How close is close? Some would say that it’s relative to what you are talking about. If you ask me for what I would describe as close I would use this past weekend’s El Piloto as the poster child.
Going into the final race of the six race series Shawn was three points and 1.84 laps ahead of Marty. It all came down to the final round of the series – race six of six. At the end of the round with Shawn and Marty both doing all six rounds each of them were tied in points at 52. If that wasn’t close enough their lap totals were only .10 of a lap apart. Let’s put that in perspective. After 90 minutes of racing a total of 1,235 laps with an average lap time of 4.372 seconds a lap the difference between 1st and 2nd was 5.4’ or and amazing 0.437 seconds! Less than one half of one second. I don’t know if that sank in yet. I said the difference between 1st and 2nd was only 0.437 seconds over 90 minutes of racing! That is the closest finish we have ever had and is a great example of how every second or tenth of a second counts.
Once each driver dropped one of the six races Marty had a one point advantage with 46 points to Shawn’s 45 but the lap count was still only .14 laps apart. This is what makes the El Piloto series so much fun. The racing is very close and always exciting. Congratulations to both Marty and Shawn.
Russell was rewarded with the third place podium spot for his total of 25 points and 1,006.25 laps. His consistent driving was once again his key to success. Congratulations Russell.
Jim was in fourth spot after driving only three rounds of the series. That’s a great finish considering he only competed in three rounds of the series. Jim ended the series with 20 points and 605.92 laps. Nice driving as always from Jim.
Stephen was in fifth just one point behind Jim. Stephen was just starting to get the feel for the bigger BRM cars just as the series ended. If this were a seven round series I am sure he would have moved up to fourth place. Great to see a new driver like Stephen doing this well. I bet he can’t wait until the BRM series starting in January.
Ary was sixth with 18 points and 411.15 laps after running only two rounds in the series. A great result for such a limited run. After all the work Ary put into the cars it is a shame we don’t see him run them more. Having said that, if I had to rebuild and tune these cars for the past twelve months I would get pretty sick of running them as well.
Roy was seventh with 12 points and 500.05 laps. Roy was another one of the club members that was only able to race in three of the rounds. He had a good result but could not find the form he had in Round 1 of the El Piloto series. I am sure he will be ready to be at the top of the running for the next round of the BRM series with his MOMO Porsche. Good luck on the next round Roy.
Brian was eighth with 11 points and 408.84 laps. This may not seem like a great result but then you can see that Brian only raced in two of the six rounds. 11 points and 409 laps is a great result and had he raced more he would have been right up there with the leaders. Darn those honey do’s!
Brandon was ninth with five points and 358.32 laps. Brandon was another racer that only competed in two of the rounds. It was also his first experience with the larger BRM cars. His first race was like anyone’s doing this for the first time but he improved for the second race and has gotten better ever race he has done. He could be someone to watch in 2013. Good luck Brandon.
Max took the tenth and final spot with a point total of 3 and a lap count of 189.27. He competed in one round and had a good result with a strong lap count. If he ever loses his iPhone he could be a competitor. Max, I think you got a text.
This story would not be complete without a huge thank you to Ary Barbosa for all of his work in preparing the El Piloto cars and repairing all the damage we created. He had the cars ready for each of the twelve rounds and all worked great. He gave a lot of his time so we could all have some fun. Be sure you thank him next time you see him.
I hope everyone is already busy getting your BRM’s ready for January 12th’s first round of the 2013 BRM series! See you at the races.