Happily, all of our drivers found their way to Bologna in the 5th round of the Austin Slot Car Club Mille Miglia series. The racing experience was what we have come to accept as “typical” for this series, with Gentleman Jim racing off into the distance while the rest of the field wrestled with mechanical issues, difficult braking characteristics, or various tire issues.
Salvatori (aka Roy) raced his slippery Jaguar hard to secure second place while Marty manhandled his barely-braking yellow Ferrari GT into third. Count Ary’s Lancia and Brian’s Aston Martin both suffered from tire difficulties leaving them to bring up the rear in forth and fifth place, respectively.
No race seems to be complete without at least one mechanical issue. This week it was Russell’s turn. His Ferrari-powered Abarth Spyder suffered from front axle woes that had the car terribly unbalanced in the turns for the first two thirds of the race. After some time in the pits it returned to the course, handling much better, but was only able to complete 160 of the scheduled 201 laps in the race.
In spite of the challenges, it was still a great race.
At this stage of the series it looks like Gentleman Jim has first place secured. Leaving the hardest racing between second and third. After five rounds Ary and Roy are only separated by 2.8 seconds. That represents just over ½ of a lap on the track which could easily be lost or gained by one deslot or mechanical problem. This will be an exciting finish to the series. Brescia is on the horizon!
