Podium Photos & Race Reports
Race 1 - Mornington Park - 10/1/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Mal O'May
Race 2 - Stratton Valley - 17/1/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
Summary rounds 1 & 2
Round 1
A new year & the first new class of the year is the return of the original Slot-it DTM hand out cars. In the first “interesting” development for the evening it was found that many of the stock standard, out of the box hand out cars were deemed illegal according to the rules drawn up for this series…..obviously drawing up rules without scrutineering the cars before last series seems to have some drawbacks !
Hasty negotiations ensued & it was decided that the regulations might be tweaked slightly to prevent a third of the cars (All the Calibras) being excluded from racing in this series……which was a relief to those of us who managed to draw one of these Opels in the lucky dip of the hand out.
On to Round 1, and in a complete surprise to nobody, Adrian Grays Alfa hadn’t lost any pace from the last series & was still (unfortunately) a rocket ship taking out round 1 with 120 laps. However, Phils newly developed Calibra wasn’t that far off the pace & ran a very strong & close 2nd just 1 lap off Adrians total on 119 laps for the night. The third place Calibra (myself) was quite a way off the pace though on 116, the same lap total as 4th placegetter JB in another Calibra. Callan Thomas in the 2nd of the Alfas ran a good 5th on average tyres with 115 laps, ahead of Bruce Thomas (Alfa), Rhys (Mercedes) & Dave Bantoft (Alfa) in 6th, 7th & 8th respectively.
In another example of the close racing in this series, Dave Gray (Merc) & Dave Schofield (Calibra) were locked together on 11 laps in the battle for 9th & 10th, with Dave Gray just winning out on track position. Scotty Wayman notched up 106 laps for 11th in a borrowed Alfa, with Thomas Males (Alfa) in 12th on 103 laps, ahead of the returning Dennis Murray (Calibra) 13th on 97.
In 14th place this week was the unlucky Rob Golley who was setting a good early pace, but suffered lead wire problems to derail his campaign in Round 1.
A very good field for the night though & good close racing, which seems to be a feature of this class.
Round 2
The closeness of the racing only tightened further in round 2 at JBs Stratton Valley Track. Adrian & Phil once again battled for the win with Adrian grabbing the win again pipping Phil by just 1 lap on 81 laps for the evening. Phil in 2nd on 80. This was where the field really bunched up though. The battle for third was a three way one between Rob Golley, John Batich & Bruce Thomas all finishing on 79 laps. This time it was Rob making a good comeback from his disaster in round 1 to grab the last spot on the podium from JB & Bruce in 4th & 5th. Just 1 lap back but shuffled down to 6th was yours truly on 78 laps, lucky to be 1 lap ahead of another ding dong fight for places 7, 8 & 9.
On 77 laps we had Rhys Filbee, Callan Thomas, & Dave Bantoft finishing in this order. So, in the space of 4 laps we saw 1st through 9th . In 10th this week & only 2 laps back himself, was Dave Schofield on 75, ahead of Dave Gray (11th) on 72, & Scott Wayman in 12th in his new car (Calibra) on 71. No doubt Scotty will develop this car over the course of the series & will be a very good runner by round 7 😊
In 13th this week and only a couple of laps back was the Alfa of Thomas Males who finished on 69 laps for the round.
Round 1
A new year & the first new class of the year is the return of the original Slot-it DTM hand out cars. In the first “interesting” development for the evening it was found that many of the stock standard, out of the box hand out cars were deemed illegal according to the rules drawn up for this series…..obviously drawing up rules without scrutineering the cars before last series seems to have some drawbacks !
Hasty negotiations ensued & it was decided that the regulations might be tweaked slightly to prevent a third of the cars (All the Calibras) being excluded from racing in this series……which was a relief to those of us who managed to draw one of these Opels in the lucky dip of the hand out.
On to Round 1, and in a complete surprise to nobody, Adrian Grays Alfa hadn’t lost any pace from the last series & was still (unfortunately) a rocket ship taking out round 1 with 120 laps. However, Phils newly developed Calibra wasn’t that far off the pace & ran a very strong & close 2nd just 1 lap off Adrians total on 119 laps for the night. The third place Calibra (myself) was quite a way off the pace though on 116, the same lap total as 4th placegetter JB in another Calibra. Callan Thomas in the 2nd of the Alfas ran a good 5th on average tyres with 115 laps, ahead of Bruce Thomas (Alfa), Rhys (Mercedes) & Dave Bantoft (Alfa) in 6th, 7th & 8th respectively.
In another example of the close racing in this series, Dave Gray (Merc) & Dave Schofield (Calibra) were locked together on 11 laps in the battle for 9th & 10th, with Dave Gray just winning out on track position. Scotty Wayman notched up 106 laps for 11th in a borrowed Alfa, with Thomas Males (Alfa) in 12th on 103 laps, ahead of the returning Dennis Murray (Calibra) 13th on 97.
In 14th place this week was the unlucky Rob Golley who was setting a good early pace, but suffered lead wire problems to derail his campaign in Round 1.
A very good field for the night though & good close racing, which seems to be a feature of this class.
Round 2
The closeness of the racing only tightened further in round 2 at JBs Stratton Valley Track. Adrian & Phil once again battled for the win with Adrian grabbing the win again pipping Phil by just 1 lap on 81 laps for the evening. Phil in 2nd on 80. This was where the field really bunched up though. The battle for third was a three way one between Rob Golley, John Batich & Bruce Thomas all finishing on 79 laps. This time it was Rob making a good comeback from his disaster in round 1 to grab the last spot on the podium from JB & Bruce in 4th & 5th. Just 1 lap back but shuffled down to 6th was yours truly on 78 laps, lucky to be 1 lap ahead of another ding dong fight for places 7, 8 & 9.
On 77 laps we had Rhys Filbee, Callan Thomas, & Dave Bantoft finishing in this order. So, in the space of 4 laps we saw 1st through 9th . In 10th this week & only 2 laps back himself, was Dave Schofield on 75, ahead of Dave Gray (11th) on 72, & Scott Wayman in 12th in his new car (Calibra) on 71. No doubt Scotty will develop this car over the course of the series & will be a very good runner by round 7 😊
In 13th this week and only a couple of laps back was the Alfa of Thomas Males who finished on 69 laps for the round.
Race 3 - Mornington Park - 31/1/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Bruce Thomas
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Bruce Thomas
Race 4 - Stratton Valley - 7/2/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Adrian Gray
Round 4
In a shock for this weeks racing at Stratton Valley, the return of the prodigal son (Nick Golly) generated significant comment from all & sundry. Just as much of a shock for the DTM round was the fact that Rob didn’t have an identically prepared & perfectly setup car for Nick to jump straight onto & race. Rob, your standards are slipping somewhat 😊
No doubt this lack of team support didn’t help with Nicks results in the DTM for the evening. That & the fact he’s probably not touched a slot car controller for at least 12 months or more.
Anyway, back to the racing, and the shocks kept on coming as the so far unbeatable rocket of Adrian Gray was, in fact, beaten. Although it was mainly the consistency of Phil Kalbfell & John Batich which prevailed in this case, as well as some inconsistency (& a couple of de-slots in a row on the blue lane) on Adrian's part.
It was still very tight though, and with 4 drivers finishing on 81 laps there was a huge battle for podium positions. Phil ended up 1st this week, with JB & Adrian filling up the top 3. Bruce was the unlucky driver though, a matter of a car length off 3rd place himself. 1 lap behind 1st spot, but ending up 5th was the writer, demonstrating how competitive this series is this year.
Two more drivers shared 78 laps for the night & it was Dave Bantoft who grabbed 6th spot from Rob Golley on track position. The entertainment of the pac-man munching car of Dave Schofield was a lot less entertaining this week sadly, but probably allowed Schoee to concentrate more on his driving & his consistent drive saw him notch up 77 laps for 8th. This was just 1 lap ahead of Rhys Filbee’s Mercedes in 9th on 76 laps for the evening. Rhys seems to have a good little car, but results haven’t been quite as good as could be expected. Hopefully it shows its true potential at some stage in the last 3 rounds.
Into the top 10 was Dave Gray on 71 laps and, being hamstrung somewhat by Robs poor car preparation, Nick ended up on 69 laps & 11th spot in his fleeting comeback drive. Thomas Males slotted into 12th on 68 laps, and in 13th on 64 laps, Scott Wyman. Scott, after a very promising first 2 brackets, experienced the bane of all slot car racers, a mechanical issue which derailed his night somewhat.
In a shock for this weeks racing at Stratton Valley, the return of the prodigal son (Nick Golly) generated significant comment from all & sundry. Just as much of a shock for the DTM round was the fact that Rob didn’t have an identically prepared & perfectly setup car for Nick to jump straight onto & race. Rob, your standards are slipping somewhat 😊
No doubt this lack of team support didn’t help with Nicks results in the DTM for the evening. That & the fact he’s probably not touched a slot car controller for at least 12 months or more.
Anyway, back to the racing, and the shocks kept on coming as the so far unbeatable rocket of Adrian Gray was, in fact, beaten. Although it was mainly the consistency of Phil Kalbfell & John Batich which prevailed in this case, as well as some inconsistency (& a couple of de-slots in a row on the blue lane) on Adrian's part.
It was still very tight though, and with 4 drivers finishing on 81 laps there was a huge battle for podium positions. Phil ended up 1st this week, with JB & Adrian filling up the top 3. Bruce was the unlucky driver though, a matter of a car length off 3rd place himself. 1 lap behind 1st spot, but ending up 5th was the writer, demonstrating how competitive this series is this year.
Two more drivers shared 78 laps for the night & it was Dave Bantoft who grabbed 6th spot from Rob Golley on track position. The entertainment of the pac-man munching car of Dave Schofield was a lot less entertaining this week sadly, but probably allowed Schoee to concentrate more on his driving & his consistent drive saw him notch up 77 laps for 8th. This was just 1 lap ahead of Rhys Filbee’s Mercedes in 9th on 76 laps for the evening. Rhys seems to have a good little car, but results haven’t been quite as good as could be expected. Hopefully it shows its true potential at some stage in the last 3 rounds.
Into the top 10 was Dave Gray on 71 laps and, being hamstrung somewhat by Robs poor car preparation, Nick ended up on 69 laps & 11th spot in his fleeting comeback drive. Thomas Males slotted into 12th on 68 laps, and in 13th on 64 laps, Scott Wyman. Scott, after a very promising first 2 brackets, experienced the bane of all slot car racers, a mechanical issue which derailed his night somewhat.
Race 5 - Shelmore Park - 21/2/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Dave Bantoft
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Dave Bantoft
Round 5
This round saw a return visit to Shelmore Park 2 weeks running, due to the unfortunate (temporary) incapacitation of Dave Gray. Hope he and Garcia return to full health asap.
Anyway, this did give the DTM class an opportunity to run on Phils track for the first time this series, and the quicker cars certainly appreciated the longer straights & fast sweepers and a chance to really stretch their legs. Sadly, for many of the rest of us, it just highlighted how quickly these cars motors run out of grunt !
On the bigger circuit, no-one was going to catch Adrian's rocket powered Alfa and he didn’t make any mistakes either. His 111 lap total was 2 laps clear in 1st & was the only driver this round to dip below the 6 second lap mark. In official 2nd place was Phil on 109 laps, again a good 2 laps clear of a very tight battle for official 3rd place between Dave Bantoft's Alfa & the writers Calibra. Both finished on 107 laps, but DB forged ahead on the last lap of the night to take out a very good 3rd.
I mention the word “official” in the above write up, this is due to the fact that the driver racking up the 2nd most number of laps (110) for the night sadly could not be considered for the official results. By the time Callan had run less than half his first bracket he’d already jumped in 3 different cars & disposed of 2….not sure if even Brocky did that! When he finally did settle on a car that was to his liking, he showed very impressive pace & control. Sadly it was an impressive, but futile drive and he was relegated to last spot on the results table at the end of the night. Maybe Callan needs to pick up his car a bit earlier in the future & give it a little shake so as to see how much of the internal weight has become detached since his last drive .
In 5th spot, and on 106 laps, Bruce Thomas in his Alfa was relying mostly on driving ability & not so much on car preparation, but this was enough to pip Rhys Filbee's Mercedes, who had a much better showing this week to finish 6th on 105 laps. In 7th, Dave Schofield wasn’t far off the pace with 104 laps & his lane 3 total of 28 was more than competitive with the best of the drivers. John Batich also racked up a great 28 lap total in lane 4, but consistency brought him undone in the other 3 heats & ended up 8th on 102 laps for the night.
Rob Golley had a very unusual night & his usual consistent driving was not evident at all early on in his heats. This had a somewhat drastic effect on his overall result & 9th was the best he could manage with 100 laps this week. Into the top 10 was Thomas Males, which was the result of some much improved driving over all heats including the great 25 lap lane 3 performance leading to his 96 lap total.
Scott again was unlucky with car mechanicals in two of the 4 heats, which was a shame as he showed in the other 2 that his car is definitely on the pace. His total of 79 had him finishing in 11th this evening.
Finally, on 110 laps for the night & in 12th ….Callan Thomas.
This round saw a return visit to Shelmore Park 2 weeks running, due to the unfortunate (temporary) incapacitation of Dave Gray. Hope he and Garcia return to full health asap.
Anyway, this did give the DTM class an opportunity to run on Phils track for the first time this series, and the quicker cars certainly appreciated the longer straights & fast sweepers and a chance to really stretch their legs. Sadly, for many of the rest of us, it just highlighted how quickly these cars motors run out of grunt !
On the bigger circuit, no-one was going to catch Adrian's rocket powered Alfa and he didn’t make any mistakes either. His 111 lap total was 2 laps clear in 1st & was the only driver this round to dip below the 6 second lap mark. In official 2nd place was Phil on 109 laps, again a good 2 laps clear of a very tight battle for official 3rd place between Dave Bantoft's Alfa & the writers Calibra. Both finished on 107 laps, but DB forged ahead on the last lap of the night to take out a very good 3rd.
I mention the word “official” in the above write up, this is due to the fact that the driver racking up the 2nd most number of laps (110) for the night sadly could not be considered for the official results. By the time Callan had run less than half his first bracket he’d already jumped in 3 different cars & disposed of 2….not sure if even Brocky did that! When he finally did settle on a car that was to his liking, he showed very impressive pace & control. Sadly it was an impressive, but futile drive and he was relegated to last spot on the results table at the end of the night. Maybe Callan needs to pick up his car a bit earlier in the future & give it a little shake so as to see how much of the internal weight has become detached since his last drive .
In 5th spot, and on 106 laps, Bruce Thomas in his Alfa was relying mostly on driving ability & not so much on car preparation, but this was enough to pip Rhys Filbee's Mercedes, who had a much better showing this week to finish 6th on 105 laps. In 7th, Dave Schofield wasn’t far off the pace with 104 laps & his lane 3 total of 28 was more than competitive with the best of the drivers. John Batich also racked up a great 28 lap total in lane 4, but consistency brought him undone in the other 3 heats & ended up 8th on 102 laps for the night.
Rob Golley had a very unusual night & his usual consistent driving was not evident at all early on in his heats. This had a somewhat drastic effect on his overall result & 9th was the best he could manage with 100 laps this week. Into the top 10 was Thomas Males, which was the result of some much improved driving over all heats including the great 25 lap lane 3 performance leading to his 96 lap total.
Scott again was unlucky with car mechanicals in two of the 4 heats, which was a shame as he showed in the other 2 that his car is definitely on the pace. His total of 79 had him finishing in 11th this evening.
Finally, on 110 laps for the night & in 12th ….Callan Thomas.
Race 6 - Mornington Park - 7/3/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Rob Golley
Race 7 - Shelmore Park - 22/3/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Mal O'May
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Mal O'May
Final Series Results - Top 3
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Mal O'May
*See Photos above for basic top 3.........or if that is being too lazy, here some more of the same cars in a slightly different order :-)
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Mal O'May
*See Photos above for basic top 3.........or if that is being too lazy, here some more of the same cars in a slightly different order :-)
Round 7 Report & Series summary
This round saw a return visit to Shelmore Park 2 weeks running……again. Phil seems to be more than pulling his weight in the hosting duties this year….and more importantly, the supper duties. Which was, I have to say, excellent as usual…particularly the egg sandwiches.
Let me take the time to say a huge thank to all involved in both hosting races & the supper production, it is a very nice way to finish each weeks racing & wouldn’t be possible without considerable work from the host & others involved in the background. They deserve our utmost thanks.
The final round of the DTM series was first on the agenda this evening and as has been the case throughout most of this series there were very few misadventures to write about. This class seems to be almost boringly reliable & always results in smooth, close racing with very little input required from the marshals. The only person who was in a state of panic prior to the commencement of racing was Rob Golley, who was seen hurriedly swapping motors after an initial test run pace proved not to his liking.
To the results, and it was Phil’s Calibra this week who toppled the dominant Alfa of Adrian for only the 2nd time this series. Phil finished on 111.67 laps (whatever this means), which was less than 1 lap clear of Adrian’s total of 110.968……which was probably not helped by a marshaling “incident” towards the end of Adrian’s final heat. 1 lap back in 3rd spot was the writers Calibra on 109.292 laps, almost an entire lap clear of Dave Bantoft in 4th on 108.342.
Rob Galleys motor swap seemed to work OK & he was next in the results finishing in 5th on 106.842 laps, just 0.40 of a lap ahead of Callan Thomas in 6th (106.806). Rhys seemed to have little after effects of a week of partying & Birthday celebrations to drive quite consistently in his Mercedes & finish 7th on 105.169, a lap & a bit ahead of Bruce Thomas (8th) on 103.893. Dave Gray in the 2nd of Mercs ran very well to finish 9th on 101.34 laps & in 10th spot this week, just 0.243 laps behind was Dave Schofield.
Scott Wyman slotted into 11th on 100.941 laps, Followed by Thomas Males in 12th on 96.364 & the very welcome return of Chris Priest in 13th on 94.158 laps for the evening.
Overall top 3 results were as expected for the top 2 with Adrian (1st) & Phil (2nd) filling these quite comfortably. However 3rd spot was affected somewhat by the unfortunate non-appearance of John Batich for this final round, & his strong hold on 3rd was loosened in the end & allowed a very lucky writer to fill the final series podium position.
Let me take the time to say a huge thank to all involved in both hosting races & the supper production, it is a very nice way to finish each weeks racing & wouldn’t be possible without considerable work from the host & others involved in the background. They deserve our utmost thanks.
The final round of the DTM series was first on the agenda this evening and as has been the case throughout most of this series there were very few misadventures to write about. This class seems to be almost boringly reliable & always results in smooth, close racing with very little input required from the marshals. The only person who was in a state of panic prior to the commencement of racing was Rob Golley, who was seen hurriedly swapping motors after an initial test run pace proved not to his liking.
To the results, and it was Phil’s Calibra this week who toppled the dominant Alfa of Adrian for only the 2nd time this series. Phil finished on 111.67 laps (whatever this means), which was less than 1 lap clear of Adrian’s total of 110.968……which was probably not helped by a marshaling “incident” towards the end of Adrian’s final heat. 1 lap back in 3rd spot was the writers Calibra on 109.292 laps, almost an entire lap clear of Dave Bantoft in 4th on 108.342.
Rob Galleys motor swap seemed to work OK & he was next in the results finishing in 5th on 106.842 laps, just 0.40 of a lap ahead of Callan Thomas in 6th (106.806). Rhys seemed to have little after effects of a week of partying & Birthday celebrations to drive quite consistently in his Mercedes & finish 7th on 105.169, a lap & a bit ahead of Bruce Thomas (8th) on 103.893. Dave Gray in the 2nd of Mercs ran very well to finish 9th on 101.34 laps & in 10th spot this week, just 0.243 laps behind was Dave Schofield.
Scott Wyman slotted into 11th on 100.941 laps, Followed by Thomas Males in 12th on 96.364 & the very welcome return of Chris Priest in 13th on 94.158 laps for the evening.
Overall top 3 results were as expected for the top 2 with Adrian (1st) & Phil (2nd) filling these quite comfortably. However 3rd spot was affected somewhat by the unfortunate non-appearance of John Batich for this final round, & his strong hold on 3rd was loosened in the end & allowed a very lucky writer to fill the final series podium position.