First event was DTM. And it seemed a bit anything goes. As always with Graceville there is no scrutineering and trust is tested to the max. Some spanking new DTM’s on the track for the event. And some tried and tested old faithfuls too! Gary drove well and took his heat and Peter H was determined no one was going to pass him!
Event I DTM 12 laps Race 1 Pos Driver Best lap 1. Gary 22.87 2. Andrew 25.26 3. Adrian 24.79 4. Noel 25.90 Race 2 1. Peter H 24.78 2. Phil 23.89 3. Peter J 30.14 4. Paul 33.18 Race 3 1. Mark 25.43 2. John 25.06 3. Julian 25.25 4. Mick 27.18
Next up was F1’s. Again, a hotly contested event. Adrian had bought a secret weapon along in the form of a Fly March….. would this be enough to clinch the title, or would reliability be an issue. Some nice Scaley and SCX models on the track too but it was going to be a two horse race. The first heat put me and Adrian together and after racing the opening laps side by side, Adrian made a forced error which left me to race on to the finish.
Event 2 F1 22 laps Race 4 1. Phil 18.68 2. Adrian 18.92 3. John 23.62 4. Julian 24.62 Race 5 1. Mark 22.48 2. Noel 25.64 3. Andrew 23.43 4. Mick 25.26 Race 6 1. Gary 22.61 2. Peter H 22.39 3. Julian 23.37 4. Peter J 24.43
The next event was to be the SEQSCC Challenge, and this time it took the form of Scalextric SD Rovers!! A model we all love to hate, but Julian had obviously spent some time fettling them and now was the moment of truth. Each model stayed on its own lane and like racing donkeys on the beach, we all hoped we got a good one!
It was too good to last and eventually the car on red lane gave up the ghost and a non fettled reserve was pulled from the stable. Tyres rock hard and motor gasping, we all prayed for anything but red!
Event 3 Scaley Rovers Race 7 1. Mick 38.92 2. John 40.61 3. Noel 24.09 ??? 4. Julian 39.86 Race 8 1. Adrian 33.85 2. Peter H 37.21 3. Phil 36.18 4. Andrew 39.60 Race 9 1. Mark 36.71 2. Gary 38.75 3. Julian 40.62 4. Peter J 41.12With some heading off and time running short we went into the final event which was Ninco Moslers over five minutes. This was a good event and because of the nature of the Nincos on Scaley sport it was going to be a case of not overcooking it in the corners. Adrian’s mint and boxed entry died on its way to the line which in a way was fortunate as it was one of those super lightweight Nincos. I had a ragged first heat and Mark must have took sympathy on me as he entered me in a free spot in race three. It was here that I sanded my steed’s tyres and applied a light coat of 3 in 1 oil and rubbed it in. This paid off heaps and I was in the bar before the rest had finished.
Event 4 Ninco Moslers 5 minutes Race 10 1. Adrian 12 laps 22.39 2. Gary 12 laps 23.92 3. Phil 10 laps 24.93 4. Mark 10 laps 27.51 Race 11 1. Peter H 11 laps 24.14 2. Julian 11 laps 26.00 3. Noel 10 laps 26.53 4. Mick 10 laps 25.90 Race 12 1. Phil 13 laps 21.48 2. Peter J 11 laps 25.73 3. Andrew 11 laps 25.62 4. Adrian 11 laps 24.59
During the course of events the SEQSCC ran the ‘moderately priced slotcar Challenge’. Some little while back Mark had asked me to see if I could get an AUTOart Mazda RX8 running properly for him. Unaware of the reason, I spent a little time on the model and improved the guide and the tyres and the running in general. There was nothing I could do about the traction magnets, but driven carefully it was a nice model to do a few laps in. Lo and behold, here it was again, in the guise of our next challenge. Five laps on red lane and the best one to go ‘on the wall’.
I took first dibs and I gingerly made my way around the track and on my second lap I managed to go ‘clear’!! Between races that evening another couple of hapless souls underwent the same treatment. No doubt each week someone will be enticed onto the track for their turn, stay tuned!
So that was it, another night of fine tuning slotcar racing skills, and I can honestly say if you can win a race at Graceville, you can win a race anywhere!