assorted petrigrof + watch my style randomize in real time

Classic GT Round 2 - 28th March 2018

Some tired bunnies after the DiSCA 24Hrs Oxigen Le Mans race last weekend, and one very stressed racer who had been stuck behind an incident on the M5 on his way to club! Nevertheless, spirits were high, particularly as one member drove to club in his own 1:1 car for the first time since passing his test. An obligatory spin around the block was in order to show off a very clean example.

Lee got quali under way in Yellow with a great last lap putting a smile on his face. There were the usual groans when Craig launched with the fastest lap up to that point, but the middle of the field was tight, 5,6,7 & 8 having almost identical intervals in the 0.05s range!

New boy Karl was racing with a Parma 35ohm and a loaned P68 this week, Leon was using his Wales and West P68 to keep his eye in for the championship, and Lee was running his Mk IV. Everyone else had a variant of the Lola T70, tinned or topless.

So as Karl became familiar with the new car and controller in Red, Heat 1 became a battle of the outer lanes. Lee got a great start in Yellow, with Alan paying close attention to the rear of Lee’s Ford. The two circulated very closely, which allowed Alan the opportunity to ease ahead on L12.Lee hit the dirt on L13, but fought back to retake the lead. Another set of consistent laps from Alan saw him edge ahead again and hold on for the win.

Leon screamed off the line in Red to start H2, Michael just a smidge behind in Yellow and Russ in Blue. Michael chased Leon down and was through into the lead by L4. The guys raced side by side for the next 7 laps until Michael slid off (no contact, honest guv!). Michael recovered quickly and was able to keep Leon’s lead to within a second, edging tantalisingly closer till the end where he had managed to close the deficit to under half a second.

H3 was one of those “games of two halves, Brian” with the Jones’ duking it out in the outer lanes (Steve in Yellow, Craig in Blue) and Martyn and Seb doing similar in the middle lanes. Seb (Red) got some distance on Martyn (Green ) in the opening laps, a double off on L8 saw Martyn take 3rd from Seb. The stubborn old codger had his second doff on L12, but managed to just stay ahead of the young gun and hold on for 3rd at the flag. Meanwhile, the Jones’ were their usual placid selves, barely uttering a word as they battled for an early advantage (if you’ve ever seen them in action, you will understand there is likely to be a fairly high fib quotient in that statement). Steve was away fractionally quicker but by the end of L1 Craig was a hundredth or so ahead. Steve got by on L2 and was edging away until he binned it on L9 – immediately after his fastest lap so far. You know what they say – fastest lap usually followed by an offski. Craig was flying in Blue with times we rarely see in a sidewinder class, but Steve was relentless in his chase. He crossed the line to complete L16 Steve was 3/100ths ahead. Both continued putting in strong laps to the end of the heat, but Steve was just getting that little advantage each lap until he ran out to a comfortable P1 some 3 seconds ahead.

Alan had just one blemish on an almost faultless run in Green, as he took a comfortable win in H4, as Lee and Karl traded places in his wake. Lee took an early P2, but a few fumbling laps allowed Karl a little bit of breathing space which afforded him the luxury of getting to know the new car and throttle. A few laps in and he seemed quite comfortable, whilst Lee was having an uncharacteristically bad time out in Blue. He calmed down and got a much better second half of the heat under his belt. Important to calm the nerves if you’ve overdriven an early heat in Blue.

Looking at the chart for H5 you wouldn’t think that L1 to L7 was a metaphorical knife-fight between Russ and Leon (Green and Yellow). An off for Russ on L8 put paid to that, but an off for Leon on L19 gave Russ a glimmer of hope. Sadly, it was a case of too little too late. Tonight’s class liked yellow, these Classics were flying in that lane, so Russ’ recovery was unfortunately to no avail. Meanwhile, Michael was busy trying to beat Blue, and came home in P3.

H6 provided a much more varied chart, with Seb grabbing an early lead in Yellow, only to falter on LLs2,3 & 4, dropping him a position each time. As Craig (Green) inherited P1, he saw his opportunity and scarpered, with Martyn (Red) right up his chuff. This challenge also faltered on L5 as Martyn decided to park up for a moment, allowing Steve to get a bit closer in Blue. A couple of stinkers for Martyn on LL12 & 14 nallowed Steve to close right up, then pass him to take P2. Due to the speed difference between Red and Blue and some pretty sharp marshalling,  Martyn was soon able to slide gently away from Steve. P2 was safe, as a wobble by Martyn was matched by one from Steve.

No tea break tonight, we were supping on the hoof!

A little stumble for Alan on L1 of H7 saw Lee slip by in Red for the lead, but a lap later Alan had Green mastered and swiped the lead from the early charger. Karl was out in Blue concentrating furiously on beating the lane and leaving the guys alone. And that was all the passing that happened! The guys were all concentrating furiously on their own races and I must say looked like they were really enjoying hitting and beating their personal targets. The heat ended Alan – Lee – Karl.

Russ hit the front in Red at the start of H8 and just got faster and faster as the heat progressed, as Leon set off 2nd in Blue with michael bringing up the rear in Green. But as in the previous heat, the one big overtake happened on L2 as Michael started to build momentum and open up a good gap on Leon. And once more, that was that!

By comparison, all hell was unleashed in H9. Craig took the lead in Red, Martyn following in Yellow, with Steve Green and Seb Blue in tow. An off for Craig in L2 saw him hit the back of the field, just as the other three struck a good rhythm. Another off two laps later slowed his recovery a touch, but that was one of only three laps out of the 7s bracket for Craig – look out lads, he’s got a charge on! Seb succumbed to the pressure on L6 as Craig set off after Dad. Steve wasn’t hanging about mind you – it took until L12 to catch him, then another before Craig fought his way up into P2. Martyn wasn’t in the mood to roll over either – lapping between 7.7 and 8 dead made Craig work hard as he mounted his charge to get back to the front. Bailing out on L21, Martyn made Craig’s charge a little easier as they pelted around at breakneck speed – Craig edging nearer and nearer (okay lads, you can quit the “Jaws” theme right now!). As they crossed the line at the end of their 23rd tour, Martyn was a whopping 1/1000th in the lead. Next time round he was in P2 – Craig had done him on speed. It was 2 or 3 tenths for the next few laps until the unheard of happened, Craig had an off whilst leading. Martyn took the open goal and settled for his only heat win of the night. He was a bit flustered, but managed to stay on his feet and wasn’t quite as damp as the swamp donkey gets in these close quarters battles.

Alan did his usual – he dashed away from the line in Yellow to go flag to flag in H10. However, the other two lads (let’s call them the “New Boys” just to build their characters ;o)  ) were going at it in Green (Karl) and Red (Lee). Lee had the upper hand for the opening three laps, after which Karl took advantage of Lee having two mishaps. The guys stayed in tight formation as they had a right royal old dice, Karl just having the edge as Lee got nearer, dropped back a touch, then mounted another counter-attack. The lads were having fun – the lead swapping three times until DISASTER (say it like Taggart saying “there’s been a MURDER!”) Lee popped a bearing. It was a shame, as the New Boys really were having great fun chasing each other in this heat. If that could have held out for just three more laps the guys could have finished their night on a real high. Always next week lads.

To wrap up proceedings for the middle group Russ had a single off as he went flag to flag in Yellow, Michael had a flawless run in Red to take P2 and a solitary off for Leon saw him take P3. Sorry I couldn’t make that more exciting. You had to see their various facial ticks, fancy footwork and trigger bending endeavours to appreciate just how much efforts the group put in to their laptimes. Perhaps some video footage next time, eh?

The Grand finale was also a little short of drama, though I think the lads had had quite enough 3 heats back, thank you very much. Craig took the hint from Russ’ H11 and went flag to flag in Yellow. Steve fancied a bit of that too and was flag to flag P2, some 5.5 seconds back. Seb (Green) and Martyn (Blue) rovided the one glimmer of entertainment as they swapped Ps3 & 4 on L2, Martyn getting the upper hand and trailing steve home by 10 seconds, with Seb bringing up the rear.

To some extent, tonight saw one or two lads who you would normally expect to be jockeying for 2nd or 3rd weren’t able to get up to speed tonight, but I’m not complaining, I snuck a cheeky third in! Next time out, it’s F1 Policars – woohooo, these things are great to drive and produce some good close racing. See you on the 4th April!  Wow, just realised writing this report took all four sides of the album Physical Graffiti by that popular beat combo The Led Zeppelins – thank you Spillers Records for keeping me entertained.