Revo Slot GP2
Shakedown Race
Shakedown Race 2
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7 (Final Round)
Final Series Points
Race Results and reports
Shakedown Race 1 - Gotham Park - 14/11/23
1st - Rhys Filbee
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
Shakedown Race 1 - Gotham Park - 14/11/23
1st - Rhys Filbee
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Adrian Gray
Shakedown Race Report
It was with high expectations that the first testing session for the Grp 2 Revoslots was run this week on the demanding Gotham Park layout. All indications from this nights testing are that this will be a very competitive, closely fought & quite exciting series. It also showed that these cars will take some getting used to for some drivers….and not much for others. All pre-series predictions of doom & gloom that the Opel Kadetts (Geminis) would be the unbeatable car of the series might need a slight rethink as the top 3 cars in this test round consisted of – Alfa, Escort & BMW……..or it could just be the Gemini drivers (which is highly probable in my case).
Anyway, to the testing & Rhys Filbee showed that the foresight of his harassment of Bruce Thomas to swap cars at the hand out night was very astute as his (Bruces) Alfa found the track to his liking & took out the test race with a lap total of 97 laps. However, not by much. In 2nd place on the same number of laps was, ironically, Bruce Thomas in Rhys’s Escort only losing out to Rhys on track position. This rivalry will be an interesting one to watch over the actual series given the hostility that already exists between the two cars given their history of swapping camps.
In 3rd place, & showing very, very good pace was the BMW of Adrian Gray. Putting in lap times of around .3 quicker than the next best Adrian has shown that, as usual, his car will be one of the pre-series favourites on outright speed. His total of 96 laps was 1 lap to the good of 4th place Phil. Phils car in this shake down race bearing absolutely no resemblance to the car that he will be running on the series proper, but bearing a very good resemblance to a well known historic racing car seen around motor racing circuits back in the 1970s.
In 5th, on 94 laps, Callan Thomas handled the slightly underweight escort very well given the circumstances & in solid testing will improve no doubt. 6th place went to DB on 92 laps, although questions have to be asked whether DB was really ging flat out, or if he was more concerned about not damaging the lovely livery & body shape of his Alfa. JB (in the first of the Opels I might add) was next in 7th on 90 laps, 3 ahead of Rob Golley (8th) in his BMW. Dave Gray had a good testing session in his Alfa, and finished in 9th on 86 laps, 4 laps ahead of Scott Wymans BMW (?) on 82 laps.
Thomas males in the Orange Jager BMW had slight de-slot issues to finish 11th on 68 laps, but this was still enough to be well clear of the writers Opel who had braid, weight & tyre issues to not finish the testing at all……(and I lost a bloody mirror too !!!)
Just as well we’re not starting this next week.
It was with high expectations that the first testing session for the Grp 2 Revoslots was run this week on the demanding Gotham Park layout. All indications from this nights testing are that this will be a very competitive, closely fought & quite exciting series. It also showed that these cars will take some getting used to for some drivers….and not much for others. All pre-series predictions of doom & gloom that the Opel Kadetts (Geminis) would be the unbeatable car of the series might need a slight rethink as the top 3 cars in this test round consisted of – Alfa, Escort & BMW……..or it could just be the Gemini drivers (which is highly probable in my case).
Anyway, to the testing & Rhys Filbee showed that the foresight of his harassment of Bruce Thomas to swap cars at the hand out night was very astute as his (Bruces) Alfa found the track to his liking & took out the test race with a lap total of 97 laps. However, not by much. In 2nd place on the same number of laps was, ironically, Bruce Thomas in Rhys’s Escort only losing out to Rhys on track position. This rivalry will be an interesting one to watch over the actual series given the hostility that already exists between the two cars given their history of swapping camps.
In 3rd place, & showing very, very good pace was the BMW of Adrian Gray. Putting in lap times of around .3 quicker than the next best Adrian has shown that, as usual, his car will be one of the pre-series favourites on outright speed. His total of 96 laps was 1 lap to the good of 4th place Phil. Phils car in this shake down race bearing absolutely no resemblance to the car that he will be running on the series proper, but bearing a very good resemblance to a well known historic racing car seen around motor racing circuits back in the 1970s.
In 5th, on 94 laps, Callan Thomas handled the slightly underweight escort very well given the circumstances & in solid testing will improve no doubt. 6th place went to DB on 92 laps, although questions have to be asked whether DB was really ging flat out, or if he was more concerned about not damaging the lovely livery & body shape of his Alfa. JB (in the first of the Opels I might add) was next in 7th on 90 laps, 3 ahead of Rob Golley (8th) in his BMW. Dave Gray had a good testing session in his Alfa, and finished in 9th on 86 laps, 4 laps ahead of Scott Wymans BMW (?) on 82 laps.
Thomas males in the Orange Jager BMW had slight de-slot issues to finish 11th on 68 laps, but this was still enough to be well clear of the writers Opel who had braid, weight & tyre issues to not finish the testing at all……(and I lost a bloody mirror too !!!)
Just as well we’re not starting this next week.
Shakedown Race 2 - Gotham Park - 12/12/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Schofield
3rd - John Batich
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Dave Schofield
3rd - John Batich
Round 1 - Stratton Valley - 5/3/24
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
Check out the slo mo video highlights from this round of the Revo Grp2 here
Race Report - Round 1
To the first round of an eagerly anticipated new series involving the little Revoslot Grp2 sedans. Beautifully presented in a great looking variety of liveries, and, refreshingly, body types. The cars involved in the series currently being –
Alfa GTA, BMW 2002ti, Escort MK1 & the Opal Kadett GT/E (or more commonly known in Australia – the Holden Gemini !)
An excellent first up variety of cars for the initial series, with a promise of even more options to be available in subsequent series including the recently released, and superb looking Datsun 510. So, all looks promising, but the proof of the pudding, so they say, is in the eating or to put this in in Slot car terms - ”the proof of the car is in the driving”
The million dollar question was how would they be to drive, and would the series be competitive. Well, at least one of those questions was answered in the first heat, Competition between first protagonists DB & Tom was tight right from the start Tom found his little Jägermeister BMW to his liking & was enjoying taking it right up to DB in his Alfa all of the first heat. DB found the competition so intense that at one stage punted Tom off to get some relief from his pressure. But Tom wasn’t to be denied and towards the end of the heat it even looked as though a very late crash by DB had handed the heat win to Tom, but sadly Tom’s car collided with the out of control DB & in an act of injustice it was DBs car that was replaced first. So DB took out the first heat by less than a foot, but this was a very good introduction to the nights racing in this class which continued along these lines all night.
There were some ding dong battles throughout the heats, including one involving eventual top 3 finishers Adrian Gray & Phil Kalbfell. Adrians sheer speed in his little BMW was astonishing, and proved unbeatable on the night with him racking up 79 laps and a best lap time of 6.29 to finish first. Bruce in his Escort flew under the radar a little more, but was just as consistent, if just slightly off the pace with his lap times in the 6.4 range. His total of 78 laps was enough to take out 2nd from a tight battle for 3rd between Phil & Mal both on 76 laps for the night. It was obvious though that Phil’s Opal/Gemini had the pace & won 3rd on track position quite easily from the writer in another Opal/Gemini in 4th.
Rhys’s Alfa looked very stable & was quick enough to grab 5th on 75 laps from the slightly less stable but very quick Escort of Callan in 6th with a 73 lap total. Just 1 lap back was the green BMW of Rob, which was also very quick in a straight line & could have climbed higher up the results if it weren’t for a slight issue on the last corner. Robs total was 72 laps in the end and was enough for 7th. Schoee in his nicely presented Alfa was next in 8th on 71 laps, but a much improved total in heat 3 indicates that Schoees car has some improvement left in it.
The top 10 battle for 9th & 10th between DB & JB was a tight one, both finishing on 70 laps, but JB grabbed the position on track to grab the 9th sport from DB.
Dave Gray finished 11th with 65 laps, and was also improving throughout the heats as he dialled out some brakes to noticeably improve his cars drivability. Toms total of 64 laps was also competitive & his 12th place finish was not really an indication of how well he drove during his bracket.
Scott suffered an inopportune mechanical after a good first up heat and this put paid to his nights racing.
To the first round of an eagerly anticipated new series involving the little Revoslot Grp2 sedans. Beautifully presented in a great looking variety of liveries, and, refreshingly, body types. The cars involved in the series currently being –
Alfa GTA, BMW 2002ti, Escort MK1 & the Opal Kadett GT/E (or more commonly known in Australia – the Holden Gemini !)
An excellent first up variety of cars for the initial series, with a promise of even more options to be available in subsequent series including the recently released, and superb looking Datsun 510. So, all looks promising, but the proof of the pudding, so they say, is in the eating or to put this in in Slot car terms - ”the proof of the car is in the driving”
The million dollar question was how would they be to drive, and would the series be competitive. Well, at least one of those questions was answered in the first heat, Competition between first protagonists DB & Tom was tight right from the start Tom found his little Jägermeister BMW to his liking & was enjoying taking it right up to DB in his Alfa all of the first heat. DB found the competition so intense that at one stage punted Tom off to get some relief from his pressure. But Tom wasn’t to be denied and towards the end of the heat it even looked as though a very late crash by DB had handed the heat win to Tom, but sadly Tom’s car collided with the out of control DB & in an act of injustice it was DBs car that was replaced first. So DB took out the first heat by less than a foot, but this was a very good introduction to the nights racing in this class which continued along these lines all night.
There were some ding dong battles throughout the heats, including one involving eventual top 3 finishers Adrian Gray & Phil Kalbfell. Adrians sheer speed in his little BMW was astonishing, and proved unbeatable on the night with him racking up 79 laps and a best lap time of 6.29 to finish first. Bruce in his Escort flew under the radar a little more, but was just as consistent, if just slightly off the pace with his lap times in the 6.4 range. His total of 78 laps was enough to take out 2nd from a tight battle for 3rd between Phil & Mal both on 76 laps for the night. It was obvious though that Phil’s Opal/Gemini had the pace & won 3rd on track position quite easily from the writer in another Opal/Gemini in 4th.
Rhys’s Alfa looked very stable & was quick enough to grab 5th on 75 laps from the slightly less stable but very quick Escort of Callan in 6th with a 73 lap total. Just 1 lap back was the green BMW of Rob, which was also very quick in a straight line & could have climbed higher up the results if it weren’t for a slight issue on the last corner. Robs total was 72 laps in the end and was enough for 7th. Schoee in his nicely presented Alfa was next in 8th on 71 laps, but a much improved total in heat 3 indicates that Schoees car has some improvement left in it.
The top 10 battle for 9th & 10th between DB & JB was a tight one, both finishing on 70 laps, but JB grabbed the position on track to grab the 9th sport from DB.
Dave Gray finished 11th with 65 laps, and was also improving throughout the heats as he dialled out some brakes to noticeably improve his cars drivability. Toms total of 64 laps was also competitive & his 12th place finish was not really an indication of how well he drove during his bracket.
Scott suffered an inopportune mechanical after a good first up heat and this put paid to his nights racing.
Round 2 - Mornington Park- 12/3/24
1st - Rhys Filbee
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
1st - Rhys Filbee
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
Race Report - Round 2
Race 2 of the Revoslot Grp 2 series, and there were some big moves in both directions on the leaderboard this week. The greatest improvement in form though was shown by Rhys in his yellow Alfa. A solid 5th last week was turned into a slashing win this week with a grand total of 117 laps as his car performed faultlessly & handled the tight (and rather sticky) Mornington Park circuit as if on rails.In taking out the round Rhys even managed to overcome the appearance of Dave Bantofts car lying across the middle of the track at regular intervals.
In 2nd this week & another very strong performance was Adrian Gray in the BMW. Hi 115 lap total was made all the more meritorious given that his tyres appeared to resemble things that had been trued with a cheese grater. How he managed to get his car around at speed consistently is beyond the writer’s comprehension.
1 lap back and in his 2nd top 3 place in succession was the reliable Opal/Gemini of Phil Kalbfell. The fact that in two rounds so far, the top 3 cars have been made up of all 4 models of the handout Revoslot Grp 2 range (BMW, Escort, Alfa & Opal) bodes very well for the evenness of this class going forward.
The battle for 4th & 5th was fought out between Rob & JB with both racking up 111 laps, however it was JB in the Opel/gemini who had track position & won the place in the end form Robs green BMW
The writer had a fall down the rankings this week from an encouraging 4th in the first round. A drop down to 6th with 109 very untidy laps was not as enjoyable, and the Opel/Gemini suffered somewhat from the much-increased grip of the Mornington track. Bring on the Batcave next week.
In 7th on 102 laps, Db had some trouble keeping his lovely looking Alfa on track at all & was a regular sight lying sideways across the track at the overpass kink. Another driver who will enjoy slightly less grip I’d suggest. In 8th and on 95 laps this evening was the BMW of Scott, 3 laps clear of 9th placegetter Dave Gray in his Alfa. Only 1 lap back in 10th was the Orange Jägermeister BMW of Thomas Males.
Yet another closely fought round, and it will be interesting to see how these cars perform on the Gotham Park layout next week, and particularly the home team Escorts of the Thomas garage.
Race 2 of the Revoslot Grp 2 series, and there were some big moves in both directions on the leaderboard this week. The greatest improvement in form though was shown by Rhys in his yellow Alfa. A solid 5th last week was turned into a slashing win this week with a grand total of 117 laps as his car performed faultlessly & handled the tight (and rather sticky) Mornington Park circuit as if on rails.In taking out the round Rhys even managed to overcome the appearance of Dave Bantofts car lying across the middle of the track at regular intervals.
In 2nd this week & another very strong performance was Adrian Gray in the BMW. Hi 115 lap total was made all the more meritorious given that his tyres appeared to resemble things that had been trued with a cheese grater. How he managed to get his car around at speed consistently is beyond the writer’s comprehension.
1 lap back and in his 2nd top 3 place in succession was the reliable Opal/Gemini of Phil Kalbfell. The fact that in two rounds so far, the top 3 cars have been made up of all 4 models of the handout Revoslot Grp 2 range (BMW, Escort, Alfa & Opal) bodes very well for the evenness of this class going forward.
The battle for 4th & 5th was fought out between Rob & JB with both racking up 111 laps, however it was JB in the Opel/gemini who had track position & won the place in the end form Robs green BMW
The writer had a fall down the rankings this week from an encouraging 4th in the first round. A drop down to 6th with 109 very untidy laps was not as enjoyable, and the Opel/Gemini suffered somewhat from the much-increased grip of the Mornington track. Bring on the Batcave next week.
In 7th on 102 laps, Db had some trouble keeping his lovely looking Alfa on track at all & was a regular sight lying sideways across the track at the overpass kink. Another driver who will enjoy slightly less grip I’d suggest. In 8th and on 95 laps this evening was the BMW of Scott, 3 laps clear of 9th placegetter Dave Gray in his Alfa. Only 1 lap back in 10th was the Orange Jägermeister BMW of Thomas Males.
Yet another closely fought round, and it will be interesting to see how these cars perform on the Gotham Park layout next week, and particularly the home team Escorts of the Thomas garage.
Round 3 - Gotham Park- 19/3/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Mal O'May
Race Report - Round 3
It was off to a wallaby & wabbit free Gotham Park for round 3 of the Revoslot Group2 sedans this week, and it was with anticipation that we all looked forward to seeing what the home town team of Escorts could achieve on their home track. However, as it turned out it was the ever reliable Phil Kalbfell in his Opel/Gemini who turned his 2 x 3rd place finishes into a comfortable win this week.
Phils total of 104 laps was 4 clear of the best placed of the Thomas Escort garage, Bruce, in 2nd place with 100 laps exactly. For 3rd it was another ding dong battle between the Opel/Gemini & the Ford Escort with the writer & Callan Thomas both finishing up on 97 laps. This time it was the writer who took out 3rd from the ill handling Escort of Callan in 4th.
Just 2 laps back & it was another 2 way battle for 5th & 6th between 2 of the quicker cars in the series. The BMW's of Scott & Adrian seem to have the pace of the field and in a very tight finish both ended up on 95 laps fore the night with Scott taking out 5th on track position from Adrian in 6th.
JB’s Opel/Gemini had 7th place to himself (being the only driver on 94 laps), ahead of yet another duo battling it our for 8th & 9th. Last weeks winner Rhys found the Gotham Park track a little challenging this week & he eventually ended up in 8th on 93 laps, just pipping Rob Golley (8th) on the same lap total.
Rounding out the top 10 this week, Dave Schofield with his 89 lap total, 2 laps clear of Dave Bantoft in 11th on 87. The trio of Daves was completed by Dave Gray next in line and in 12th position on 85 laps, and in another close battle for position. Tom Males also racked up 85 laps but ended up 13th on the night. A great (almost full) field of racing this week and despite Bruce’s apparent boredom this class is proving a close, & often incident packed class of racing with all 4 models figuring in the top 3 at some stage so far.
Current series standings see Phil jump to the top of the leader board by 2 points after Adrian's result this week, but when we drop worst round points I feel sure that Adrian will be right back in contention. Bruce is in a similar position after missing round 2 and will be another driver climbing back up the leaderboard after dropped rounds are introduced. As it stands currently though, it is yours truly that has a (very) tenuous grip on 3rd place overall, mainly due to vague reliability (certainly not outright pace!)
Rhys, just 1 point back, certainly has the pace & ability to push into the top 3 in the very near future. With 4 rounds to go, all top 3 options are still very much up in the air.
It was off to a wallaby & wabbit free Gotham Park for round 3 of the Revoslot Group2 sedans this week, and it was with anticipation that we all looked forward to seeing what the home town team of Escorts could achieve on their home track. However, as it turned out it was the ever reliable Phil Kalbfell in his Opel/Gemini who turned his 2 x 3rd place finishes into a comfortable win this week.
Phils total of 104 laps was 4 clear of the best placed of the Thomas Escort garage, Bruce, in 2nd place with 100 laps exactly. For 3rd it was another ding dong battle between the Opel/Gemini & the Ford Escort with the writer & Callan Thomas both finishing up on 97 laps. This time it was the writer who took out 3rd from the ill handling Escort of Callan in 4th.
Just 2 laps back & it was another 2 way battle for 5th & 6th between 2 of the quicker cars in the series. The BMW's of Scott & Adrian seem to have the pace of the field and in a very tight finish both ended up on 95 laps fore the night with Scott taking out 5th on track position from Adrian in 6th.
JB’s Opel/Gemini had 7th place to himself (being the only driver on 94 laps), ahead of yet another duo battling it our for 8th & 9th. Last weeks winner Rhys found the Gotham Park track a little challenging this week & he eventually ended up in 8th on 93 laps, just pipping Rob Golley (8th) on the same lap total.
Rounding out the top 10 this week, Dave Schofield with his 89 lap total, 2 laps clear of Dave Bantoft in 11th on 87. The trio of Daves was completed by Dave Gray next in line and in 12th position on 85 laps, and in another close battle for position. Tom Males also racked up 85 laps but ended up 13th on the night. A great (almost full) field of racing this week and despite Bruce’s apparent boredom this class is proving a close, & often incident packed class of racing with all 4 models figuring in the top 3 at some stage so far.
Current series standings see Phil jump to the top of the leader board by 2 points after Adrian's result this week, but when we drop worst round points I feel sure that Adrian will be right back in contention. Bruce is in a similar position after missing round 2 and will be another driver climbing back up the leaderboard after dropped rounds are introduced. As it stands currently though, it is yours truly that has a (very) tenuous grip on 3rd place overall, mainly due to vague reliability (certainly not outright pace!)
Rhys, just 1 point back, certainly has the pace & ability to push into the top 3 in the very near future. With 4 rounds to go, all top 3 options are still very much up in the air.
Round 4 - Shelmore Park- 26/3/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Adrian Gray
* Apologies for lack of a report this week, but mention must be made of the final race on the great Shelmore Park circuit in it's present form/location. There is no doubt that Phil created a wonderful track that I think everyone enjoys driving on (except maybe for those on red when their car disappears into the Station hairpin!). Hopefully this circuit is not lost to us, and will re-appear on the track rotation as soon as possible. Thanks for the memories Phil.....let them live on.
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Mal O'May
3rd - Adrian Gray
* Apologies for lack of a report this week, but mention must be made of the final race on the great Shelmore Park circuit in it's present form/location. There is no doubt that Phil created a wonderful track that I think everyone enjoys driving on (except maybe for those on red when their car disappears into the Station hairpin!). Hopefully this circuit is not lost to us, and will re-appear on the track rotation as soon as possible. Thanks for the memories Phil.....let them live on.
Round 5 - Stratton Valley- 2/4/24
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Rhys Filbee
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - Rhys Filbee
Race Report - Round 5
Round 5 of the Revoslot group 2 sedans this week & we’re approaching the business end of the series. This round allows drivers to drop their worst performances from the points tally & this has resulted a considerable shuffling of overall placings at the completion of this evenings racing.
In the round, it was a return to the winners circle for Adrian & his was the standout fastest car on the night with lap times in the 6.1 second range, a full 2 tenths better than the next best of Bruce & Rhys. This allowed his BMW to rack up 80 laps to take out the win by a close margin of 1 lap from Bruce’s Escort in 2nd on 79 laps.
Rhys continued his great form in the Alfa slotting into 3rd this week with 78 laps for the night. Callan found the track more to his liking tonight & was very competitive in his Escort only just missing the podium with his 77 laps for 4th. Just 1 lap back on 76 laps was a 2-way battle for 5th & 6th with Phil’s Gemini/Opel (5th) taking out the position by about 20 centimeters from my own Gemini/Opel in 6th. Which, I have to say, was quite poor form after all the work I had done the day before crawling around under Phil's track. The least he could have done was to throttle back just a tad earlier!.
1 more lap back & it was another battle for positions 7th & 8th between Rob & DB on 75 laps. Rob‘s BMW took 7th this week form DBs Alfa in 8th. In 9th & on 74 laps all alone was the Alfa of Schoee, 1 lap ahead of JBs Gemini/Opel rounding out the top 10 in 10th place.
In 11th place, and with a total of 72 laps, Scott’s BMW was 5 laps clear of Dave Gray’s Alfa in 12th spot on 67 laps. Which in turn was 4 laps clear of the Jägermeister BMW of Tom rounding out the field in 13th on 63 laps for the night.
A very interesting statistical glance at tonight's racing highlights the closeness of this class of car. For example, a total of 8 drivers racked up 25 laps in at least 1 heat during their driving stint. That’s ¾ of the field. Therefore 1 lap more or less here or there made a huge difference to a drivers overall position on the night as shown by Rhys. His 26 lap total in each heat, grabbed him 3rd spot whereas DBs total of 25 laps in each heat pushed him down to 8th.
As far as the overall points are concerned, with the dropped points round now in place, Bruce has certainly been one of the main beneficiaries & rocketed up the table into 3rd behind leaders Adrian Gray & Phil Kalbfell. Both Bruce & Callen were able to drop their missed round 2 performance. Rhys also moved up into a strong 4th overall with his worst performance (8th) relegated to the memory banks. Adrian's lead over Phil is 1 point, with 2 rounds to go & it’s going to go down to the wire for the win.
Top 4 - BMW, Gemini, Escort, Alfa........
As Bruce stated last night, there is a good case being made to include these cars as a permanent annual fixture on the calendar, rather than wait another two years before bringing them out again. Discussion to be had on all current race classes later in the year I’d suggest.
Round 5 of the Revoslot group 2 sedans this week & we’re approaching the business end of the series. This round allows drivers to drop their worst performances from the points tally & this has resulted a considerable shuffling of overall placings at the completion of this evenings racing.
In the round, it was a return to the winners circle for Adrian & his was the standout fastest car on the night with lap times in the 6.1 second range, a full 2 tenths better than the next best of Bruce & Rhys. This allowed his BMW to rack up 80 laps to take out the win by a close margin of 1 lap from Bruce’s Escort in 2nd on 79 laps.
Rhys continued his great form in the Alfa slotting into 3rd this week with 78 laps for the night. Callan found the track more to his liking tonight & was very competitive in his Escort only just missing the podium with his 77 laps for 4th. Just 1 lap back on 76 laps was a 2-way battle for 5th & 6th with Phil’s Gemini/Opel (5th) taking out the position by about 20 centimeters from my own Gemini/Opel in 6th. Which, I have to say, was quite poor form after all the work I had done the day before crawling around under Phil's track. The least he could have done was to throttle back just a tad earlier!.
1 more lap back & it was another battle for positions 7th & 8th between Rob & DB on 75 laps. Rob‘s BMW took 7th this week form DBs Alfa in 8th. In 9th & on 74 laps all alone was the Alfa of Schoee, 1 lap ahead of JBs Gemini/Opel rounding out the top 10 in 10th place.
In 11th place, and with a total of 72 laps, Scott’s BMW was 5 laps clear of Dave Gray’s Alfa in 12th spot on 67 laps. Which in turn was 4 laps clear of the Jägermeister BMW of Tom rounding out the field in 13th on 63 laps for the night.
A very interesting statistical glance at tonight's racing highlights the closeness of this class of car. For example, a total of 8 drivers racked up 25 laps in at least 1 heat during their driving stint. That’s ¾ of the field. Therefore 1 lap more or less here or there made a huge difference to a drivers overall position on the night as shown by Rhys. His 26 lap total in each heat, grabbed him 3rd spot whereas DBs total of 25 laps in each heat pushed him down to 8th.
As far as the overall points are concerned, with the dropped points round now in place, Bruce has certainly been one of the main beneficiaries & rocketed up the table into 3rd behind leaders Adrian Gray & Phil Kalbfell. Both Bruce & Callen were able to drop their missed round 2 performance. Rhys also moved up into a strong 4th overall with his worst performance (8th) relegated to the memory banks. Adrian's lead over Phil is 1 point, with 2 rounds to go & it’s going to go down to the wire for the win.
Top 4 - BMW, Gemini, Escort, Alfa........
As Bruce stated last night, there is a good case being made to include these cars as a permanent annual fixture on the calendar, rather than wait another two years before bringing them out again. Discussion to be had on all current race classes later in the year I’d suggest.
Round 6 - Mornington Park- 9/4/24
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Callan Thomas
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Callan Thomas
Race Report - Round 6
Penultimate, a favourite word of mine when it comes to certain series of cars. For example, I am very much looking forward to the penultimate round of the Sideways Grp 5 series because that will mean there’s only 1 round left!
However, in the case of the Revoslot Grp 2 sedans, this word is tinged with a touch of regret as it signifies the imminent end of the initial series of this handout class. A class that seems to have been quite a success among most drivers and has certainly led to some very close racing.
Anyway, this week saw an ever so slight move at the top of the points table as Adrian Gray took out the win this week with a total of 119 laps. This lap total was shared with 2nd placegetter Phil Kalbfell, but Adrians track position got him the win. And how vital this win might be in the end we’ll have to wait and see. His win & Phils 2nd opened up a 2 point gap in the points, and with 1 round to go at the notorious Gotham Park layout anything can happen. Mind you, Adrian might be very thankful of this 2 point advantage next week as his worst performance so far in the series (6th) was at this very track in round 3….which Phil won! Very interesting.
Back to this week however, and in 3rd place in his best result this series on 118 laps, Callan Thomas with a 1 lap advantage over 4th place Rhys Filbee. Rhys’s 3rd also had implications in the points as he moved up into the top 3 ahead of Bruce by 1 point. Back in 5th this week on 114 laps was myself which had absolutely no impact on my position in the points table, and 1 more lap back on 113 laps this week, Bruce Thomas in 6th. This certainly did have some impact on the points however, as Bruce lost his hold on 3rd in the series to Rhys…by 1 point. Next week’s round looking more important by the minute. Rob Golley slotted into 7th, just 1 more lap back on 112, which was 2 laps clear of a huge battle for 8th & 9th between JB, DB & Schoee. All 3 racking up 110 laps, but with JB taking the position (8th) from DB in 9th & Schoee rounding out the top 10.
In 11th on 104 laps was Dave Gray this week, which was 1 lap to the good of our special international guest driver, Nick Golley, who drove his hastily prepared (not at all) car into 12th with 103 laps for the night.
Scott used the night mainly as a test session & his total of 94 laps (13th) was indicative of his trialling control settings throughout his heats.
Penultimate, a favourite word of mine when it comes to certain series of cars. For example, I am very much looking forward to the penultimate round of the Sideways Grp 5 series because that will mean there’s only 1 round left!
However, in the case of the Revoslot Grp 2 sedans, this word is tinged with a touch of regret as it signifies the imminent end of the initial series of this handout class. A class that seems to have been quite a success among most drivers and has certainly led to some very close racing.
Anyway, this week saw an ever so slight move at the top of the points table as Adrian Gray took out the win this week with a total of 119 laps. This lap total was shared with 2nd placegetter Phil Kalbfell, but Adrians track position got him the win. And how vital this win might be in the end we’ll have to wait and see. His win & Phils 2nd opened up a 2 point gap in the points, and with 1 round to go at the notorious Gotham Park layout anything can happen. Mind you, Adrian might be very thankful of this 2 point advantage next week as his worst performance so far in the series (6th) was at this very track in round 3….which Phil won! Very interesting.
Back to this week however, and in 3rd place in his best result this series on 118 laps, Callan Thomas with a 1 lap advantage over 4th place Rhys Filbee. Rhys’s 3rd also had implications in the points as he moved up into the top 3 ahead of Bruce by 1 point. Back in 5th this week on 114 laps was myself which had absolutely no impact on my position in the points table, and 1 more lap back on 113 laps this week, Bruce Thomas in 6th. This certainly did have some impact on the points however, as Bruce lost his hold on 3rd in the series to Rhys…by 1 point. Next week’s round looking more important by the minute. Rob Golley slotted into 7th, just 1 more lap back on 112, which was 2 laps clear of a huge battle for 8th & 9th between JB, DB & Schoee. All 3 racking up 110 laps, but with JB taking the position (8th) from DB in 9th & Schoee rounding out the top 10.
In 11th on 104 laps was Dave Gray this week, which was 1 lap to the good of our special international guest driver, Nick Golley, who drove his hastily prepared (not at all) car into 12th with 103 laps for the night.
Scott used the night mainly as a test session & his total of 94 laps (13th) was indicative of his trialling control settings throughout his heats.
Round 7 - Gotham Park- 16/4/24
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Bruce Thomas
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Callan Thomas
3rd - Bruce Thomas
Final Series - Top 3
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Bruce Thomas
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Bruce Thomas
Race Report - Round 7 & Final series summary
All good things must come to an end, or so the saying goes. And so it is with the Revoslot Grp 2 sedans this year as this week brings us to the end of the first series in this new handout class. Going on the majority of comments over the series, it seems to have been very well received and we might well need to have some discussion on including them as an annual class. Mind you, there are some of us who would be happy to have all three of our current Revoslot classes (Porsche, GT & Grp 2) run annually…….which starts to cut down on the variety of classes each year bit……which might be a good thing according to some (cough Fly Trucks cough).
Discussion for another time perhaps…or an executive decision made by a small group of dictators.
To the final rounds racing, and it is with huge apologies that the writer must accept some responsibility for overall series results. I might have suggested during the week that series leader Adrian Gray “could” be in a slightly vulnerable position leading into the final round. Despite his 2 point lead over 2nd place Phil, there was a reminder that his worst result in the series so far (6th) had been in round 3 at the same venue of Gotham Park, a round that Phil co-incidentally won at.
Well, I don’t know if I should put this bit of writing down as an actual prediction, but our correspondent seems to have a bit of a knack for forecasting future events quite accurately.
Phil won, Adrian finished 4th & the series was taken out by Phil by the total of 1 point overall. Amazing come from behind result, which left Adrian traumatised & threatening the writer with legal action if he ever dares write anything prophesying similar events again.
Phils total of 102 laps showed that over the course of the series that he had the form Gemini of the field & although not necessarily the outright fastest, had the handling to cope with all tracks involved. In 2nd tonight was a battle royale of the Tomas stable of Escorts, and it was Callan who once again took bragging rights over Bruce with both finishing on 101 laps. It’s been a very good back end of the series from Callan who had to overcome his poorly prepared car in the early rounds. His strong finish probably has him wishing for another 7 rounds asap. It was enough to grab him 4th spot in the series overall, leapfrogging the unfortunate Rhys.
Bruce rounded out the top 3 this week & locked in his top 3 spot in the series as well. It’s been a good consistent series of results from Bruce without managing to snatch a win.
As mentioned earlier, 4th this week went to Adrian on 98 laps and despite 3 wins in the series, was just enough to drop him that 1 point back into 2nd place overall. Tied on 98 laps, but 5th on track was JB. JB showed some good pace & control this week to grab his best finish of the series and highlighted the promise that his car showed over the entire 7 rounds without quite delivering.
Another car that showed glimpses of good form was the 6th placegetter (97 laps), my own Gemini. A 3rd & 2nd in the middle rounds was as good as it got, and the tyres seems to go from perfect to over grippy in the space of a week. Only good enough for a 6th overall in the final series washup.
In 7th, with his best result of the series, Schoee found the track to his liking & was the form Alfa driver of the round this week on 94 laps. His total was 1 lap to the good of the 2nd Alfa driver DB on 93 laps which was good enough for 8th.
In 9th & well inside the top 10 after a very decent drive, was Thomas Males on 88 laps, 1 lap ahead of the unfortunate Rhys Filbee. After being one of the form driver/car combinations of the series recently, Rhys almost had one hand on a 3rd place overall. However, some major handing issues this week dropped Rhys down to 10th tonight which meant an end result of 4th in the series. Bad luck Rhys.
In 11th tonight and on 83 laps Dave Gray also had troubles in lane 4 which didn’t help his cause at all.
All good things must come to an end, or so the saying goes. And so it is with the Revoslot Grp 2 sedans this year as this week brings us to the end of the first series in this new handout class. Going on the majority of comments over the series, it seems to have been very well received and we might well need to have some discussion on including them as an annual class. Mind you, there are some of us who would be happy to have all three of our current Revoslot classes (Porsche, GT & Grp 2) run annually…….which starts to cut down on the variety of classes each year bit……which might be a good thing according to some (cough Fly Trucks cough).
Discussion for another time perhaps…or an executive decision made by a small group of dictators.
To the final rounds racing, and it is with huge apologies that the writer must accept some responsibility for overall series results. I might have suggested during the week that series leader Adrian Gray “could” be in a slightly vulnerable position leading into the final round. Despite his 2 point lead over 2nd place Phil, there was a reminder that his worst result in the series so far (6th) had been in round 3 at the same venue of Gotham Park, a round that Phil co-incidentally won at.
Well, I don’t know if I should put this bit of writing down as an actual prediction, but our correspondent seems to have a bit of a knack for forecasting future events quite accurately.
Phil won, Adrian finished 4th & the series was taken out by Phil by the total of 1 point overall. Amazing come from behind result, which left Adrian traumatised & threatening the writer with legal action if he ever dares write anything prophesying similar events again.
Phils total of 102 laps showed that over the course of the series that he had the form Gemini of the field & although not necessarily the outright fastest, had the handling to cope with all tracks involved. In 2nd tonight was a battle royale of the Tomas stable of Escorts, and it was Callan who once again took bragging rights over Bruce with both finishing on 101 laps. It’s been a very good back end of the series from Callan who had to overcome his poorly prepared car in the early rounds. His strong finish probably has him wishing for another 7 rounds asap. It was enough to grab him 4th spot in the series overall, leapfrogging the unfortunate Rhys.
Bruce rounded out the top 3 this week & locked in his top 3 spot in the series as well. It’s been a good consistent series of results from Bruce without managing to snatch a win.
As mentioned earlier, 4th this week went to Adrian on 98 laps and despite 3 wins in the series, was just enough to drop him that 1 point back into 2nd place overall. Tied on 98 laps, but 5th on track was JB. JB showed some good pace & control this week to grab his best finish of the series and highlighted the promise that his car showed over the entire 7 rounds without quite delivering.
Another car that showed glimpses of good form was the 6th placegetter (97 laps), my own Gemini. A 3rd & 2nd in the middle rounds was as good as it got, and the tyres seems to go from perfect to over grippy in the space of a week. Only good enough for a 6th overall in the final series washup.
In 7th, with his best result of the series, Schoee found the track to his liking & was the form Alfa driver of the round this week on 94 laps. His total was 1 lap to the good of the 2nd Alfa driver DB on 93 laps which was good enough for 8th.
In 9th & well inside the top 10 after a very decent drive, was Thomas Males on 88 laps, 1 lap ahead of the unfortunate Rhys Filbee. After being one of the form driver/car combinations of the series recently, Rhys almost had one hand on a 3rd place overall. However, some major handing issues this week dropped Rhys down to 10th tonight which meant an end result of 4th in the series. Bad luck Rhys.
In 11th tonight and on 83 laps Dave Gray also had troubles in lane 4 which didn’t help his cause at all.
