Race #3 of the 2015 Group-C Series using Slot.It Challenger rules was held on May 16. The weather was getting a little warmer and humidity was moderately high as we had a very wet spring this year with at least a small shower each week and what seemed like months of overcast skies. We had 6 racers, with one Porsche 956, one Nissan, two Lancias(!) and two 962s.
Heat-1 had Rich, Mark and Dave with a mixed field of Lancia, 962 and 956. This was a tricky heat as the tires (mostly F30s) were again finicky and at less than 35 seconds in we already had a few back to back deslots. Soon Dave had gained the lead with Rich close behind and Mark hoping to catch a break. Daves 956 was wingless and maybe that contributed to not enough downforce (lol) to keep the tires from drifting, but at 230min he pulled solidly ahead of Rich for several laps. At 145min left Dave and Mark traded paint adding some excitement. At 53sec left Rich was close on Daves heels but just could not catch up, leaving Mark way back in the dust. Everyone seemed to have traction problems with most ETs in this heat in the 4.50 range.
Heat-2 added Marty as Mark rolled out to marshall. Out of the gate Martys 962 was lapping at 3.9 ETs and at 2 minutes was leading the Lancias by 3 laps. This was a more steady heat than the last with the tires settling in, but after about 1.5 minutes of steady racing the pressure built resulting in a few cluster deslots. With 1 min left the field was spread out and the finish was Marty with an impressive 75 laps, followed by Dave (66) and the Rich racing team (64).
Heat-3 brought in Steve as Dave retired to marshall. Out the gate this time the Rich Racing team tried to impress their sponsors (Miller beer and Frito Lay) by leading Marty(!) with Steve right behind them waiting to strike. At 1 min in Marty and Rich were neck and neck, Marty posting 3.9 ETs again (is nitrous or nitromethane in his 962?) By 2.5 min in Marty is leading as the field has spread apart, the Nissan nipping at the Lancias heels consistently 0.05 secs under Richs average ETs. With 30 sec left the KeinMitleid livery and Rich racing were even, choking on Marty’s dust as he led by 4 laps. In the end Marty posted an impressive 74 laps as Steve and Rich finished at 70.
Heat-4 retired Rich as Ary joined the fight and at least for the first minute the group was on the same lap, but Ary squeeked ahead with 3.8 ets to Martys 3.9s followed closely by Steves 4.0s. At 2 min in Ary and Marty were close together as Steve waited his turn to strike. At 2.5 min the field had spread apart as the ETs remained on average at 3.8, 3.9 and 4.0 respectively. These guys are all pros so this was a close but low drama race until the end when Marty squeezed by Ary, resulting in Ary and Marty matching laps with Steve 5 laps down.
Heat-5 rolled Mark back in as Marty retired happy with 224 laps. After some contact and deslots in the first few laps (Mark just wanted to wake up the marshalls) Ary pulled a full 3 laps ahead at 1.5 min in. Mark and Steve were on the same lap up to a little over 2 minutes in until Marks motor wire popped loose from the guide. After the race resumed Steve pulled ahead of Mark but he could not catch Ary who was 6 laps ahead with 1 min left. The end was predictable with Ary leading with a very low ET of 3.814 followed by KeinMitleid and ……….. somewhere in the dust was Spyder racing.
Heat-6 brought back Dave from marshall duty and his attempts to refasten his 956s wing. For the first minute the field was surprisingly close until Ary and Dave traded paint about 2.70 in. After 3 minutes Ary was leading but Dave was only a few laps behind, and Mark was watching from 9 laps down (ouch!) Not much drama occurred during the last 2 minutes of the race until …. Ary was able to reach 76 laps (the s/w only showed 74?) at the last few seconds, squeezing Marty out of first place by one lap (225 to 224)!
