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Race Report - Part Two: Afternoon Session

As well as the fourteen racers, we welcomed a number of visitors during the day, including Ryan and Frankie who go their first taste of RCS64 digital racing at lunchtime. There was also an opportunity to test cars for the afternoon and Race Control prepared for the team race...

Race Three - Kinrara Trophy

This is probably the blue riband event of the day - featuring modified GT cars and the option of 3D chassis. Instead of another pairs race, we decided to run five cars - four Kinrara-spec models, plus Dean's TT Ferrari (the team race runner-up in 2023) - and have four teams of three and a pair. The lights were dimmed, giving the Barn a very relaxed vibe. It was then time for a 2-minute shoot-out to set the grid, the driver qualifying also starting the race...

   

That was a stunning lap from Pete with Alex's Ferrari GTO, shattering Isaac's hopes of pole position. Otherwise, the Kinrara spec cars looked close on pace.

   

Goodwood was very wet this year - and we introduced the RCS64 weather simulation for this race. Conditions started with rain and a wet track, forecast to dry. Isaac jumped into the lead, looking very composed driving the Shelby Cobra Daytona - exactly the same livery as his RAC TT Celebration car, but with an Olifer 3D chassis underneath. Five minutes into the race, the youngster was a lap ahead of a fine scrap for second - Pete in the Ferrari was being closely followed by Simon in the white Cobra. Everyone apart from Pete had stopped already for fuel, all remaining on Wet tyres as the rain kept falling.

By the first driver change, the rain has stopped, but the track remained wet - John & Mike gambled with an early change to Intermediates, that extra pit time dropping them to the back. We had already lost the Scalextric Ferrari from the race - poor pace and the return of the earlier pit menu issue on yellow persuading team captain Dean to retire. At the front, Isaac came into the driver change window with a two lap advantage over the Ferrari in second, four laps over the Cobra in third and five laps on the Jaguar. John would hand over to Mike at 22 minutes, but for the meantime he was up against new drivers Andy, Terry and Duncan in the cars ahead of him...

   

The was drying quickly, tempting Andy and Mike to change to Soft tyres while the others were still on Wets. As the race wore on, the remaining Ferrari was the lightest on its fuel consumption, pitting for fuel every 18 laps compared to the leader's 12 laps, the Jag's 11 laps and every 10 laps for the Cobra. However, the leading Cobra Daytona was pulling away - a gap of 5 laps going into the final driver change, the chasing Ferrari having the Jaguar close in to 3 laps behind. The white Cobra was a further lap back as Ryan took over for the final stint. It was certainly a strong driver line-up, with Alex chasing Ash and Ryan hunting down Mike for third place.

Any concerns in the Shelby Daytona camp were swiftly quashed as Ash got into a superb rhythm, banging in error-free quick laps and executing perfect pit stops. Behind, Alex was pushing hard and occasionally got ragged. By now, the track was damp and drying - everyone had Soft tyres fitted for maximum grip. Approaching the final five minutes, Ash had stretched the lead to 7 laps, Alex was four laps ahead of Mike, who now had five laps over Ryan. Barring any late-race drama, it looked like that was how it would end, and it did...

   

Congrats to the winners - a great team effort and back-to-back Kinrara victories for the car...

   

Here are the stint stats for the four cars that finished the race...

   

And here are some video highlights...



The lights came back up for the three individual races - the Richmond, Sussex and Whitsun Trophies - that would take us through the afternoon.