Race Results & reports
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Points table
Round 1 - Gotham Park - 17/6/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Ben Lewis
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Ben Lewis
Race Report - Round 1
So, after an extensive warm up of the track during round 6 of the F1 cars, the end result was that the round was abandoned. Hopefully all glitches sorted out for the opening round of the 1970s Le Mans series (72-81 anyway). A much anticipated series with the prospect of many different models & makes of car participating over the next few weeks, it remains to be seen whether the stock standard BMW M1 continues to be the go to car for all the top runners.
Amazingly on the formation grid with the whole field assembled, there were only 4 M1s in the field for round 1. Luckily, the traditional Playboy liveried M1 of Adrian was still one of them…although after the round 1 results, it will remain to be seen how long that lasts.
Among the other makes on offer we saw:
Lola, Porsche, Alfa, Matra, Mirage & (I think) a Ferrari.
Anyway, to the racing, and it has been a fine return to racing from Phil over the past 2 weeks, culminating in this first round win with his Porsche 935. His total of 89 laps was shared with another Porsche, the 936 of the writer, but Phil took a clear win by half a lap on track with yours truly having to settle for 2nd. In 3rd, and 1 lap back with blinding speed was the Lola of Ben on 88 laps. Bens lap time of 2/10ths quicker then the next fastest car looks ominous for the rest of the series if he can just keep it on and not allow Callan to engage him in conversation while driving.
In a clear 4th on 87 laps, JB also had a good first round and showed that he will be another very solid performer for the series. On 85 laps, in 5th was Dave Bantoft, 1 lap ahead of Rob Goley (6th) on 84, and Rhys Filbee in 7th, one more lap back on 83 laps for the night.
In 8th & racking up 80 laps was Adrian Gray, who struggled to come to grips with a car that looks to be getting harder to handle as it ages. A couple of dropped wheels in the dirt on the side of Gotham Park did not lead to easy handling.
On 78 laps and in 9th place, Scott in the 908, with Dave Gray close behind in 10th on a solid 77 laps.
Luke’s 73 laps was good enough for 11th, which pushed our host, Bruce Thomas down to 12th on 69 laps. Bruce will be hoping to find something better in his extensive collection for next weeks round !
1 lap back in 13th, was Thomas Males leaving us 2 drives who had unlucky mechanicals which drastically affected their results.
Callan in 14th on 55 laps, and Blair in 15th on 45.
Looking forward to next week!
So, after an extensive warm up of the track during round 6 of the F1 cars, the end result was that the round was abandoned. Hopefully all glitches sorted out for the opening round of the 1970s Le Mans series (72-81 anyway). A much anticipated series with the prospect of many different models & makes of car participating over the next few weeks, it remains to be seen whether the stock standard BMW M1 continues to be the go to car for all the top runners.
Amazingly on the formation grid with the whole field assembled, there were only 4 M1s in the field for round 1. Luckily, the traditional Playboy liveried M1 of Adrian was still one of them…although after the round 1 results, it will remain to be seen how long that lasts.
Among the other makes on offer we saw:
Lola, Porsche, Alfa, Matra, Mirage & (I think) a Ferrari.
Anyway, to the racing, and it has been a fine return to racing from Phil over the past 2 weeks, culminating in this first round win with his Porsche 935. His total of 89 laps was shared with another Porsche, the 936 of the writer, but Phil took a clear win by half a lap on track with yours truly having to settle for 2nd. In 3rd, and 1 lap back with blinding speed was the Lola of Ben on 88 laps. Bens lap time of 2/10ths quicker then the next fastest car looks ominous for the rest of the series if he can just keep it on and not allow Callan to engage him in conversation while driving.
In a clear 4th on 87 laps, JB also had a good first round and showed that he will be another very solid performer for the series. On 85 laps, in 5th was Dave Bantoft, 1 lap ahead of Rob Goley (6th) on 84, and Rhys Filbee in 7th, one more lap back on 83 laps for the night.
In 8th & racking up 80 laps was Adrian Gray, who struggled to come to grips with a car that looks to be getting harder to handle as it ages. A couple of dropped wheels in the dirt on the side of Gotham Park did not lead to easy handling.
On 78 laps and in 9th place, Scott in the 908, with Dave Gray close behind in 10th on a solid 77 laps.
Luke’s 73 laps was good enough for 11th, which pushed our host, Bruce Thomas down to 12th on 69 laps. Bruce will be hoping to find something better in his extensive collection for next weeks round !
1 lap back in 13th, was Thomas Males leaving us 2 drives who had unlucky mechanicals which drastically affected their results.
Callan in 14th on 55 laps, and Blair in 15th on 45.
Looking forward to next week!
Round 2 - Sorell Creek - 24/6/24
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Rob Golley
Round 2 - Report
After the frenetic pace of the F1 cars (even on 10 volts), it was a pleasant change to get back to the more traditional non-mag style of racing & with the voltage turned back up it was the turn of the classic Le Mans cars also from the 1970s era. Rather co-incidental to be running both F1 & Sports cars covering almost the same 10 year spread of time. A time span that many consider to be the ultimate in both F1 & Sports categories, although many others (me included) would no doubt pick the 1960-70 era…and others would probably vote for the 1981-90 years…….
And there might be the occasional really old guys who might even have a foot in the 1950s camp……particularly if the manufacturers name was Maserati…..you know who you are.
Anyway, a good topic for an argument, not for a race review!.
There was however, no argument about who was the quickest on track in the Le Mans round this week (and last week quite frankly). However, this week, despite the best efforts of Callans attempts to engage him is banal conversation, Ben rose above such gamesmanship & after a jittery start on Red, came home with a grand total of 91 laps to take the win by a clear 3 laps. The Dennis Murray prepared Lola more than a match for any other car on the track.
For the rest of us, it really was a battle for the minor placings, and in a 2nd x 2nd in 2 weeks, it was yours truly with a total of 88 laps who finished 2 laps clear of Rob Golley in 3rd on 86 laps. Robs total was shared with DB who had another good drive, but just failed to grab 3rd on track & had to settle for 4th.
A close battle for 5th & 6th was also on the cards, and with both drivers sharing 85 laps it came down to track position as well. In 5th this week Caine managed to hold out the well performed John Batich in 6th.
1st round winner Phil, had to settle for 7th this week as he gave up his round 1 winner to Caine for the round. Phils total of 84 laps was still not far off the pace.
The next 6 places were separated by only 4 laps in total, and highlighted the closeness of the bulk of the field in this class.
In 8th, Callan on 82 laps then 9th & 10th was a battle of the track as both Scott & Schoee finished on 81 laps, with Scott grabbing the position this week over a returning Schoee.
Dave Gray managed 80 laps to finish 11th, followed closely by Blair in 12th on 79 & Rhys ended up 13th on 78 laps.
It was another 5 laps back to the next bracket of drivers with Dennis Murray in 14th with 73 & Thomas Males in 15th on 72.
There were 2 drivers who suffered unlucky mechanical issues this round, Luke notched up 56 laps with a 0 lap yellow lane, and Adrian pulled the pin after a yellow lane issue as well.
After the frenetic pace of the F1 cars (even on 10 volts), it was a pleasant change to get back to the more traditional non-mag style of racing & with the voltage turned back up it was the turn of the classic Le Mans cars also from the 1970s era. Rather co-incidental to be running both F1 & Sports cars covering almost the same 10 year spread of time. A time span that many consider to be the ultimate in both F1 & Sports categories, although many others (me included) would no doubt pick the 1960-70 era…and others would probably vote for the 1981-90 years…….
And there might be the occasional really old guys who might even have a foot in the 1950s camp……particularly if the manufacturers name was Maserati…..you know who you are.
Anyway, a good topic for an argument, not for a race review!.
There was however, no argument about who was the quickest on track in the Le Mans round this week (and last week quite frankly). However, this week, despite the best efforts of Callans attempts to engage him is banal conversation, Ben rose above such gamesmanship & after a jittery start on Red, came home with a grand total of 91 laps to take the win by a clear 3 laps. The Dennis Murray prepared Lola more than a match for any other car on the track.
For the rest of us, it really was a battle for the minor placings, and in a 2nd x 2nd in 2 weeks, it was yours truly with a total of 88 laps who finished 2 laps clear of Rob Golley in 3rd on 86 laps. Robs total was shared with DB who had another good drive, but just failed to grab 3rd on track & had to settle for 4th.
A close battle for 5th & 6th was also on the cards, and with both drivers sharing 85 laps it came down to track position as well. In 5th this week Caine managed to hold out the well performed John Batich in 6th.
1st round winner Phil, had to settle for 7th this week as he gave up his round 1 winner to Caine for the round. Phils total of 84 laps was still not far off the pace.
The next 6 places were separated by only 4 laps in total, and highlighted the closeness of the bulk of the field in this class.
In 8th, Callan on 82 laps then 9th & 10th was a battle of the track as both Scott & Schoee finished on 81 laps, with Scott grabbing the position this week over a returning Schoee.
Dave Gray managed 80 laps to finish 11th, followed closely by Blair in 12th on 79 & Rhys ended up 13th on 78 laps.
It was another 5 laps back to the next bracket of drivers with Dennis Murray in 14th with 73 & Thomas Males in 15th on 72.
There were 2 drivers who suffered unlucky mechanical issues this round, Luke notched up 56 laps with a 0 lap yellow lane, and Adrian pulled the pin after a yellow lane issue as well.
Round 3 - Mornington Pasrk - 1/7/25
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Dave Schofield
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Dave Schofield
3rd - Mal O'May
Race Report - Round 3
Well, after one of the more boring race reports in living memory for the 1st class of the week, it remained to be seen what our racing correspondent could make of the 3rd round of the (albeit) far more exciting range of cars that make up the 1970s Le Mans field.
And, the first positive point to raise is the fact that the field this year seems to be a bit more varied than has been the case previously. The plethora of BMW M1s seem to have diminished slightly, from everyone & his dog having one, to only 4 or 5 stalwarts in the lineup. This gives scope for a more interesting spectacle of racing to start with, and hopefully offers more in the way of encouragement for writers composing reports of an appealing nature.
To the racing…and immediately the one thing that stood out was the closeness of the racing over almost the entire field. Well, when I say entire field there was one driver who apparently didn’t want to play with everyone else & who therefore drove around lap after lap by himself seemingly in a different series. After 106 laps, some 8 laps clear of 2nd, Ben (with the Dennis Murray prepared Lola) took out the win this week in a performance so dominant it brought to mind the likes of Lance Armstrongs dominance in winning the Tour De France year after year………
..........Anyway, in the race that the rest of us participated in it was far more even, and in a great return to form it was Schoee who took 2nd place this week on a total of 98 laps in his Porsche 936. After racing last week, I think Schoee was questioning his decision to loan me his Porsche to assist in preparing my own identical model, however, with the correct status quo being restored this week, he might well feel slightly more at ease with this.
The first (of many) shared lap results was the battle for 3rd. Once racing ended it was a 3 way tie on laps (97) between myself( in another 936), Phils Porsche 935, and DB in the Alfa. It finished in this order with myself 3rd, Phil 4th & DB 5th with only half a lap between us.
In 6th & 7th, there was bit of an anomaly in that the 2 drivers filling these positions were both on their own lap, and it was Rob (flying the BMW flag this week) on 95 in 6th & Scott on 94 laps for 7th.
Next in line, it seemed, was half the field!
The lap total of 93 was so popular that drivers finishing on this lap covered positions 8 through to 12. Therefore it was the all important track position that was the difference between a solid result, well inside the top 10, and finishing well down the order. First to stake their claim on 8th were Adrian & JB, in fact neither was prepared to let go of that claim, and by finishing at the exact same location on track, 8th was shared between these 2.
Which meant the next position available was 10th, which was claimed by Callan, just a touch further back on track & ahead of the unlucky Blair with his very good 93 laps only grabbing him 11th in the end.
The big loser out of all of this though, was Rhys. Having been the first driver to set that 93 lap total…his name sat ahead of everyone on the results in 8th, until we started to sort based on finishing position. At which point his name tumbled down, down, down the results and ended up all the way down in 12th. Have we ever seen a greater loss of points for so little difference in distance I wonder?
Dave Gray stayed in the shed for all of his stints in this round, and his 87 laps was enough for him to grab 13th, 2 laps clear of Luke in 14th on his total of 85.
Toms total of 75 laps saw him finish the night in 15th.
Well, after one of the more boring race reports in living memory for the 1st class of the week, it remained to be seen what our racing correspondent could make of the 3rd round of the (albeit) far more exciting range of cars that make up the 1970s Le Mans field.
And, the first positive point to raise is the fact that the field this year seems to be a bit more varied than has been the case previously. The plethora of BMW M1s seem to have diminished slightly, from everyone & his dog having one, to only 4 or 5 stalwarts in the lineup. This gives scope for a more interesting spectacle of racing to start with, and hopefully offers more in the way of encouragement for writers composing reports of an appealing nature.
To the racing…and immediately the one thing that stood out was the closeness of the racing over almost the entire field. Well, when I say entire field there was one driver who apparently didn’t want to play with everyone else & who therefore drove around lap after lap by himself seemingly in a different series. After 106 laps, some 8 laps clear of 2nd, Ben (with the Dennis Murray prepared Lola) took out the win this week in a performance so dominant it brought to mind the likes of Lance Armstrongs dominance in winning the Tour De France year after year………
..........Anyway, in the race that the rest of us participated in it was far more even, and in a great return to form it was Schoee who took 2nd place this week on a total of 98 laps in his Porsche 936. After racing last week, I think Schoee was questioning his decision to loan me his Porsche to assist in preparing my own identical model, however, with the correct status quo being restored this week, he might well feel slightly more at ease with this.
The first (of many) shared lap results was the battle for 3rd. Once racing ended it was a 3 way tie on laps (97) between myself( in another 936), Phils Porsche 935, and DB in the Alfa. It finished in this order with myself 3rd, Phil 4th & DB 5th with only half a lap between us.
In 6th & 7th, there was bit of an anomaly in that the 2 drivers filling these positions were both on their own lap, and it was Rob (flying the BMW flag this week) on 95 in 6th & Scott on 94 laps for 7th.
Next in line, it seemed, was half the field!
The lap total of 93 was so popular that drivers finishing on this lap covered positions 8 through to 12. Therefore it was the all important track position that was the difference between a solid result, well inside the top 10, and finishing well down the order. First to stake their claim on 8th were Adrian & JB, in fact neither was prepared to let go of that claim, and by finishing at the exact same location on track, 8th was shared between these 2.
Which meant the next position available was 10th, which was claimed by Callan, just a touch further back on track & ahead of the unlucky Blair with his very good 93 laps only grabbing him 11th in the end.
The big loser out of all of this though, was Rhys. Having been the first driver to set that 93 lap total…his name sat ahead of everyone on the results in 8th, until we started to sort based on finishing position. At which point his name tumbled down, down, down the results and ended up all the way down in 12th. Have we ever seen a greater loss of points for so little difference in distance I wonder?
Dave Gray stayed in the shed for all of his stints in this round, and his 87 laps was enough for him to grab 13th, 2 laps clear of Luke in 14th on his total of 85.
Toms total of 75 laps saw him finish the night in 15th.
Round 4 - Stratton Valley - 8/7/25
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Mal O'May
Round 5 - Sorell Creek - 15/7/24
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Dave Bantoft
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Dave Bantoft
Race reports & Points summary - Rounds 4 & 5
Well, huge apologies for being rather slack on the report front of late, ironically it is during the time when I’m on leave that the reports seem to go missing….can’t work that out.
Anyway, back at work today…..do here goes a bit of a summary of the last 2 weeks racing in the 1970 Le Mans series. All in all, from positions 2 onwards it has been a very close series with multiple instances of same lap finishes at the end of racing.
Last week (Race 4), there was Phil & myself sharing 80 laps in 2nd & 3rd, DB, Schoee & Rob on 78 in positions 4, 5 & 6, with Adrian & Blair on 71 in 10th & 11th.
This weeks race 5 was in a similar vein. Myself & DB shared 107 for 2nd & 3rd, Rob & Rhys shared 101 laps (6th & 7th) & Callan shared 98 laps with JB in the battle for 8th & 9th.
You’ll notice that I’ve omitted mentioning 1st place from the last 2 weeks in the report thus far…..that’s entirely due to the fact that the winners lap total from the last 2 rounds hasn’t been close to the rest of us at all.
The round 4 win was taken out by 6 laps with Ben notching up an 86 lap total. Round 5 was a tad closer as Bens winning total of 109 laps was “only” 2 laps clear of DB & the writer, but still a comfortable enough buffer to allow him to engage in Callans track talk with absolutely no danger of tumbling down the results order.
And so, to summarise, Bens a runaway leader in the series, and with only 2 rounds to go, that’s not under threat at all.
I'm predicting a few drivers might be scrambling over one another to buy anything else Dennis has for sale in the near future !
Currently the writer sits in 2nd, but with only a 3 point buffer to the reliable Phil Kalbfell followed by the big improver in recent weeks, Dave Bantoft. DBs recent 3 results of 5, 4 & 3 showing a pattern he will be hoping continues for the final 2 rounds.
Rob, with consistency & Schoee with flashes of brilliance are locked together on points down in 5th & 6th, with JB, Callan Thomas & Rhys closely following in 7th to 9th. Rounding out the top 10 & wondering what happened to his car between last series & this one, is Adrian Gray.
Well, huge apologies for being rather slack on the report front of late, ironically it is during the time when I’m on leave that the reports seem to go missing….can’t work that out.
Anyway, back at work today…..do here goes a bit of a summary of the last 2 weeks racing in the 1970 Le Mans series. All in all, from positions 2 onwards it has been a very close series with multiple instances of same lap finishes at the end of racing.
Last week (Race 4), there was Phil & myself sharing 80 laps in 2nd & 3rd, DB, Schoee & Rob on 78 in positions 4, 5 & 6, with Adrian & Blair on 71 in 10th & 11th.
This weeks race 5 was in a similar vein. Myself & DB shared 107 for 2nd & 3rd, Rob & Rhys shared 101 laps (6th & 7th) & Callan shared 98 laps with JB in the battle for 8th & 9th.
You’ll notice that I’ve omitted mentioning 1st place from the last 2 weeks in the report thus far…..that’s entirely due to the fact that the winners lap total from the last 2 rounds hasn’t been close to the rest of us at all.
The round 4 win was taken out by 6 laps with Ben notching up an 86 lap total. Round 5 was a tad closer as Bens winning total of 109 laps was “only” 2 laps clear of DB & the writer, but still a comfortable enough buffer to allow him to engage in Callans track talk with absolutely no danger of tumbling down the results order.
And so, to summarise, Bens a runaway leader in the series, and with only 2 rounds to go, that’s not under threat at all.
I'm predicting a few drivers might be scrambling over one another to buy anything else Dennis has for sale in the near future !
Currently the writer sits in 2nd, but with only a 3 point buffer to the reliable Phil Kalbfell followed by the big improver in recent weeks, Dave Bantoft. DBs recent 3 results of 5, 4 & 3 showing a pattern he will be hoping continues for the final 2 rounds.
Rob, with consistency & Schoee with flashes of brilliance are locked together on points down in 5th & 6th, with JB, Callan Thomas & Rhys closely following in 7th to 9th. Rounding out the top 10 & wondering what happened to his car between last series & this one, is Adrian Gray.
Round 6 - Gotham Park - 22/7/24
1st - Dave Schofield
2nd - Ben Lewis
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Dave Schofield
2nd - Ben Lewis
3rd - Mal O'May
Round 7 - Mornington Park - 29/7/24
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Dave Schofield
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Dave Schofield
Race report & Final Points summary - Round 7
Final round of the excellent 1972-81 Le Mans series, and with the odd exception, this continues to be a very close series, and whilst the cars are not the quickest we run (with the odd exception), they invariable produce results of many cars finishing on the same lap, or within 1 or 2 laps of each other (with the odd exception).
Lets address the odd exception first however, and in what was basically a foregone conclusion, Ben took out he final round for his 5th win of the series & confirmed his overall series win….which in effect was locked in even if he’d not bothered to turn up for the final round.
His margin of victory a massive 8 points back to a distant 2nd. We’ll cover the minor placings later however. In this weeks final race, it was Ben on 126 laps for the win, but the majority of interest centred around a group 8 laps back. A total of 5 drivers finished on 118 laps, and it was literally half a lap difference between finishing 2nd…….or 6th.
Lucky first cab of the rank was Callan in 2nd, ahead of the very well performed Dave Schofield in 3rd. About 2 car lengths back in 4th was the writer, with Rob Golley 1 corner further back in 5th. Unluckiest of all was Adrian Gray, who briefly appeared in 2nd place on the electronic results, but whose final finishing position saw him shuffled back down to 6th.
DB was not far off the mark either with his 116 laps, but ended up back in 7th for his trouble, and just 2 more laps in arrears were Blair & Rhys with a shared total of 114 laps. Blair it was who grabbed track position for 8th tough & Rhys in 9th. So, a total of 8 drivers in a spread of only 4 laps then.
In 10th on 111 laps, was JB, with Phil on 110 slotting into 11th, and only 1 lap back, Scott in 12th on 109.
Dave Gray managed 13th with 106 laps, and rounding out the field in the final race for the series, Luke on 98 laps.
A runaway win in the series for Ben & very well done at that. In 2nd a series of minor placings was enough to slot myself into 2nd , and then a 3 way tie on points for 3rd between Schoee, DB & Phil.
With an equal number of 1st, & 2nds it took a 3rd place finish from Schoee to break the tie between he & Phil for that 3rd place overall. Schoee’s back end of the series was as strong as anyone & was a deserved podium.
Final round of the excellent 1972-81 Le Mans series, and with the odd exception, this continues to be a very close series, and whilst the cars are not the quickest we run (with the odd exception), they invariable produce results of many cars finishing on the same lap, or within 1 or 2 laps of each other (with the odd exception).
Lets address the odd exception first however, and in what was basically a foregone conclusion, Ben took out he final round for his 5th win of the series & confirmed his overall series win….which in effect was locked in even if he’d not bothered to turn up for the final round.
His margin of victory a massive 8 points back to a distant 2nd. We’ll cover the minor placings later however. In this weeks final race, it was Ben on 126 laps for the win, but the majority of interest centred around a group 8 laps back. A total of 5 drivers finished on 118 laps, and it was literally half a lap difference between finishing 2nd…….or 6th.
Lucky first cab of the rank was Callan in 2nd, ahead of the very well performed Dave Schofield in 3rd. About 2 car lengths back in 4th was the writer, with Rob Golley 1 corner further back in 5th. Unluckiest of all was Adrian Gray, who briefly appeared in 2nd place on the electronic results, but whose final finishing position saw him shuffled back down to 6th.
DB was not far off the mark either with his 116 laps, but ended up back in 7th for his trouble, and just 2 more laps in arrears were Blair & Rhys with a shared total of 114 laps. Blair it was who grabbed track position for 8th tough & Rhys in 9th. So, a total of 8 drivers in a spread of only 4 laps then.
In 10th on 111 laps, was JB, with Phil on 110 slotting into 11th, and only 1 lap back, Scott in 12th on 109.
Dave Gray managed 13th with 106 laps, and rounding out the field in the final race for the series, Luke on 98 laps.
A runaway win in the series for Ben & very well done at that. In 2nd a series of minor placings was enough to slot myself into 2nd , and then a 3 way tie on points for 3rd between Schoee, DB & Phil.
With an equal number of 1st, & 2nds it took a 3rd place finish from Schoee to break the tie between he & Phil for that 3rd place overall. Schoee’s back end of the series was as strong as anyone & was a deserved podium.
Final Series - Top 3
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Dave Schofield (on countback) from Phil & Dave Bantoft
1st - Ben Lewis
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Dave Schofield (on countback) from Phil & Dave Bantoft
