Ford vs. Ferrari Round 3
by Lotus Jr.
The March 3rd round of the Ford vs Ferrari race series had 10 entries: 8 Ford GTs and 2 Ferraris. Jay from Houston was our welcomed guest entrant. Track was warming with temps as high as 86.
Heat 1 – John ran his #98 Ford GT on yellow and finished with 68 laps. Jeff had 61 laps in blue. Steve was driving Marty’s reconstructed blue and yellow Ford GT and topped the group with 74 laps and a best time of 3.903.
After the heat Jeff realized the motor in his brand-new Slot.it Ford GT was extremely hot and had a strange smell. Since Jeff was not in the next heat the series director allowed him take his car from Parc Ferme to see exactly what was happening. It turns out the motor shaft was loose within the motor casing allowing the shaft, armature, and commutator to move side to side. This motor was done and so was Jeff’s race.
Heat 2 – Marc ran his beautiful weathered silver and black Ford GT and finished 2nd in the heat with 67 laps. Steve won the heat with 71 laps and a best of 3.907. John struggled with handling issues finishing 3rd with 65 laps.
Heat 3 – Dave was running his super quick black Ford GT and finished 1st in the heat with 74 laps and a fast lap of 3.805. 2nd went to John running 69 laps finishing his three heats with a total of 202 laps. Marc followed with 67 laps.
Heat 4 – Melvin joined the race with his custom green GT40 running 65 laps and 4.158 best lap. Marc ran 67 laps and a 4.115 best lap while Dave won the heat with 73 laps and a new fast lap of 3.801.
Heat 5 – Randy came to the line with his wine-red Ford GT finishing the heat with 64 laps and 4.284 best. Dave finished his three-heat stint with a total of 221 laps and a series-best fast lap of 3.787. Melvin continues to improve running 64 laps and a fast lap of 4.205. Mel and Dave had a hard crash on lap 35 of the heat. And they say people don’t watch for the crashes.
Heat 6 – Close racing in heat 6. Jay started his race with his red Ferrari 330P running 3rd and 60 laps. 2nd went to Randy with 61 laps while Melvin took the heat win with 64 laps and a fast lap of 4.192.
Heat 7 – Marty’s yellow Ferrari 412 P joined the race and took 1st with 73 laps and a fast lap of 3.911. Randy made 63 laps and a 4.236 best. Jay followed in 3rd with 61 laps and a 4.329 best. Early in the heat, Marty had a few uncharacteristic deslots but later improved.
Heat 8 – Marty had numerous deslots in the button turn. The issue turned out to be an issue with the wiper arm on his DiFalco controller which was replaced mid-heat with his backup Difalco. Marty managed 66 laps and a 3.812 best. Lance came to the line with his Ford GT running 71 laps for the win. Jay finished with 63 laps.
Heat 9 – After his motor failure, Jeff was able to return to the race with Lance’s Allen Mann Ford GT turning 69 laps. Lance ran 2nd with 72 laps and a 3.989. Marty was back in winning form running a heat with 75 laps and a best of 3.831.
Heat 10 – Steve took the win with 74 laps and a best lap of 3.875 and a three-heat total of 219 laps. Lance was 2nd with 72 laps and a 3.911. Jeff followed up in 3rd with 65 laps and a 4.039 fast lap. Close racing in the final heat of the day. Definitely worth watching on YouTube.
The clubs headquarters started the day in the mid-50’s but rose to the low 80’s by the time this series began. This increase in heat and the track temp rising to 85 degrees played havoc on the softer cold weather F22’s that some competitors were running. The soft F22’s turned to a soft putty like compound under the heat and hard racing. You can sees from the pics the damage to the tires and the amount of rubber left on the track after the race.
The overall win went to Dave with 221.38 laps and a blistering 3.787 best. 2nd went to Steve running 219.75 laps and a 3.873. Lance was 3rd with 215.4 laps and a best lap of 3.961. It was good to have Russell back at ASCC. Good luck to Jeff in the Scale Auto race at Electric Dreams in LA next weekend.
Half way through the six race series and the battle for the top spot is super tight between Marty, David, and Steve while the battle just behind them is also tight with Brian, Lance, and Marc all very close together. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next round. Join us on April 1st.