- Six slot-heads showed up for a Triathlon at Electron Raceway on 9/9/19. This week, the three events at the Raceway included LeMans Trials, a Mixed race and True Scale GT1. Track conditions were quite good, racing was close as usual and a few new records were set. Joe shot some video of the GT1 practice session. See the videos and
- Scott secured the guide tongue on his Toyota GT-One. This simple fix made the car much more drivable and as a result faster and more consistent. He turned a personal best fast lap time of 5.108 seconds
- Joe challenged others for podium spots in both Mixed and GT1. In the mixed race, he finished in second place with his 67 Camaro with 89.1 laps and a fast lap of 5.024 (both personal bests). In GT1, Joe challenged Rich for the bottom step of the podium and might have prevailed if not for a few unforced errors in the final heat.
- Rons Nissan R390 would have been in contention for a podium finish in GT1had it not been for a poor heat on the red lane.
The Trials/KOH saw a mix of OSCAR and True Scale cars compete for the top spot. In the contest for King of the Hill:
- Rich, driving his OSCAR based Porsche 906, took over the top spot running a fast lap of 4.768 seconds
- James OSCAR based Firebird was knocked out of first place and moved down to second after running a 4.795 second lap on 8/19/19
- Richs 69 Camaro moved into third place running a 4.824 second fast lap
- Bob (67 Camaro) and Ron (Porsche 906) improved their performances over the prior event
- James (OSCAR based Firebird) remained at the top of the tree
- Richs 69 Camaro was second
- Richs OSCAR based Firebird was third
The LeMans Trails exclude all of the OSCAR based Trans-Am cars. The table below illustrates the results
Mixed Race
The initial heat included three of the top four seeds. From the outset it was clear that James Ford GT had some handling problems. He finished the first heat with only 20.3 laps. Rich ran a clean heat to finish a lap ahead of the nearest competitor. Rich was never challenged and finished first with 92.0 laps.
Meanwhile the battle for second place was between Joe and Bob. Going into the final heat, Joe was about a half lap ahead of Bob. Although Bob closed the gap, he fell short by only a few feet (see image below). So it was Rich, Joe, Bob and James for first through fourth respectively.
GT1
The initial heat included three of the top four seeds and set the stage for what was to come. Bob and James battled it out for supremacy with Rich pushing the pace and not far behind. Bob won the heat with 23.8 laps. James was about a half lap down and Rich was a full lap behind the leader at 22.8 laps.
Joe, the number four seed, entered the fray in heat number three. He ran a fine 22.7 laps. This put Joe only a single section behind Rich.
Going into the final heat, it was clear that the battle for the top step of the podium would be between James (at 71.7 laps) and Bob (at 71.1 laps). Bob managed to close on James in the final heat but it wasnt quite enough. James won the race with 96.1 laps while Bob was only three sections behind at 95.8 laps.
Meanwhile, Rich and Joe battled it out for the bottom step of the podium. Going into the final heat, Rich was only a single section ahead of Joe. Both competitors were on their favorite lanes. When the flag dropped, Joe quickly overtook Rich. Racing remained very close until Joe made a few unforced errors. In the end, Rich finished third with 93.4 laps and Joe was fourth with 91.8 laps