototype. Of these, just O'Brie, Steve, Luke and myself actually raced as the others couldn't stay. Luke was here long enough to do the first Kitbash race.

Once again the brakes were automatically turned on by the software, despite my making no changes to settings in the SSDC race management software since the last event when the brakes mysteriously and thankfully stopped working (the way we want it). For analog racing, brakes do not present the problems they do for digital. One example is that they often stop the car on a lane change section which has absolutely no power and the car no longer can move. This causes crashes when another close-following car bangs into the stopped car and even when there's no crash, every other car goes merrily on while the stopped car sits there until the driver moves it forward, losing any competitive chance the driver may have had. The other thing that complicates this problem is when the brakes randomly decide not to come on when the driver is expecting them, resulting in a big crash once more. All the brake-related settings I tried made absolutely no difference, so we had to race with these problems. My next plan is to try updating the firmware on the powerbase to see if this allows the SSDC settings to be accepted by it.

We ended up running five races, the extra one being for a second Kitbash race after running the first round for each of the four classes.

Despite these issues, slot car racing is always a lot of fun, and we did have that. It would really be nice to see a larger attendance of drivers though. Oh well... maybe next time.

A couple of pics taken by Luke before racing began:

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The results




Kitbash

Kitbash race 1 grid - O'Brie/Peugeot 204, Steve/Escort Mk II, Gordon/Escort Mk I, Luke/NSU TT:





Computer Clubman race 1 results:





Kitbash race 2 grid - Steve/Nissan Skyline, O'Brie/Peugeot 205 and Gordon/Mini Cooper:





Computer Kitbash race 2 results:










American Pony Car

American Pony Car grid - Steve/Javelin, Gordon/Challenger, O'Brie/Mustang Notchback:





Computer results:










Vintage Sports GT

Vintage Sports GT grid - Gordon/Cobra Daytona, Steve/Porsche 914/6, O'Brie/Ferrari 250 GTO.





Computer race results:



The following podium pic shows my Cobra Daytona in first place and Steve's Porsche in second, however the computer (SSDC) race result shows Steve as placing first, so unless I'm forgetting something that went on, Steve really won the race and he got the points for winning.








Vintage Sports Prototype

Vintage Sports Prototype grid - Gordon/Ferrari P4, Steve/Ford GT40 and O'Brie/Ford GT40





Computer race results:

You'll notice that my Ferrari P4 came in third, completing just 13 of the 20 laps. This is the result of a DNF resulting from a broken chip wire. Because it didn't complete 75% of the race, it was considered that the car should not be on the podium, as the podium pic shows.

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(How this is computed: https://www.frcforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=393)

Congratulations to the winners.

Next event's classes: To be determined.

Don't forget to see the updated overall fastest times and the fastest no-magnet times by driver and class to know what the benchmarks are for your cars. Older stats can be found in the Archive area of the forum.

See you on the circuit...
Gordon

Once again I had a good time irregardless of the breaking issues,,,,, very annoying breaking issues! The lack of consistency was probably worst than the breaks and unfortunately I let it get to me!. MOJO out de window! I agree with your suspicions that the firmware on the power base just isn’t talking to the updated computer software, must have been something the computer said? . Still had fun guys and thanks again!

When I arrived (ah bit late) was hoping to hear there's NO issues with the track but it wasn't the case.

However, must complement you guys for your persistence & willpower in trying to sort out because whatever WARE it is - it sure got me worn out listening to situation.

At the same time though - still had lots of laughs, ole-talk, drank ah beer thanks O'brie, did some practice laps & one race thanks Steve and Gordon respectively.

All in all, it was a relaxing evening at FRC but sorry how the track is going (for now) and hopefully will be sorted out soon.

Luke

Pot No. 2192

Ps. Only realized here, this month (February 2023) it's 13 years - a FRC Forum Member on Sat Feb 6, 2010 5:54 pm

As usual a great afternoon /evening of racing at FRC, this despite the later than anticipated start and then the ongoing brake issues. Nice to see both Peter and Keith stop by , even if for a very short time, and Luke for a less short time and actually getting a race in.
The brake issue is quite perplexing, even varying from car to car, such that in my case, two cars that I expected to race , being my pre-event cars of choice (Mustang notchback in APC and Matra MS670B in VS prototype) were replaced for racing by the Javelin and GT40 respectively as these seemed less affected by the braking issues and were smoother to drive.
Despite everything, it was still lots of fun. At one point during a race I heard someone mutter that these brake issues almost make them want to race analogue instead and I thought.....nope !
I was really looking forward to the Escorts (Gordon's, O'Brie's and mine) racing in the Kitbash class but unfortunately O'Brie's had a problem and he had to race his trusty (and FAST) Peugeot 205 instead. It was great fun racing against Gordon's own though, although it seemed plagued by some handling issues which weren't apparent in testing or qualifying. Another disappointment for the evening was O'Brie's Camaro which had a problem and wasn't raced. The major disappointment for the event however, must be Gordon having to retire his Ferrari P4 from the VS prototype race while comfortably leading the race. This lead was so commanding that I, running second with my GT40, looked like I was about to get lapped by half distance !! I just about managed to hold off being lapped when the Ferrari expired on lap 13 of 20. Heartbreak City !
Congrats to O'Brie on winning the second Kitbash race with the previously mentioned Peugeot 205.
Looking forward to the next event !

Hi Gordon,
one small correction: my car in the second Kitbash race was a Ford Sierra Cosworth, not a Nissan Skyline.

steveaca wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 10:46 pm Hi Gordon,
one small correction: my car in the second Kitbash race was a Ford Sierra Cosworth, not a Nissan Skyline.

Just fixed it Steve.