[Kevan]

MSCC 'Club Challenge' 2023...the return of the 'Club Challenge' Moslers

[Kevan]

This week is NSR Mosler 'Club Challenge' #1

All eight of last years eligible club members have been joined this year by a new entrant.

So nine NSR Moslers, all the same:

• NSR Evo Supergrips, glued & trued tyres, no tyre treatment allowed on the tyres, only water during polishing and tape during the racing.
  
• Kit supplied King 21 motor
  
• Kit supplied gears
  
• Kit supplied guide
  
• No mods to anything with the exception of damping tape on the bottom of the chassis
  
• no ballast
  
• Maximum width of 64mm
  
• Club controllers - Truspeed BP2
  

The second to last item was interesting because last year we had to trim the tyre width to stay within the 64mm rule - one or two cheated by cutting the axle spacers down but those cars had replacement spacers after complaints.

This year I volunteered to set three of the cars up for club members who were away or unable to get to the club and I found a simple way of not having the trim the tyres.

• Flip the bearing round on the spur gear side of the pod so the hollow side faces the wheel
  
• Put the long spacer on that side of the axle (the kit comes with it on the other side of the car)
  
• Leave the bearing on the other side of the pod with the flat side facing the wheel
  
• Fit the short spacer on that side of the axle (the kit comes with it on the spur gear side of the pod)
  
• Fit the 12mm tyres to the kit wheels and the width will be 64mm
  

These 'standard' cars with no tyre treatment or ballast are only a quarter of a second slower than a fully prepped Mosler with treated Ultragrips, ballast and Shark 25 or 30 in SW setup (SW is quicker non mag on our wood track)...oh and our own all singing & dancing controllers with multi adjustments available..a real eye opener which has got me re-evaluating one or two things to be honest.

[Kevan]

Race reports - 2nd Feb - NSR Mosler ‘Club Challenge #1’ 

   

I’m trying to reduce the length of the race reports but a lot happened tonight….

First and foremost, huge thanks to everyone who was willing to support the Manx Slot Car Club for 2023 by pledging monthly standing orders and other payments and thereby eligible for this ‘Club Challenge’ kindly sponsored by Andy.

Eight of us from the 2022 ‘Club Challenge’ are continuing this year and we’ve gladly been joined by Ed who was looking forward to joining in.

This year is guaranteed to see a new challenge champion as Kev voluntarily opted out of the overall championship.

The cars all had new wheels, tyres and braids, Brian, Andy & Kev doing the work required and setting the cars up.  Tyre prep was a big thing this time round, as the tyres polished last year lap times improved…more on this later

The cars were all scrutineered by Andy then 30 minutes of car checks and 10 practice laps were allowed.

Before racing started Brian announced this weeks ‘50p Trophy’ winner would be between Gav & Ed.  Gav was managing quicker hot laps but Ed was more consistent…who would win?...more on this later

- Two Rounds - 5 minutes & 3 minutes -

Round 1 - 5 minute heats

Racing started with Ed vs Gav vs Mike…Mike’s car looked quick and laid down a good marker for the rest.  As we saw last year the marshals were kept rather busy, at times all three cars requiring help…but for those that held back a little and kept going the results seemed to follow.  Meanwhile the ‘50p Trophy’ was up for grabs, Ed & Gav finished the first race only seconds apart.

As we progressed through the heats it was good to see some cars more than competitive, Brian, Kev & Andy were the quick guys last year but were joined this time round by Chris & Mike.  Kev stayed out of trouble and finished comfortably ahead at the end of Round 1 but the nice surprise was seeing Mike in 2nd and Chris in 3rd followed by Brian & Andy only inches apart.

‘50p Trophy’ round 1 went to Ed

Geoff was struggling, his Mosler seemingly popping out of the slot for fun, by the time his third race was 5 laps run he’d had enough…time for some help as Kev spent time checking the car over, making sure the rear bearings were glued in then re-setting the body & pod screws.

Round 2 - 3 minute heats
 
As the heats progressed it was obvious the tyres were wearing noticeably despite the extra time put into the final tyre prep, time which seems to have been wasted as they only started improving after about 4 or 5 races and required less and less cleaning as the evening went on.

Round 2 started with Gav vs Ed vs Kev…not the most comfortable heat to be in but it ended with Gav ahead of Ed for that special trophy, Kev stayed out of trouble when possible…

The closest races for heat wins came in this round, Heat #7 Chris (Red) vs Brian (Yellow) ended with Brian’s car (now flying as the tyres were properly ‘coming in’) finishing a few seconds ahead of Chris.
…and Heat #8 Brian (Red) vs Chris (Yellow) with Chris crossing the line first just over a second ahead.

Geoff was managing to race his car for the first time with appropriate controller adjustments making a difference and went best in Yellow.

Kev again finished comfortably clear at the end but Andy was the biggest improver finishing clear in 2nd with Chris not far behind…with Brian a few seconds ahead of Mike.

Geoff finishing between the tight midfield and the ‘50p Trophy’ race…Ed again finishing a couple of laps ahead of Gav to win the trophy for a week.

It’s obvious Chris & Mike have got much closer to the top three, Chris managing to get into the sub-6 second laps with Kev, Andy & Brian whilst Mike got down to 6.01

The results chart shows both rounds plus an accumulated score with notification of any heat wins.


With both Andy & Kev out of the running for ‘Club Challenge’ 2023 Champion…Chris is now in first spot followed by Brian then Mike.


   

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Next week is Slot Rally, Little Druidale has had the first lot of painting done and has much better grip than previously as the road surface is now sealed.

[Kevan]

Race reports - 23rd March - Mosler ‘Club Challenge’ #2

   

With Gav and Mike H not able to get down tonight there was a good turnout of seven ‘Club Challenge’ Moslers.
The cars were handed out, tyres were cleaned, one or two tweaks were seen to be underway then we were allowed half a dozen test laps.

Andy announced we would be running 5 lap qually, the timer was set up with driver listings sorted at random by the computer program.  All qually times and predicted scores are shown in the results table.
Racing was to be two rounds of four minute heats with the heats randomised for round #2.

Round #1
Heat #1 - Chris, Geoff & Mike B.
Geoff’s car has been a bit problematic since the start for some reason, the previous round of the challenges was the last straw for Geoff as he took the car off the track because it wasn’t really raceable…so this time round it has a new motor and chassis.  It was quickly tested by Andy & Kev a couple of weeks ago with a 6.0 lap now attainable, Geoff’s qually times showed tonight he was ‘racing’ at last and proved it by winning the first race by over a lap ahead of Mike with Chris just over a lap further back.  This was Geoff’s best heat score of the evening.

Heat #2 - Geoff vs Andy vs Ed
With Geoff going so well we were expecting this to be a good close race but Andy just wasn’t ‘on it’ tonight, his car was off track more times than normal and with Geoff now with his racing head on Andy couldn’t catch him.  Ed set his fastest lap of the night in this race, his results all night were very consistent and his hot lap times were the most improved over everyone compared to their qually lap times.

Heat #3 - Mike B, Kev & Geoff
Would Geoff get a hat-trick of wins with his new found pace…not to be as Kev’s Mosler was the first car to go under 6 seconds and with only one deslot wasn’t going to get caught at that pace and won the heat by a few laps. Mike B went well in Blue in Heat #1 but struggled in Red this race and ultimately lost a few laps to Geoff.  Geoff obviously getting carried away with his cars new found performance found the limit too many times in this heat.

Heat #4 - Brian, Kev & Ed
Despite Brian’s reserved qually laps (ok who said sandbagging just then?) he was going to be one of the quick guys tonight, he was in Red but Kev was in Blue…if Ed could just keep it in the slot (which he did manage to do in his first race) this could be a quick one.  Brian was only beaten in Red by Kev and Geoff tonight but couldn’t keep up with Kev in this race who was in his favoured lane.  Ed did well, a couple of deslots but quickly cleared by the marshals but he was quicker in this heat.

Heat #5 - Ed, Mike B & Chris
Chris was flying in Blue, a clean run at the pace he was setting and the other two guys didn’t stand a chance. This was Chris’s best heat all night with Ed & Mike having their worst race all night in this heat.

Heat #6 - Kev, Brian & Andy
On paper this was going to be the heat with the most laps so far…and it was, Kev & Brian finishing on the same lap whilst doing 6.0 lap times, Kev & Andy having one deslot each but Andy as mentioned earlier just wasn’t ‘on it’ tonight and finished over two laps behind.  Brian set his best hot lap for this round and his best score in Yellow all night, Kev set his best Red lane score with Andy managing his best overall lane score of the night.

Heat #7 - Andy, Chris & Brian
Andy missed the start DUE TO THE MARSHALS TALKING! but quickly set the pace, taking yards out of the leader Brian.  Chris had a couple of early deslots dropping back to 3rd…Andy & Brian managing 6.0 lap times but with Brian having a clean race could he be caught…not after five deslots by Andy who was passed by both Chris & Brian with Brian finishing a couple of laps clear of Chris.  Chris managed his best Yellow lane score and Brian managed his best single race score of the night.

Round #2
Tyres cleaned, drivers shuffled randomly for a different mix of heats and we were off again.
Kev, Andy, Mike & Ed all managed to improve on their Round #1 scores, Kev & Andy by one lap, Ed by two laps but Mike made a dramatic improvement this round to go seven laps better.
Ed was much more consistent with only three deslots and definitely goes best in Blue lane.
Mike’s biggest improvement was in Red lane, those extra five laps helped him finish third overall in this round and managed to get in the 6.0 lap times (in Blue lane).
Andy also in the 6.0 lap times, although the scores were consistent said his car just wasn’t right tonight.
Geoff, well what a difference a chassis, motor, setup and tweak make (i.e. total rebuild), couldn’t match any of his first round scores but 4th overall on combined scores must be very satisfying and only about one deslot behind Chris…
Chris, 3rd overall on combined scores, not quite as quick as Geoff on one lap pace but laps mean prizes!  His car is going well this year and will surely feature in the top half of the results regularly.
Brian aka Captain Sandbag…a couple of 38 lappers and 6.0 second laps in both rounds, with Andy & Kev out of this years ‘Club Challenge’ overall championship has to be one of the favourites…(his cup cakes tonight are definitely favourites).
Kev’s car was quick all night and got quicker when he ‘slowed down’ (yeah right pull the other one), that 5.7 lap was a bit of a shock, these cars go alright don’t they!

…and so to the best qually lap handicap.
What I’ve done in the past is use the best qually lap to get a predicted overall result.  Strangely even with the sandbagging, nobody managed a better score than their predicted score but the closest was Brian.  The nearest scores were as follows:
Brian -1.75 laps
Kev -3.1 laps
Ed -6.39 laps
Chris -13.67 laps
Andy -15.16 laps
Geoff -17.84 laps
Mike B -22.4 laps

   

The tyres we all have on these cars now are supposedly the same as on the original kits, 12mm Evo Supergrips.  Only glued & trued then cleaned with tape, no tyre treatment whatsoever, they seem to be balling-up a little more than the original tyres, but they true just as easily as the original Evo Supers.  When the bobbles are cleaned off these give superb grip but once you start pushing them too hard in corners they start balling-up.  Maybe the trick is to ease back in corners so the rear of the car isn’t sliding round.

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Next week sees the return of the open wheelers as pre-war meets modern day

[Kevan]

Race reports - 11th May - Mosler ‘Club Challenge’ #3

   

Last night was a superb turnout, a full house plus two guests, Nigel who we saw a couple of weeks ago and Nil who was most impressed with what we’ve done with our cars and how well they go.

It was the first full turnout for ‘Club Challenge’ and Mike H’s first of the year.

Cars were handed out at 7pm and 30 minutes were allowed to clean the tyre crud out from last time, oil the bearings, clean the braids, put it back together, adjust the body screws, do a few test laps, tweak the adjustment screws again then it was time for...

5 lap qually....(to give everyone a predicted score target)

Special heats were used with Mike H, Ed & Gav lining up together for Round 1 Heat #1, these three raced each other all night, it was proper close racing as all three won at least once and being cheered/jeered/hurried on throughout.

Andy, Geoff & Mike B were next up in Round 1 Heat #2 and Geoff was absolutely flying, straight into the 5.9’s...could he keep it up though...the marshals had fingerprints all over Geoff’s Mosler by the end of the night.

Mike B also got off to a flyer in his first race, his hot lap in Blue lane was his best all night, strangely his result in this race was his second slowest.  Although not a race winner did manage a couple of runners-up positions.

Andy finished just behind Mike in this first heat, went better in his next race in Yellow then finally got going proper in his last race of Round 1 getting into the 5.9’s.  A two lap improvement in Round 2 kept him...two laps ahead of Geoff overall, but another car peppered with marshalls dabs at the end of racing.

The other three guys, Kev, Chris & Brian lined up for Round 1 Heat #3 and was a close race as Kev (Red) kept just far enough in front of Brian (Blue)...until the inevitable deslot when Brian took the lead to the line by a couple of seconds, both drivers getting into the 5.9’s. Chris kept both of them on their toes with a few unfortunate deslots but showed promise for later with a 6.2 hot lap in Yellow.

Chris started this years series with a bang and has slid back a little, tyre woes not uncommon this year with these ‘improved’ tyres.  He found an extra couple of laps in Blue lane...then lost them again in Red lane.  He did however improve on each lane in Round 2.

Brian couldn’t quite keep up with Kev tonight, a series of departures into the wall under the tunnel in his last race of Round 1 in Yellow lost a lap, it would have been close if it weren’t for that series of mishaps.  Improving on his Round 1 scores kept him clear in 2nd overall spot.

After being beaten by Brain in Red in his first race, Kev drove ‘steady’ and saved his best until his last race, Heat #7 in Round 2 with a 30 lapper and best hot lap of the night with a comfortable lead in the end overall.

   

   

Closest to predicted results in order of closest to furtherest was:

Brian
Kev
Chris
Ed
Andy
Mike H
Gav
Geoff
Mike B

Nigel did a good job as a marshal, having so many was a luxury tonight but they were needed at times.

Another brilliant nights enjoyable racing, great banter at the end of which Brian said he wanted to award the ‘50p Trophy’ to Ed for such a good series of consistent races...Gav is keeping the trophy warm apparently and will be returned to the club room soon...

Doing the results was interesting, I said Geoff was quick, look at the fastest lap times for both rounds, fastest in Red and Yellow lanes in Round 1 with nobody going quicker in Yellow lane in Round 2...I bet he’s glad he didn’t stop that standing order...aren’t we all!...nice one bud.

   

   

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Next week sees the return of the open wheelers, from pre-war Grand Prix cars to modern F1’s

[Kevan]

Mosler 'Club Challenge' #4 is as follows:

Hi Guys, the handicap system will operate in the next Club Challenge and is based on the last set of results. I took the average away from your results and the rounded up to the nearest whole lap:-
Kev -20 laps
Brian -16
Andy -8
Geoff -6
Chris -2
Mike B -1
Ed +14
Mike H +16
Gav+20

- scores to be taken away from the next round scores.
+ scores to be added to the next round scores.

Have a great evening.

Andy.

[Kevan]

Mosler 'Club Challenge' #4 - Handicap Race 

   

Five 'Club Challenge' entrants plus Nigel made it tonight.

Nigel has been to the club quite often this year and tonight turned up with a superb looking Revoslot BMW 2002 Jagermeister and spent quite a bit of time driving Rally cars on TT Grandstand.  After a little body screw adjustment it was driving really nicely...out of the box with no magnet these are unbeatable.

The other five of us cleaned the crud out of the cars from the last club challenge in May then spent a few minutes running test laps and final tweaking.

Andy worked out handicaps for everyone based on the averages of club challenge #3.

Kev - minus 20 laps
Brian - minus 16 laps
Andy - minus 8 laps
Geoff - minus 6 laps
Chris - minus 2 laps
Mike B - minus 1 lap
Ed - plus 14 laps
Mike H - plus 16 laps
Gav - plus 20 laps

Special heats were used, 5 drivers with 3 marshals, this works most of the time.

Round #1

Ed (Red lane) and Geoff (Blue lane) started the nights racing in Round 1 Heat 1.

Round 1 Heat 4 was a close race as Geoff & Mike were never far apart, in the end Geoff finished about the length of the main straight ahead.

Round 2 Heat 5 was the closest race of the evening, Kev (Red lane) and Brian (Blue lane) both playing cat & mouse, not wanting to push too hard, not wanting to play too safe...Kev finished 3/4 of a second clear at the end.

The final heat was going to be a challenge with only one experienced marshal available as Geoff, Brian & Kev kept them busy at times.

Tyre problems started to appear towards the end of the races, tyre management was going to be needed to reduce balling-up...but it's so easy to get carried away thrashing the car round corners early on when grip is so good...would we learn for Round 2?

Round #2

The heats were rearranged so that Ed would be in the last heat (three drivers) which would mean three mobile marshals...but we found a perfect marshal post for Ed, the end of the track where the bridge crossover is was easily reachable for Ed and he was kept busy at times...and got a hell of a shock when Kev's car shot off at top speed into the wall and round the corner.  This marshal spot is now officially 'Ed's Corner', no doubt he'll enjoy being able to get properly involved with racing instead of being a bystander.

Heat 1 was Kev (Red lane) vs Geoff (Blue lane), both managing sub 6 second hot laps but did they remember the tyre management...sort of...at the end of the race.

Heat 2 was Brian (Red) vs Ed (Yellow).  Brian was hoping to get nearer the overall win tonight but wasn't fully 'on it' tonight especially as Geoff's Mosler is now one of the quickest cars round the track and 'pressure banter' being used to psychological effect.  Ed was going quicker than ever tonight, a 6.385 hot lap is easily his fastest lap around BallaYorkley.

Mike & Geoff suffered with tyre issues most, then again neither are afraid to give their cars maximum welly, they met again in the final heat and finally remembered about tyre management and strangely didn't go any slower.

We had some great racing tonight, it was good to get Ed marshalling and he was kept busy. 

The tyres seem to gain traction through the evening, lifting the guide under hard acceleration causing a lot of deslots, trying to back off to prevent it is difficult in racing conditions as the red mist descends accidents happen...but that's racing as they say!

The two charts show the Handicap Race results and a series data chart showing total laps and finishing positions overall on the night.

   

Series Data

   

[Kevan]

Race reports - 31st August - Mosler ‘Club Challenge #5’ - club controllers

During practice Andy said he thought the cars lap times were running a little slower than normal, he was right, not only were we running slower than normal times with our own cars but later in the races, the Moslers seemed a little off the pace also.

There were five of us but only three eligible for the Mosler ‘Club Challenge’ championship.  As Brian, Chris & Ed raced in the championship, Kev & Nigel were guest racers. Kev isn’t part of this year's championship as he has previously won it.

Brian has been one to beat since the beginning of this championship last year whilst Chris struggled a little last year his car seems more competitive this year. 
Ed is still trying to find the ‘sweet spot’ with his car, he’s allowed to use his thumb controller but can’t get a suitable setting for it so raced with the club controller for the Round 2 races tonight.

The two rounds of racing were 5 minute heats in Round 1 and 3 minute heats in Round 2.

Round 1 - 5 minute races

Heat #1. Brian vs Chris was a good race until Brian deslotted on lap 5 then spent the rest of the race catching up and eventually winning by just over a second.  This turned out to be the closest race of the night.
Heat #2 was between the two guest racers Nigel & Kev.  Nigel racing a Brian prepared Mosler and Kev racing his ‘Club Challenge’ car.
Heat #3 was Ed vs Brian.  As previously mentioned Ed struggled tonight, initially setting his quickest lap times but lap times drifted off as the races progressed.  Red lane is definitely one he finds hardest to set a race pace and couldn’t keep up with Brian who was managing 6.0 second lap times.
Heat #4. Chris (Yellow lane) vs Nigel (Blue lane) - Chris won this heat comfortably whilst Nigel set his fastest lap in this race.
Heat #7 was Chris (Red) vs Ed (Yellow) vs Kev (Blue).  There was little between Chris and Ed.  As Ed managed a pretty clean race with only one deslot, Chris’s Mosler didn’t like the right/left coming out of the big chicane, numerous deslots meant he finished only a few seconds ahead of Ed. 

Brian’s best race was Heat #6 in Blue setting both his best score and fastest lap of Round 1.
Chris’s best race was Heat #1 in Blue lane setting his best score and fastest lap of Round 1.
Ed’s best race was Heat #7 in Yellow lane setting his best score and fastest lap of Round 1.

Of the guest racers, Kev went best in Blue lane in Heat #7 setting his best score and fastest lap and Nigel went best in Heat #6 in Yellow lane but set his fastest lap in Blue lane in Heat #4.
 
Round 2 - 3 minute heats

The drivers were shuffled around a little…which was a mistake as we saw in the final heat as Kev forgot Ed should always be in the final heat when drivers numbers are low.
Heat #1. Kev (Red) vs Chris (Blue).  Chris was setting quicker lap times this time round, a couple of minor deslots meant Brian could possibly have an easier time as he was in the next heat.
What we’ve found in the past is the tyres on these cars gain traction through the evening which can cause the front end to lift under hard acceleration resulting in inevitable deslots…as Brian found out in Heat #2 in Yellow lane, his Mosler popping a wheelie with four deslots giving Chris a lead of over one lap in this round.  Ed raced with a club controller for this round and seemed quicker but lap times showed he was quicker with his thumb controller finishing only three laps behind Brian.
Heat #3 was again the guest racers Nigel (Red lane) and Kev (Yellow lane).  Kev learned from Brian’s previous race and took it a little easier whilst Nigel was getting the hang of these and improved his best lap time in Red lane by  three tenths of a lap.
Heat #4.  Chris (Yellow lane) vs Ed (Blue lane).  Chris managed an almost clean race to pile pressure on Brian whilst Ed struggled a little with some big deslots.
Heat #5.  Brian (Red lane) vs Nigel (Blue lane).  Brian had to have a clean race…and smashed it, setting the best Red lane score of this round by over half a lap, reducing the gap to Chris for this round of racing to just over half a lap.  Nigel set his fastest lap in this race.
Heat #6.  Ed (Yellow lane) vs Kev (Blue lane).  Both drivers managed their best lane scores and fastest laps in this round.  Ed managed one and a half laps more than in the other two lanes he raced.
Heat #7 was the final race and should have had Ed as one of the racers, this meant him and Kev could possibly be really busy, Kev was kept busy with his running shoes on whilst Ed did well to keep the bridge area marshalled.  This heat was the decider as far as Brian & Chris were concerned for Round 2.  Brian was favourite in Blue lane but Chris always seems to go well in Red lane. Nigel in Yellow lane was going to keep both of them occupied at times. Both Chris and Brian only deslotted twice, it was going to end close and as the final few laps run down Chris was trying his hardest to stay on the track but a deslot with only 6 laps to go meant Brian who was pounding round the track nicked the overall position between these two on the final lap.  Nigel had five deslots which made the race interesting at times. 

   

Current Championship Standing

   

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Next week is Slot Rally

Reminder - The AGM is slowly but surely creeping up on us (end of October) if you have any proposals, take note of them because I’ll be asking for them to be included in the agenda in a week or so’s time.
The race calendar for 2024 will be discussed in the weeks after the AGM as we have plenty of time to tweak it if necessary.

[Kevan]

Race reports - 2nd November - Mosler ‘Club Challenge’ #6 - Car Swap

   

During last week's AGM we discussed the ‘Club Challenge’ and making the cars easier to race for the guys further down the pecking order, Mike B suggested lowering the track voltage as low as 10v if necessary.
After track cleaning, testing at 10v started, this was too low, at 10.5v the car felt better but still flat out well before the end of the main straight, at 11v the car was reaching top speed at the end of the straight but the overall handling was so much easier to control.  As the other drivers arrived they were advised to do plenty of practice as the controller settings were noticeably different, turning sensitivity up and brakes down.
Gav did a fair bit of testing whilst being helped with his controller settings after watching the car on track, a sticker is now in his cars box with controller settings noted.

Tonight was to be a ‘car swap’.  We have all raced together only once this year, the results of that night were used to decide who had first choice of car, in order of choice from that night were:
Gav, Mike H, Ed K, Mike B, Chris, Geoff, Andy, Brian, Kev
Gav chose to race his own car as he didn’t want to damage someone else’s car
Chris initially opted to race his own car but changed his mind to race Andy’s
Brian was invited to race Kev’s car
Kev decided to race Brian’s car

Kev had earlier set up a webcam to video the racing, both rounds were recorded and will be uploaded to Youtube.

We raced two drivers per heat with two marshalls.

Round 1

Heat #1 - Kev (Red lane - Brain’s car) and Brian (Blue lane - Kev’s car).  Brian won by 2 laps with a hot lap of 6.1 and Kev did a 6.2
Heat #2 - Chris (Red lane - Andy’s car) and Gav (Yellow lane - his own car). Chris won by 3 laps with a hot lap of 6.4 and Gav managed a 6.6
Heat #3 - Kev (Yellow lane) and Chris (Blue lane).  Chris won by 2 laps as Kev had a couple or three deslots and couldn’t possibly make that time up.  Chris managed a 6.3 hot lap, Kev managed a 6.2
Heat #4 - Brian (Yellow lane) and Gav (Blue lane).  Brian was flying round now, finishing 5 laps ahead and a hot lap of 6.1 with Gav going quicker with a 6.5
Heat #5 - Gav (Red lane) and Kev (Blue lane).  Kev finally found his racing boots, flying round with the best lane score of Round 1, finishing 9 laps ahead of Gav.  Kev managing a 6.0 hot lap and Gav managed a 6.7 but Red lane keeps catching Gav out, you can’t race Red lane like the others as nine deslots robbed him of at least 3 laps.
Heat #6 - Brian (Red lane) and Chris (Yellow lane).  This was going to be an interesting race, Brian couldn’t afford too many mistakes in the difficult Red lane although he had a couple of laps in hand over Kev and Chris wasn’t going to make it easy for Brian in the middle lane.  As it turned out Brian couldn’t keep up with a couple of nervy deslots whilst Chris flew round setting his best lane score and hot lap of Round 1.  Chris won by 1 lap with a hot lap of 6.2 whilst Brian managed a 6.3
Round 1 ended with Brian 1.3 laps ahead of Kev, Chris 1.8 laps behind Kev and Gav 15 laps behind Chris.

Round 2

Drivers were swapped round and Heat #1 was Chris (Red lane) and Gav (Blue lane). Chris managed an extra lap over his Round 1 lane score and Gav managed a slight improvement over his first run on Blue lane.  Chris managed a hot lap of 6.3 and Gav managed a 6.6
Heat #2 - Kev (Red lane) and Brian (Yellow lane).  This was a close race, both drivers improved over their previous lane runs, Brian managed an extra 0.7 of a lap and won the race by only 2 seconds…but Kev managed an extra 2.2 laps…could this be the comeback run?  Kev’s hot lap was 6.2 whilst Brian managed a 6.1
Heat #3 - Chris (Yellow lane and Kev (Blue lane).  Kev was flying in this race, an extra 1.3 laps and a 5.9 sec hot lap and Chris matched his first round run lane score whilst getting a 6.1 hot lap.
Heat #4 - Gavin (Yellow lane) and Brian (Blue lane).  Gav had his racing boots on for this one and was flying in this race finding 5 more laps than his first run and his fastest ever lap with this car of 6.3 meanwhile Brian now under pressure after Kev’s previous run needed a 49 lapper…he was quick but was it quick enough, a 6.0 hot lap tells us he was pushing hard! Brian won by 4 laps but what a great drive by Gav.
Heat #5 - Brian (Red lane) and Chris (Blue lane). These were the two most consistent drivers tonight and this was going to be close…in fact it was the closest race of the night, Chris winning by just over 1 second managing a hot lap of 6.1 and finding an extra lap over his first run whilst Brian found nearly 2 more laps over his first run and a 6.2 hot lap which was the quickest lap on Red lane all night…was it enough to beat Kev overall…
Heat #6 - Gav (Red lane) and Kev (Yellow lane).  Would Gav finally learn from his first run on Red lane where he lost at least 3 laps…with pressure now on Kev after Brian’s final run he was hoping so!  Despite a few too many deslots, Gav did indeed find those missing laps from his first run, in fact he found 5 more…and a 6.4 hot lap on the difficult Red lane, nice one Gav…and Kev ideally needed a clean run and managed that, also finding 5 extra laps and a 6.0 hot lap…surely that was enough to overhaul Brian’s overall score.
…it was, but Brian was still the winner as it was his car!

Round 2 ended with Kev 2.7 laps ahead of Brian, Chris 5.3 laps behind Brian and Gav 8.7 laps behind Chris

So what was the feedback after this low voltage track, high voltage racing…MUCH easier to drive cars, the gap between the fastest and slowest is reduced, the fast guys are marginally slower but Gav improved noticeably, faster hot laps and less ‘offs’.
The tyres will last much longer at this reduced voltage and the tendency to lift the front end onto the straights as full power is applied has dramatically reduced.

   

   


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Next week is Grand Prix & Prewing F1 + Classic F1 & F1

[Kevan]

Round 1 racing



Round 2 racing