The first round of the Group B Rally series was attended by six racers. The format for this series is very different than the other series in that this one is based on time and not laps. Every racer in this first round/stage had to run the same 70 lap heat/stage and the best time for those 70 laps would determine the winner of the race/stage.
The other big differences will be the direction, the amount of light and the track the cars will run on. There will be eight stages run during the series meaning that some weekends will have two separate stages run back to back. The eight possible combinations of tracks, direction, and light are:
- Club Track, blue lane, clockwise, daylight
- Club track, blue lane, clockwise, night time
- Club track, blue lane, counter clockwise, daylight
- Club track, blue lane, counter clockwise, night time
- Rally track, one lane, clockwise, daylight
- Rally track, one lane, clockwise, night time
- Rally track, one lane, counter clockwise, daylight
- Rally track, one lane, counter clockwise, night time
The rules for this series are simple – use any Scalextric Group B rally car, leave the interior of the car alone, run any 25K motor, replace the wheels, tires, guide add some weight and there you go. OK, it’s not that simple but the cars looked the part and some ended up being almost as difficult to drive as the real Group B racers.
The series was dominated by Lancia Delta S4’s with five of the six entries running the Italian car. It’s not hard to understand what the allure is for the Lancia as the rear wheel width is almost three millimeters wider than any other Scalextric Group B car. The only non-Lancia car was an Audi Quattro S1 entry.
The warm up was fun to watch as the racers were trying to come to grips with their newly prepared cars. There were some that were completely dialed and there were others that, well, couldn’t even keep their front wheels on the car. This could get ugly. Anyone remember the first round of the Trans Am series?
The first racer in the stage was Shawn in his Lancia Delta S4. Shawn’s car was very well prepared and looked very smooth. The car was very stable in the turns but was not as quick on the straights. Shawn’s was as consistent as ever and only had one de-slot and set the mark for everyone else to chase. It was a solid good tarmac stage for Shawn.
The second racer had Mark and his Lancia Delta S4 running. Mark was very consistent and was able to run a solid stage with a couple of de-slots on the final turn but other than that it looked like he was taking a conservative approach to the first stage. That could be the best move for there were not a lot of group B runners present and it might be better to be consistent than go fast and crash every other lap.
Third racer was Jordan running his, wait for it….. Lancia Delta S4. He was actually running the very limited edition Henri Toivonen edition that was lovely prepared by his ace mechanic that just happens to share the same last name as him. Jordan was, as usual, fast. His pace was very good and the car looked very stable. He did have a couple of de-slots but the car was solid. He was not very far off of Shawn at the time checks but in the end he was unable to catch him. He did have a very solid second place.
The fourth runner was Ary and his version of the Lancia Delta S4. Ary was Ary and set the fastest laps of the stage. His car was a joy to watch as it did not so much as quiver as he pushed the pace around the esses and the final turn on the track that had given everyone else so many issues. He even had to slow up for a part of the stage to adjust his brake bias. At the end of the stage Ary was the only racer so far to get below the 5 minute mark for the 70 lap stage. It didn’t hurt that he also had a fast lap of 4.174 shattering the previous mark set by Shawn at 4.382. The fast pace did take a toll on the Lancia’s Pirelli’s and I don’t know if he would have been able to keep up the pace much longer. Perfect use of the tires running them to the cord just as you finish!
The fifth runner was Marty in an Audi Quattro S1. Let’s see if the Audi can keep its front wheels on for the entire stage before we talk about how well it can do against the team of Lancia’s. The Audi was fast on the straights but was more than a handful in the turns. The Audi spent a large amount of time in the air and was reminiscent of the real Audi Group B Quattro. I don’t really know how he did it but Marty ended up with the third fastest time on the day so far only four seconds behind Shawn. If the Audi can be made more stable I think it could be in the hunt.
The final runner on the day was John and his Lancia Delta S4. John’s Lancia looked good on the straights but was having difficulty getting around any of the corners on the track. John was doing what he could to keep the Lancia planted but just could not keep the car right side up. John finished in sixth place and second in group B.
The final results had Ary first, Shawn second, Marty third, Jordan fourth, Mark fifth and John sixth. Another big difference between this series and others is that there are no points awarded for your placing. All the results are based on your total time. The time you ran in this race will go with you to the next round and at the end the racer with the lowest time will win the series. Very different strategy to run here than in other races.
The series was lots of fun and will only get better as everyone gets a handle on their cars and how to run the series to get the best final result. If you don’t have a car ready you still have time to get one sorted by the next round on October 15th. See you then.
