July 12th is the opening round of the Targa Florio race series that will occupy the second half of the 2014 calendar year with six races spread over the final six months of the year.
The Targa Florio’s format is unique in that the racers will run a set distance each round with the winner being the one who completes the set number of laps in the least amount of time as opposed to the most laps run in a set amount of time.
The car selection for this race will be different as well with the date range for the event spanning the late sixties to the early 70’s. This will give racers a wide range of cars to choose from and will allow anything from full custom resin cars to three different Slot It production cars.
Just to give you some sense of what a fast time will look like for this event we have dug through the archives to 2012 when we ran two Slot It Challenge races – a 60’s Prototypes series and a 70’s Prototypes series. Both of these series were run with cars that are allowed for the Targa Florio race. Lap times for the 60’s Prototype series were anywhere from Ary’s uber fast lap of 3.721 to the more normal times in the low 3.8 range. Yes, low 3.8’s. The winner of that series was Roy with Ary second and Kevin close behind in third.
Lap times for the 70’s Prototype series were not as fast with lap times ranging from 3.76 for Ary’s fast lap to more normal times in the mid-4.0’s. The winner of that series was Ary with Roy in second and Jim in third place.
What does all this mean? The series will be fast and will be fun to watch as the racers all try to find the perfect match between the fast car and one that is stable enough to drive on the edge with confidence. Good luck to everyone out there who are getting their cars ready to run.
