On Saturday we ran our second GrC championship race for the season. The usual slot it GrC cars, all slot it parts, non mag, only inline for a few guys considered old dogs, sidewinder for everyone else, only 21.5k motors and a little of mag help for some newbies to help them a bit. Only this time, the distributor managed to suprize all of us by turning the rotation around. We wouldn't ran the event in the usual and much practiced, counterclockwise rotation, we would run it in clockwise rotation instead, and having only 2 min to practice it before each run. Now that was something that altered things dramatically!!

As usual we have a variety of cars in the grid, not all raced but all paraded on the track for the photo shoot:


We gathered 15 racers and formed 4 heats according to the last race's standings.
Cars at the pits:


Heat4 cars:

Left to right Alexandros Porsche 962 (inline), Christos' Inline Sauber C9 and Takis Sidewinder Lancia LC2
In this heat Alexandros was running his first ever slot race and he had some trouble with a borrowed controller, but still survived the competition and had fun. Takis, on his second race ever, performed very well and battled hard with Christos for the whole race. A close win for Christos but Takis has shown true potential.

Heat3 cars:

Vasilis F. Mazda with mag, George Dilberakis Porsche 956K with mag, Freddie's Porsche 962C with mag and George Tekelis Silver Sauber sidewinder.
George was running a new setup on his Suber, and this proved a good one. He drove well and scored a very good number of laps.
The rest of the guys had a nice fight, all with a bit of mag help in their cars, they drove nicely and improved their performance as time passed. George D. was best, Freddie was right behind and his nephew Vasillis F. rounded up.

Heat2 cars:

George Damato's Jaguar sidewinder, Vassilis APR Sauber inline, Christine's Mazda inline and Iraklis' Sauber sidewinder.
This was a very tough heat. George, Iraklis and Christine had a hard fight, all between themselves but also for a place in the podium. Christine managed to edge Iraklis for 3rd for only 0.5 seconds, the closest finish ever!!!! George Damato stayed 2laps behind them.

Heat1 cars:

Petros' inline Jaguar XJR12, Giaccomo's Lancia sidewinder, Timos' Porsche 956KH inline and Dimitris' Mazda sidewinder.
Mixed feelings for this heat. Only the two of last race's top 4, repeated their good performance, and it was Petros and Dimitris. Giaccomo and Timos got confused a bit on the reverse rotation and stayed low on laps. Dimitris on the other hand was unbeatable again! Top honours for this guy, second time in a row!! Petros simply drove as hard as he good and was close at some point, but a strange loss of performance of his car at the last 2mins, ended his charge for the top. Still second place for him seems a positive result.

Overall standings:

1. DIMITRIS : 122laps / best lap:8.950s
2. PETROS : 120laps / best lap: 9.243s
3. CHRISTINE : 119laps / best lap: 9.476s
4. IRAKLIS : 119laps / best lap: 9.532s (only 0.5s behind)
5. GEORGE DAMATO : 117laps / best lap: 9.314s
6. TIMOS : 116laps / best lap: 9.500s
7. TEKELIS GEORGE : 113laps / best lap: 9.804s
8. GIACCOMO : 112laps / best lap: 9.540s
9. CHRISTOS : 110laps / best lap: 9.866s
10. VASSILIOS APR : 109laps / best lap: 10.097s
11. TAKIS : 107laps / best lap: 10.250s
12. GEORGE DILMPERAKIS : 105laps / best lap: 9.695s
13. FREDDY : 99laps / best lap: 10.864s
14. VASILIS FILIPOGLOU : 95laps / best lap: 10.975s
15. ALEXANDROS : 78laps / best lap: 11.718s

A very tough race for all of us, the reverse rotation took its toll on lap times and overall results were slower compared to the previous race.
Some car photos:


Dimitris' sidewinder Mazda 787B


Petros' Inline Jaguar XJR12


Christine's inline Mazda 787B


Iraklis' sidewinder Sauber C9


George Damato sidewinder Jaguar XJR9


This was my inline Porsche


Giaccomo's custom painted sidewinder Lancia (his Italian origins couldn't be more obvious )

The winners podium and trophies:


Next race in about a month. Dimitris after his two wins in a row, is the current favorite, but from now on he will have to race an inline car, as his status is officially upgraded to an 'old dog' . His task to defend his championship lead will be even more difficult but Dimitris has proven a tough competitor so far. In about a months' time, we will find out...