24th-Sep-23, 06:54 AM
Race Report - Afternoon Session Part One
The afternoon began with the St Mary's pairs race. With Oliver, Marios and Matthew only here for the morning, plus Kev and Isaac having to head home unexpectedly, we were left with eleven - Jean's arrival making a perfect dozen. Six great cars, six rather adept pairs - we were ready for some tin-top fun...
The first 10-minute heat started with a pile-up on the first corner. Ash got through in the big '57 Chevy and built a nice lead... before Jean came back at him with the blue Falcon, pursued by Oliver in the Monogram Galaxie. Just behind those three, Ryan was driving the '65 Mustang beautifully and Jeremy was right in the mix with the re-engined Scalextric Cortina. Pete had lost a little ground, but the George Turner Jaguar Mk1 looked super-smooth. Disaster hit the Galaxie half way into the heat... It ceased to function and, despite plenty of diagnostic work, was retired. More mid-race exuberance saw the Falcon leap the barriers and was marshalled incorrectly - something that was noted and would impact on the final result.
The standings after Heat One: Ford Falcon 35 laps; Chevy Bel Air 34 laps; Ford Mustang 33 laps; Lotus Cortina 32 laps; Jaguar Mk1 28 laps; and Ford Galaxie 17 laps.
Mike kindly loaned his George Turner Galaxie to Simon for Heat Two. Mike had a lead to defend in the Falcon, with Andy needing to make up a lap, Dean needing two or Terry needing three. It was a typically-frantic St Mary's race, with plenty of (mostly) side-by-side contact and some breath-taking moments going into the chicane. At the front, Mike and Andy matched each other lap-after-lap, Simon driving the Galaxie beautifully to stay in contention. Terry, Dean and Alex had there own, equally close battle for fourth place. As the ten minutes ran down, a late wobble from Falcon dramatically allowed Andy to grab the extra lap he needed. But the second St Mary's tie in two years wasn't to happen - Jean remembered the missed lap from Heat One, the protest was accepted and the Falcon entered Victory Lane alone. Ash and Andy finished a lap back, with Terry and Jeremy's Cortina an excellent third overall...
Congrats to Mike and Jean on their St Mary's win!
A change to the schedule saw the Whitsun Trophy cars next - the Kinrara team race shifted to its rightful end-of-the-day spot. Everyone got a car for Whitsun, some not-entirely legal club cars being loaned to Oliver, Ryan and Jean - a move that would prove a little controversial!
The Whitsun Trophy is run using our Muscle Car Mondiale format - two 10-minute heats sending the top three from each into a 10-minute Feature. The heats are about position on the road, not about laps - so those final couple of minutes can get very frantic!
Heat One saw an unexpected dice at the front between Oliver in his GT40 club car with low-profile tyres and Jeremy's fully-legal Policar 412P. In the end, the yellow Ferrari eased out a two lap margin of victory. Behind them, there was an absolutely huge ding-dong between Mike's George Turner McLaren M1A, Jean's GT40 club car and Terry's Monogram Lola. Simon has been up there, but his Fly Porsche began to croak shortly after half distance. That battle for the all-important third spot went right down to the wire. Mike had made errors, but was relying on Jean needing to pit in the final minute of the race... Jean executed the splash & dash to perfection - and not needing tyres was able to comfortably come out a lap ahead of the McLaren. Last year's Whitsun winner was gutted - and cursing those club cars!
Heat Two saw the racing debut of Alex's George Turner Chaparral 2A. It was quick, super-smooth and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. Behind, Ryan and Andy had a non-stop dice for second spot. Well-matched on the track, their positions changed at the pit stops - Andy's GT40 eventually prevailing. Those three would go through. Dean's GT40 was a lap adrift of Feature race glory, followed by Ash's Carrera Ferrari P2 and Pete's GT40.
The Feature race was fast and furious, with no room for error. After a quarter distance, Jeremy's Ferrari led a bunched pack of Jean, Andy, Alex, Oliver and Ryan. An unfortunate double pit stop dropped Andy's GT40 to the back - with Alex having dropped to fifth. That left Jeremy leading a chasing trio of club cars by one lap at half distance. Alex managed to get into a rhythm and up to to third with two minutes to go. By this time, Jeremy was nearly three laps up and cruising, but the next four were still on the same lap - Andy still a lap adrift after his pit stop disaster. That's how close this race was for the minor places. A mad dash to the line saw Oliver grab second and Ryan third in the Ferrari - two club cars on the podium! Alex came in fourth, ahead of Jean and then Andy...
Huge congrats to Jeremy, who might just have changed the Whitsun Trophy paradigm with that Policar win? And it's also possible those pesky club cars won't get an afternoon run-out next year!
More to follow after a visit to the Havant swapmeet...
The afternoon began with the St Mary's pairs race. With Oliver, Marios and Matthew only here for the morning, plus Kev and Isaac having to head home unexpectedly, we were left with eleven - Jean's arrival making a perfect dozen. Six great cars, six rather adept pairs - we were ready for some tin-top fun...
The first 10-minute heat started with a pile-up on the first corner. Ash got through in the big '57 Chevy and built a nice lead... before Jean came back at him with the blue Falcon, pursued by Oliver in the Monogram Galaxie. Just behind those three, Ryan was driving the '65 Mustang beautifully and Jeremy was right in the mix with the re-engined Scalextric Cortina. Pete had lost a little ground, but the George Turner Jaguar Mk1 looked super-smooth. Disaster hit the Galaxie half way into the heat... It ceased to function and, despite plenty of diagnostic work, was retired. More mid-race exuberance saw the Falcon leap the barriers and was marshalled incorrectly - something that was noted and would impact on the final result.
The standings after Heat One: Ford Falcon 35 laps; Chevy Bel Air 34 laps; Ford Mustang 33 laps; Lotus Cortina 32 laps; Jaguar Mk1 28 laps; and Ford Galaxie 17 laps.
Mike kindly loaned his George Turner Galaxie to Simon for Heat Two. Mike had a lead to defend in the Falcon, with Andy needing to make up a lap, Dean needing two or Terry needing three. It was a typically-frantic St Mary's race, with plenty of (mostly) side-by-side contact and some breath-taking moments going into the chicane. At the front, Mike and Andy matched each other lap-after-lap, Simon driving the Galaxie beautifully to stay in contention. Terry, Dean and Alex had there own, equally close battle for fourth place. As the ten minutes ran down, a late wobble from Falcon dramatically allowed Andy to grab the extra lap he needed. But the second St Mary's tie in two years wasn't to happen - Jean remembered the missed lap from Heat One, the protest was accepted and the Falcon entered Victory Lane alone. Ash and Andy finished a lap back, with Terry and Jeremy's Cortina an excellent third overall...
Congrats to Mike and Jean on their St Mary's win!
A change to the schedule saw the Whitsun Trophy cars next - the Kinrara team race shifted to its rightful end-of-the-day spot. Everyone got a car for Whitsun, some not-entirely legal club cars being loaned to Oliver, Ryan and Jean - a move that would prove a little controversial!
The Whitsun Trophy is run using our Muscle Car Mondiale format - two 10-minute heats sending the top three from each into a 10-minute Feature. The heats are about position on the road, not about laps - so those final couple of minutes can get very frantic!
Heat One saw an unexpected dice at the front between Oliver in his GT40 club car with low-profile tyres and Jeremy's fully-legal Policar 412P. In the end, the yellow Ferrari eased out a two lap margin of victory. Behind them, there was an absolutely huge ding-dong between Mike's George Turner McLaren M1A, Jean's GT40 club car and Terry's Monogram Lola. Simon has been up there, but his Fly Porsche began to croak shortly after half distance. That battle for the all-important third spot went right down to the wire. Mike had made errors, but was relying on Jean needing to pit in the final minute of the race... Jean executed the splash & dash to perfection - and not needing tyres was able to comfortably come out a lap ahead of the McLaren. Last year's Whitsun winner was gutted - and cursing those club cars!
Heat Two saw the racing debut of Alex's George Turner Chaparral 2A. It was quick, super-smooth and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. Behind, Ryan and Andy had a non-stop dice for second spot. Well-matched on the track, their positions changed at the pit stops - Andy's GT40 eventually prevailing. Those three would go through. Dean's GT40 was a lap adrift of Feature race glory, followed by Ash's Carrera Ferrari P2 and Pete's GT40.
The Feature race was fast and furious, with no room for error. After a quarter distance, Jeremy's Ferrari led a bunched pack of Jean, Andy, Alex, Oliver and Ryan. An unfortunate double pit stop dropped Andy's GT40 to the back - with Alex having dropped to fifth. That left Jeremy leading a chasing trio of club cars by one lap at half distance. Alex managed to get into a rhythm and up to to third with two minutes to go. By this time, Jeremy was nearly three laps up and cruising, but the next four were still on the same lap - Andy still a lap adrift after his pit stop disaster. That's how close this race was for the minor places. A mad dash to the line saw Oliver grab second and Ryan third in the Ferrari - two club cars on the podium! Alex came in fourth, ahead of Jean and then Andy...
Huge congrats to Jeremy, who might just have changed the Whitsun Trophy paradigm with that Policar win? And it's also possible those pesky club cars won't get an afternoon run-out next year!
More to follow after a visit to the Havant swapmeet...
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