This Saturday brought the last race of the year and the annual Christmas party. This being the last race of the Scalextric GT series there were some positions still up for grabs. First was locked in by Shawn already having 41 points and Ary deciding to take this race as his drop as he had 40 points. This left a 3 way tie for 3rd and a shot for Brian to potentially take 2nd from Ary. For that to happen, Brian needed to win, take fastest lap and complete 212 laps total. This wasn’t going to be trivial but obtainable.
Heat 1: The race started with Russell in yellow, Steve in blue and Marty in green. Marty already proved he was very fast the last 2 races. Steve had earlier in the day secured a new ride from Barbosa Skunkwerks to challenge the leaders. Marty set the pace with 72 laps with Steve at 70 laps and Russell following at 67 laps.
Heat 2: This heat saw Roy enter the fray with his Ford GT without front inserts. Who tech these cars again? Nevermind. I digress. Roy and Russell did the best they could but Marty just continued what he started in Heat 1. Marty finished with 73 laps against Russell’s 68 and Roy’s 64 and grabbing fastest lap with a 3.983.
Heat 3: With Marty out until the last heat, Rich pulled up to the line to get his race started. Roy found pace in this heat finishing with 69 laps to Russell’s 68. This was a good fight here. Rich is really starting to get the feel of this finishing a respectable 60 laps.
Heat 4: Now its Brian’s turn to start his race. Not that there was any pressure or anything for Brian to do well. Only 2nd place hung in the balance. When the time ended, Brian managed 70 laps. He was going to need to pick up the pace and hope Marty’s car had a wheel come off in the last heat. Roy finished with 66 laps and Rich with 57 laps.
Heat 5: Brett came to the line this heat. He’s another one who’s starting to get his slot trigger finger finely tuned as well. Brian just couldn’t seem to keep the Corvette under control and only managed to finish with 71 laps. With 2nd out of the picture, he just need to see about keeping a hold of 3rd. Rich and Brett finished with the same lap count of 61.
Heat 6: Shawn now came in to start his race. He had commented that his car wasn’t capable of hitting 3.9s to much jeering from Marty. One the time stopped, he has managed to finally break that elusive time with a 3.995 and finishing with 72 laps. Brian finished with 71 laps and sitting on the ragged edge of fast and just too fast. Brett completed his race with 59 laps in his last heat.
Heat 7: Steve came back into the mix here and started to a smoking fast run with a 4.000 and finishing with 72 laps. Brett coming in with 59 laps, but Shawn’s consistency proved hard to beat completing another 72 laps.
Heat 8: This heat brought the 3 fastest races of the day in one final showdown. Marty came in to finish his last heat and take the 1st place podium home. About 6 laps into the heat, the Barbosa special developed transmission issues and was pulled from the race. Such a shame as Steve was doing very well with well-tuned ride. It was down to Marty and Shawn to see who would win the heat and effectively the race. When the dust finally settled, Shawn’s consistency and speed came through and bested Marty. Shawn completed 72 laps again to Marty’s 70 laps. Shawn did his best to try and take fastest lap but only managed a 3.986.
With the lap totals and fractionals calculated, Shawn won with 216.55 laps to Marty’s 215.75 laps. These 2 are so close that it comes down to who can get the speed and consistency. Congrats to Shawn for the win and Marty for 2nd and Brian coming in 3rd. This was a great race today.
As for the series, Shawn just extended his lead to a total of 51 points in the series. Brian was unable to unseat Ary from 2nd but the battle for 3rd was hard fought by Marty. This is a series for Marty of what could have been if he hadn’t missed 2 races.
Congrats to all who competed. This was a great series and awesome way to end the year. See everyone in 2014 for a whole new set of challenges and cars.
