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Race Report Part Three - Slot.it Group C

   

Nine Group C cars this time - and that would make a nice 6 + 3 pair of step-up finals. First was qualifying - to fill the three automatic spots in the A Final and earn the pole-sitter an bonus point for the championship...

   

Nicely done by Alex, but a great performance by Stephen to get up in the top 3, just ahead of Oli - and they were the three to sit out the typically frantic 5-minute B Final...

   

Typically frantic? Pretty much - a 5-minute dash, but mostly a smooth, focussed performance from those at the front. At half way, Simon led Dean and Jeremy in a Toyota-Lancia-Sauber train. there was a gap of almost a lap to Oliver, who - like Dean - had made his pit stop early. Jean and Matthew brought up the rear - Jean retiring his car at half distance. As the pit stops cycled through, Dean had the lead over Simon and Jeremy - Oliver was now back on the same lap. It was closing in to be a frantic last few seconds - four cars in close formation, all desperate for one of the three step-up spots. Unfortunately, Dean's Lancia lost a body screw, which got lodged in the slot and shorted out the powerbase. As there were only a few seconds to go, race control red flagged the heat. Counting back to the last time through the line, the result was Simon, Jeremy, Oliver and then the unfortunate Dean.

   

Could the B Final three make the most of their extra time on track? Alex did get away well and made the most of the clear track, but Stephen was passed by Simon and Oliver. Jeremy had lost touch slightly by half distance and the first round of pit stops, whereas Oli was having a few problems and found himself nearly three laps adrift. The race turned out not to be a comfortable one-stop race - and the result would come to how drivers managed their fuel and tyres. Those who'd stopped early - Stephen, Simon, Jeremy and Oliver - would definitely need to stop again. Running out of fuel or tyre condition dropping to zero means no more laps are counted - and no-one wants that to happen... This had all the makings of a race to be won by expert fuel-saving strategy.

As it turned out, everyone stopped at least once again - apart from Alex, who finished with his fuel tank at 1% after stroking the Porsche round the final couple of laps. Jeremy - who'd benefited from others making a third pit stop to move up to second - crossed the line on the same lap as Alex, with his tyres just dropping to zero as he did so. Behind them, Oliver ended up third after his three pit stops, Simon right behind, Stephen fifth and Oli sixth - all had stopped three times...

   

Congrats to Alex on a perfectly-judged ten minutes! Jeremy's second place was perhaps a little more luck than judgement - but maybe not? Here's the podium...

   

The last action - Muscle Car Mondiale will follow later.