Good evening All
Another week has passed and here we are back at Presto Park for round two of the club American muscle class.
This used to be the slowest class of the championship, but tonight showed that it was possible to get reasonable lap times.
We welcomed new member Ian to the club and wish you many years of slot car fun. Ian used to be a member way back in the sixties and seventies and has joined us to rekindle his interest in the sport.
We also wish Alan H well and hope your arm and shoulder heals quickly and we are all looking forward to your return to Presto.
One thing I missed out last week was Happy Birthday to Richard T and this week To James H on his 21st birthday. we all wish you both all the best for the next year.
So now tonight's racing here at Presto.
With 12 drivers attending we could see it was going to give us some close racing and we were not disappointed as there was some interesting maneuvers which kept everything and everyone watching closely.
We also see Mike and Lyle both struggling with car that would not handle or breaking. We would like to say a big well done to James E who managed some impressive results during the heats and as our youngest member is starting to progress very quickly and we are all looking forward to seeing James E progress like James H has done over his many years at the club.
So to the finals,
As stated earlier with a few drivers out of place we again expected to have some close racing through out the finals and also it was decided that for a change we would have rolling starts throughout the finals, which all the drivers enjoyed and for many its was the first time they had done this and we all look forward to doing rolling starts again very soon.
Final C we had Ray in Red, Iain in Blue, Keith in Yellow and The Boss Mike in Green. So all the drivers left the starting area travelling as a group and as they came round to the start line it was full throttle and into turn 1. We saw Mike take the lead and race away from the pack with Iain chasing hard, Keith was in third and Ray in fourth.
The drivers showed great skill and some excellent driving the first three managed to stay on the same lap with only Ray being caught several times.
So after 25 laps it was Mike who took the win to be followed home by Iain, Keith and Ray.
Final B Mike took his place in Yellow lane along side Lyle in Red, Skippy in Blue, and James H in Green. Again it was a rolling start and the four cars stayed side by side and as they came into the pit straight the triggers where pulled tight as they all raced into turn 1 and the lead changed several times on the first lap. So then everyone settled down as James H went into the lead and Skippy finding good speed and handling to chase hard throughout the heat, Lyle had to rebuild his car during the break and wasn't able to capitalize on the rebuilt car.
After 25 laps we has James H take the win with Skippy chasing hard to finishing second, Mike managed to come home 3rd and Lyle was the last man home.
Final A James H took his place in Yellow lane and with Richard T in Red, Steve in Blue, Tone took his place in Green. Again a rolling start got underway with all for cars crossing the start line with in 20mm of each other and they raced down to turn 1 with Richard T leading closely followed by James H, Steve had a few problems trying to catch the leaders with Tone showing his car can be quick if needed.
The places swapped a few times again until everyone settled down for some fast laps being recorded and after 25 laps it was James H who took the win with Richard T second and lost the fastest lap by 3 hundredths of a second with Tone coming in third and Steve brining up the rear but managing to go fastest enough for the fastest lap of the night.
The results
James H 25
Richard T 23
Tone 21
Steve 20 + 1pt for fastest lap (7.247 secs)
Skippy 19
Mike 18
Lyle 17
Iain 16
Keith 15
Ray 14
Richard E 13
James E 12
Next week we have the final round 2 event and its Formula 1
Looking forward to seeing you all there and hope we have a great evenings racing as we always have here at Presto.
Take care all and have a good week
