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Race Report Part 3 - Group C & Muscle Car Mondiale

There were nine cars on the grid again for Group C - a slightly different nine from last month, but giving us the same format of qualifying, a 5-minute B final and three step-ups to the 10-minute Feature race. The cars qualified in two groups and finished like this...

   

Alex, Dean and Mike would be waiting for the outcome of the B final, which saw Simon's Toyota start on pole...

   

And it was the big yellow Toyota that blitzed the race, finishing a lap up on Terry's Porsche. The drama was for that final step-up spot - the other four all in the mix throughout. Oliver, Jeremy and Matthew all finished on the same lap, but it was Oliver who crossed the line first.

   

Alex has dominated Group C this season and he led the feature race from the start, methodically building up a sizeable advantage over the pursuing pack. At halfway, Terry was in second, two laps back - followed closely by Dean, Oliver, Mike and Simon. Dean had a great second half of the race, jumping to the front of the also-rans and cutting into Alex's advantage as the leader eased off a little. Behind him, Simon and Mike were having an almighty scrap for third - the Wynn's Porsche crossing the line ahead, albeit by the smallest of margins. There was a good battle too between Terry and Oliver for fifth - Oliver eventually prevailing...

       

Congratulations to Alex who took a hat-trick of wins to claim the 2022 Group C title - next month the Slot.it cars will make way for a three-race BTCC format and will only return in October 2023 as part of the new Birkett Relay. Here are you stats and the final championship table...

   

   

And now, the final race of the day...

Race Five: Muscle Car Mondiale

Seventeen cars lined up for our third MCM event - that gave us two heats of six and one of five. The heats are nice long 10-minute affairs - a great opportunity to stretch the legs of a vast array of machinery. The top two from each heat go through to a 5-minute sprint race to end the day...

   

The heats are seeded from the morning's rotation race - meaning the top three this morning each headed one of the heats. Heat One saw rotation race winner Terry line up against Oliver, Dean, Robert, Jeremy and Ollie. There were two Sierras, three '71 Camaros and a Javelin. Dean took the race by the scruff of its neck, putting clear air between him and the others. Oliver had a good race too, coming home in second ahead of Jeremy in the first of the Sierras. Robert had a great run with his new Javelin to come fourth, ahead of Terry and Ollie. Ollie's Camaro was a bit worse for wear at the end - hopefully it can be patched up for next time.

   

Andy started in pole of a tough Heat Two - up against Ryan, Ash, Pete, Isaac and Ed, who was seeded last, not having raced in the rotation. It was an eclectic mix of cars - two Javelins, a Mk1 Escort, two 1969 Camaros and a Dodge Challenger. This looked to be a three-way battle between Ryan, Andy and Ed - although a couple of lengthy pit-stops for Ed's Camaro dropped him back behind Isaac, who was driving an excellent race. At the front, Ryan managed to put Andy under pressure, but it finished Andy-Ryan-Isaac-Ed-Pete-Ash.

   

This picture of Alex and Simon's cars side-by-side sums up the magic of the MCM class! Heat Three was a competitive one - Alex up against Simon, Mike, Stephen and Matthew with two 1971 Camaros, a Mercury Cougar, Ford Falcon XC and Alex swapping his new Bastos Camaro Z28 for a BMW E30 M3. It was Mike's newly prepared James Hunt Camaro that completely stole the show in this ten minutes. Mike is a dab hand with a '71 Camaro and this has to be his best... heading through halfway on 19 laps, Mike finished on a massive score of 38 laps - two ahead of Alex who'd driven the little BMW superbly to runner-up spot. Simon was third, Matthew fourth and Stephen fifth in this five-car heat.

   

The last quick-fire action of the day was also dominated by Mike's Camaro. He was off down the road as Ryan and Andy battled over second. And it was another great scrap between the two. It all came down to the final lap - Ryan getting caught in traffic and Andy taking full advantage to steal a slightly undeserved second place. Two laps behind them, Oliver, Dean and Alex had their own tussle over fourth. Up against two well-sorted '71 Camaros, it was Alex's petite BMW that crossed the line first.

   

   

The championship is nicely poised...

   

That was the end of another excellent Saturday at the Barn. Huge thanks go to everyone who came along - especially to the set-up crew, the awesome race control team and to all those who stayed behind to pack away. We couldn't do it without you. We have just one Digital event left this year - on Saturday 17 December. The schedule will be slightly different, with a three-race BTCC format being worked around the club car rotation, GT team race and Muscle Car Mondiale.

There will be a video of this November event, keep an eye out below...