Turnout was light for the Triathlon at Electron Raceway on 4/28/16 due to a combination of injury, travel and other commitments. Five locals showed up for the evening race. We welcome a new racer, Scott as a participant. He arrived promptly at 6PM for some practice and raced his OSCAR based cars in the event. Now it is time to get building!
Since we had only five racers and at least two marshals are needed, each participant skipped what would have been his turn at the black lane and instead marshalled. The race had its share of mishaps but nothing that a bit of plastic welder would not fix.
Highlights
- Richs Penske Camaro finished first with 81.7 laps in the Tran-Am race. James Barracuda was a close second about a lap behind. Bob and Ron battled it out for the bottom step of the podium. In the end, Bobs Challenger edged out Rons Mustang by only three sections.
- James driving his Barracuda once again won the mixed race finishing with 83.3 laps. Bob was second and Rich third both driving Ferrari 458s.
- James and Rich fought it out for the top spot in True Scale GT1. In the end, James beat Rich by about a lap and a half. Bob finished third about a lap and a half behind Rich.
The race for the top spot was between James quicker Barracuda (fast lap 5.170 seconds) and Richs Camaro (fast lap 5.231 seconds).
- James ran the red lane in heat one and finished with 26.7 laps. Rich was in white and turned 26.2 laps finishing about a half lap down from James
- James moved to yellow lane in heat number 2 and ran 27+ laps for a cumulative total of 54.2. Rich sat out heat number 2
- In heat number three, Rich came in on his favorite red lane and nearly erased James half lap lead. Richs cumulative total for two heats 54.1 laps (only a section behind James
- In heat number four, Rich moved to the yellow lane while James came in on the white lane. With only a single section separating the two it would be a real battle for the win. In lap 15 of the heat, James had a bad off that cost him more than a lap. Rich had an off but was re-slotted fairly quickly. My recollection is that neither was an unforced error. With a comfortable lead Rich than cruised to the win finishing with 81.7 laps. James finished about a lap down
- Both Bob and Ron came in for heat number 2. Bob was on the white lane while Ron was on the red lane. Red lane has been a problem for Ron and this race was no exception. Ron ran only 25.2 laps (fast lap on red of only 5.512 seconds). Bob on the other hand ran 26.2 laps
- In heat number three Bob rotated out while Ron rotated to the yellow lane and turned a very respectable 27.4 laps for a cumulative total of 52.6 laps. Ron did have a problem this heat. His Mustang lost a front wheel. Check out the image below.
- In heat number four Ron rotated out while Bob came in on red. Bob turned 26.5 laps for his heat bringing his total through two heats to 52.7.
- Going into heat number five only a single section separated Ron and Bob. Both had an off in lap number 7 but were re-slotted fairly quickly (both losing about 2.5 seconds). Unfortunately for Ron, another off in lap number 13 ended his bid for a podium finish. Bob finished third with 79.9 laps. Ron was fourth with 79.5 laps (about a half lap behind Bob).
Mixed Race
The mixed race turned into a battle of the Sports Cars and a Trans-Am ride. Rich, Ron, and Bob fielded Ferrari 458s. James forgot his 458 body so instead ran his Barracuda. Scott ran his OSCAR Spec Audi.
- James ran a fine heat number one in the yellow lane finishing with 28.1 lap. With other drivers not even breaking the 26 lap threshold, it looked like from the very outset that James would stand on the top step of the podium. James followed up this performace with 27.0 and 28.2 lap finished for a grand total of 83.3 laps for an easy win.
- Bob, Ron and Rich battled for the second and third steps of the podium. In their first heat, Rich ran 25.9 laps; Bob ran 25.8 laps and Ron (running on the dreaded red lane) ran 25.2 laps.
- Bob finished his rotation in heat number four with a total of 80.8 laps. Ron finished his rotation in heat number four as well with a total of 77.8 laps.
- Heat number five was Richs final heat. Although he ran about 28 laps, it was not enough to catch Bob but enough to surpass Ron. Rich finished second with 80.1 laps
- Since James forget to bring his Ferrari 458 body, he simply ran his Barracuda a second time. The 458 is lighter and therefore capable of higher lap counts making the win more impressive.
- Rich found his 458 much tigher than his Camaro and made several unforced errors early on putting him out of contention for the top spot. The 458 was fast and the only ride to break the five second barrier turning a 4.963 fast lap.
GT1
The grid included very familiar rides. Rich ran his Camel Porsche 962. James ran his Jaguar XJR8LM. Bob and Ron ran their Enzos. Scott ran his OSCAR spec. Audi. James Jaguar and Richs Porsche 962 were the only two cars to break the magic five second barrier with 4.909 and 4.972 respectively. Bob and Ron were not far behind with fast laps of 5.045 and 5.089 seconds respectively. The race would be decided by consistency and a modicum of luck.
- Ron had difficulty on the red lane again with a fast lap time for this lane of only 5.523 nearly a half second slower than his times on either of the other two lanes. In his first heat he turned only 26.1 laps. This essentially put him out of contention for the podium as others were running about two laps ahead of this pace.
- Bob ran 28 laps on each of his three heats finishing with 84.7 laps. Sitting out heat five, the race was now out of his control
- Heat five would be pivotol in determining the podium. Bobs 84.7 seemed like an easy target for both Rich and James. Rich had averaged 28.8 laps per heat and James had averaged 29.1 laps per heat through two heats. So it looked like the last heat would determine first and second place in the race. In heat five, James came in on red having complted 58.2 while Rich rotated to yellow having completed 57.6 laps. With a half lap deficit Rich needed to push hard to overtake James. During the first third of the heat, James incresed his lead very slightly over Rich. Then disaster struck. In a desperate attempt to make up groud, Rich attempted to pass Ron on the outside of an adjacent lane and was nerfed off. Game over, James went on to win handily finishing with 87.5 laps. Rich was second with 86.1 about a lap and a half behind James. Looking at the detailed lap by lap tabulation, James would likely have won even without the nerf. For the most part James individual lap times were very slightly better than Richs.
