Race report #177 - Thurs 25th September, 2014 (MC, RC)

[gordon]

RACE REPORT #177 - September 25th 2014 (MC, RC)

Another fine turnout of ten drivers plus the "Bad Granny" TV show host Jason Reece and film crew graced FRC's 177th event. Jason came to get some slot racing footage and a motor racing interview with yours truly for an upcoming show. Scheduled classes were two of our most popular - Mini Challenge and Rally and having done magnet downforce equalising on all the Minis, I was looking forward to some close Mini racing.

Qualifying was close, the first seven Minis separated by just over 0.5 sec. Best of all for me was managing to get pole and break the lap record in the process. The class was split into two subgroups of five (A) and four (B) drivers. Once the lights went out for the first MGT(A) race, we immediately saw the positive impact of the magnet-equalising when all but one of the Minis proved to be very competitive. The exception (car no 1) had an oversteering problem that after the racing was determined to be caused by badly laminated tyres. This car placed last in every race it ran, even when Luke B - the acknowledged master - drove it. Aside from that the races were very close, there being four different winners in the five races run. For MC(B), car no 1 was put aside and the races proved to be a battle between friendly arch-rivals, Jon and Marlon. In the end the results couldn't have been closer.

The rally stages are always interesting to drivers as they can watch their competitors set their times and they have the whole track to themselves when its their turn. Once again Luke B set the pace with Steve, Ramesh and myself in chase. Luke went faster in each stage, finally setting an amazing sub-8 sec time in his final run. A superb drive by young Jonathan in the final stage made him the second-fastest driver of the night when he set a single lap time of 8.931 sec driving dad Steve's Peugeot. This drive placed him second overall in the stage.

The results























Congratulations to the winners.

2014 Overall Class Points Update





Next event's classes: Class grouping D: Modified Production - 5 races @ 30 laps, F1 - 5 races @ 30 laps. As usual, don't forget to see the updated fastest times for the FRC classes to know what the benchmarks are for your cars, the updated class average qualifying times and the updated 2014 Class Points Standings.

See you on the circuit...
Gordon

[RameshB]

Hi guys a very enjoyable evening , the minis worked very well special thanks Gordon, good to see Mark back out, good time was also kept , small Jon was impressive in the Rally good coaching Steve, Luke T the corvett runs nice thanks for the tyre info , see you all on thur bye Ramesh

[Luke]

Agreed Ramesh but I must thank you for your idea/recommendation pulling me back into the Mini group A racing class ...

Despite the fact, its only Marlon who playing he doesn't know much about the Red Carpet Boys

Most of all, remembering to acknowledge Mark H. contribution to FRC and thanking him very much (on behalf of all) for his support.

A Scalextric (C1255/Extreme GT) Racing Set.

Luke

[steveaca]

Great night of racing as usual at FRC. Congrats Gordon on that new Mini lap record. Congrats also to Luke B. on winning both classes raced and the champion driver of the event. Nice to see Mark H. put in an appearance and actually do some racing. The old skill is certainly still there. A bit more practice and he'll be a serious threat ! Thanks as well Mark, for your generous donation to FRC.
Looking forward to the next event.
Steve

[Luke]

Hello GG,

Hope you're feeling much better ..?

I would like to make a suggestion & mention something here:

• Concerning the Mini IROC results and car no.1 - that the (6 cars nos.1-6) tyres don't be trued like the NSS & PC (once used) rubber tyres IROC cars. Simple because the Mini cars, use the ribbed rubber tyres compared to these 2 classes that use the slick rubber tyres ... I believe some detailed needle cleaning care on these (almost new) ribbed tyres would be the best solution (at least for the time being) which will help with the overall performance for the downforce they now carry.
  
  This one (1 point) is just for the record - We all know about Luke B. being an excellent & outstanding slotcar racer but in the closely contested MC races/group A - Race 2 he's in 3rd. position showing 10 points when its 9 points. Yes, I know it wouldn't make a difference (1 point) with him being the overall winner but in that race I know I came in 2nd he finished in 3rd spot.

Getting that extra 1 point makes a difference in the end ~ is something you always talk about ...

See you around soon.

Luke

[gordon]

Good observation Luke. Thanks for pointing that out. Looking at the results, the computer calculated the points based on my erroneously typing a 2 instead of a 3 for his place. I'll fix it as soon as I get the chance.

[gordon]

Just remembered to fix the results Luke. Everything should now be in order, including the annual class points.

[Luke]

GG,

That's real cool of you remembering to fix the MC results and that all is organized, including the annual 2014 class points ... but don't think its much of a consolation with the same person (in question) winning 13 out of 15 classes.

• • Mixed GT IROC ......................................... Luke B. - 207 pts.
  • Scalextric GT Challenge IROC ..................... Steve - 102 pts.
  • Restricted GT ........................................... Luke B. - 146 pts.
  
  • Historic Saloon ......................................... Luke B. - 153 pts.
  • Vintage Sports ......................................... Luke B. - 165 pts.
  • Group 5 Sports Cars ................................. Luke B. - 98 pts.
  
  • Mini Challenge IROC ................................. Luke B. - 194 pts.
  • Rally Car ................................................. Luke B. - 111 pts.
  
  • Modified Production .................................. Luke B. - 118 pts.
  • F1 .......................................................... Ramesh - 92 pts.
  
  • Nissan GT-R Super Series IROC .................. Luke B. - 50 pts.
  • Slot.It Challenge ...................................... Luke B. - 83 pts.
  
  • American Muscle ...................................... Luke B. - 111 pts.
  • GT .......................................................... Luke B. - 112 pts.
  • LMP ........................................................ Luke B. - 85 pts.

Plus, with his father's backing ~ winning 1 and Steve only just with the other.

I believe Luke B. in a card game of porker, could say - Read 'em and WEEP ..!

Well done to LB - he sure has a winning hand

Luke

[steveaca]

Very honoured to be among such lofty company !!
Steve