We were happy to have Mark from Grants Pass attend the first Quadrathon at Electron Raceway. The usual complement of locals showed up with the exception of Bob who had a glitch at a rent house that needed attention. Unlike the NYSE, our event went smoothly. With six participants, we were able to run all four lanes and still have an adequate number of marshals and a “Button Man” (the red lane driver’s station is equipped with at Track Call button used to stop the race under exigent circumstances).
The track was a bit loose influencing the choice of rides. As a result, no records were broken, but a good time was had by all. The track will be cleaned and sprayed before the next event.
The Quadrathon included races in distinct True Scale, hard body classes. In addition to GT1, Trans-Am , Can-Am/Gran Sport, True Scale Sports were added to the mix. All of the True Scale classes feature a production chassis (either Scholer or Plafit) and sealed motors. GT1 cars feature Falcon 7 or Hawk 7 motors. All other classes use Deathstar or ProSlot sealed 16D motors, however some are using the ProSlot 2002 FK sealed motor on an experimental basis. Since some of our racers have not yet built cars for all of the True Scale classes, we allow them to run their OSCAR/Pelican Park spec counterparts. OSCAR/Pelican Park spec cars feature sophisticated in-line, scratch-built chassis, .790 rear and O-ring front wheels. The scratch-built cars tend to be a bit faster in some classes; however, the True Scale cars compete very effectively. Quadrathon entries for each driver are shown below.
Some new and outstanding rides made their debut. Images are shown below.
I find Terry’s C5R captivating even though it is totally illegal for OSCAR racing. Note that the body has been severely cut down. Here are a few more images
Highlights
- In GT1, James’ Jaguar XJR12 notched its second win at besting Enzos driven by Rich and Jack
- In Trans-Am , Jack’s silver Mustang edged out Rich’s Camaro by about a half of a lap. Ron finished third among the Scholer rides. James, running the only scratch-built car outdistanced the entire field.
- In Can-Am/Gran Sport Rich’s Scholer based Lola T-70 edged out James’ scratch-built Ferrari a few sections. A cautious Jack, driving a brand new GT-40 finished third a few laps behind the leaders
- In the inaugural running of the True Scale Sports Car class, the Ferrari 458s dominated. Rich’s Scholer based 458 edged out James’ scratch-built 458 by three sections. Jack drove a clean race with an underpowered; Scholer based 458 to finish third.
GT1
This class features GT1 and Group C cars from the 80s and 90s. In an effort to keep costs down, rules allow the Ferrari Enzo to run in this class. The loose track conditions favored short tailed cars such as the Enzo and four populated the grid. I the track was tighter, Rich, Ron and Jack would have selected rides like the Toyota GT-One, Porsche 962 or the Nissan R390.
From the outset, it was clear that the race for the top spot was going to be a battle between James, Rich and Jack. James’ Jaguar was the only GT1 to break the five second barrier with a fine 4.932 but Rich and Jack were not far behind turning fast laps of 5.07 and 5.09 respectively. The outcome of the race came down to the final heat. James had already completed his rotation and had finished with 89.7 laps. Rich would need to run nearly 24 laps, an almost impossible task, to overtake James for the top spot. In the end, James triumphed with Rich finishing second, a lap down. Jack’s purple Enzo was involved in a high speed crash about halfway through the race. Ron’s Enzo sat helplessly on the main straight blocking Jack’s lane. Jack had no time to react and plowed into Ron’s Enzo at full throttle. Although there was no body damage, apparently the body of Jack’s Enzo shifted resulting front end contact with the track. Rather than wait for a fix, Jack switched rides to an alternate blue Enzo and managed a third place finish.
Trans-Am
This class is a mix of modern pony cars and historic Trans-Am cars. True Scale rules specify the use of 1/25 models. This race featured a mix of True Scale modern and historic Mustangs and Camaros as well as a scratch-built OSCAR spec Firebird Trans-Am . The OSCAR spec cars have a significant advantage over the True Scale cars in this class. OSCAR allows 1/24 models which have a longer wheelbase and OSCAR rules allow Trans-Am cars to be lowered. So, as expected, James’ OSCAR spec Firebird smoked the field turning laps of at least .2 of seconds faster than all others.
In the battle of True Scale Trans-Am cars, Jack ran a clean and extremely consistent race (95.36%) with his silver Mustang. Rich’s quicker Camaro suffered a couple of unforced errors relegating the Penske 69 Camaro to second place among the True Scale cars. Only one half of a lap separated Jack and Rich. Ron’s yellow Mustang was a distant third. Unfortunately, Ron has been suffering with some vision problems making it difficult to focus on the race. Get well soon buddy!
True Scale Can-Am/Gran Sport
This class features Can-Am and endurance cars from the 60s and 70s powered by sealed Deathstar or ProSlot 16D motors. The grid was a mix of Scholer based cars including Rich’s Lola T-70, Ron’s blue GT-40 and Jack’s brand new yellow GT-40. Oscar cars included Ferraris driven by James and Mark and a great looking Cooper fielded by Terry.
The race for the top spot on the podium was a contest pitting James’ OSCAR based Ferrari against Rich’s Scholer based Lola T-70. Rich ran a consistent race with only a single off to edge out James by about a half of a lap. Jack’s yellow GT-40 was third. I observed that Jack was not pushing the limits of the GT-40, perhaps due to the fact that it was a brand new pristine ride. Look for Jack to be more competitive in the next Can-Am race.
True Scale Sports Cars
This class features, for the most part, more modern sports cars but excludes ultra wide models such as the Enzo, La Ferrari etc. Power is supplied by Deathstar or ProSlot 16 D sealed motors. The race was a mix of Scholer based and scratch-built machines, pretty evenly matched I might add. Rich, Ron and Jack debuted their Scholer based Ferrari 458s. James ran a scratch-built 458 while Mark ran an OSCAR spec Modena and Terry ran a Pelican Park spec Cooper.
Rich’s 458 ran head to head with James’ scratch-built counterpart. Only these two machines were able to break the five second per lap barrier. Rich finished first with 89.4 laps with James just three sections behind. Jack’s 458 was a distant third.
A couple of observations are in order. Jack’s 458 handled beautifully but was powered by a tired Deathstar. A simple motor swap will remedy this problem and I expect Jack to be slugging it out for the top step of the podium in the next race. Ron’s 458 handled well and was quick down the straights but Ron was handicapped by his eye problems.
