Muscle Cars and Trans Am
Muscle Car Fun Race
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Final Series points
Race Results and reports
Test/Fun race - Gotham Park - 21/11/23
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - Rhys Filbee
3rd - Adrian Gray
Test/Fun race - Gotham Park - 21/11/23
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - Rhys Filbee
3rd - Adrian Gray
Round 1 - Stratton Valley - 05/12/23
1st - John Batich
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - John Batich
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
Round 2 - Gotham Park - 12/12/23
1st - John Batich
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - John Batich
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Adrian Gray
Race Report - Round 2
Back to Gotham Park this week, and it was time for round 2 of the muscle car /trans-am cup. Somewhat a diminished field this week with only 9 drivers making the long journey to the rural farmland of the Gotham Park track. Surrounded by horses, an ever increasing number of chickens & an ever decreasing number of rabbits, drivers are always welcomed to this location by a large menagerie of farm animals. All that is missing is the classic image of the farmer himself…..we just need to convince Bruce to appear wearing an Akubra & one of Dave Banofts shirts & the picture would be complete.
Although, with the explosion in chicken numbers at the Thomas farm, Bruce might soon be considered exclusively a chicken farmer, and therefore would be more appropriately dressed in a style once made famous by another chicken farmer…and racing driver/team owner & legend Caroll Shelby.
I can just see Bruce wearing these.......
Back to Gotham Park this week, and it was time for round 2 of the muscle car /trans-am cup. Somewhat a diminished field this week with only 9 drivers making the long journey to the rural farmland of the Gotham Park track. Surrounded by horses, an ever increasing number of chickens & an ever decreasing number of rabbits, drivers are always welcomed to this location by a large menagerie of farm animals. All that is missing is the classic image of the farmer himself…..we just need to convince Bruce to appear wearing an Akubra & one of Dave Banofts shirts & the picture would be complete.
Although, with the explosion in chicken numbers at the Thomas farm, Bruce might soon be considered exclusively a chicken farmer, and therefore would be more appropriately dressed in a style once made famous by another chicken farmer…and racing driver/team owner & legend Caroll Shelby.
I can just see Bruce wearing these.......
Anyway….muscle cars, and in a second win in a row it was John Batich who took out this round with a great performance. JBs car doesn’t have the sheer top end speed of some others, but he has showed how much can be made up on the rest of the circuit with very little drop off on the twisty bits & some consistent driving. JB racked up 104 laps to take out the win by 3 laps from 2nd place Phil Kalbfell in the stunning custom made Bob Jane Monaro on 101 laps. In all honesty the top two cars this week are probably the two best looking cars in the field as well in my humble opinion. JBs Camaro in the wonderfully clean SCA livery just looks like it means business, and Phils version of the Monaro is one of the best custom made cars we’ve seen racing in our club in recent times. Well done to you both.
In 3rd this week, and another great looking car, the Falcon Coupe of Adrian Gray rounded out the top 3 with 99 laps. 2 laps back & tied for 4th on 97 laps each were Dave Schofield & myself, with both of us finishing at exactly the same spot on the track. As I was driving the 2nd Bob Jane team car (the Camaro) I was also very aware of not punting off the form driver (Phil) in the teams #1 vehicle. I didn’t need to worry, all I needed to worry about was finding the parts that ejected from the front of my car for the 2nd week running & gather them up to be re-glued back on (again) in time for next week. Not sure what glue I’ll try this time !
6th place this week went to the chicken farmer himself, Bruce Thomas on 93 laps, which was a trifle unlucky after some very good early heats. However, the slight issue of a guide & chassis that wouldn’t stay where it was supposed to meant that Bruce had to do a very quick car swap thus losing many laps in lane 2. Rob Golley was 1 spot back in 7th with his total of 91 laps with Thomas Males in 8th on 85 laps for the night. Another driver with drastic guide problems, Scott Wyman also had his round torpedoed after very promising start and was eventually relegated to 9th with a DNF.
Final racing night of the year next week !
In 3rd this week, and another great looking car, the Falcon Coupe of Adrian Gray rounded out the top 3 with 99 laps. 2 laps back & tied for 4th on 97 laps each were Dave Schofield & myself, with both of us finishing at exactly the same spot on the track. As I was driving the 2nd Bob Jane team car (the Camaro) I was also very aware of not punting off the form driver (Phil) in the teams #1 vehicle. I didn’t need to worry, all I needed to worry about was finding the parts that ejected from the front of my car for the 2nd week running & gather them up to be re-glued back on (again) in time for next week. Not sure what glue I’ll try this time !
6th place this week went to the chicken farmer himself, Bruce Thomas on 93 laps, which was a trifle unlucky after some very good early heats. However, the slight issue of a guide & chassis that wouldn’t stay where it was supposed to meant that Bruce had to do a very quick car swap thus losing many laps in lane 2. Rob Golley was 1 spot back in 7th with his total of 91 laps with Thomas Males in 8th on 85 laps for the night. Another driver with drastic guide problems, Scott Wyman also had his round torpedoed after very promising start and was eventually relegated to 9th with a DNF.
Final racing night of the year next week !
Round 3 - Shelmore Park - 19/12/23
1st - Callan thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
1st - Callan thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
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Race Report - Round 3
Round 3 final race before the Christmas break we went to Shelmore Park.
With Adrian a no show and Rob struggling for car speed it looked like it was going to be up to myself and JB to head the field BUT while we had a great race end ending up with JB just over a metre ahead at the finish it was Callan who just circulated with no drama to finish at the head of both of us.
Bruce finished 4th driving Adrians Falcon, ( probably could not find his race car!!)
Rob was one lap behind Bruce with Dave Scofield a further lap back.
Scott and Mal were another lap behind Dave, even with Mal managing to lighten his car again during the race he could not manage to head Scotty.
Dave Bantoft circulated around with his slow low Camaro to finish 9th ahead of dave Gray.
Thomas rounded out in final place after a troubled first heat.After his Scalex Mustang failing scrutineering at round 2 due to looking like drag car,he fronted with a nice looking Carrera RS 3100 Capri,BUT that fails scrutineering as well,but was allowed to run with fix for next round.
But the Capri only lasted a very short time with its handling "crap", so was quickly withdrawn and replaced with another " Mustang"
this one being a Group 5 Sideways version that was no were close to being eligible. So Bruce came to his rescue with a Moff falcon coupe to run.
I think we may have to have a Search and rescue evening to help both Bruce and Thomas sort and find cars to race, I am reasonably sure they actually have enough cars for each class, just can never seem to find them.
Round 3 final race before the Christmas break we went to Shelmore Park.
With Adrian a no show and Rob struggling for car speed it looked like it was going to be up to myself and JB to head the field BUT while we had a great race end ending up with JB just over a metre ahead at the finish it was Callan who just circulated with no drama to finish at the head of both of us.
Bruce finished 4th driving Adrians Falcon, ( probably could not find his race car!!)
Rob was one lap behind Bruce with Dave Scofield a further lap back.
Scott and Mal were another lap behind Dave, even with Mal managing to lighten his car again during the race he could not manage to head Scotty.
Dave Bantoft circulated around with his slow low Camaro to finish 9th ahead of dave Gray.
Thomas rounded out in final place after a troubled first heat.After his Scalex Mustang failing scrutineering at round 2 due to looking like drag car,he fronted with a nice looking Carrera RS 3100 Capri,BUT that fails scrutineering as well,but was allowed to run with fix for next round.
But the Capri only lasted a very short time with its handling "crap", so was quickly withdrawn and replaced with another " Mustang"
this one being a Group 5 Sideways version that was no were close to being eligible. So Bruce came to his rescue with a Moff falcon coupe to run.
I think we may have to have a Search and rescue evening to help both Bruce and Thomas sort and find cars to race, I am reasonably sure they actually have enough cars for each class, just can never seem to find them.
Round 4 - Stratton Valley - 13/1/24
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Adrian Gray
Race Report - Round 4
After a less than confidence filling practice round last week, it was onto the first full round of racing for 2024 this week at JBs Stratton Valley. It was with a fair degree of trepidation that the computer/race controller software was setup for racing without the watchful eye of Phil on hand in case of emergency troubleshooting.
Anyway, all was setup without fault all racing commenced without incident…..apart from the slight problem of Rob Golleys name appearing in the driver list. Which would have been Ok except for the fact that Rob was not there. Rhys however, was there this evening……but he wasn’t listed among the drivers for the night. This unfortunately meant that Rhys had to race as Rob, which led to all sorts of obvious comments on the type of driving style he should adopt, both physically & on track when cornering.
To the racing though, and as the early heats progressed it was immediately obvious to all that JB was the man to head, his early pace even prompted some pundits to declare prematurely that it was going to be JBs win, with daylight 2nd. In actual fact it was Callan “Daylight” Thomas who came from the clouds in the later heats to match JB for pace lap after lap, which in the end was enough for him to take out the round by a single lap with a total of 79. In 2nd was the unlucky JB on 78 laps with Adrian Gray picking up the final podium position 5 laps back on 73.
A pair of tight battles fought out positions 4, 5, 6 & 7. In 4th Bruce Thomas pipped Dave Bantoft (5th) on track position with both notching up 72 laps, and in 6th / 7th both myself & Scott Wyman finished on 71 laps with the writer having just under half a lap advantage. In 8th Rob Golley showed remarkable restraint during his driving stint & he neither knocked any other car off, nor bumped into any other driver from swaying from side to side. Remarkable, until we remembered that it was actually Rhys driving. Ironically, Rhys had the perfect shoes on this week to imitate Robs dancing driving style, although perhaps he was concerned at getting his toes stepped on.
Dave Gray in 9th racked up a good 67 lap total with Thomas Males driving two different cars on his way to 58 laps & 10th place on the night.
After a less than confidence filling practice round last week, it was onto the first full round of racing for 2024 this week at JBs Stratton Valley. It was with a fair degree of trepidation that the computer/race controller software was setup for racing without the watchful eye of Phil on hand in case of emergency troubleshooting.
Anyway, all was setup without fault all racing commenced without incident…..apart from the slight problem of Rob Golleys name appearing in the driver list. Which would have been Ok except for the fact that Rob was not there. Rhys however, was there this evening……but he wasn’t listed among the drivers for the night. This unfortunately meant that Rhys had to race as Rob, which led to all sorts of obvious comments on the type of driving style he should adopt, both physically & on track when cornering.
To the racing though, and as the early heats progressed it was immediately obvious to all that JB was the man to head, his early pace even prompted some pundits to declare prematurely that it was going to be JBs win, with daylight 2nd. In actual fact it was Callan “Daylight” Thomas who came from the clouds in the later heats to match JB for pace lap after lap, which in the end was enough for him to take out the round by a single lap with a total of 79. In 2nd was the unlucky JB on 78 laps with Adrian Gray picking up the final podium position 5 laps back on 73.
A pair of tight battles fought out positions 4, 5, 6 & 7. In 4th Bruce Thomas pipped Dave Bantoft (5th) on track position with both notching up 72 laps, and in 6th / 7th both myself & Scott Wyman finished on 71 laps with the writer having just under half a lap advantage. In 8th Rob Golley showed remarkable restraint during his driving stint & he neither knocked any other car off, nor bumped into any other driver from swaying from side to side. Remarkable, until we remembered that it was actually Rhys driving. Ironically, Rhys had the perfect shoes on this week to imitate Robs dancing driving style, although perhaps he was concerned at getting his toes stepped on.
Dave Gray in 9th racked up a good 67 lap total with Thomas Males driving two different cars on his way to 58 laps & 10th place on the night.
Round 5 - Gotham Park - 23/1/24
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Callan Thomas
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Adrian Gray
Race Report - Round 5
Back to the Gotham Park Chicken Farm this week for round 5 of the muscle car /trans-am cup, and it was another top 3 that looked very familiar. As we’ve moved into the business end of the series the cream has risen to the top, and with the unfortunate absence of Phil in the HQ Monaro it has seem a definite top 3 emerge form the chasing pack.
Once again it was Callan taking out his third win from 3 starts with an almost perfect run in all lanes to notch up 103 laps, 1 lap clear of series leader John Batich on 102 in 2nd. JB did have a couple of incidents however, and the resulting removal of his entire Camaro front end in one of these didn’t help his overall cause. However, with yet another 2nd JB maintains his strong position at the top of the points table. Callans early absence form the first two round will, I fear, cost him in the end.
In 3rd once again this week, and his 3rd 3rd for the series, was Adrian Gray on 97 laps. Adrian is well & truly the best of the rest & has a hand on 2nd place in the series by a comfortable 10 points. One lap back in 4th this week was the big improver, Rhys Filbee. Perhaps it was his stealth mode livery that caught everyone else by surprise, whatever the case his 96 laps was a very consistent effort. One more lap back on 95 was the still lovely looking Falcon Coupe of Bruce Thomas. Complete with lights blazing, Bruce’s car always looks the part & he grabbed 5th spot this week
1 more lap back (I see a pattern here) was the writer on 94 laps for 6th, just finishing 1 lap ahead of Dave Bantoft in 7th on 93 laps. Breaking the run of 1 lap results was Dave Gray in 8th. His total of 88 laps 3 laps clear of Scotts Thundeslot Mustang with his 85 laps for an unofficial 9th this week.
And in 10th spot with his 3rd (or is it 4th) car for the series Tom Males on 66 laps for the evening rounded out the field. I wonder if Toms recent purchase, the Thunderbird 6 FAB 1 Rolls Royce, qualifies as a “muscle car”. Perhaps we might see this on track sometime in the last two round ?
Back to the Gotham Park Chicken Farm this week for round 5 of the muscle car /trans-am cup, and it was another top 3 that looked very familiar. As we’ve moved into the business end of the series the cream has risen to the top, and with the unfortunate absence of Phil in the HQ Monaro it has seem a definite top 3 emerge form the chasing pack.
Once again it was Callan taking out his third win from 3 starts with an almost perfect run in all lanes to notch up 103 laps, 1 lap clear of series leader John Batich on 102 in 2nd. JB did have a couple of incidents however, and the resulting removal of his entire Camaro front end in one of these didn’t help his overall cause. However, with yet another 2nd JB maintains his strong position at the top of the points table. Callans early absence form the first two round will, I fear, cost him in the end.
In 3rd once again this week, and his 3rd 3rd for the series, was Adrian Gray on 97 laps. Adrian is well & truly the best of the rest & has a hand on 2nd place in the series by a comfortable 10 points. One lap back in 4th this week was the big improver, Rhys Filbee. Perhaps it was his stealth mode livery that caught everyone else by surprise, whatever the case his 96 laps was a very consistent effort. One more lap back on 95 was the still lovely looking Falcon Coupe of Bruce Thomas. Complete with lights blazing, Bruce’s car always looks the part & he grabbed 5th spot this week
1 more lap back (I see a pattern here) was the writer on 94 laps for 6th, just finishing 1 lap ahead of Dave Bantoft in 7th on 93 laps. Breaking the run of 1 lap results was Dave Gray in 8th. His total of 88 laps 3 laps clear of Scotts Thundeslot Mustang with his 85 laps for an unofficial 9th this week.
And in 10th spot with his 3rd (or is it 4th) car for the series Tom Males on 66 laps for the evening rounded out the field. I wonder if Toms recent purchase, the Thunderbird 6 FAB 1 Rolls Royce, qualifies as a “muscle car”. Perhaps we might see this on track sometime in the last two round ?
Round 6 - Stratton Valley - 6/2/24
1st - John Batich
2nd - Scott Wyman
3rd - Dave Schofield
1st - John Batich
2nd - Scott Wyman
3rd - Dave Schofield
Race Report - Round 6
The penultimate round of the Muscle Car/ Trans-Am series was held at JBs Stratton Valley this week, and if it’s one thing our current runaway series leader JB does not need it’s home track advantage !.
Which is what he got of course, and so if his series win wasn’t guaranteed prior to this week, it certainly has been now after a dominant display again. With his only recent rival (Callan Thomas) also having tyre & wheel issue (ie, there was 1 less than their should have been at one stage) JBs 1st place win was 4 laps clear of the rest of the field with 79 laps.
It was a tight battle for 2nd with both Scott & Schoee finishing up on 75 laps, however it was Scott with his maiden podium who grabbed 2nd on track position from Schoee in 3rd. It was a very good improvement in form from both of these drivers and as is often the case it comes towards the very end of a series.
Callans wheel issues cost him a top 3 place this week, and his eventual 4th (74) was the best he could manage after his lane 1 disaster.
Another 2 drivers shared 71 laps in the battle for 5th & 6th, but it was DB who grabbed the position (5th) from Bruce in 6th. The writer’s erratic Camaro ended up on 70 laps for 7th with Rob Golley notching up 69 laps for 8th.
Rhys slotted into 9th with 67 laps, 4 ahead of Dave Gray in 10th on 65 laps. Tom’s 4th (?) car for the series ended up in 11th with a 50 lap total this week.
The penultimate round of the Muscle Car/ Trans-Am series was held at JBs Stratton Valley this week, and if it’s one thing our current runaway series leader JB does not need it’s home track advantage !.
Which is what he got of course, and so if his series win wasn’t guaranteed prior to this week, it certainly has been now after a dominant display again. With his only recent rival (Callan Thomas) also having tyre & wheel issue (ie, there was 1 less than their should have been at one stage) JBs 1st place win was 4 laps clear of the rest of the field with 79 laps.
It was a tight battle for 2nd with both Scott & Schoee finishing up on 75 laps, however it was Scott with his maiden podium who grabbed 2nd on track position from Schoee in 3rd. It was a very good improvement in form from both of these drivers and as is often the case it comes towards the very end of a series.
Callans wheel issues cost him a top 3 place this week, and his eventual 4th (74) was the best he could manage after his lane 1 disaster.
Another 2 drivers shared 71 laps in the battle for 5th & 6th, but it was DB who grabbed the position (5th) from Bruce in 6th. The writer’s erratic Camaro ended up on 70 laps for 7th with Rob Golley notching up 69 laps for 8th.
Rhys slotted into 9th with 67 laps, 4 ahead of Dave Gray in 10th on 65 laps. Tom’s 4th (?) car for the series ended up in 11th with a 50 lap total this week.
Round 7 - Mornington Park - 20/2/24
1st - John Batich
2nd - Scott Wyman
3rd - Dave Schofield
1st - John Batich
2nd - Scott Wyman
3rd - Dave Schofield
Final Series - Top 3
Apologies for not making an announcement last night, was very disorganised. However huge congratulations to JB for a very dominant series win in the Trans-Am/Muscle Car series. And a big mention must go to Scott for his 2nd place in the series, and first series top 3. Well done for consistancy over the entire series.
Third place in the series I deemed not worthy of a top 3 photo given that this particular driver didn't even manage to feature in a top 3 in any round in the series. Lucky result mainly obtained due to Callans car falling apart far too regularly & Adrian missing 2 rounds.
Apologies for not making an announcement last night, was very disorganised. However huge congratulations to JB for a very dominant series win in the Trans-Am/Muscle Car series. And a big mention must go to Scott for his 2nd place in the series, and first series top 3. Well done for consistancy over the entire series.
Third place in the series I deemed not worthy of a top 3 photo given that this particular driver didn't even manage to feature in a top 3 in any round in the series. Lucky result mainly obtained due to Callans car falling apart far too regularly & Adrian missing 2 rounds.
Race Report - Round 7
Last round of the Muscle Car cup this week, and after starting in the previous year, this class seems to have been running on for a while…or maybe that’s just my impression from driving a slow, poorly handling car every round.
Other were luckier, and this number certainly includes JB and his car of the series producing yet another classy performance this week with a convincing victory by some 5 laps on 116. Another very good drive (one of quite a few) in the back end of this series by Dave Schofield saw him grab a well-deserved 2nd on 111. A great pity Schoee missed 2 rounds early on, as his form certainly warranted a push for a top 3 series result.
In 3rd this week, Adrian Gray on 110 laps, and yet another driver who will bemoan the fact that he missed 2 rounds in the series. His results when attending mostly pushing into the top 3.
One improver over the back end of the series has been Scotty, and his 4th spot this week on 109 laps locked in a top 3 series result for him.
2 laps back & in 5th was the writer on 107 laps. The fact that this was one of my better results for the series says much about the 7 weeks’ worth of driving I’ve put up with.
In 6th, Dave Bantoft on 104 laps, and can possibly make a case for pushing me hard for the title of most frustrated driver of the series. DBs usual quick (& low) muscle car just didn’t quite have the usual performance this series.
Rhys was similarly inconsistent, and with another 2 rounds missed, his series was stymied somewhat. This week he managed 103 laps which was enough for 7th ahead of Rob Golley in 8th on 102 laps for the night.
Bruce compared his driving experience this week to “watering the garden”, an analogy that will be sure to pop up in later racing rest assured. Comments such as: Bruce’s driving being “a bit wet” maybe, or “What hose nozzle are you using today Bruce ? the drip ?” His watering driving style got him 9th on 101 laps.
Callan suffered from catastrophic wheel loss 2nd week running in the muscle cars, and this certainly didn’t help his cause. He had to settle for 10th on 94 laps this week. Thomas Males slotted into 11th with 77 laps, ahead of Dave Gray in 12th with a very unfortunate 35 laps. Unfortunate mainly due to a high number of – 1. Accidents involving other cars & 2. Marshalling errors. Not a great round Dave.
Overall, JB took out the series easily, from Scott in a first ever series podium in 2nd. 3rd place (by default) went to the writer. The less said about that the better !
Last round of the Muscle Car cup this week, and after starting in the previous year, this class seems to have been running on for a while…or maybe that’s just my impression from driving a slow, poorly handling car every round.
Other were luckier, and this number certainly includes JB and his car of the series producing yet another classy performance this week with a convincing victory by some 5 laps on 116. Another very good drive (one of quite a few) in the back end of this series by Dave Schofield saw him grab a well-deserved 2nd on 111. A great pity Schoee missed 2 rounds early on, as his form certainly warranted a push for a top 3 series result.
In 3rd this week, Adrian Gray on 110 laps, and yet another driver who will bemoan the fact that he missed 2 rounds in the series. His results when attending mostly pushing into the top 3.
One improver over the back end of the series has been Scotty, and his 4th spot this week on 109 laps locked in a top 3 series result for him.
2 laps back & in 5th was the writer on 107 laps. The fact that this was one of my better results for the series says much about the 7 weeks’ worth of driving I’ve put up with.
In 6th, Dave Bantoft on 104 laps, and can possibly make a case for pushing me hard for the title of most frustrated driver of the series. DBs usual quick (& low) muscle car just didn’t quite have the usual performance this series.
Rhys was similarly inconsistent, and with another 2 rounds missed, his series was stymied somewhat. This week he managed 103 laps which was enough for 7th ahead of Rob Golley in 8th on 102 laps for the night.
Bruce compared his driving experience this week to “watering the garden”, an analogy that will be sure to pop up in later racing rest assured. Comments such as: Bruce’s driving being “a bit wet” maybe, or “What hose nozzle are you using today Bruce ? the drip ?” His watering driving style got him 9th on 101 laps.
Callan suffered from catastrophic wheel loss 2nd week running in the muscle cars, and this certainly didn’t help his cause. He had to settle for 10th on 94 laps this week. Thomas Males slotted into 11th with 77 laps, ahead of Dave Gray in 12th with a very unfortunate 35 laps. Unfortunate mainly due to a high number of – 1. Accidents involving other cars & 2. Marshalling errors. Not a great round Dave.
Overall, JB took out the series easily, from Scott in a first ever series podium in 2nd. 3rd place (by default) went to the writer. The less said about that the better !
