LOLA WINS!

LOLA WINS!

The Lola T70 MkIII took the opening round of the 1970 LeMans series in convincing style.  Driver Russell Mill took what was thought to be an out of date car and placed it on the top of the podium.  This is not the first time a car from Russell Mill’s garage has dominated like this.  Everyone that raced in the classic GT race two years ago will remember how quick his Ferrari 250 GTO was and how it totally dominated the series.  It will be interesting to see if this was a one time performance or if Russell and his Lola can repeat at the next round.  No matter what he does, the other racers were way behind and now have lots of work to do to get on pace with the Lola.

The car that finished second was the Porsche 917 from Barbosa Racing Werks.  Barbosa was planning on running the new Matra MS660 but the French runner was not ready for this first round of the series so at the last possible minute (30 minutes before the race) he began to prep a Porsche 917 that he had but had not done any prep work on.  Obviously it worked as he was able to run some very consistent heats and finish in second place overall.

The third place car was the Ferrari 312P and although the car was fast in the straights it was not stable enough in the turns to make up the time it needed to compete for the lead.  The car sounded rough from the second heat on.  Looks like the NART team will have to spend some time checking all the nuts and bolts before the next round.

The fourth place car was the Porsche 908 long tail.  The car had lots of straight line speed with I am sure comes from the revised aerodynamics but the car was a handful in the turns, especially on the exit.  It was still a good run for this car.  With a little more tuning it could be looking at a solid podium spot.

The fifth place was Jordan in the Porsche 917 leading the Group B racers.  Jordan did a great job transitioning to the Porsche 917 from the Slot It Group C series and showed his first place overall finish in Group C was not just luck.  The Porsche did have some issues with the guide but the clerk of the course allowed the race to come to a halt so the defective part could be replaced.

The sixth place was won by Rich and his not so legal Ford GT40.  Rich made his argument to the clerk of the course to allow him to run the GT40 with the understanding that he would bring a fully legal car to the next round of the series.  The Ford was strong on power but lacked handling.  It was a tough car for Rich to drive and made it difficult to put in any quality laps.   Rich’s effort was admirable but it was clear that he was going to need to get something more stable and more legal for the next round on the 26^th.

The seventh place finisher was David and his new Porsche 917 in the Gesipa livery.  The car came to the track not fully developed and was being tweaked right up to the time it ran its first heat.  David did a great job considering his lack of time on the track and the fact he was running an almost fully stock car.  I would not bet against him for any of the future races in the series.

The race was dominated by one car and one driver but there were some shining moments from other drivers but no one was close to Russell.  It was also interesting that there were only seven racers for this opening round of the series.  It will be interesting to see if this series brings in more racers for the next round.  If you were thinking the competition was going to be too fast you are wrong.  It’s time to get a car and run in the series.  Remember, only one round has been run and there is still time to get in and finish on the podium for the overall winner.  See you all on the 26^th.