Targa Florio Rally – Round 4
August 28th
How did ASCC arrive at a Targa Florio 1972+/- race on the club rally track? Each October the club holds an official club meeting when the most important item on the agenda is selection of the 6 car classes for the next year. Four quarterly classes and two half year classes. Since the opening of the rally course, special attention on car class is required due to the tight corners. In 2019 the NSR Porsche 908/3 was selected, but on further consideration it morphed from a one-design/one manufacturer class into a multi-make/multi-manufacturer series.
The original idea of the NSR 908/3 one-design was expanded at the October 2019 meeting, or shortly thereafter, to include available 1/32 3 liter displacement cars – Ferrari 312/3 by Slot.it or Policar, the Slot.it Alfa 33T, Nonno Slot Abarth 2000, all of which have participated in 2021 except the Policar, plus Sloter Lola T280/T290PB and Fly/GB Track Chevron B19/B21. For the chassis to be competitive, Sloter Lola may use Olifer-3D; Fly Chevron may use CG Slots-3D.
Unfortunately, most of the 2019 series and all of the 2020 series were scratched due to Covid decisions and not run by proxy like some other classes. In Quarter 3 of 2021 the Targa race running under the 2019 adopted rules, as used once in 2020, finally has come into a full series using the car owners driving the cars.
Neither Lola nor Chevron have appeared. The Alfa 33T and Nonno Abarth made one appearance pre-Covid, but the drivers have been quarantined at the Sicilian border (not really there of course). Both the NSR Porsche and the Slot.it Ferrari and Alfa cars have been competitive, much to the relief of the original petitioners. The Nonno car did not get a true test in 2019 but seemed to have potential. There is even a Slot.it Ferrari with an NSR motor.
The August 28, 2021 experienced timing glitches. So the competitors whipped out their phones, opened the stop watch apps and two members timed and counted laps to 40. It was amazing how close two manual stop watches were. It reminded me of the early rallies and track races when the laps were timed with a lap watch and total watch on a clip board. So in a way it was throwback Saturday.
