Race Results and reports
Round 1 - Bat Florio - 19/9/23
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Callan Thomas
Round 2 (aborted) - Bat Florio - 17/10/23
Race Report - Round 2 (aborted)
Well, round 2 of the Historic rally series was to be held this week on the Bat Florio stage. Initially everything seemed to be tranquil & calm & practice for the stage progressed without incident.
However, in light of subsequent events, this proved to be somewhat a case of the calm before the storm……..
Anyway, the stage got underway, and even for the first 10 laps from the first driver on deck (myself as it turns out) there was no hint of any trouble brewing. 10 not particularly quick, but error free laps & all was looking good……until with less than 2 laps to go the car came to a complete halt. The culprit was quickly identified as track tape related, and it took track owner Batman some quick soldering iron work to rectify the issue.
Still, a track break has never been anything to cause too much concern at this location, as Bruce is very well rehearsed in fixing the regular occurrences of such incidents. So, all still fine then……well that is until the first driver on deck (myself remember) had to completely restart a previously clear heat. The restart, of course, went down exactly as expected…and after multiple de-slots and lap times a 3 year old could beat (and has), the writers heat finally finished……a lot worse off than it might have had the original heat been allowed to progress for 2 more laps. Anyway, no bitterness here.
We moved on. And next up was Callan whose jokes about a 3 year olds lap times came back to bite him somewhat, as his car became increasingly undrivable, and eventually it decided it had enough & ejected a wheel completely. The only positive to come out of this was the fact that at least I was not going to finish last this week. So, not a good start to the round so far. However, normality was restored with the next two drivers, JB & Adrian putting together incident free drives, with Adrian laying down a time that would normally have been very competitive for the win ……..in any normal evening…....which this wasn’t.
Rhys was next up, and he appeared to be enjoying his Sunday scenic drive so much he didn’t want it to end, and so it went on….and on…..and on. Amazingly enough at the end of his heat, Callan was also out of the last place danger zone.
DB, after an eternal wait, finally got on track, and also put down a decent time to get things back on track with Dave Gray next up. This is where the seeds of disaster were sown.
Dave had some trouble with his initial car choice & even subsequent cars were having serious issues, so after a couple of manual heat restarts triggered by a certain person driving the computer, Dave decided that in the best interest of all he would withdraw & let the round proceed………big mistake.
With next driver up Scott all ready to go, disaster struck.
I think the image below describes what happened next perfectly…….
Still, a track break has never been anything to cause too much concern at this location, as Bruce is very well rehearsed in fixing the regular occurrences of such incidents. So, all still fine then……well that is until the first driver on deck (myself remember) had to completely restart a previously clear heat. The restart, of course, went down exactly as expected…and after multiple de-slots and lap times a 3 year old could beat (and has), the writers heat finally finished……a lot worse off than it might have had the original heat been allowed to progress for 2 more laps. Anyway, no bitterness here.
We moved on. And next up was Callan whose jokes about a 3 year olds lap times came back to bite him somewhat, as his car became increasingly undrivable, and eventually it decided it had enough & ejected a wheel completely. The only positive to come out of this was the fact that at least I was not going to finish last this week. So, not a good start to the round so far. However, normality was restored with the next two drivers, JB & Adrian putting together incident free drives, with Adrian laying down a time that would normally have been very competitive for the win ……..in any normal evening…....which this wasn’t.
Rhys was next up, and he appeared to be enjoying his Sunday scenic drive so much he didn’t want it to end, and so it went on….and on…..and on. Amazingly enough at the end of his heat, Callan was also out of the last place danger zone.
DB, after an eternal wait, finally got on track, and also put down a decent time to get things back on track with Dave Gray next up. This is where the seeds of disaster were sown.
Dave had some trouble with his initial car choice & even subsequent cars were having serious issues, so after a couple of manual heat restarts triggered by a certain person driving the computer, Dave decided that in the best interest of all he would withdraw & let the round proceed………big mistake.
With next driver up Scott all ready to go, disaster struck.
I think the image below describes what happened next perfectly…….
Some might call it a mistake. Some others were not so charitable and may have suggested that the person involved might have had an agenda in making sure that a somewhat awful performance was abolished from the series results forever. Whatever the motive, I can confirm that after talking to the person involved, they are seriously considering whether a career change from their current employment might not be appropriate.
Whatever the case, it was certainly very obvious that during the race setup & management of the next series (LMP), this person was not asked to participate in anything remotely involving the computer racing system.
Probably for good reason…..
Whatever the case, it was certainly very obvious that during the race setup & management of the next series (LMP), this person was not asked to participate in anything remotely involving the computer racing system.
Probably for good reason…..
Round 2 (completed !) - Bat Florio - 14/11/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Bruce Thomas
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Bruce Thomas
Race Report - Round 2 (Completed)
In a complete surprise this week, nothing happened in round 2 of the Historic Rally series. There was only the stock standard traditional 1 track break in Callans heat, but all that did was allow him to reset & produce an even better heat 2nd time round. The computer worked perfectly without any input from the writer and all drivers got through without major incident. Adrian Gray walked in the door & was almost immediately told to grab his controller & step up to track. A fact that seemed to have little or no effect on his driving at all, as he took out this round by 1.3 seconds from Callan Thomas in 2nd with an almost identical vehicle. Bruce Thomas rounded out the top 3 this week just under 2 seconds further back.
The rest of the field filed though the heats & the order went like this:
4th – Batich
5th – Kalbfell
6th – Bantoft
7th – O’May
8th – Wyman
9th – Golley
10th – Filbee
11th – Gray D.
12th - Males
Looking forward to round 3 (hopefully) on a different track 😊
In a complete surprise this week, nothing happened in round 2 of the Historic Rally series. There was only the stock standard traditional 1 track break in Callans heat, but all that did was allow him to reset & produce an even better heat 2nd time round. The computer worked perfectly without any input from the writer and all drivers got through without major incident. Adrian Gray walked in the door & was almost immediately told to grab his controller & step up to track. A fact that seemed to have little or no effect on his driving at all, as he took out this round by 1.3 seconds from Callan Thomas in 2nd with an almost identical vehicle. Bruce Thomas rounded out the top 3 this week just under 2 seconds further back.
The rest of the field filed though the heats & the order went like this:
4th – Batich
5th – Kalbfell
6th – Bantoft
7th – O’May
8th – Wyman
9th – Golley
10th – Filbee
11th – Gray D.
12th - Males
Looking forward to round 3 (hopefully) on a different track 😊
Round 3 - Not on a different track - Bat Florio - 13/2/24
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - Bruce Thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Callan Thomas
Race Report - Round 3
In a complete turnaround from recent events held on the Bat Florio rally stage, in this weeks round 3 event…….nothing happened !
Well, when I say nothing, I mean nothing computer related, everything ran smoothly & no ID10T pressed the wrong button. The only issue (if you can call it that) was the traditional track break quickly dealt with by Bruce even before racing commenced .
Once racing commenced it was the usual case of many different types & qualities of car going around driven by drivers with many different levels of driving ability .
This all led to the following results.
Bruce in a surprise to no-one topped the list in the very quick Audi Quattro with a time of 160.96, ahead of a consistent & quick JB in 2nd with a time of 168.206. In 3rd, with a time of 172.086 was Callan Thomas rounding out the top 3 this week.
Two Daves (Bantoft & Schofield) filled the next two spots in 4th & 5th, with Rob Golley breathing down their necks in 6th. In 7th (again) was the writer in the quite quick but extremely fickle Alpine. It might be sorted out by the end of the series.
In 8th this week was Scott, ahead of 9th placed Rhys, who looked like he enjoyed his drive. In 10th, Dave Gray & in 11th this week was Tom Males.
Next round – Stage 4 - Can we have another rally track please ?
In a complete turnaround from recent events held on the Bat Florio rally stage, in this weeks round 3 event…….nothing happened !
Well, when I say nothing, I mean nothing computer related, everything ran smoothly & no ID10T pressed the wrong button. The only issue (if you can call it that) was the traditional track break quickly dealt with by Bruce even before racing commenced .
Once racing commenced it was the usual case of many different types & qualities of car going around driven by drivers with many different levels of driving ability .
This all led to the following results.
Bruce in a surprise to no-one topped the list in the very quick Audi Quattro with a time of 160.96, ahead of a consistent & quick JB in 2nd with a time of 168.206. In 3rd, with a time of 172.086 was Callan Thomas rounding out the top 3 this week.
Two Daves (Bantoft & Schofield) filled the next two spots in 4th & 5th, with Rob Golley breathing down their necks in 6th. In 7th (again) was the writer in the quite quick but extremely fickle Alpine. It might be sorted out by the end of the series.
In 8th this week was Scott, ahead of 9th placed Rhys, who looked like he enjoyed his drive. In 10th, Dave Gray & in 11th this week was Tom Males.
Next round – Stage 4 - Can we have another rally track please ?
Round 4 - Shelmore Rally - 26/3/24
1st - Rob Golley
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - Rob Golley
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Callan Thomas
Round 5 - Shelmore Hillclimb - 26/3/24
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - John Batich
1st - Mal O'May
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - John Batich
Round 6 - Stratton Special Stage - 23/4/24
1st - John Batich
2nd - Rob Golley
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - John Batich
2nd - Rob Golley
3rd - Callan Thomas
Race Report - Round 6
Round 6 of the Historic Rally, and it was the first visit of the series to the newly created special stage at Stratton Valley. JBs wonderfully tight & twisty myriad of copper tape held a variety of surprises & traps for the unwary, some of which not even JB was aware on until this evening!
It was Bruce who was first to lead us off in the Audi Quattro, a very quick car according to Bruce. In this run however it took on the look of a lost shopper in supermarket car park trying to find the exit. Schoee was up next & immediately looked considerably faster & less lost than Bruce and this certainly showed in his end result. Callan up next, and the first of JBs devious special inbuilt traps came to the fore. After Callan had completed hist first 2 (quite quick) laps, JBs track sensor refused to record any more laps. Even after two more attempts to “trick” the sensor into accepting Callans car by use of various tapes, it obstinately refused to co-operate until Callan switched to a completely different car.
Which he did, and using Bruce’s Audi showed exactly what this car is actually capable of by dropping in the best time of the stages so far.
More drivers came & went, and more marshals came & went as they were found to be suffering from dizziness after a time. Rob Golley was the next to lay down the time to beat as his tactic of not de-slotting worked it’s magic. For a time Rob looked to have the round in his keeping, that is until track designer, owner & on-site resident professional JB had his turn.
His car whizzed around the twists & turns at a bewildering speed & had everyone watching needing neck physo afterwards, so quickly did we have to adjust to keep track around the stage.
Results:
So JB grabbed the win in a time 10 seconds clear of 2nd placegetter Rob Golley, who in turn was just 2 seconds clear of Callan Thomas in 3rd.
Full results as shown above.
Round 6 of the Historic Rally, and it was the first visit of the series to the newly created special stage at Stratton Valley. JBs wonderfully tight & twisty myriad of copper tape held a variety of surprises & traps for the unwary, some of which not even JB was aware on until this evening!
It was Bruce who was first to lead us off in the Audi Quattro, a very quick car according to Bruce. In this run however it took on the look of a lost shopper in supermarket car park trying to find the exit. Schoee was up next & immediately looked considerably faster & less lost than Bruce and this certainly showed in his end result. Callan up next, and the first of JBs devious special inbuilt traps came to the fore. After Callan had completed hist first 2 (quite quick) laps, JBs track sensor refused to record any more laps. Even after two more attempts to “trick” the sensor into accepting Callans car by use of various tapes, it obstinately refused to co-operate until Callan switched to a completely different car.
Which he did, and using Bruce’s Audi showed exactly what this car is actually capable of by dropping in the best time of the stages so far.
More drivers came & went, and more marshals came & went as they were found to be suffering from dizziness after a time. Rob Golley was the next to lay down the time to beat as his tactic of not de-slotting worked it’s magic. For a time Rob looked to have the round in his keeping, that is until track designer, owner & on-site resident professional JB had his turn.
His car whizzed around the twists & turns at a bewildering speed & had everyone watching needing neck physo afterwards, so quickly did we have to adjust to keep track around the stage.
Results:
So JB grabbed the win in a time 10 seconds clear of 2nd placegetter Rob Golley, who in turn was just 2 seconds clear of Callan Thomas in 3rd.
Full results as shown above.