Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Race 4
Race 5
Race 6
Race 7
Final Points
Race Results and reports
Round 1 - Mornington Park - 26/9/23
1st - John Batich
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
Round 1 - Mornington Park - 26/9/23
1st - John Batich
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
Race Report - Round 1
Well, first round of the Tasman Cup series for another year & it was a warm welcome to all the competitors from the scrutineers…..who promptly disqualified half the field. Looks like being a very small field for this series going forward!
Luckily all drivers were given the OK to participate in the first round, which was just as well as the disgruntled drivers were also needed as marshals, which might have made things difficult if those affected had all walked out the door & gone home.
In the end though, all heats were run without too much comment, although there were some whisperings among the 2nd & 3rd placegetters after JB blitzed the field with his stunning speed & handling to take out the round very comfortably. His total of 108 laps was 3 laps clear of 2nd place Adrian Gray on 105, although I distinctly heard Adrian claim that his 2nd was actually a “moral” win once or twice in the aftermath of all this. In 3rd place, 1 lap back & notching up 104 was Phil Kalbfell in the red sharknose Ferrari.
In 4th & on 103 laps was the writers Brabham BT4, just holding out Rob Golley after a very close lap after lap battle. Rob eventually finished just 1 lap back in 5th on 102. 6th place went to Rhys Filbee on 100 laps, 2 laps clear of the very well performed Dave Gray in 7th on 98 laps for the round. In 8th & finishing on 97 laps, Dave Schofield, well clear of 9th placegetter Dave Bantoft (89) & 10th place Bruce Thomas on 88 laps.
In 11 lace this week was the 2nd Sharknose Ferrari of Thomas Males on 74 laps for the night.
Well, first round of the Tasman Cup series for another year & it was a warm welcome to all the competitors from the scrutineers…..who promptly disqualified half the field. Looks like being a very small field for this series going forward!
Luckily all drivers were given the OK to participate in the first round, which was just as well as the disgruntled drivers were also needed as marshals, which might have made things difficult if those affected had all walked out the door & gone home.
In the end though, all heats were run without too much comment, although there were some whisperings among the 2nd & 3rd placegetters after JB blitzed the field with his stunning speed & handling to take out the round very comfortably. His total of 108 laps was 3 laps clear of 2nd place Adrian Gray on 105, although I distinctly heard Adrian claim that his 2nd was actually a “moral” win once or twice in the aftermath of all this. In 3rd place, 1 lap back & notching up 104 was Phil Kalbfell in the red sharknose Ferrari.
In 4th & on 103 laps was the writers Brabham BT4, just holding out Rob Golley after a very close lap after lap battle. Rob eventually finished just 1 lap back in 5th on 102. 6th place went to Rhys Filbee on 100 laps, 2 laps clear of the very well performed Dave Gray in 7th on 98 laps for the round. In 8th & finishing on 97 laps, Dave Schofield, well clear of 9th placegetter Dave Bantoft (89) & 10th place Bruce Thomas on 88 laps.
In 11 lace this week was the 2nd Sharknose Ferrari of Thomas Males on 74 laps for the night.
Round 2 - Shemore Park -9/10/23
1st - John Batich
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
1st - John Batich
2nd - Adrian Gray
3rd - Phil Kalbfell
Race Report - Round 2
It was onto Shelmore Park for the 2nd round of the Tasman Cup cars this week. In their spiritual home, these little cars can be found in large numbers both on the track & on shelves reminiscing about Tasman Proxy glory days of years gone by. Maybe we’ll see one of these return to this track again one day. In the meantime, we have the next best option of a local round of the Tasman Cup.
Early signs were for a tightly contested round & it certainly panned out that way. Although John Batich once again was the class of the field and in a flawless display took out his 2nd heat win in 2 weeks with a total of 97 laps. His car almost silent as it smoothly flew around in all heats to end up 2 laps clear of the 2nd placegetter, Adrian Gray. Adrians 2nd place also gave him his 2nd 2nd in a row & his 95 laps was another very good drive. He looks the only likely driver to mount a possible challenge to JB in the upcoming weeks.
Another 2 laps back on 93, it was a battle royale for the third podium position. Early on in the round of heats there was the spectacle of a great fight, lap after lap between Dave Bantoft & the writers car with no quarter given. On & on it went for 3 heats without incident, just good competitive driving and in the end it was DB who pulled out enough each heat to be ahead on track position & put one hand on the 3rd spot. Sadly, in the last heat of the night it was the dark horse Phil Kalbfell who had circulated under the radar without fanfare who swooped around the lap counter onto 93 laps & then, in the last second, coasted past DBs car by a matter of inches to jump ahead onto the podium.
Obviously, 4th & 5th placed drivers (DB & myself) were left ruing that one extra half lap !
Another closely fought tussle was for 6th & 7th between Rob Golley & Rhys Filbee with both drivers finishing on 90 laps. This time it was Rob who squeaked ahead into 6th on track position.
In 8th, it was yet another close finish with another 3 drivers finishing on the total of 84 laps. Callan Thomas took the 8th spot though & probably deserved this as he struggled manfully all night driving a pretty horrid handing car. Bruce Thomas ended up pipping Dave Gray for 9th with Dave rounding out the last spot in the top 10.
Scott Wyman started off extremely well with 2 great first up heats in a nicely performed JB rent-a-car….however the wheels fell off on lane 2 …..no really, the wheels did fall off. Thus proving yet again that one particular law of slot car racing that never changes.
Thomas finished off the night in 12th on 69 laps in the yellow sharknose.
It was onto Shelmore Park for the 2nd round of the Tasman Cup cars this week. In their spiritual home, these little cars can be found in large numbers both on the track & on shelves reminiscing about Tasman Proxy glory days of years gone by. Maybe we’ll see one of these return to this track again one day. In the meantime, we have the next best option of a local round of the Tasman Cup.
Early signs were for a tightly contested round & it certainly panned out that way. Although John Batich once again was the class of the field and in a flawless display took out his 2nd heat win in 2 weeks with a total of 97 laps. His car almost silent as it smoothly flew around in all heats to end up 2 laps clear of the 2nd placegetter, Adrian Gray. Adrians 2nd place also gave him his 2nd 2nd in a row & his 95 laps was another very good drive. He looks the only likely driver to mount a possible challenge to JB in the upcoming weeks.
Another 2 laps back on 93, it was a battle royale for the third podium position. Early on in the round of heats there was the spectacle of a great fight, lap after lap between Dave Bantoft & the writers car with no quarter given. On & on it went for 3 heats without incident, just good competitive driving and in the end it was DB who pulled out enough each heat to be ahead on track position & put one hand on the 3rd spot. Sadly, in the last heat of the night it was the dark horse Phil Kalbfell who had circulated under the radar without fanfare who swooped around the lap counter onto 93 laps & then, in the last second, coasted past DBs car by a matter of inches to jump ahead onto the podium.
Obviously, 4th & 5th placed drivers (DB & myself) were left ruing that one extra half lap !
Another closely fought tussle was for 6th & 7th between Rob Golley & Rhys Filbee with both drivers finishing on 90 laps. This time it was Rob who squeaked ahead into 6th on track position.
In 8th, it was yet another close finish with another 3 drivers finishing on the total of 84 laps. Callan Thomas took the 8th spot though & probably deserved this as he struggled manfully all night driving a pretty horrid handing car. Bruce Thomas ended up pipping Dave Gray for 9th with Dave rounding out the last spot in the top 10.
Scott Wyman started off extremely well with 2 great first up heats in a nicely performed JB rent-a-car….however the wheels fell off on lane 2 …..no really, the wheels did fall off. Thus proving yet again that one particular law of slot car racing that never changes.
- Rent– a-car at your own peril, it will end up on three wheels.
Thomas finished off the night in 12th on 69 laps in the yellow sharknose.
Round 3 - Stratton Valley - 11/10/23
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - John Batich
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - John Batich
Race Report - Round 3
Round 3 of the Tasman Cup series was held at JBs Stratton Valley circuit this week, and after some very similar looking results & top 3 photos in the first two round it was a vastly different scenario that played out this time.
The top 3 domination of Batich, Gray & Kalbfell in rounds 1 & 2 was completely upended and left everyone in disbelief that such a change could have eventuated from 1 week to the next.
Instead of a win for JB, a 2nd for Adrian & a 3rd for Phil, as we have seen play out twice now, Adrian, Phil & John all finished in a completely different top 3 position to anything they’d managed prior.
Onlookers were gobsmacked when Adrians run of 2nd places was upgraded to a 1st place result with a total of 73 laps. This was 2 laps clear of perpetual 3rd placegetter Phil, who found himself in the very unfamiliar position of 2nd place for the night with 71 laps. Then, in the most staggering result of all, the seemingly invincible JB plummeted down the results from 1st to a lowly 3rd with his total of 70 laps. As if all that wasn’t enough, Dave Bantoft with his 70-lap total, came every so close to pushing his way up into the rareified air of the top 3 club, leading us to wonder where the direction of this series is heading next. Maybe somebody, somewhere, with a little bit of luck might just be able to knock JB, Adrian or Phil out of the top 3 and strike a fearful blow for all of the rest of us mortals.
So, in case you didn’t get any of that – Adrian 1st, Phil 2nd, JB 3rd……..and DB a very close 4th.
In the rest of the drivers results, both myself & Rhys managed 68 laps for the night, with the writer luckily grabbing 5th on track position from Rhys in 6th. On 66 laps it was a very tight 3-way battle with Scott getting the nod from Dave Schofield & Rob Golley to fill places 7, 8 & 9.
Bruce battled hard with a difficult car to finish top 10 on 65 laps, just 2 ahead of Dave Gray in 11th in 63.
Tom rounded out the field for heat 3 in 12th on 49 laps.
Round 3 of the Tasman Cup series was held at JBs Stratton Valley circuit this week, and after some very similar looking results & top 3 photos in the first two round it was a vastly different scenario that played out this time.
The top 3 domination of Batich, Gray & Kalbfell in rounds 1 & 2 was completely upended and left everyone in disbelief that such a change could have eventuated from 1 week to the next.
Instead of a win for JB, a 2nd for Adrian & a 3rd for Phil, as we have seen play out twice now, Adrian, Phil & John all finished in a completely different top 3 position to anything they’d managed prior.
Onlookers were gobsmacked when Adrians run of 2nd places was upgraded to a 1st place result with a total of 73 laps. This was 2 laps clear of perpetual 3rd placegetter Phil, who found himself in the very unfamiliar position of 2nd place for the night with 71 laps. Then, in the most staggering result of all, the seemingly invincible JB plummeted down the results from 1st to a lowly 3rd with his total of 70 laps. As if all that wasn’t enough, Dave Bantoft with his 70-lap total, came every so close to pushing his way up into the rareified air of the top 3 club, leading us to wonder where the direction of this series is heading next. Maybe somebody, somewhere, with a little bit of luck might just be able to knock JB, Adrian or Phil out of the top 3 and strike a fearful blow for all of the rest of us mortals.
So, in case you didn’t get any of that – Adrian 1st, Phil 2nd, JB 3rd……..and DB a very close 4th.
In the rest of the drivers results, both myself & Rhys managed 68 laps for the night, with the writer luckily grabbing 5th on track position from Rhys in 6th. On 66 laps it was a very tight 3-way battle with Scott getting the nod from Dave Schofield & Rob Golley to fill places 7, 8 & 9.
Bruce battled hard with a difficult car to finish top 10 on 65 laps, just 2 ahead of Dave Gray in 11th in 63.
Tom rounded out the field for heat 3 in 12th on 49 laps.
Round 4 - Mornington Park - 24/10/23
1st - John Batich
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Dave Bantoft
1st - John Batich
2nd - Phil Kalbfell
3rd - Dave Bantoft
Race Report - Round 4
So, that’s 2 weeks in a row the first series for the night has been beset with “issues”, and coincidentally yours truly has been involved in both of them!
In my defence however, this week I was an innocent participant in an interesting glitch that allowed Dave Gray to break the lap record in his first lap, and saw him racking up laps every half circuit or so, while Rhys & myself battled hard to stay within 2 or 3 laps of him!
Halfway through the 2nd bracket, common sense prevailed & it was back to the start to see if we get the system to make more sense 2nd time round. Luckily, this week the restart didn’t cause any awful side effects as the writer was too busy driving to be anywhere near the computer keyboard, so everything proceeded quite serenely from this point on.
To the racing, and after JB suffered a very slight hitch last week by finishing a lowly 3rd, it was business as usual again this week. His 108 laps on the night was a good 2 laps clear in 1st from Phil in 2nd on 106. DB rounded out the top 3 this week with his first podium in this series (105 laps), which is a great improvement from round 1 hey Dave?
In the now traditional position of 1 lap back from DB, the writer managed 104 laps to finish in 4th place this week which was 4 laps clear of 5th place Rhys Filbees total of 100 laps for the night.
There was a two way battle for 6th between Schoee & Callan on 98 laps each, however it was Schoee who took the track position & the place leaving Callan in 7th.
Rob Golley notched up 95 laps for the night for a finish of 8th, ahead of Dave Gray in 9th on 89 laps & Tom rounding out the top 10 with his 74 lap total.
Round 5 - Shelmore Park - 31/10/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Dave Bantoft
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Dave Bantoft
Race Report - Round 5
It was onto Shelmore Park for round 5 of the Tasman Cup series, and this week the writer has decided to include some helpful car identification hints & tips to assist marshals (particularly those marshalling in the vicinity of the Harbour). This quick reference guide will hopefully be of benefit in allowing marshalls to confidently distinguish the subtle differences in the body design of these lovely little cars.
In our example we’ll use the actual Cooper Climax, as driven by Jack Brabham at the Longford circuit in Tasmania in 1960, The choice of this car is entirely co-incidental and was purely based up the writer having ready access to a photo of the aforementioned car.
It was onto Shelmore Park for round 5 of the Tasman Cup series, and this week the writer has decided to include some helpful car identification hints & tips to assist marshals (particularly those marshalling in the vicinity of the Harbour). This quick reference guide will hopefully be of benefit in allowing marshalls to confidently distinguish the subtle differences in the body design of these lovely little cars.
In our example we’ll use the actual Cooper Climax, as driven by Jack Brabham at the Longford circuit in Tasmania in 1960, The choice of this car is entirely co-incidental and was purely based up the writer having ready access to a photo of the aforementioned car.
And so, in our photographic example, we can see the clearly defined areas that cause most confusion when placing these cars back on a slot track (particularly when marshalling in the vicinity of the harbour). The Front & Rear areas of the car are labelled distinctly, as well as showing the intended direction of travel. The other very important area of concern in the actual guide itself. Ideally it should be placed in an appropriate slot thus allowing the slot car to proceed under control of the driver. The location of the guide is also most helpfully labelled.
We hope that careful study of this pictorial guide this will ensure a rapid & accurate re-slotting of this class of car in all future rounds.
And to the racing, Phil took out his maiden win of the series in a great home track performance, as the red Ferrari outpaced all comers with his 102 lap total for the night. The series leader, JB, had to settle for 2nd this week with 102 laps, but I doubt this will affect his championship chances too much with only 2 round to go. DB in yet another consistent result finished in the 3rd spot on the podium with 97 laps and has moved to a clear 3rd in the series points tally.
2 laps back in 4th for the night & also in the series was the writer on 95 laps, which was 5 laps clear of a good tally of 90 laps from our Northern driver, Dennis Murray in 5th. It was a close run thing though as Rhys also notched up 90 laps & was just pipped into 6th by track position alone.
Callan Tomas battled the less than ideal handling & clearance issue of the Honda to finish in 7th on 99 laps, 1 lap to the good of both Rob Golley & Schoee on 88 laps. It was Rob who took out the placing (8th) though ahead of Schoee in 9th.
Scott took the final place in the top 10 on 87 laps, which wasn’t helped by the fact this his Cooper Climax was seen facing the wrong way at one point in his heats……after it had been marshalled, this leading to the marshalling guide as we have seen above.
In 11th & on 84 laps, Thomas Males, just 1 lap ahead of Dave Gray in 12th on 83.
Penultimate round of the series next week.
We hope that careful study of this pictorial guide this will ensure a rapid & accurate re-slotting of this class of car in all future rounds.
And to the racing, Phil took out his maiden win of the series in a great home track performance, as the red Ferrari outpaced all comers with his 102 lap total for the night. The series leader, JB, had to settle for 2nd this week with 102 laps, but I doubt this will affect his championship chances too much with only 2 round to go. DB in yet another consistent result finished in the 3rd spot on the podium with 97 laps and has moved to a clear 3rd in the series points tally.
2 laps back in 4th for the night & also in the series was the writer on 95 laps, which was 5 laps clear of a good tally of 90 laps from our Northern driver, Dennis Murray in 5th. It was a close run thing though as Rhys also notched up 90 laps & was just pipped into 6th by track position alone.
Callan Tomas battled the less than ideal handling & clearance issue of the Honda to finish in 7th on 99 laps, 1 lap to the good of both Rob Golley & Schoee on 88 laps. It was Rob who took out the placing (8th) though ahead of Schoee in 9th.
Scott took the final place in the top 10 on 87 laps, which wasn’t helped by the fact this his Cooper Climax was seen facing the wrong way at one point in his heats……after it had been marshalled, this leading to the marshalling guide as we have seen above.
In 11th & on 84 laps, Thomas Males, just 1 lap ahead of Dave Gray in 12th on 83.
Penultimate round of the series next week.
Round 6 - Stratton Valley - 7/11/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Dave Bantoft
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - John Batich
3rd - Dave Bantoft
Race Report - Round 6
This week saw the 2nd last round of the Tasman Cup for another series, and it was onto the smooth surfaces & equally smooth background music of JBs Stratton valley layout. As always, JB creates a very enjoyable ambiance for every round that he hosts and sets the standard in encouraging a relaxed vibe for the drivers as they wait their turn in the mustering room.
In fact, as I thought about this a little more, I started wondering if we could even think about creating a slot car racing playlist of appropriate songs to be used in similar circumstances in all locations.
My mind immediately went to songs such as:
Some for the rally stages:
More relevant for the old Proxy drives:
One for the Marshals:
Recent winners:
Past winners…..who might be struggling in a current series:
For the rest of us mortals every week:
For those circuits which some of us have trouble with on a regular basis:
And finally, an all-encompassing song that describes all of our groups drivers & driving styles:
Any other nominations from your own musical tastes gratefully accepted. Note, in deference to our own groups age demographic I’ve listed only songs released before 1980!
Anyway, enough of this…..in this weeks racing it was certainly a case of “life in the fast lane” for our top 3 placegetters. There were no surprises again as Phil took out the win with 75 laps, relegating series leader JB to 2nd place for the 2nd week running. JBs 72 laps was 2 laps clear of DB in 3rd place on 70 laps for the night. With only 1 round to go it appears as though the top 3 for the series are decided, it is only the order of the final top 2 that is still up for grabs. JB currently holding a 2 point lead over the fast finishing Phil. DBs hold on 3rd is watertight & well deserved.
In 4th this week and in the traditional position 1 lap back from DB was my own car on 69 laps, which in turn was 1 lap to the good of Rob Golley in 5th on 68. 2 drivers shared 67 laps this week, with Adrian just holding off Scott for 6th & 7th. Scott luckily had no marshalling disasters this week & was able to complete his 3 heats with his car facing the right way throughout.
In 8th on 66 laps was Schoee ahead of Bruce (9th) on 65 & Callan in 10th on 63 laps. With Bruce & Callan sharing the same car, it was Bruce who took out bragging rights for driver of the week in the family battle.
11th on 62 laps was Tom, and in 12th spot this week Dave Gray on 60 laps.
1 round to go.
This week saw the 2nd last round of the Tasman Cup for another series, and it was onto the smooth surfaces & equally smooth background music of JBs Stratton valley layout. As always, JB creates a very enjoyable ambiance for every round that he hosts and sets the standard in encouraging a relaxed vibe for the drivers as they wait their turn in the mustering room.
In fact, as I thought about this a little more, I started wondering if we could even think about creating a slot car racing playlist of appropriate songs to be used in similar circumstances in all locations.
My mind immediately went to songs such as:
- On the Road Again – Willie Nelson (could be played before the start of racing every week)
- Life in the fast lane – The Eagles (not appropriate for those driving Lane 3 at Dave Grays)
Some for the rally stages:
- The Long and winding road – The Beatles (specifically Bat Florio)
- Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver (Phils Rally Stage)
More relevant for the old Proxy drives:
- Drive My Car – The Beatles
One for the Marshals:
- Can’t take my eyes off you – Frankie Valli (Especially when cars approach the harbor at Shelmore Park)
Recent winners:
- Roger Miller, “King of the Road”
Past winners…..who might be struggling in a current series:
- Yesterdays hero – John Paul Young
For the rest of us mortals every week:
- Wipe Out – The Surfaris
For those circuits which some of us have trouble with on a regular basis:
- Tracks of my tears – Smokey Robinson
- Highway to Hell - AC/DC
And finally, an all-encompassing song that describes all of our groups drivers & driving styles:
- The good, the bad & the ugly – Hugo Montenegro - I’ll let you decide who goes in which category 😊
Any other nominations from your own musical tastes gratefully accepted. Note, in deference to our own groups age demographic I’ve listed only songs released before 1980!
Anyway, enough of this…..in this weeks racing it was certainly a case of “life in the fast lane” for our top 3 placegetters. There were no surprises again as Phil took out the win with 75 laps, relegating series leader JB to 2nd place for the 2nd week running. JBs 72 laps was 2 laps clear of DB in 3rd place on 70 laps for the night. With only 1 round to go it appears as though the top 3 for the series are decided, it is only the order of the final top 2 that is still up for grabs. JB currently holding a 2 point lead over the fast finishing Phil. DBs hold on 3rd is watertight & well deserved.
In 4th this week and in the traditional position 1 lap back from DB was my own car on 69 laps, which in turn was 1 lap to the good of Rob Golley in 5th on 68. 2 drivers shared 67 laps this week, with Adrian just holding off Scott for 6th & 7th. Scott luckily had no marshalling disasters this week & was able to complete his 3 heats with his car facing the right way throughout.
In 8th on 66 laps was Schoee ahead of Bruce (9th) on 65 & Callan in 10th on 63 laps. With Bruce & Callan sharing the same car, it was Bruce who took out bragging rights for driver of the week in the family battle.
11th on 62 laps was Tom, and in 12th spot this week Dave Gray on 60 laps.
1 round to go.
Round 7 - Shelmore Park - 28/11/23
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - John Batich
1st - Phil Kalbfell
2nd - Bruce Thomas
3rd - John Batich
Race Report - Round 7 & Final Series summary
Going into the final round of the Tasman Cup series this year & it was a very tight race for the top 2 spots between current leader JB, & Phil in 2nd spot by a mere 2 points. Prior to the racing JB was firm favorite to take out the series, as all he needed was to finish in the top 2 no matter what Phils result, something he had managed to do in all but 1 round so far.
Phil needed both a win, and for JB to finish 3rd or lower in this round to be in with any chance whatsoever…………
However, Phil wasn’t quite done with yet, it seemed he had a very cunning plan as we shall read about. The first part of Phils plan all hinged on him managing to take out a win in this last round however, so it took some skill to implement. This he did, with a very impressive display of driving to notch up a nice round 100 laps over the 4 heats to take out a clear 3 lap win. But, a win from who was the question?….here’s where Phil's plan part 2 came into it’s own. The offer of loaning one of his very competitive Tasman Proxy cars to Bruce to drive in this final round, was seemingly a very generous one at the time. However, putting such a competitive car in the hands of one of the groups elite drivers (Bruce) had the desired result for Phil with Bruce whizzing around to grab 2nd place this round with 97 laps & relegating poor old JB to only his 2nd 3rd place for the series with his own total of 96 laps. What implications this had to the series results, we shall see later.
And it was a very close run thing for JB’s 3rd place as well, as DB pushed him all the way with the same number of laps (96) only to be pushed down to 4th on track position only. Next in line behind DB the battle for 5th & 6th was fought out between Adrian Gray & myself with both drivers finishing on 93 laps, however Adrian managed to force the writer out of his now traditional finishing position in this series (1 behind DB) and grab 5th by the margin of half a corner. This meant that the writer was pushed down to 6th, 2 laps clear of another battle royale between Den & Rhys (91 laps each). In this case it was the northerner who came up trumps & grabbed 7th from Rhys in 8th.
2 more drivers shared 90 laps in the fight for 9th & 10th, Rob & Schoee were eventually separated again by just track position with Rob finishing 9th & Schoee rounding out the top 10 in 10th.
Callan Thomas wasn’t given the advantage of having a nicely prepared Phil Kalbfell car to run around this week, and so had to battle a poorly prepared Bruce Thomas car instead, which showed in his results & his total of 86 laps was just enough to jump ahead of Scott Wyman for 11th, with Scott (also on 86) pushed down to 12th. Dave Grays total of 83 laps this evening had him in 13th spot.
So, to the series washup after all this nefarious activity……..Well, Phils 1st place ahead of JBs 3rd was enough for him to make up the 2 point difference in the series, and once all the round results were counted both drivers had exactly the same number of 1st, 2nd & 3rd placings, and apparently even the same number of overall laps (in the series !).
So, a tied result for 1st then. In third & well deserved after a solid series after round 1 was DB.
Going into the final round of the Tasman Cup series this year & it was a very tight race for the top 2 spots between current leader JB, & Phil in 2nd spot by a mere 2 points. Prior to the racing JB was firm favorite to take out the series, as all he needed was to finish in the top 2 no matter what Phils result, something he had managed to do in all but 1 round so far.
Phil needed both a win, and for JB to finish 3rd or lower in this round to be in with any chance whatsoever…………
However, Phil wasn’t quite done with yet, it seemed he had a very cunning plan as we shall read about. The first part of Phils plan all hinged on him managing to take out a win in this last round however, so it took some skill to implement. This he did, with a very impressive display of driving to notch up a nice round 100 laps over the 4 heats to take out a clear 3 lap win. But, a win from who was the question?….here’s where Phil's plan part 2 came into it’s own. The offer of loaning one of his very competitive Tasman Proxy cars to Bruce to drive in this final round, was seemingly a very generous one at the time. However, putting such a competitive car in the hands of one of the groups elite drivers (Bruce) had the desired result for Phil with Bruce whizzing around to grab 2nd place this round with 97 laps & relegating poor old JB to only his 2nd 3rd place for the series with his own total of 96 laps. What implications this had to the series results, we shall see later.
And it was a very close run thing for JB’s 3rd place as well, as DB pushed him all the way with the same number of laps (96) only to be pushed down to 4th on track position only. Next in line behind DB the battle for 5th & 6th was fought out between Adrian Gray & myself with both drivers finishing on 93 laps, however Adrian managed to force the writer out of his now traditional finishing position in this series (1 behind DB) and grab 5th by the margin of half a corner. This meant that the writer was pushed down to 6th, 2 laps clear of another battle royale between Den & Rhys (91 laps each). In this case it was the northerner who came up trumps & grabbed 7th from Rhys in 8th.
2 more drivers shared 90 laps in the fight for 9th & 10th, Rob & Schoee were eventually separated again by just track position with Rob finishing 9th & Schoee rounding out the top 10 in 10th.
Callan Thomas wasn’t given the advantage of having a nicely prepared Phil Kalbfell car to run around this week, and so had to battle a poorly prepared Bruce Thomas car instead, which showed in his results & his total of 86 laps was just enough to jump ahead of Scott Wyman for 11th, with Scott (also on 86) pushed down to 12th. Dave Grays total of 83 laps this evening had him in 13th spot.
So, to the series washup after all this nefarious activity……..Well, Phils 1st place ahead of JBs 3rd was enough for him to make up the 2 point difference in the series, and once all the round results were counted both drivers had exactly the same number of 1st, 2nd & 3rd placings, and apparently even the same number of overall laps (in the series !).
So, a tied result for 1st then. In third & well deserved after a solid series after round 1 was DB.
Overall Series Results
1st - John Batich & Phil Kalbfell *
3rd - Dave Bantoft
*In the photos below it may appear at first glance that Phils car is shown as being further back than JBs car despite them finishing absolutely equal in the series.....this is an optical illusion, please ignore.
1st - John Batich & Phil Kalbfell *
3rd - Dave Bantoft
*In the photos below it may appear at first glance that Phils car is shown as being further back than JBs car despite them finishing absolutely equal in the series.....this is an optical illusion, please ignore.