This past Saturday’s second round of the BRM race had a very similar look to the first round where everyone was once again chasing Shawn’s beautiful Minolta Toyota 88c.
There was basically Shawn, his Toyota and everyone else. No one has gotten close to him and even with a couple of de-slots he was still be best in the field. His point total is already five points ahead of the second place driver and seven over the third place driver. That might be too much to overcome unless someone can find some additional pace.
In second place behind Shawn on Saturday was Marty and his Jagermeister Porsche 962. He was running much stronger after his last race that was plagued with crown gear issues. His Porsche was fast but not as fast as the top three fastest lap times but what Marty lacked in speed he made up for in consistency. He was able to finish with 218.95 laps which was behind Shawn’s total by .42 of a lap. His pace will have to increase if he has any plans on catching Shawn.
Third place was Jim and his IMSA Miller High Life Porsche 962. Jim’s Miller Killer is always at the front and if it were not for getting caught up in some other cars wrecks he would have been fighting with Marty for second. Jim is one of the fastest and most consistent BRM racers and is also one of the most gentlemanly drivers you could hope to race with. Speed with control is the best way to describe his driving style in the BRM. This author would have no issues driving side by side with him.
Fourth place was the surprise of the day. Stephen is new to the BRM Group C series even though he did run a few rounds of last year’s Renault Megane El Piloto series. For anyone that has run both you know that although both cars are BRM’s and 1/24 scale they are very different to drive. Stephen was using a rental IMSA Porsche 962 in Lowenbrau livery. He was super fast in the first two heats and would have been better in the third heat if his crown gear was not going away on him. He had a fast lap of 3.957 and a very respectable lap count of 213.19. That is a great result for a first time competitor. Congratulations Stephen!
The battle for fifth and sixth places was the closest of the day with Brian and his IMSA Porsche 962 in custom Shell livery battling Roy and his Taka Q Toyota 88c. The battle went right down to the final laps of the final heat. In the end it was Brian with 211.82 laps to Roy’s 211.53 laps. And everyone knows that .82 is bigger than .53. The battle made for a great last heat as Brian was doing everything he could to end up in front. Congratulations to both guys for putting on such a good show.
Seventh place was another new racer and his brand spanking new and hastily prepared Porsche 962 in the Camel livery. Brett has raced some of our series but is new to the BRM Group C series. His new car is one of the best looking in the field and was one of the fastest, especially when you consider it was not fully prepared and lacked some critical performance parts. Brett was as fast as anyone on the straights but could not keep up in the turns due to the stock guide and insufficiently trued front wheels. With some additional tuning and some additional laps Brett could be a contender for a podium spot.
Eighth place was Ary and his custom Kenwood liveried IMSA Porsche 962. Ary was having a solid race but missed the start of his third heat. He didn’t miss it because he was in the bathroom or getting a drink or not paying attention to what was going on. Ary was helping another racer look for parts on the floor when the race began. Ary gave up his race to help a club member. I don’t know of many, myself included, that would be so generous. The sportsman award for the race easily goes to him for his assistance.
The next race should be very interesting with the two new members running so well and Ary back in the mix along with Marty running strong and Jim and Brian consistently fast and Roy fighting back into contention. More importantly, we will see if Shawn continues to dominate the field or if someone can push him and his Toyota.
