The fifth and penultimate round of the Group 5 Championship looked just like the previous four rounds with Marty and his Racer Sideways Ford Capri setting the pace. The big difference here is that the chasers were getting closer. Would it be enough to stop the Capri’s drive to take the championship in the fifth round?
At this point in any series the racers have to decide whether to spend more time tuning their cars or just let it go and work on their car for the coming Scalextric Modern GT series. For this round of the series it looked like everyone was running the same cars they had for the past rounds, no big changes here.
Heat 1 had Roy in yellow, Stephen in blue and Russell in green. The race had just a few de-slots but the highlight was the speed Stephen was running at. He was clearly making an attempt to finish high on the podium and get some much need points in the overall standings. Stephen finished with 71 laps and an average lap time almost two tenths faster than the other two racers. He also had the fast lap of the heat with a 4.060. All that being said, Russell was only three laps behind and Roy was only four behind at the end of the heat.
Heat 2 had Rich in yellow, Russell in blue and Roy in green. The race had few de-slots and had some close racing between Russell and Roy but both racers were running slower than they have in the past. No uber fast lap times were set but it was still great to watch. Russell finished with 69 laps to Roy’s 68 and Rich’s 61. It was great to see Rich put up a 61 lap count.
Heat 3 had Brian in yellow, Rich in green and Roy in blue. The race was won by Roy with 69 laps with Rich nine laps behind. Brian’s Ferrari spent way too much time in the pits and finished with a total of 49 laps. Unfortunate to see the Ferrari have another weekend of mechanical issues.
Heat 4 had Ary in yellow, Brian in green and Rich in blue. It was obvious right from the first lap that Ary had done some work on his car. There was none of the twitchiness the car had exhibited in the turns in the previous rounds of the series. The Porsche 935K3 was flying and finished with 72 laps and a fast lap of 4.068. Rich and Brian both ran 63 laps.
Heat 5 had Marty in yellow, Ary in green and Brian in blue. This was a great heat to watch as Marty and Ary were running so close to each other for the entire race while Brian did everything he could to keep the Carrera Ferrari in the slot. At the end of the race Marty finished with 73 laps and Ary’s was not far behind with 72 laps. Brian did a great job of making the most out of the Carrera Ferrari even with spending some time in the pits to run a total of 57 laps. Marty had the fast lap with a time of 4.013.
Heat 6 had Stephen in yellow, Marty in green and Ary in blue. This would be the heat of the day with the top three racers in the same heat. Marty came in with 73 laps to Ary’s two heat total of 144 and Stephen’s one heat total of 71. The racers were all pushing their cars to the limit but not over as there were no de-slots in this heat and the racers were running close for many laps without any contact. It was just good hard racing. At the end Marty had 73 laps to Ary’s 72 and Stephen’s 72. The fast laps for the heat were very close for all three of the drivers with Marty running a 4.020 to Stephen’s 4.054 and Ary’s 4.067. That is some very close racing.
In replay the clerk of the course noticed that Marty did not get credit for his first lap. That will be added to his overall total for the race.
Heat 7 had Russell in yellow, Stephen in green and Marty in blue. Since this was the last heat it was all or nothing and the three racers were pushing very hard, sometimes too hard. There were a couple of de-slots each for Russell and Stephen that kept them both in close sight of each other throughout the entire race. At the end it was Marty with 73 laps while Russell and Stephen both finished with 69.
Final Results – At the end of the seven heats it was Marty with 220.31 laps to Ary’s 216.82 and Stephen’s 212.71. Fourth place was Russell with 206.27 laps, fifth place was Roy with 204.40 laps, sixth place was Rich with 184.80 and Brian and his troubled Ferrari with 169.27 laps. Fast lap was Marty with a 4.013.
Next Round – The big story was less about Marty’s finish than about how close the battle is for the remaining positions on the podium. If you look at the attached spreadsheet you can see what the standings look like without any race drops and then with one race drop. With everyone dropping one race the standings are super tight. Russell and Stephen are tied with 33 points and Ary is only one point behind with 32 points. Roy is not far behind with 28 points. Anything could happen and it all comes down to one race.
Final questions for the final round – Will Russell be able to get his Porsche running like it did in the first three races? Will Stephen be able to control the Lancia and keep it in the slot for all three heats? Will Ary be able to keep up the speed he showed in the last race? Will Roy have the race of his life and win the final heat and leap frog the others? Even if you are not planning on racing it would be worth the price of entry to come watch this final race. I wouldn’t miss it.