Can-Am
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Final Series points
Race Results and Report
Round 1 - Stratton Valley - 16/1/24
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Bruce Thomas
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Bruce Thomas
Race Report - Round 1
First Race of the first new series for the year, and once again it was time for that single event on the calendar that happens regularly, but always seems to catch me by surprise. No, not Christmas…or New Year, they happen once a year, no this event is a Biennial one, so once every two years. What is this momentous race event I hear you ask ? Well, it’s that time every two years when the writer is allowed to win a round of a class of racing !
Wow, that came around quickly I hear you say…………….hmmm.
Anyway, luckily there have been no rule changes or, even worse, banishing of the Can-Am series, and so all that was required was to trot out the same car I managed a win with this time 2 years ago and hope the status quo existed. Which it did …….this week. A lap total of 88 laps took the round this time from JB in 2nd on 83 laps. In 3rd with the giant Porsche was Bruce Thomas on 82 laps showing that he will also be very competitive this series. Callan Thomas grabbed 4th on 81, with a very quick Dave Bantoft in 4th on 80 laps for the night. DB showed his lap speed & will be a force in later rounds.
In 5th and on 79 laps was Adrian Gray with his little Alfa 33 proving extremely quick as well. However this does not tell the full story. Everyone (including me) was fully expecting Adrian to show up with a new car this series that would likely blow everyone away (the rapid NSR Porsche 908) however, an unexpected problem kept this vehicle off the track for round 1. Keep a close watch on the following round though.
6th place, and with another very quick car on lap time was Scott Wyman on 78 laps. He will also only benefit from further testing a tweaking as this series progresses.
Rhys Filbee’s big Porsche filled position number 8 on 71 laps, 4 laps clear of Dave Gray on 67.
Thomas Males ended up in 10th on 63 laps, however he also showed that his car was vry quick in a straight line & could improve week to week.
First Race of the first new series for the year, and once again it was time for that single event on the calendar that happens regularly, but always seems to catch me by surprise. No, not Christmas…or New Year, they happen once a year, no this event is a Biennial one, so once every two years. What is this momentous race event I hear you ask ? Well, it’s that time every two years when the writer is allowed to win a round of a class of racing !
Wow, that came around quickly I hear you say…………….hmmm.
Anyway, luckily there have been no rule changes or, even worse, banishing of the Can-Am series, and so all that was required was to trot out the same car I managed a win with this time 2 years ago and hope the status quo existed. Which it did …….this week. A lap total of 88 laps took the round this time from JB in 2nd on 83 laps. In 3rd with the giant Porsche was Bruce Thomas on 82 laps showing that he will also be very competitive this series. Callan Thomas grabbed 4th on 81, with a very quick Dave Bantoft in 4th on 80 laps for the night. DB showed his lap speed & will be a force in later rounds.
In 5th and on 79 laps was Adrian Gray with his little Alfa 33 proving extremely quick as well. However this does not tell the full story. Everyone (including me) was fully expecting Adrian to show up with a new car this series that would likely blow everyone away (the rapid NSR Porsche 908) however, an unexpected problem kept this vehicle off the track for round 1. Keep a close watch on the following round though.
6th place, and with another very quick car on lap time was Scott Wyman on 78 laps. He will also only benefit from further testing a tweaking as this series progresses.
Rhys Filbee’s big Porsche filled position number 8 on 71 laps, 4 laps clear of Dave Gray on 67.
Thomas Males ended up in 10th on 63 laps, however he also showed that his car was vry quick in a straight line & could improve week to week.
Round 2 - Gotham Park - 23/1/24
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Dave Gray
3rd - Bruce Thomas
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Dave Gray
3rd - Bruce Thomas
Race Report - Round 2
The 2nd course on the Gotham Park menu this week was also, co-incidentally, the 2nd round of the Can-Am series. This class has always been a popular one due to the rules enforced by Rhys as the grand master of this particular series. The rules basically being – there are no rules. This makes finding & building a car quite a simple process, and leave very little excuse for any driver coming along with anything outside the rules. Of course on Bruce’s track there is just one more little technicality that must be observed before racing, which involves removing any magnetic force whatsoever. Something some of us are still trying to remember. In fact the writer was observed running a test of his BTCC car just prior to racing this week & was pleasantly surprised at how well it was handling…..until Bruce asked the obvious question regarding the installation of a magnet or otherwise. Yep, it was still there.. Much red-face.
Anyway, we suffered none of these shenanigans tonight in the actual racing (which was quite obvious in some cases) and the winning car this week (the writers Lola T70) was not even tested, due to the fact that it didn’t come with magnets installed in the first place. Luckily it didn’t behave too badly anyway & was reliable enough to notch up 114 laps to take out this weeks win. The surprise result of the night though went to our 2nd placegetter with a total of 110 laps, Dave Gray. Dave's pace was a revelation in the Chaparral 2E & his lap times were up with & sometimes better than anything the rest of the field could match.
In 3rd spot again, but with a different car this week was Bruce Thomas on 107 laps. His compact red Ferrari was a polar opposite to the monstrous Porsche 917 which he campaigned in round 1. Dave Banoft lost some weight from his car this week & showed an improved result (by 1 place) to grab 4th spot on 106 laps, just 1 lap off a podium. Locked on the same lap (106) was Callan Thomas in the 2nd Slot-it Chaparral 2E, but a slightly loose spoiler probably cost him the place in the end & had to settle for 5th.
JB’s McLaren M8D was next in line in 6th & on 102 laps, just 1 lap ahead of the very large, very noisy, very white Porsche of Rhys(101), who in turn was some 5 laps ahead of the very quick, but very loose Adrian Gray in the NSR 908 in 8th on 96 laps. Scott’s McLaren M6B racked up 89 laps to finish 9th, with Thomas Males in 10th on 70 laps for the night.
The 2nd course on the Gotham Park menu this week was also, co-incidentally, the 2nd round of the Can-Am series. This class has always been a popular one due to the rules enforced by Rhys as the grand master of this particular series. The rules basically being – there are no rules. This makes finding & building a car quite a simple process, and leave very little excuse for any driver coming along with anything outside the rules. Of course on Bruce’s track there is just one more little technicality that must be observed before racing, which involves removing any magnetic force whatsoever. Something some of us are still trying to remember. In fact the writer was observed running a test of his BTCC car just prior to racing this week & was pleasantly surprised at how well it was handling…..until Bruce asked the obvious question regarding the installation of a magnet or otherwise. Yep, it was still there.. Much red-face.
Anyway, we suffered none of these shenanigans tonight in the actual racing (which was quite obvious in some cases) and the winning car this week (the writers Lola T70) was not even tested, due to the fact that it didn’t come with magnets installed in the first place. Luckily it didn’t behave too badly anyway & was reliable enough to notch up 114 laps to take out this weeks win. The surprise result of the night though went to our 2nd placegetter with a total of 110 laps, Dave Gray. Dave's pace was a revelation in the Chaparral 2E & his lap times were up with & sometimes better than anything the rest of the field could match.
In 3rd spot again, but with a different car this week was Bruce Thomas on 107 laps. His compact red Ferrari was a polar opposite to the monstrous Porsche 917 which he campaigned in round 1. Dave Banoft lost some weight from his car this week & showed an improved result (by 1 place) to grab 4th spot on 106 laps, just 1 lap off a podium. Locked on the same lap (106) was Callan Thomas in the 2nd Slot-it Chaparral 2E, but a slightly loose spoiler probably cost him the place in the end & had to settle for 5th.
JB’s McLaren M8D was next in line in 6th & on 102 laps, just 1 lap ahead of the very large, very noisy, very white Porsche of Rhys(101), who in turn was some 5 laps ahead of the very quick, but very loose Adrian Gray in the NSR 908 in 8th on 96 laps. Scott’s McLaren M6B racked up 89 laps to finish 9th, with Thomas Males in 10th on 70 laps for the night.
Round 3 - Mornington Park - 30/1/24
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Rob Golley
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Rob Golley
3rd - Adrian Gray
Round 4 - Stratton Valley - 6/2/24
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
Race Report - Round 4
Sometime life mirrors art…..this week it was more a case of 1:32 slot car racing mirroring 1:1 car racing.
For those who know their racing history….and that is basically everyone in this group…..the early years of Can-Am the series was dominated by the Lola T70….for all of 1 season (1966). In subsequent seasons the Lola was vanquished to the minor placings by the all powerful McLarens of Bruce McLaren , Denny Hulme (and others).
Which brings us to the current series of Can-Am in the HMCC racing schedule. After having enjoyed a period of success for all of 1 series, with a 1-2 result, the Thunderslot Lola T70 drivers (myself & Rob) were finally looking forward to another competitive series in the desert of success that has come our way recently. Then along came the Bruce & Denny (Callan) show in the form of a pair of Thunderslot McLarens (hastily prepared by Bruce himself) which put paid to all thoughts of a 2nd successful series for the Lola drivers. Ironically it was a Lola team mechanic who was ultimately responsible for this outcome. His generous provision of a torque screw to the Thomas garage, actually allowed the McLarens to get to the starting grid in the first place……he has been sacked from his position in the Lola team effective immediately !
The writing was on the wall very early on in the heats. Heat 1 pitted the two newcomers against the former series winning Lola in a titanic battle, which lasted about 2 laps. After this, the sheer pace of Bruce’s McLaren was too much & the best efforts of the writer in the Lola were in vain. Bruce & Callans lap times tumbled into the 5.6 & even 5.5 second realm and after this it was only a matter of finding out which placing in the top 2 these two finished in. Last heat of the night decided first place, by the matter of a roll of the wheels. Bruce prevailed with 88 laps ahead of Callan also on 88 laps, which is an ominous forecast of things to come for the rest of the series.
1 lap back for 3rd (& lucky to be this close) was myself in the Lola on 87 laps, with the other Lola of Rob Golley in 4th on 85 laps for the night.
In 5th with a very good tidy drive was Scott on 81 laps, 2 laps clear of DB in 6th on 79. All of these top 6 cars had the pace to drop into the sub 6 second lap mark this week, which goes to show how competitive the series is this year.
7th spot with a great drive was Dave Gray on 74 laps, ahead of Schoee & Tom in 8th & 9th on 68 laps each. Both Rhys (10th) & JB (11th) had unfortunate mechanical issues this week which affected their final lap tallies of 65 & 62 respectively. Better luck next week fellows.
Sometime life mirrors art…..this week it was more a case of 1:32 slot car racing mirroring 1:1 car racing.
For those who know their racing history….and that is basically everyone in this group…..the early years of Can-Am the series was dominated by the Lola T70….for all of 1 season (1966). In subsequent seasons the Lola was vanquished to the minor placings by the all powerful McLarens of Bruce McLaren , Denny Hulme (and others).
Which brings us to the current series of Can-Am in the HMCC racing schedule. After having enjoyed a period of success for all of 1 series, with a 1-2 result, the Thunderslot Lola T70 drivers (myself & Rob) were finally looking forward to another competitive series in the desert of success that has come our way recently. Then along came the Bruce & Denny (Callan) show in the form of a pair of Thunderslot McLarens (hastily prepared by Bruce himself) which put paid to all thoughts of a 2nd successful series for the Lola drivers. Ironically it was a Lola team mechanic who was ultimately responsible for this outcome. His generous provision of a torque screw to the Thomas garage, actually allowed the McLarens to get to the starting grid in the first place……he has been sacked from his position in the Lola team effective immediately !
The writing was on the wall very early on in the heats. Heat 1 pitted the two newcomers against the former series winning Lola in a titanic battle, which lasted about 2 laps. After this, the sheer pace of Bruce’s McLaren was too much & the best efforts of the writer in the Lola were in vain. Bruce & Callans lap times tumbled into the 5.6 & even 5.5 second realm and after this it was only a matter of finding out which placing in the top 2 these two finished in. Last heat of the night decided first place, by the matter of a roll of the wheels. Bruce prevailed with 88 laps ahead of Callan also on 88 laps, which is an ominous forecast of things to come for the rest of the series.
1 lap back for 3rd (& lucky to be this close) was myself in the Lola on 87 laps, with the other Lola of Rob Golley in 4th on 85 laps for the night.
In 5th with a very good tidy drive was Scott on 81 laps, 2 laps clear of DB in 6th on 79. All of these top 6 cars had the pace to drop into the sub 6 second lap mark this week, which goes to show how competitive the series is this year.
7th spot with a great drive was Dave Gray on 74 laps, ahead of Schoee & Tom in 8th & 9th on 68 laps each. Both Rhys (10th) & JB (11th) had unfortunate mechanical issues this week which affected their final lap tallies of 65 & 62 respectively. Better luck next week fellows.
Round 5 - Gotham Park - 13/2/24
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
Race Report - Round 5
So we get to the pointy end of the Can-Am series for this year, and things are certainly tightening up in the series battle. To some of us it feels rather like a tightening of noose around the neck however.
With just 2 rounds to go there’s just 2 points in it for top spot. From a position of relative comfort after 3 consecutive wins, the writers position at the top of the leaderboard has become somewhat tenuous. Mainly due to the introduction (from round 4) of the 2nd team of Thunderslot McLarens from the Thomas stable, this has resulted in a pair of 1-2 finishes from Bruce & Callan, and has the writer feeling a sense of resignation over the eventual outcome of the series.
As mentioned, Bruce notched up his 2nd win this week with a 119 lap performance highlighted by a dip into the 5.5 second lap range at times. Although it was claimed post race that Bruce must have been sandbagging somewhat. The accusation by Callan was proved when he grabbed Bruce’s car & promptly racked up a lap in the 5.2 range !.......leaving a fair bit in the tank there Bruce.
Callan was 2nd this week, but this performance in the far worse handling of the Thomas cars was to be commended. His lap times in the 5.6 s with the tail happy Denny Hulm McClaren took a great deal of skill. His lap total of 116 laps was just enough to grab 2nd from the writer who also finished on 116 laps, but whose forlorn hope of getting an unlikely top 2 finish was dashed by Callans track position.
So, 3rd for me this week.
In 4th was a wonderful debut performance form the new McLaren Elva of Rhys Filbee. Rhys took a few laps to get his head around the new cars capabilities, but once dialled in he drove very quickly & consistently to rack up 113 laps with a best lap time in the 5.6 seconds as well. Yet another McLaren putting the pressure on the Lolas. This was highlighted by 5th place getter Rob in his Lola, who is usually up in top3 territory, but had to settle for 5th on 11 laps tonight.
In 6th on 105 laps & battling away manfully was JB, from Schoee in 7th on 99 laps for the night.
DB had some handling issues & this affected his overall result tonight & he had to settle for 8th with a 97 lap total. Dave Gray showed pace still this week and was just 2 laps back in 9th on 95 laps, with Tomas males on 89 laps rounding out the top 10.
Scott was doing a lot of testing this week after controller issues recently & this affected his overall result which was 11th on 85 laps for the night.
So we get to the pointy end of the Can-Am series for this year, and things are certainly tightening up in the series battle. To some of us it feels rather like a tightening of noose around the neck however.
With just 2 rounds to go there’s just 2 points in it for top spot. From a position of relative comfort after 3 consecutive wins, the writers position at the top of the leaderboard has become somewhat tenuous. Mainly due to the introduction (from round 4) of the 2nd team of Thunderslot McLarens from the Thomas stable, this has resulted in a pair of 1-2 finishes from Bruce & Callan, and has the writer feeling a sense of resignation over the eventual outcome of the series.
As mentioned, Bruce notched up his 2nd win this week with a 119 lap performance highlighted by a dip into the 5.5 second lap range at times. Although it was claimed post race that Bruce must have been sandbagging somewhat. The accusation by Callan was proved when he grabbed Bruce’s car & promptly racked up a lap in the 5.2 range !.......leaving a fair bit in the tank there Bruce.
Callan was 2nd this week, but this performance in the far worse handling of the Thomas cars was to be commended. His lap times in the 5.6 s with the tail happy Denny Hulm McClaren took a great deal of skill. His lap total of 116 laps was just enough to grab 2nd from the writer who also finished on 116 laps, but whose forlorn hope of getting an unlikely top 2 finish was dashed by Callans track position.
So, 3rd for me this week.
In 4th was a wonderful debut performance form the new McLaren Elva of Rhys Filbee. Rhys took a few laps to get his head around the new cars capabilities, but once dialled in he drove very quickly & consistently to rack up 113 laps with a best lap time in the 5.6 seconds as well. Yet another McLaren putting the pressure on the Lolas. This was highlighted by 5th place getter Rob in his Lola, who is usually up in top3 territory, but had to settle for 5th on 11 laps tonight.
In 6th on 105 laps & battling away manfully was JB, from Schoee in 7th on 99 laps for the night.
DB had some handling issues & this affected his overall result tonight & he had to settle for 8th with a 97 lap total. Dave Gray showed pace still this week and was just 2 laps back in 9th on 95 laps, with Tomas males on 89 laps rounding out the top 10.
Scott was doing a lot of testing this week after controller issues recently & this affected his overall result which was 11th on 85 laps for the night.
Round 6 - Mornington Park - 20/2/24
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
Race Report - Round 6
As has eternally been the case along the timeline of car racing history, it is always the first to adopt new ideas, the innovators of motor racing design that usually suffer for their imagination. It has happened time & time again that these pioneers who elect to push the boundaries have a very brief time in the sun before their ideas are hijacked by the masses.
Think Cooper & Brabham with their engine placement in F1, think Jim Hall with his downforce & aerodynamics, and finally think of a certain HMCC driver who pushed the boundaries & became the first to risk running a Thunderslot car in the open 1966-74 Can-Am series.
A series previously dominated by brass chassied monsters, or, more recently, plastic chassied Slot-it rockets. Initially the gamble paid off & was the primary factor in this driver winning his first (and to date, only) series in the 2020/21 Can-Am series with the Thunderslot Lola T70.
This success was, of course, always due to come to its demise, and so after scoring another 3 wins in the first 3 rounds of the 2024 Can-Am series, the Thunderslot bandwagon was well & truly jumped on with no less than 5 other drivers now running these models. The most successful of which has come from the Thomas McLaren garage, who, quite frankly, when combined with their usual driving talent, make these entries almost unbeatable. Which is what’s happened over the last 3 rounds.
All this means that the writers early series lead has been reduced to nothing due to Bruce’s 3rd win in a row this week with a 136 lap total & best lap time of 3.70. In 2nd just 1 lap back was Callan, also storming up the table into 3rd place overall, and notching up 135 laps with his best a 3.73.
Forlornly holding onto 3rd place, was the writer with a 131 lap total this week, but despite still leading the series (equally) holding very little hope of staying there after next weeks final round.
All hope lies in Bruce being banned from attending due to issues on the home front.
In 4th this week, the very quick little Alfa of Adrian Gray with 124 laps, which showed that apart from the obvious 2 exceptions, the Slot-Its can still compete well against the Thunderslots.
On 120 laps and in 5th was Rhys, who it must be said could have pushed for a better result, but didn’t have the best of runs in his heats suffering a number of “assisted” de-slots.
Also on 120 laps, JB run an other very quick consistent bracket & finished 6th this week, 4 laps clear of Rob Golley in 7th on 116 laps. Scott was next in 8th on 114 laps, with Dave Gray putting up a good comeback performance for 9th on 111 laps for the night.
Dave Schofield rounded out the top 10, however he did have to put up with giving another car a lift around half the track at one stage. Thomas Males decided he wanted a break from driving & so deposited his (very heavy) car upside down on top of Schoees for a length of the main straight before it was removed. Schooe still managed 110 laps after this.
Thomas grabbed 11th, with his upside down single seat Can-Am car, 1 place ahead of a despondent DB who pulled the pin on his troublesome car early on in heat 2.
1 round to go.
As has eternally been the case along the timeline of car racing history, it is always the first to adopt new ideas, the innovators of motor racing design that usually suffer for their imagination. It has happened time & time again that these pioneers who elect to push the boundaries have a very brief time in the sun before their ideas are hijacked by the masses.
Think Cooper & Brabham with their engine placement in F1, think Jim Hall with his downforce & aerodynamics, and finally think of a certain HMCC driver who pushed the boundaries & became the first to risk running a Thunderslot car in the open 1966-74 Can-Am series.
A series previously dominated by brass chassied monsters, or, more recently, plastic chassied Slot-it rockets. Initially the gamble paid off & was the primary factor in this driver winning his first (and to date, only) series in the 2020/21 Can-Am series with the Thunderslot Lola T70.
This success was, of course, always due to come to its demise, and so after scoring another 3 wins in the first 3 rounds of the 2024 Can-Am series, the Thunderslot bandwagon was well & truly jumped on with no less than 5 other drivers now running these models. The most successful of which has come from the Thomas McLaren garage, who, quite frankly, when combined with their usual driving talent, make these entries almost unbeatable. Which is what’s happened over the last 3 rounds.
All this means that the writers early series lead has been reduced to nothing due to Bruce’s 3rd win in a row this week with a 136 lap total & best lap time of 3.70. In 2nd just 1 lap back was Callan, also storming up the table into 3rd place overall, and notching up 135 laps with his best a 3.73.
Forlornly holding onto 3rd place, was the writer with a 131 lap total this week, but despite still leading the series (equally) holding very little hope of staying there after next weeks final round.
All hope lies in Bruce being banned from attending due to issues on the home front.
In 4th this week, the very quick little Alfa of Adrian Gray with 124 laps, which showed that apart from the obvious 2 exceptions, the Slot-Its can still compete well against the Thunderslots.
On 120 laps and in 5th was Rhys, who it must be said could have pushed for a better result, but didn’t have the best of runs in his heats suffering a number of “assisted” de-slots.
Also on 120 laps, JB run an other very quick consistent bracket & finished 6th this week, 4 laps clear of Rob Golley in 7th on 116 laps. Scott was next in 8th on 114 laps, with Dave Gray putting up a good comeback performance for 9th on 111 laps for the night.
Dave Schofield rounded out the top 10, however he did have to put up with giving another car a lift around half the track at one stage. Thomas Males decided he wanted a break from driving & so deposited his (very heavy) car upside down on top of Schoees for a length of the main straight before it was removed. Schooe still managed 110 laps after this.
Thomas grabbed 11th, with his upside down single seat Can-Am car, 1 place ahead of a despondent DB who pulled the pin on his troublesome car early on in heat 2.
1 round to go.
Round 7 - Shelmore Park - 27/2/24
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Rhys Filbee
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Rhys Filbee
Final Series - Top 3
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Callan Thomas
Race Report - Round 7
To the final round of the always popular open Can-Am 1966-74 series. Popular mainly due to Rhys’s rules in pace for this class…which are probably the shortest of any class that we run in the club and are 1 step away from basically no rules.
Things were set for a huge final round showdown for the overall series & Shelmore Park was the appropriate setting in a very welcome return to racing at this iconic venue.
As mentioned in last weeks report, top 3 standings leading into the final round were as follows:
Bruce – 121
Mal – 121
Callan -115
So, while there were equal leaders after round 6, in reality the series appeared closer than it actually was. With the domination of Bruce over the last 3 rounds, in reality it was a bit of a foregone conclusion that, assuming he showed up, the series win was locked in……
At this point I’d like to draw the readers attention to a bit of prophetic prose that the writer slipped into last weeks report. In evaluating my own very remote chances in the series, the following line was used:
“All hope lies in Bruce being banned from attending due to issues on the home front.”
So, imagine everyone’s surprise when the 2nd member of Team Thomas (Callan) turned up at Shelmore park this week alone and passed on the incredibly unexpected & disappointing news that series leader & favorite for the title, Bruce, would not be attending this round.
The only deviation from the prophecy in the above line was that the reason for Bruce’s absence was not a “banning” as such, it was more along these lines:
To the final round of the always popular open Can-Am 1966-74 series. Popular mainly due to Rhys’s rules in pace for this class…which are probably the shortest of any class that we run in the club and are 1 step away from basically no rules.
Things were set for a huge final round showdown for the overall series & Shelmore Park was the appropriate setting in a very welcome return to racing at this iconic venue.
As mentioned in last weeks report, top 3 standings leading into the final round were as follows:
Bruce – 121
Mal – 121
Callan -115
So, while there were equal leaders after round 6, in reality the series appeared closer than it actually was. With the domination of Bruce over the last 3 rounds, in reality it was a bit of a foregone conclusion that, assuming he showed up, the series win was locked in……
At this point I’d like to draw the readers attention to a bit of prophetic prose that the writer slipped into last weeks report. In evaluating my own very remote chances in the series, the following line was used:
“All hope lies in Bruce being banned from attending due to issues on the home front.”
So, imagine everyone’s surprise when the 2nd member of Team Thomas (Callan) turned up at Shelmore park this week alone and passed on the incredibly unexpected & disappointing news that series leader & favorite for the title, Bruce, would not be attending this round.
The only deviation from the prophecy in the above line was that the reason for Bruce’s absence was not a “banning” as such, it was more along these lines:
Anyway, with Bruce away blasting wabbits, it really did leave the door wide open for a surprise (and a rather hollow) series result. In racing, Callan took advantage of Bruce’s non-attendance and borrowed his team leaders Thunderslot Mclaren, and drove the wheels of it to zoom round in low 5.4 second laps, with a best of a 5.32. His lap total of 118 meant that he took out his first win of the series, which is probably a little under what he could have achieved had his car been as good as Bruce’s all series. As it was, Callan took out a very strong 3rd place in the series. Trailing along 1 lap back in 2nd on 117 laps was the writers Lola which was a good enough result to push 3 points clear of Bruce in the series table.
Third place & well deserved after a strong final 3 rounds was the McLaren-Elva of Rhys Filbee on 106 laps, 1 lap clear of the return drive from Phil Kalbfell in the brass chassied Ferrari 350 on 105 laps for the night.
Dennis Murray dropped in from up north for the final round as well, and performed very respectably to finish in 5th on 103 laps, ahead of an unlucky Rob Golley in 6th on 102 laps. I say unlucky……. what I really mean to say is unobservant. As his car was lined up on the start line & the start sequence was counting down, it was pointed out to him that this car was not his usual car of choice. It was, in fact, not only a different model (Thunderslot McLaren instead of a Lola), but an entirely different coloured livery (blue compared to yellow). He had mistakenly grabbed Nick’s car out of his plentiful selection of cars & plonked this on the track instead of the one he’s been using the entire series so far. The results showed.
It also made the heats involving Rob & Schoee rather confusing, as Nicks car was identical to Schoees & if it weren’t for the handy placement of a yellow dot on the top of Schoees car who knows what trouble there might have been for the marshalls. Useful things these sticky dots. This did however also lead to a nice bit of precision driving by the Donohue McLaren team as both cars took the curve into the home straight & simultaneously de-slotted in a nice bit of driving synchronicity.
Schoee managed to survive all this (just) to finish 7th on 99 laps, well clear of 8th placegetter Tom on 87 laps.
Adrian had many issues with the Alfa this week, and despite being a quick car running 5.8s, it had the unfortunate side effect of not going around the odd corner or two. He eventually gave up which lead to his 9th place on the night. A similar fate befell Scott, and he pulled the pin early as well which rounded out the 10th spot in the field tonight.
Third place & well deserved after a strong final 3 rounds was the McLaren-Elva of Rhys Filbee on 106 laps, 1 lap clear of the return drive from Phil Kalbfell in the brass chassied Ferrari 350 on 105 laps for the night.
Dennis Murray dropped in from up north for the final round as well, and performed very respectably to finish in 5th on 103 laps, ahead of an unlucky Rob Golley in 6th on 102 laps. I say unlucky……. what I really mean to say is unobservant. As his car was lined up on the start line & the start sequence was counting down, it was pointed out to him that this car was not his usual car of choice. It was, in fact, not only a different model (Thunderslot McLaren instead of a Lola), but an entirely different coloured livery (blue compared to yellow). He had mistakenly grabbed Nick’s car out of his plentiful selection of cars & plonked this on the track instead of the one he’s been using the entire series so far. The results showed.
It also made the heats involving Rob & Schoee rather confusing, as Nicks car was identical to Schoees & if it weren’t for the handy placement of a yellow dot on the top of Schoees car who knows what trouble there might have been for the marshalls. Useful things these sticky dots. This did however also lead to a nice bit of precision driving by the Donohue McLaren team as both cars took the curve into the home straight & simultaneously de-slotted in a nice bit of driving synchronicity.
Schoee managed to survive all this (just) to finish 7th on 99 laps, well clear of 8th placegetter Tom on 87 laps.
Adrian had many issues with the Alfa this week, and despite being a quick car running 5.8s, it had the unfortunate side effect of not going around the odd corner or two. He eventually gave up which lead to his 9th place on the night. A similar fate befell Scott, and he pulled the pin early as well which rounded out the 10th spot in the field tonight.
