Targa Florio Race #4
The Targa Florio series has seen some great racing over the first three races and I am sure the fourth race will see continued close racing. Let’s see how it went.
Race Preview – Russell brought out his Championship winning Lola T70 MKIII with the F22 tires from earlier this year still mounted up and his repaired body mount. This could be the car to catch, especially in the early laps of any heat as those F22 tires have the maximum amount of grip.
Marty was using the same car that ran the Can Am race earlier in the day. Could the GT40 keep up the pace it had earlier in the day? The tires were iffy in Can Am and could be the big issue for this race. Could those tires do another fifteen minutes of hard racing?
Shawn was also running the same GT40 he had just run in the Can Am series. The car was super stable and was able to click off 4.0 laps all day long and although that pace didn’t put him at the front of the field in Can Am it will be enough to make him a contender in the Targa race.
Stephen was running his Ferrari 312PB and looked very fast in the warm up. If he could control the prancing horses speed he will be competing for a podium spot.
David was running one of the more beautiful cars in the series – the Alfa T33 in Alfa red. This car has been a solid contender in Group B but has lacked the outright speed to run with the fastest cars. Maybe this would be the race for David to break out and lead the Group B racers.
Jordan was running an Alfa T33 just like David which is no surprise as David is the lead mechanic on both cars. This Alfa like all of David’s cars is well prepared and looks very stable on the track. This car has been one of the, if not the, fastest cars in Group B. Jordan is also one of the fastest and most consistent Group B drivers. The combination of fast car and fast driver should put Jordan at the front for this race.
Rich was running a Ferrari 312PB and had shown some signs of speed in the warm up. Let’s see if he can keep up that same speed in the race when the pressure is on.
Mark was running a Gulf Racing liveried GT40 and looked better in warm up than any previous race. Mark’s pace has been getting better at every race and his GT40 looked to have the pace to compete with the other Group B racers.
Heat 1 – The first heat of the day had all a B Group racer in every lane with Jordan setting the early pace with a win in this opening heat. David had a good race although he was complaining a little bit about the handling of the Alfa while Mark and his Ford GT40 were having some handling issues of his own.
Heat 2 – This heat had some close racing between Marty and Jordan with Mark working hard to keep his GT40 in the slot. Marty finished first closely followed by Jordan and then Mark.
Heat 3 – This was a great race to watch with all the racers running with in a lap of each other for the entire heat. Marty barely finished in front of Jordan with Russell close behind. It was on lap 20 that fast lap for the race was set by Marty in the green lane with a time of 3.911. Still not as fast as the series record of 3.833 from Russell.
Heat 4 – Heat 4 started with an issue on the first lap that caused the heat to be red flagged and all the competitors lined back up for a re-start. The race re-started without incident with the racers all pushing the pace. Russell and Marty exchanged fast laps throughout the race with Russell and his F22 tires setting the time of 3.960 to Marty’s 3.963. The race took an unfortunate turn for Russell when the body mount on his Lola broke causing the car to be undriveable. Russell had to come into the pits under yellow and install some racers tape to the Lola’s nose. Once back on the track he was flying again but the laps were lost and he would be fighting for a podium position.
Heat 5 – This was another great heat with Russell and his quickly repaired Lola against Stephen’s Ferrari and Shawn in the GT40’s first heat of the day.
The GT40 was super consistent and finished in first on this heat with no de-slots. The Ferrari came in second with the Lola finishing third.
Heat 6 – On the second lap of this heat the Ferrari of Stephen set the fast lap with a time of 3.968 and was absolutely flying. Yes, flying. Flying out of the slot is what I mean. As fast as the Ferrari was, and it was fast, it was also a handful to drive and made running consistent laps difficult for its driver. Shawn managed to avoid the flying cars and finish first with a fast lap of 3.976. Rich was driving the other Ferrari and had similar handling issues to Stephen.
Heat 7 – Shawn, David and Rich were running together with Shawn setting the pace leaving the two B Group racers to fight it out. In a close race for second place David finished just ahead of Rich.
Heat 8 – Final Heat – All racers in this heat were from the B Group and were close enough in performance that it would be a good race. Rich and David continued their battle from the previous heat with Rich coming out on top and David close behind. Mark and the GT40 were not far behind those two cars and had a solid run.
The final results had Marty and the Ford GT40 finishing first with Shawn and his Ford GT40 only 1.735 seconds behind. That is what running consistent laps will get you boys and girls. Third place on the podium was Jordan and his Alfa. Great result for this super fast B Group racer.
The next round of the series is Saturday November 8th at 1pm. Don’t miss it!