2013 Group 5 – Race #1 Results

Group 5 – Race #1 Summary

                                                                     

 

 

If the first race in this quarters Group 5 series was any indication as to what the rest of the series will look like we are in for some great racing.  At the end of the heats the difference in time from first to sixth was only 9.38 laps while second, third and fourth were separated by only 0.66 of a lap.

Not only was the racing close it was also very clean with all the racers displaying great car control and respect for all the other competitors.  This is even more amazing when you consider this is the first time these cars have raced and how hard the drivers were pushing them.

Another great thing about this series is the different makes, models and set ups in all the cars that are running.  This is as far from a spec series as we have had.  Just look at what everyone chose to run.

• Roy – Racer Sideways, Porsche 935 Mody Dick
• Stephen – Racer Sideways, Lancia Beta
• Ary – Fly Porsche 935K with modified Racer chassis
• Shawn – MRRC, Toyota Celica without a motor pod!
• Marty – Racer, resin Porsche 935k
• Russell – Porsche 935 model kit with highly modified chassis and body, article on this car to follow.

Pre-Race – The pre-race activities were all normal with everyone looking for those last few tenths.  There was lots of tuning and tweaking since this was the first race of the series and everyone was trying to get the most out of their new cars.  Everyone was close to coming to terms with their cars except Stephen who was having some problems keeping his Lancia on all four wheels.  Russell was looking for more speed and decided to make a potentially risky last minute gear change.  Marty, Shawn and Roy were busy putting in some last minute laps in hopes they can get more experience with their new cars while Ary was working on keeping his front wheels attached to the axle.

Race – The surprise of the day was Stephen and his Lancia.  Looks like he had fooled everyone into thinking he was having car control issues during the pre-race tuning session.  When the green flag dropped he took off like a rocket and was fast in all three heats.  Stephen finished second overall with a lap total of 213.92 and a fast lap time of 4.031.

Russell was also fast in his very custom and beautiful Porsche 935 but encountered intermittent handling issues in his second and third heats that held him back from putting in faster laps.  Russell finished third overall with a lap total of 213.75 and the fastest overall lap time for the race of 4.002.  Congratulations Russell!

Ary had a strong run but had to contend with degrading rear tire issues on his Porsche 935K3 from the start of the race.  He was consistent as ever and was able to finish fourth overall with a lap total of 213.26 and a fast lap of 4.115.

Roy’s Porsche 935 Moby Dick was running a very light set up and had some handling issues with the rear of the Porsche sliding out on almost every turn.  He did a great job to finish as high up as he did.  Roy finishes in fifth place with a total of 210.2 laps and a fast lap of 4.079.

Shawn gets the car control award of the day for finishing as well as he did.  His Toyota Celica has had limited development and lacked any stability in the corners.  He did a great job to keep the Toyota in the running and finishing only 9 laps down.  Shawn finished with 207.4 laps and a fast lap time of 4.059.

The winner of the day was Marty and his resin bodied Racer Porsche 935K3.  Marty’s car was the heavy weight champion coming in at 96 grams.  The weight in the chassis was needed to offset the weight of the tall resin body and wing.  The weight was used to good effect as the car was stuck to the ground and was able to run some consistent laps without any issues.  Marty’s lap total was 216.78 with a fast lap of 4.031, identical to Stephen’s Lancia in second place.

Conclusion – Now that everyone one has run a Group 5 race and has a feel for their cars and the competitors they will go back to the workshop to tune and test.  I don’t think we have seen the best from many of the racers and we have yet to see Brian and his 3M Ferrari.  The races to come will surely be faster and great fun to race and watch.