On Sunday we had our season's points series opening race. We will run a slot it GrC class, much like the Italian ANSI class. We use only the V12/3 21.5K orange motor, only stock interiors, all slot it parts etc. Only thing is, sidewinder is allowed for all newcomers, and only certain 'old dogs' must use inlines. Offset motor mounts are allowed however for everyone. This way we manage to equalize the field a bit, we even added magnets to a few guys who needed that extra help. A light mag setup uses half a stock slot it mag, in the rear of the front axle, basically eliminating front end deslots but not helping rear traction. In a couple of cases, a heavier magnet setup was used, using the stock magnet in the stock position.
Eventually, we gathered 16 racers for this one, in fact we would be even more, but 3 guys had an R/C race the next day, and the sunny weather lead them to the R/C track for practice. Also the race organizer decided to stand aside, to avoid the formation of a fifth heat. So 16 guys, got divided in four heats, and made ready for battle. 5min runs would be run, 4 heats, driver rotating through the 4 lanes of the Ninco track, and after 20mins, the winner would be the guy with most laps.

Below are all cars in the pits:

A really colorful and diverse selection of cars!

For the heat1 we had:

(Top to bottom) Vasilis Fillipoglou heavy mag Mazda, Freddie's heavy mag Rothmans Porsche 962, Takis' light mag Porsche 962 and Nikos' non mag Lancia.
A heavy mag setup helped Freddie get away of the rest here, the other 3 guys had a close battle, ending in favor of Vasilis, then Takis followed and finally Nikos who had a long time to race and eventually that led him to some more mistakes.

Heat2 included:

(Top to bottom) George Dilberakis' light mag Porsche 956KH, George DaMatto silk Cut Jaguar, Maria's Jaguar and Iraklis' Sauber.

Here, all non mag cars were sidewinders, and all three fought a very close battle. DaMatto finished on top, Iraklis was a lap behind and Maria another lap down. Iraklis is really a strong contender, but a wrong gear choice meant that he had not the acceleration nor the brakes to fight. DaMatto was strong however, he also had the new spring suspension in his Jag and drove really well! He was rock solid in all his close fights with the other guys (and girl!!). Maria had not raced for a long time and naturally she got tired a bit and got off her rythm as time passed. Obviously track time is needed for both Maria and Iraklis. Some thing applies to George Dilberakis off course, who is a new guy, learning fast.

In heat3 we had:

(Top to bottom) Dimitris' Lancia LC2, George Tekelis' Sauber, Vasilis' APR Mazda and Alexis' Lancia
Only Alexis here uses an inline car, the others used sidewinders. Dimitris was trully a rocket! We have heard that he was really fast in practice, and he did the same here. He drove flawlessly, in an extremely fast pace, and won his heat with ease, scoring in the process, the most laps overall. He holds the race lap record with 8.820secs. Vasilis tried to stay close, but the pace was too fast and he made some more mistakes. Still he clocked good laptimes and finished with a high number of laps. George also had a good pace, but it seems that he faced some tire trouble towards the end of the race. Alexis, naturally could not follow the other guys pace with the sidewinder cars.

In heat4:

(Left to right) Giacomo's sidewinder Lancia, Timos' inline Porsche 956KH, Petros' inline Sauber and Christine's inline Mazda.
In this heat we were the majority of the 'old dogs'. Only Giacomo is a newbie. All 4 of us fought very closely, I had a small lead early on, then Petros fought hard and got ahead, then I managed to steal the lead again and Christine passed Petros, but finally Giacomo got right behind me with a super 4th round drive! A swap of places almost after every run!! A very close and exiting battle for all 4 of us!!

After 20mins, the final standings:

1. Dimitris / Lancia LC2 (Sidewinder) : 130 laps
2. Timos / Porsche 956KH (Inline) : 129 laps
3. Giacomo / Lancia LC2 (Sidewinder) : 128 laps
4. Petros / Sauber C9 (Inline) : 128 laps (3secs behind Giacomo)
5. Christine / Mazda 787B (Inline) : 127 laps
6. Vassilis APR / Mazda 787B (Sidewinder) : 126 laps
7. George DaMatto / Jaguar XJR9 (Sidewinder) : 124 laps
8. Iraklis / Sauber C9 (Sidewinder) : 123 laps
9. George Tekelis / Sauber C9 (Sidewinder) : 122 laps
10. Maria / Jaguar XJR9 (Sidewinder) : 122 laps (5secs behind George)
11. Alexis / Lancia LC2 (Inline) : 120 laps
12. Freddie / Porsche 962 (Sidewinder - heavy mag) : 119 laps
13. George Dilberakis / Porsche 956KH (Sidewinder - light mag) : 109 laps
14. Vassilis Fillipoglou / Mazda 787B (Sidewinder - heavy mag) : 108 laps
15. Takis / Porsche 962 (Sidewinder - light mag) : 106 laps
16. Nikos / Lancia LC2 (Sidewinder) : 102 laps

A few more pics from cars:


Christine's new Mazda


Dimitris' winning Lancia


George's Sauber in the southern hairpin


My Porsche 956KH


Our family cars (Maria, Petros, Christine, Timos, Lancia test mule, Porsche test mule and the Porsche that Takis borrowed from us for the race)


Our bench in the pits


A colorful grid


Winners podium and trophies!!!

Tech info:
Sidewinders used 11/32 or 12/34 gears, inlines worked best with 9/26, F22 and F15 tires were used with no substantial difference in lap times, 21.5k motor is good for these cars, with lots of power and good brakes. Mag suspension was used by many, a few guys used the new springs, almost all cars were here (save the new Jag XJR12), different liveries and a couple of custom paints. A nice grid!
Seems that this set of rules has served its purpose and the final results are really close. Racing was exciting and intense, and things look pretty good for the future. Everyone is looking forward to the next race on 27th of February.