Race Results and reports
Round 1 - Stratton Valley- 11/10/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Bantoft
3rd - Adrian Gray
Round 1 - Stratton Valley- 11/10/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Bantoft
3rd - Adrian Gray
Race Report - Round 1
Better late than never I always say, and it is certainly a late report for the first round of the LMP cars held last week at JBs Stratton Valley circuit.
It was a marked contrast to the Tasman Cup once these rockets got onto the track & the Marshall's were hard pressed keeping track as they flashed by. At some stages both eyes were needed in two different directions, one eye to keep track of any possible de-slots & the other eye used for scanning the track for spare parts that accumulated (mainly gathering on the roof of the one of JBs scenic buildings)
Winner for round 1 was Phil racking up a very consistent & quick 90 laps, followed by a great first up performance from DB whose end total of 88 laps was enough to grab a grab 2nd place first up. Adrian Gray proved that his car was still the standard as far as outright pace went, but his 3rd place finish in the end on 87 laps showed that things are a lot closer this series. There was very little to separate 3rd from 4th either, with JB finishing on 87 laps also, however JB had to settle for 4th in the end.
2 laps back in 5th was Rob Golley on 85 laps, and just 1 lap back in 6th Scott on 84. Both drivers had very good first round efforts & would be well pleased with these results to use a building block for the start of the series.
7th to 10th places was another tightly bunched group , with 7th place going to Bruce Thomas on 82 laps, 8th to the writer on 81, 9th – Rhys on 79 & in the top 10, Schooe on 78 laps for the night.
Dave Gray had some initial problems in heat 1, mainly due to the fact that he’d inadvertently put the wrong car on track. This is what comes of having too many cars to choose from in the same livery.
Anyway, in the end, Dave’s 65 laps grabbed him 11th, 1 lap ahead of Tom in 12th on 64.
Better late than never I always say, and it is certainly a late report for the first round of the LMP cars held last week at JBs Stratton Valley circuit.
It was a marked contrast to the Tasman Cup once these rockets got onto the track & the Marshall's were hard pressed keeping track as they flashed by. At some stages both eyes were needed in two different directions, one eye to keep track of any possible de-slots & the other eye used for scanning the track for spare parts that accumulated (mainly gathering on the roof of the one of JBs scenic buildings)
Winner for round 1 was Phil racking up a very consistent & quick 90 laps, followed by a great first up performance from DB whose end total of 88 laps was enough to grab a grab 2nd place first up. Adrian Gray proved that his car was still the standard as far as outright pace went, but his 3rd place finish in the end on 87 laps showed that things are a lot closer this series. There was very little to separate 3rd from 4th either, with JB finishing on 87 laps also, however JB had to settle for 4th in the end.
2 laps back in 5th was Rob Golley on 85 laps, and just 1 lap back in 6th Scott on 84. Both drivers had very good first round efforts & would be well pleased with these results to use a building block for the start of the series.
7th to 10th places was another tightly bunched group , with 7th place going to Bruce Thomas on 82 laps, 8th to the writer on 81, 9th – Rhys on 79 & in the top 10, Schooe on 78 laps for the night.
Dave Gray had some initial problems in heat 1, mainly due to the fact that he’d inadvertently put the wrong car on track. This is what comes of having too many cars to choose from in the same livery.
Anyway, in the end, Dave’s 65 laps grabbed him 11th, 1 lap ahead of Tom in 12th on 64.
Round 2 - Gotham Park- 17/10/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Mal O'May
Race Report - Round 2
So, after some shenanigans in the early series (which we won’t go into again), the LMPs got on the Gotham Park track a lot earlier than expected. Early track testing of a clean (no goo) track was not optimistic and so it proved with cars sliding around all over the place until serious lobbying from the drivers finally held sway over the track owner & he reluctantly agreed to the goo-ing in of the track prior to racing.
An excellent decision in the end, and so it was on a decently grippy track that all combatants gathered to the fray.
In a surprise to no-one, it was Phil who once again showed his speed combined with consistency to take out the round with a grand total of 119 laps. His performance in excelling particularly on lanes 2 & 3 allowed him the buffer of a 2 lap win over 2nd placegetter Adrian. Adrian matched Phils best lap times, but just the occasional off made all the difference as he notched up his total of 117 laps.
Squeaking into 3rd place this week, more due to not coming off than any great speed, was the writer rounding out the podium with 115 laps on the night. Last weeks 2nd place driver DB only just missed out on another podium with his drive finishing 1 lap back on 114 laps. DBs drive towards the end of the night meant that he probably suffered a little from the increased grip levels on offer at this stage of the evening.
In 5th & on 112 laps, Callan threw down some very quick lap times as well, but also came a cropper just enough times to put paid to a top 3 finish. Rhys showed that his earlier sedentary pace was a thing of the past and his car showed great pace & was consistent enough to grab 6th with his 110 lap total. Just 1 lap back on 109 was JB in 7th, ahead of Schoee in 8th on 106 laps for the night. Schoee was most people’s choice for the best livery of the field though.
In 9th and struggling on hard rubber tyres this round was Tom on 89 laps with both Dave Gray & Scotty being the recipients this week of mechanical problems. Dave was the least worst affected for 10th on 82 laps, however Scott had an engine disaster which completely de-railed his night and had him 11th in the results this week.
So, after some shenanigans in the early series (which we won’t go into again), the LMPs got on the Gotham Park track a lot earlier than expected. Early track testing of a clean (no goo) track was not optimistic and so it proved with cars sliding around all over the place until serious lobbying from the drivers finally held sway over the track owner & he reluctantly agreed to the goo-ing in of the track prior to racing.
An excellent decision in the end, and so it was on a decently grippy track that all combatants gathered to the fray.
In a surprise to no-one, it was Phil who once again showed his speed combined with consistency to take out the round with a grand total of 119 laps. His performance in excelling particularly on lanes 2 & 3 allowed him the buffer of a 2 lap win over 2nd placegetter Adrian. Adrian matched Phils best lap times, but just the occasional off made all the difference as he notched up his total of 117 laps.
Squeaking into 3rd place this week, more due to not coming off than any great speed, was the writer rounding out the podium with 115 laps on the night. Last weeks 2nd place driver DB only just missed out on another podium with his drive finishing 1 lap back on 114 laps. DBs drive towards the end of the night meant that he probably suffered a little from the increased grip levels on offer at this stage of the evening.
In 5th & on 112 laps, Callan threw down some very quick lap times as well, but also came a cropper just enough times to put paid to a top 3 finish. Rhys showed that his earlier sedentary pace was a thing of the past and his car showed great pace & was consistent enough to grab 6th with his 110 lap total. Just 1 lap back on 109 was JB in 7th, ahead of Schoee in 8th on 106 laps for the night. Schoee was most people’s choice for the best livery of the field though.
In 9th and struggling on hard rubber tyres this round was Tom on 89 laps with both Dave Gray & Scotty being the recipients this week of mechanical problems. Dave was the least worst affected for 10th on 82 laps, however Scott had an engine disaster which completely de-railed his night and had him 11th in the results this week.
Round 3 - Mornington Park- 24/10/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Banoft
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Banoft
3rd - Rob Golley
Race Report - Round 3
After a very hasty re-write following a quick audit on the original script (thanks DB !), here is the actual race report !
After the somewhat sedate speeds of the Tasman Cup cars, it was onto the more electrifying pace of round 3 of the LMP series cars.
Apart from the shock revelation that Bruce was going to grace us with his driving presence in this heat, all proceeded quite smoothly from the commencement of racing this time round. Early drivers were quick, but suffered just enough unfortunate offs to make it difficult to push for those elusive pointy end places. By the time the back end of the field came out to play however the standard was reset & it was the duo of Phil (again) DB who really were a class above this week.
Phil had a win in the end, however it was rather closer than he might have liked with both Phil & DB finishing on 132 laps for the night. It might have been slightly more uncomfortable for Phil however, had it not been for the untimely intervention of the ………(wait for it)
After a very hasty re-write following a quick audit on the original script (thanks DB !), here is the actual race report !
After the somewhat sedate speeds of the Tasman Cup cars, it was onto the more electrifying pace of round 3 of the LMP series cars.
Apart from the shock revelation that Bruce was going to grace us with his driving presence in this heat, all proceeded quite smoothly from the commencement of racing this time round. Early drivers were quick, but suffered just enough unfortunate offs to make it difficult to push for those elusive pointy end places. By the time the back end of the field came out to play however the standard was reset & it was the duo of Phil (again) DB who really were a class above this week.
Phil had a win in the end, however it was rather closer than he might have liked with both Phil & DB finishing on 132 laps for the night. It might have been slightly more uncomfortable for Phil however, had it not been for the untimely intervention of the ………(wait for it)
THE FINGER OF ROB
Just what Rob was doing with this finger stuck on track is anyone’s guess, all we do know is that DBs car hit it at great speed and was lucky not to either;
A) result in a de-slot & loss of half a lap or more
Or
B) take the end of Robs finger off!
As it was, DB emerged still running & was still able to finish. However it’s anyone’s guess as to what impact this might have had on the final results given that DB was only half a lap away from Phils end finishing position & therefore half a lap way from the win.
In the end though DB drove a very classy round & was well clear in his 2nd place for the night with Rob Golley the best of the rest tonight by finishing in 3rd place on 128 laps…..finger still intact. 1 lap on 127 laps were the next two drivers, JB & myself, however it was JB who took 4th spot by half a lap with the writer finishing in 5th. Another lap back on 126 & well clear in 6th was Callan Thomas 6 laps to the good of the elder Thomas (Bruce) on 120 laps in 7th. Rhys slotted into 8th for the night with 118 laps, 3 laps clear of Schoee in 9th & Dave Gray in the top 10 with his total of 105 laps.
Tom, after an enforced tyre change during the week, ended up in 11th on 94 laps for the evening.
A) result in a de-slot & loss of half a lap or more
Or
B) take the end of Robs finger off!
As it was, DB emerged still running & was still able to finish. However it’s anyone’s guess as to what impact this might have had on the final results given that DB was only half a lap away from Phils end finishing position & therefore half a lap way from the win.
In the end though DB drove a very classy round & was well clear in his 2nd place for the night with Rob Golley the best of the rest tonight by finishing in 3rd place on 128 laps…..finger still intact. 1 lap on 127 laps were the next two drivers, JB & myself, however it was JB who took 4th spot by half a lap with the writer finishing in 5th. Another lap back on 126 & well clear in 6th was Callan Thomas 6 laps to the good of the elder Thomas (Bruce) on 120 laps in 7th. Rhys slotted into 8th for the night with 118 laps, 3 laps clear of Schoee in 9th & Dave Gray in the top 10 with his total of 105 laps.
Tom, after an enforced tyre change during the week, ended up in 11th on 94 laps for the evening.
Round 4 - Shelmore Park- 31/10/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Rob Golley
Race Report - Round 4
2nd class this week again was round 4 of the LMP series, and after some quick practice laps to apply some goo to the track, it was onto business.
And it was business as usual at the pointy end of the results, as Phil took out his 5th win in succession with the beautifully balanced & extremely quick Audi. With his lap times even dipping down into the 5.2 second range it was a foregone conclusion that along with his consistency his lap total of 122 would be on another level. Which is exactly how it turned out. Despite his best effort of the series so far, John Batich in 2nd was a full 7 laps back from Phils total on 115 laps.
In 3rd spot it was a closely fought battle with 2 drivers finishing on 114 laps for the night, but it was Rob Golley who took the final podium position from a frustrated Dave Bantoft this week in 4th. DB had a few unlucky de-slots this week & his hold on 2nd spot in the series has been reduced to 2 points. However, the writer is in no doubt that DB will come back strongly next week on the fast, flowing Stratton Valley track…..only problem is that the driver breathing down his neck in the series happens to be home track owner JB!
Very keen to see how this plays out.
All alone in 5th this week was the writers car on 113 laps, which was good enough to stay 3 laps clear of Callan Thomas in 6th. Callans car suffered at the top end speed, & despite being a nice handling car & obviously well driven this slightly sluggish acceleration issue handicapped Callans results this week. Only 1 lap each separated positions 7, 8 & 9 with Rhys in 7th on 109, Dennis in 8th on 108 & Scott in 9th on 107 laps on the night.
Schoee slotted into the top 10 with his 104 laps, ahead of Dave Gray in 11th on 92 & Thomas Males in 12th with 84 laps.
All in all, quite a boring report for the LMPs for which the writer apologises profusely. However it is very reliant on interesting & amusing things happening during racing……and nothing happened. You’ll all have to do better next week.
2nd class this week again was round 4 of the LMP series, and after some quick practice laps to apply some goo to the track, it was onto business.
And it was business as usual at the pointy end of the results, as Phil took out his 5th win in succession with the beautifully balanced & extremely quick Audi. With his lap times even dipping down into the 5.2 second range it was a foregone conclusion that along with his consistency his lap total of 122 would be on another level. Which is exactly how it turned out. Despite his best effort of the series so far, John Batich in 2nd was a full 7 laps back from Phils total on 115 laps.
In 3rd spot it was a closely fought battle with 2 drivers finishing on 114 laps for the night, but it was Rob Golley who took the final podium position from a frustrated Dave Bantoft this week in 4th. DB had a few unlucky de-slots this week & his hold on 2nd spot in the series has been reduced to 2 points. However, the writer is in no doubt that DB will come back strongly next week on the fast, flowing Stratton Valley track…..only problem is that the driver breathing down his neck in the series happens to be home track owner JB!
Very keen to see how this plays out.
All alone in 5th this week was the writers car on 113 laps, which was good enough to stay 3 laps clear of Callan Thomas in 6th. Callans car suffered at the top end speed, & despite being a nice handling car & obviously well driven this slightly sluggish acceleration issue handicapped Callans results this week. Only 1 lap each separated positions 7, 8 & 9 with Rhys in 7th on 109, Dennis in 8th on 108 & Scott in 9th on 107 laps on the night.
Schoee slotted into the top 10 with his 104 laps, ahead of Dave Gray in 11th on 92 & Thomas Males in 12th with 84 laps.
All in all, quite a boring report for the LMPs for which the writer apologises profusely. However it is very reliant on interesting & amusing things happening during racing……and nothing happened. You’ll all have to do better next week.
Round 5 - Stratton Valley - 7/11/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Rob Golley
Race Report - Round 5
After the early heats of the Tasman Cup cars were done & dusted, it was the turn of the LMP series, and a marked increase in pace, & destruction. There were a few incidents of note this week, mostly taking place on the first corner & there were multiple instances of multiple (3 car) pileups thus giving the on-duty marshal more work than they had hands in most cases.
The other major crash “highlight” was a spectacular incident involving Toms car.
This was caused by a very solid rear end shunt from the rapid Adrian Gray happening to come along just after Toms car had unfortunately found itself out of his lane & smack in the middle of Adrians lane.
The sight of Toms car cartwheeling mid-air over the edge of the circuit & finishing up on top of the forest surrounding the track, was very reminiscent of footage I remember seeing of a similar indent at Le Mans many years ago. It might have looked something like this:
After the early heats of the Tasman Cup cars were done & dusted, it was the turn of the LMP series, and a marked increase in pace, & destruction. There were a few incidents of note this week, mostly taking place on the first corner & there were multiple instances of multiple (3 car) pileups thus giving the on-duty marshal more work than they had hands in most cases.
The other major crash “highlight” was a spectacular incident involving Toms car.
This was caused by a very solid rear end shunt from the rapid Adrian Gray happening to come along just after Toms car had unfortunately found itself out of his lane & smack in the middle of Adrians lane.
The sight of Toms car cartwheeling mid-air over the edge of the circuit & finishing up on top of the forest surrounding the track, was very reminiscent of footage I remember seeing of a similar indent at Le Mans many years ago. It might have looked something like this:
Anyway, in the top 3 there were not quite as many problems, and it was Phil Kalbfell again this week who took out his 5th win in a row by 1 lap with his 89 lap total. Pushing him all the way however was JB on his home track in 2nd on 88 laps, and Rob Golley continuing his great recent form in 3rd on 87 laps for the night.
Locked together on 86 laps this week in the battle for 4th were myself & Adrian, luckily the writer took advantage of Adrian having to use his car as a bulldozer in order to clear his lane and took 4th on track position. Adrian eventually finished in 5th.
DB didn’t quite have his usual flawless performance this week & his total of 85 laps saw him finish in 6th, just 1 lap ahead of 7th placegetter Callan Thomas on 84.
4 laps back in 8th on 80 laps was the very quick car of Scott, 2 laps clear of both Bruce Thomas & Schoee in the battle for the final 2 top 10 spots. Which Schoee won in the end with his 78 laps equalling Bruce’s tally, but finishing just a little further on up the road (Hmm, there’s another song in there I think).
Dave Gray had some initial problems on lane 1 before a much improved performance on both lane 2 & 3 got his to 67 laps & 11th spot this week. Toms car, once extracted from the trees, turned in 64 laps for 12th spot this week.
See you next week !
Locked together on 86 laps this week in the battle for 4th were myself & Adrian, luckily the writer took advantage of Adrian having to use his car as a bulldozer in order to clear his lane and took 4th on track position. Adrian eventually finished in 5th.
DB didn’t quite have his usual flawless performance this week & his total of 85 laps saw him finish in 6th, just 1 lap ahead of 7th placegetter Callan Thomas on 84.
4 laps back in 8th on 80 laps was the very quick car of Scott, 2 laps clear of both Bruce Thomas & Schoee in the battle for the final 2 top 10 spots. Which Schoee won in the end with his 78 laps equalling Bruce’s tally, but finishing just a little further on up the road (Hmm, there’s another song in there I think).
Dave Gray had some initial problems on lane 1 before a much improved performance on both lane 2 & 3 got his to 67 laps & 11th spot this week. Toms car, once extracted from the trees, turned in 64 laps for 12th spot this week.
See you next week !
Round 6 - Gotham Park - 21/11/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
Round 7 - Shelmore Park - 28/11/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
Race Report - Round 7 & Final Series summary
Yet another series came to a climax this week with the final round of the LMP series for 2023.
However, in a very different scenario from the Tasman Cup, there was absolutely no doubt over the series winner prior to the final round commencing. Phil had so far won every single round & was in an unbeatable position no matter what happened this week. The only interest was in the minor placings & to see if Phil could maintain a perfect record of wins over the 7 rounds.
Well, as it turned out he could with a lap total of 120 to take out a 7th straight win in the final round. There was however some stiff competition this week as Callan finally had his car very well sorted. His total of 118 laps was very competitive for 2nd and had Callan wishing that this was round 1 instead of round 7. In third this week, Adrian Grays total of 117 laps was slightly impeded by a couple of take offs down the back straight hump. However, he also took out the Moses award this week by his “parting of the red seas” impression. As his car disappeared into the blind spot of the hairpin, there was a tremendous crash & the spectacle of other cars flying everywhere in a major incident, however just as Adrian was busy saying his prayers, his car came shooting out the other end past the harbour miraculously unscathed & continued merrily on its way……
As no-one from the drivers station could see exactly what happened I’ve taken the liberty of including a (very dodgy) re-creation of the event as I imagine it might have looked……
Yet another series came to a climax this week with the final round of the LMP series for 2023.
However, in a very different scenario from the Tasman Cup, there was absolutely no doubt over the series winner prior to the final round commencing. Phil had so far won every single round & was in an unbeatable position no matter what happened this week. The only interest was in the minor placings & to see if Phil could maintain a perfect record of wins over the 7 rounds.
Well, as it turned out he could with a lap total of 120 to take out a 7th straight win in the final round. There was however some stiff competition this week as Callan finally had his car very well sorted. His total of 118 laps was very competitive for 2nd and had Callan wishing that this was round 1 instead of round 7. In third this week, Adrian Grays total of 117 laps was slightly impeded by a couple of take offs down the back straight hump. However, he also took out the Moses award this week by his “parting of the red seas” impression. As his car disappeared into the blind spot of the hairpin, there was a tremendous crash & the spectacle of other cars flying everywhere in a major incident, however just as Adrian was busy saying his prayers, his car came shooting out the other end past the harbour miraculously unscathed & continued merrily on its way……
As no-one from the drivers station could see exactly what happened I’ve taken the liberty of including a (very dodgy) re-creation of the event as I imagine it might have looked……
In 4th this was the very consistent John Batich on 114 laps, unfortunately JBs 1 missed round cost him dearly in the fight for 2nd spot in the series. That 1 dropped round meant JB missed out on 2nd to long time rival and other 2 letter driver DB by two points in the end. DB’s 5th place this week on 114 laps enough to secure him 2nd place in the series. Back 1 lap in 6th after some good performances in the middle part of the series was Rob Golley on 113 laps. Robs great run of 3x3rd placings in rounds 3, 4 & 5, sadly bookended by some lesser results in the early & later rounds. This left him in that worst of all positions in the overall series…..4th
Back in 7th & in a result typically erratic this series was the writer with 111 laps for the evening. Having results spanning from 3rd to 8th hasn’t helped much in the overall scheme of things & contributed to my own 5th position in the series.
Schoee & Rhys fought out 8th & 9th this week both finishing on 110 laps, but it was Schoee who took the 8th position from Rhys in 9th.
Rounding out the top 10 this week Bruce had a reversal of form compared to his Tasman Cup exploits earlier in the night, and was at the other end of the list to Callan this time on 109 laps.
Dave Gray grabbed 11th on 105laps with Scott Wyman in 12th on 102. Scotts worry about not daring to touch any cars lying around the track vicinity this week obviously affecting his driving performance.
Dennis Murray rounded out the results in 13th with 101 laps for the evening.
Back in 7th & in a result typically erratic this series was the writer with 111 laps for the evening. Having results spanning from 3rd to 8th hasn’t helped much in the overall scheme of things & contributed to my own 5th position in the series.
Schoee & Rhys fought out 8th & 9th this week both finishing on 110 laps, but it was Schoee who took the 8th position from Rhys in 9th.
Rounding out the top 10 this week Bruce had a reversal of form compared to his Tasman Cup exploits earlier in the night, and was at the other end of the list to Callan this time on 109 laps.
Dave Gray grabbed 11th on 105laps with Scott Wyman in 12th on 102. Scotts worry about not daring to touch any cars lying around the track vicinity this week obviously affecting his driving performance.
Dennis Murray rounded out the results in 13th with 101 laps for the evening.
Overall Series Results
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Bantoft
3rd - John Batich
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Bantoft
3rd - John Batich