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Race Report - Group A Team Race

Seventeen of us gathered at the Barn for some festive Tin Top action. The NerdBarnRing was built and ready for practice at 10am...

   

It really is a fabulous layout - looks great and drives even better, usually giving us some very close racing and plenty of excitement. No super-long straights, so maybe suiting different cars and drivers from last month.

The first race of the day was the Group A team race, featuring the Scalextric Sierras, BMW E30 M3s and new Holden VL Commodores. This time out, we had four Fords and one each of the other two...

   

AST One ran last month's Muscle Car Mondiale winning Labatts Sierra and Fundamentally Barley the Shell Sierra.

   

Isaac and Andy were the only pair with the Andy Rouse ICS Sierra, while Ryan was back for his Christmas holidays to captain Smooth Operators' B&H Sierra.

   

WHAM! Racing had the Tic Tac BMW and Gearzilla returned with the Castrol Commodore.

A two-minute super-pole session determined the grid, with those drivers taking the first stint of the race...

   

The RCS64 weather gods had decided the whole 30-minute race would be run in the wet. Tyre strategy was simple - full Wets all round and a couple of sets should comfortably last to the end. Our six teams got off to a great start, Ollie getting the jump on everyone from pole position and gave AST One a handy two lap lead as we hit the first driver change. The Commodore was looking really good in second place, Dean much happier with the new car than last time out. Just behind was Rob for Fundamentally Barley, with Isaac holding fourth after a pit stop. A couple of laps adrift were Smooth Ops and WHAM! Racing - but this had been a very close opening stint.

   

Driver changes and pit stops over, the middle stint followed. Disaster struck for the leaders, as the Labatts Sierra headed to the kitchen for Alex to resolder a motor wire. AST One lost about 15 laps and dropped to the back. That left the Commodore and the Écurie Escargot Sierra battling for the lead - a long stop for Fundamentally Barley losing them a lap. At half distance, Isaac and Kev were on 52 laps, with Terry on 50. Simon had Smooth Ops in fourth, just a lap adrift of Fundamentally Barley. Ash was another two laps back in the BMW. The AST One Sierra was still in the kitchen.

   

Andy took over the leading car just after half distance and managed to put a lap on the Commodore just before the final driver change. Mike took over the Shell Sierra four laps off the lead and one lap ahead of Smooth Ops, now driven by Duncan. Ash handed the BMW to Jeremy, just a lap behind - and Alex had nine laps to make up to fifth and fifteen to the leaders.

With some of the quicker drivers on the final stint, it was a rapid ten minutes. Andy controlled the race at the front, Oliver and Mike pushing very hard behind. The Smooth Ops Sierra was anything but smooth, making life difficult for Duncan as Jeremy breezed past into fourth. But that was the only significant change. As time ran out, the winning margin for Écurie Escargot was two laps, Mike had run Oliver close for second, but the Commodore finished a lap ahead. Behind, the BMW was six laps adrift of the podium places and five ahead of the ailing Smooth Ops Sierra. Alex brought the AST One car home just a lap behind fifth place and still fifteen off the winners - how costly was that broken wire...

   
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Congrats to Isaac and Andy on their win...

       

       

       

Here are the stint stats...

   

A very enjoyable start to the day was followed by the opening BTCC action.