Race 1
Race 2
Points Table
Round 1 - Stratton Valley - 3/9/24
1st - John Batich
2nd - Dave Bantoft
3rd - Adrian Gray
1st - John Batich
2nd - Dave Bantoft
3rd - Adrian Gray
Racing Report - Round 1
Another class, another low powered, low grip, touring car series…..
Well, OK that’s not entirely fair. History has shown that the V8 Supercars are among the most closely fought series, with most very few huge winning margins & a close spread of laps over the entire field.
Which is exactly what happened again in round 1 of the 2024 series this week at the lovely Stratton Valley circuit. There were, however, two stand out driver & car combinations this week and with both drawn next to each other for 2 of their heats, this confrontation was a highlight of the nights racing. JB & DB put on a titanic battle for lap after lap, with both cars very evenly matched. In the end it was probably JBs local experience that won through & his lap total of 75 gave him a great first round win in the series. DBs valiant struggle ended eventually just 2 laps short on 73, but it was a very strong first up showing from Dave & was enough to grab him 2nd this week with the promise of better things to come.
Adrian Gray took off like a bullet, and was looking like the man to beat for most of his 1st heat, but the black arts that encompass tyres had their way with his car immediately he moved to lane 2 & from then on it was a battle for him to maintain the same ace as his car got more & more undrivable. It was a testament to his skill that it was still enough to push him up into 3rd place on 70 laps overall.
1 lap back on 69, and in 4th this week was Rhys Filbee in 1 of 2 cars he had running in this weeks round. Both look to be very well setup. More on his 2nd car later. 2 drivers fought over 5th & 6th just 1 more lap back on 68 laps each. Phil eventually took the position in the generic Swedish liveried supercar from Dave Schofield in 6th. One thing Phil might think about implementing before next week though is a slight change of livery. After heat 1 he had switched to lane 2 & was plugged in & about to head off on his 2nd heat……which would have been a slight problem. While his car had indeed been switched to the correct lane, it was sadly facing the wrong direction back the way it came……
Pundits were suggesting this as an alternative livery to assist the Marshall in question overcome any similar problems going forward…..
Another class, another low powered, low grip, touring car series…..
Well, OK that’s not entirely fair. History has shown that the V8 Supercars are among the most closely fought series, with most very few huge winning margins & a close spread of laps over the entire field.
Which is exactly what happened again in round 1 of the 2024 series this week at the lovely Stratton Valley circuit. There were, however, two stand out driver & car combinations this week and with both drawn next to each other for 2 of their heats, this confrontation was a highlight of the nights racing. JB & DB put on a titanic battle for lap after lap, with both cars very evenly matched. In the end it was probably JBs local experience that won through & his lap total of 75 gave him a great first round win in the series. DBs valiant struggle ended eventually just 2 laps short on 73, but it was a very strong first up showing from Dave & was enough to grab him 2nd this week with the promise of better things to come.
Adrian Gray took off like a bullet, and was looking like the man to beat for most of his 1st heat, but the black arts that encompass tyres had their way with his car immediately he moved to lane 2 & from then on it was a battle for him to maintain the same ace as his car got more & more undrivable. It was a testament to his skill that it was still enough to push him up into 3rd place on 70 laps overall.
1 lap back on 69, and in 4th this week was Rhys Filbee in 1 of 2 cars he had running in this weeks round. Both look to be very well setup. More on his 2nd car later. 2 drivers fought over 5th & 6th just 1 more lap back on 68 laps each. Phil eventually took the position in the generic Swedish liveried supercar from Dave Schofield in 6th. One thing Phil might think about implementing before next week though is a slight change of livery. After heat 1 he had switched to lane 2 & was plugged in & about to head off on his 2nd heat……which would have been a slight problem. While his car had indeed been switched to the correct lane, it was sadly facing the wrong direction back the way it came……
Pundits were suggesting this as an alternative livery to assist the Marshall in question overcome any similar problems going forward…..
1 more lap back on 67 was the writer in 7th, and despite a clear run in all lanes, the car just does not have the pace to be a competitive unit this series. In 8th spot this week, running Rhys’s 2nd car, was Tom Males in a great result. Toms 65 laps were also mostly clear on all lanes, and pushed him up into his best result for some time. Also on 65 laps, but suffering from some in race marshalling incidents & a disastrous loss of drive as the heats went on was Rob Golley in 9th. Again, just 1 more lap back on 64 was Dave Gray in 10th.
So, apart from the top 2, just 7 laps covered the entire field form 3rd to 10th, which despite the class being a slow, low grip, touring car series, is really all we can ask for.
So, apart from the top 2, just 7 laps covered the entire field form 3rd to 10th, which despite the class being a slow, low grip, touring car series, is really all we can ask for.
Round 2 - Mornington Park - 7/9/24
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Dave Schofield
3rd - Dave Bantoft
1st - Adrian Gray
2nd - Dave Schofield
3rd - Dave Bantoft
Racing Report - Round 2
The legendary Ronnie Barker used to kick off every episode of “The Two Ronnies with the – famous quote – “and in a packed program tonight” ………and this line could most certainly be used to describe the evenings racing this week at Dave Grays Mornington Park circuit.
First up were the V8 Supercars, and during warm up, Schoee very observantly pointed out that it seemed that some laps were not being recorded on lane 3 (blue). After a quick investigation & some rudimentary cleaning it was decided that all was well & the racing commenced……
Which was a mistake, as almost immediately (inside the first rotation) blue lane obstinately refused to count any laps at all thus bringing the entire evening to a screeching halt. This also had the potential to be a huge disappointment for the many extra guest drivers (all of whom were called Nick) who had made a special effort to be here this week & all the other interested spectators, some of whom had travelled from far flung parts of South-East Tasmania to watch the racing unfold.
Some more hasty troubleshooting seemed to have no effect, until Phil very cleverly decided that the MacGyver approach would be way to go & so with the addition of a jury-rigged lap counting system (a torch gaff taped over lane 3) the racing was able to re-commence with all lanes operating perfectly.
Once racing got underway it was typical Supercar racing, noisy, slow, but also close with plenty of panel rubbing & more than a few cars being punted off onto the verges. Happily though, with none of the fisticuffs & aggro resulting from similar incidents in actual 1:1 Supercar racing over the years.
Drivers in the top 3 placings came & went over the round, and it wasn’t until the very final heat of the nights racing that the top 3 were sorted out. In fact all 3 drivers in the last heat leapfrogged every other driver in a perfect example of come from behind pressure driving.
Adrian was the first of these drivers to jump into top spot, and there he stayed. His total of 108 laps, was just 1 clear of 2nd place driver Schoee on 107. Schoees drive was made all the more impressive given that his heats were spread out over the whole round., from heat 1 to heat 10. In 3rd place this week with another great last bracket drive, was DB on 106 laps.
The battle for 4th & 5th was a close one & separated by half the length of the pit straight. In the end it was Phil who nabbed 4th from JB in 5th both ending up on 105 laps.
In 6th, all alone on 104 laps, was the writer, and just 2 laps back in an excellent 7th was Dave Gray on 102 laps. Daves result was very well deserved & shows that his car setup is still one of the best going around.
In 8th on 99 laps, Rhys Filbee who in turn was 4 laps clear of the first of the Nicks (Nick G) in 9th on 96 laps. Rounding out the top 10 after a car failure for the 2nd week running was the elder Golley (Rob) in 10th on 90 laps for the night.
Caine Kalbfell had his driving stint interrupted by the lap timing issues early on but pushed on and eventually finished 11th on 83, which was 3 laps clear of 12th placegetter Tom Males on 80 laps. 2nd guest Nick (Nick R) had a great introduction to the world of slot car racing, and hopefully had some enjoyment in it as he notched up 70 laps for 13th place on the night.
The legendary Ronnie Barker used to kick off every episode of “The Two Ronnies with the – famous quote – “and in a packed program tonight” ………and this line could most certainly be used to describe the evenings racing this week at Dave Grays Mornington Park circuit.
First up were the V8 Supercars, and during warm up, Schoee very observantly pointed out that it seemed that some laps were not being recorded on lane 3 (blue). After a quick investigation & some rudimentary cleaning it was decided that all was well & the racing commenced……
Which was a mistake, as almost immediately (inside the first rotation) blue lane obstinately refused to count any laps at all thus bringing the entire evening to a screeching halt. This also had the potential to be a huge disappointment for the many extra guest drivers (all of whom were called Nick) who had made a special effort to be here this week & all the other interested spectators, some of whom had travelled from far flung parts of South-East Tasmania to watch the racing unfold.
Some more hasty troubleshooting seemed to have no effect, until Phil very cleverly decided that the MacGyver approach would be way to go & so with the addition of a jury-rigged lap counting system (a torch gaff taped over lane 3) the racing was able to re-commence with all lanes operating perfectly.
Once racing got underway it was typical Supercar racing, noisy, slow, but also close with plenty of panel rubbing & more than a few cars being punted off onto the verges. Happily though, with none of the fisticuffs & aggro resulting from similar incidents in actual 1:1 Supercar racing over the years.
Drivers in the top 3 placings came & went over the round, and it wasn’t until the very final heat of the nights racing that the top 3 were sorted out. In fact all 3 drivers in the last heat leapfrogged every other driver in a perfect example of come from behind pressure driving.
Adrian was the first of these drivers to jump into top spot, and there he stayed. His total of 108 laps, was just 1 clear of 2nd place driver Schoee on 107. Schoees drive was made all the more impressive given that his heats were spread out over the whole round., from heat 1 to heat 10. In 3rd place this week with another great last bracket drive, was DB on 106 laps.
The battle for 4th & 5th was a close one & separated by half the length of the pit straight. In the end it was Phil who nabbed 4th from JB in 5th both ending up on 105 laps.
In 6th, all alone on 104 laps, was the writer, and just 2 laps back in an excellent 7th was Dave Gray on 102 laps. Daves result was very well deserved & shows that his car setup is still one of the best going around.
In 8th on 99 laps, Rhys Filbee who in turn was 4 laps clear of the first of the Nicks (Nick G) in 9th on 96 laps. Rounding out the top 10 after a car failure for the 2nd week running was the elder Golley (Rob) in 10th on 90 laps for the night.
Caine Kalbfell had his driving stint interrupted by the lap timing issues early on but pushed on and eventually finished 11th on 83, which was 3 laps clear of 12th placegetter Tom Males on 80 laps. 2nd guest Nick (Nick R) had a great introduction to the world of slot car racing, and hopefully had some enjoyment in it as he notched up 70 laps for 13th place on the night.
