Round 5 of the El Piloto race was held on Saturday, May 11th. There were seven racers in attendance but only six raced as Ary chose to chronicle the event with his new camera for his upcoming feature film “El Piloto – The Series”. The six racers had a great time as the cars were in great shape and the room tempature was perfect. This looked like the perfect day for some racing.
After everyone had a few laps with each car the first heat started. This heat had Shawn in yellow, Jimin green and Russell in blue. The racing was very close as we have come to expect from the El Piloto series with everyone ending up with 67 laps. Jim’s drive was really the highlight of the heat as he had a rough start and managed to make up time to get back on the lead lap and stay with the other two drivers. The fastest lap in this heat was Russell in the blue lane with a time of 4.308.
The second heat had Shawn in green, Roy in yellow and Jim in blue. Jim used his fast pace from the first heat to great affect in this heat to total 69 laps, two laps more than either of his two fellow racers. Jim also set the fastest heat time with a lap of 4.271. Jim’s secret for this heat – no de-slots. The El Piloto races are too close to have any de-slots. The racer that keeps his car in the slot will usually win.
The third heat had Shawn in blue, Roy in green and Lance in yellow. Shawn had a strong race with only one de-slot while Roy had an unexpectedly poor race with too many de-slots to keep up with Shawn. Lance had a good race and continues to get faster every time we see him. Shawn totaled 69 laps and the fast lap of the heat with a 4.285. Roy managed 67 laps and Lance had a very respectful 66 laps.
The forth heat had Marty in yellow, Lance in green and Roy in blue. It was clear to everyone that the blue car was the fastest one and if Roy was going to have any chance of finishing in the top three he would have to take advantage of his run in the blue lane.
The race was highlighted by a great duel between Marty and Roy with Marty getting close, de-sloting and then working his way back up to Roy only to have it happen again. Marty finally worked his way around with just 10 seconds left in the race. At the end it was Marty tied with Roy at 68 laps and Lance with 64. To Lance’s credit, he was trying not to get involved with the battle between Marty and Roy and held back in many turns. The fast lap belonged to Marty in the yellow lane with a time of 4.271.
The fifth heat had Marty in green, Lance in blue and Russell in yellow. This was one of the cleanest races of the day with the fewest de-slots. The race was very close between Russell and Marty with their average lap times at the end of the heat being seperated by only 0.001 seconds and their fast laps being seperated by only 0.002. It was Russell took the heat by a half lap over Marty with a total of 69 laps to Marty’s 68 and Lance’s 65. Russell had the fast lap of the heat with a 4.312.
This brings us to the final heat of the day. This is not your normal final heat. This one had all three competitors tied going into it. Each of the three racers had a total of 136 laps. The racing was close and there were a few mis-steps by both Russell and Jim while Marty had a great run in the fast blue lane and managed to total 70 laps to Russell’s 68 and Jim’s 67. Marty also had the fast lap of the heat and the race with a 4.268.
The lap totals for the race had Marty with a series high 206.26 to Russell’s 204.35, Jim’s 203.76, Shawn’s 203.45, Roy’s 202.32 and Lance’s 195.72.
With his fifth round result Marty has locked up the championship but the remaining places are still up in the air. The final round of the series on June 9th should be very exciting to watch and even more exciting to run!
The El Piloto race features equally prepared 1/24 scale Renault Megane cars from BRM. This series is modeled after the IROC series in that individual are not allowed to tune the cars to their taste, and the drivers rotate through each lane, but the cars do not. This effectively levels the playing field in terms of car tuning and focuses on the racer’s ability to adjust to the performance nuances between cars and lanes.
Nice summary. You caught the excitement and closeness of the race.