Race Report; Streetcar Series, 25 June 2011 With 9 entered cars for Streetcar, everyone had an eye on the heavens and the weather report for the AMSC regional racing at Aldo Scribante on 25 June 2011. Our first event threatened to be rained out, and with it raining for most of the night on Friday, we anticipated the worst. And so, as the cars trickled in on Saturday morning, and the wind continued to blow, and the rain seemed horizontal at times, things looked rather gloomy as registration continued at 08h00. And if you think we had it bad, consider the poor guys in 250 Superkarts who had travelled from across the country to a gloomy PE! Streetcar entrant Chris Symons and his family had travelled all the way from Knysna with his Civic to enter, it would have been sad for him not to turn a wheel on the day after all that effort! Not to be outdone, Sparky and the marshalls inspected the track and found standing water at some of the major turns, especially turn 5, which had almost a foot of water. Unblocking the drains, and creating some channels for the other dams that had formed, and the circuit was wet, but race ready. And as it would happen, the weather gave us some grace, the wind dropped a bit, and we were ready to go! Warmup was a slippery affair, with a slick circuit and quite a few puddles all over the place! Sadly Shane Coetzer slid off and broke a lower control arm, and his day was over before it had begun! Matt Cassale set a blistering 1:23 on a wet track, which matched the Regional race cars, and 5 seconds faster than anyone in the field. In qualifying, the circuit was a lot drier. Quinsely Sale took his 350Z to a 1:16.043, a personal best, and set the fastest time. Matt set a smart 1:22, and third was Will Glibbery with 1:22.92. Chris Symons set another personal best of 1:25, showing he was getting quicker and quicker with every excursion. Darren Murphy also showed how handy he is with a 1:25 in a standard 1.4i CitiGolf! Lorenzio Bonani struggled to put the power down of His Seat Cupra on a slippery circuit in the 2 laps out before he got the flag colours wrong and turned in! And so on to the first heat! A rapidly dring track meant that times were creeping up constantly, and since we are based on a Handicap system, it became a lot easier to break out of times, never mind that everyone was keen to get stuck in and enjoy a good battle. The reverse grid made for some good fun, but everyone kept it tidy and there were no incidents. Thomas Young had some seriously sideways moments in his BM 320i, and Chris Symons also provided some excitement with a few pirhouettes in the 'Esses', but everyone brought things home in one piece. Lorenzio brought his Cupra home in 1st place, chased closely by Will Glibbery in the Citi+vat and Darren Murphy. Quinsley struggled to find through the field as his pole position meant he left the line when everyone else was a smudge in the distance! Matt's awesome Polo TDI showed what the torque can do by plying his way through the field for 4th position. Handicap results and Index saw Will Glibbery 1st, Darren Murphy and Matteo Cassale taking the first three positions, with Quinsley, Thomas and Chris bringing up the rear. Unfortunately Lorenzio broke out of his index time, with a significant improvement of 6 seconds over his qualifying time. The perils of varying conditions under an index champs with an improving field are obvious for the day! Second heat. The track was now carrying a lot of grip, and the grid from the first heat meant that the smaller gaps would make for some exciting racing as the 5 laps carried on. It was going to be very easy to break out as times got quicker. As the drivers left the line, everyone was determined to catch up to their closest rivals in the short 5 laps. The top three from the previous heat had to carve their way through the field, and Quinsley sale set another personal best in the 350Z as he carved through the field. In the last lap, everyone was in the fray with the first 5 across the line in the space of 3 seconds. Chris Symons kept his first place intact, but broke out of index time sadly. Quinsley Sale had carved through the field in the last half a lap with dexterity to follow just behind him. Matteo Cassale, Darren Murphy (who spent more time on three wheels he really didnt need the right rear tyre at all), and Will Glibbery toured in to complete the runnings. A scintillating 1:20 (another personal best for him) from Lorenzio could not make up for his handicap release time, but he made up some space on the field ahead of Thomas Young, who spun off and left his rear bumper behind! After the index calculations, Allistair, the COC and Sparky had an extremely tight task to separate the top four. But ultimately, it was Will Glibbery (1st), Darren Murphy (2nd), Quinsley Sale (3rd), and Matteo Casale (4th). The 'Spirit of Streetcar' (donated by Grant Coetzer from Turbo Exchange) went to Darren Murphy for his excellent and spirited drive in the Citi 1.4i. Thanks go to Ian, Ashwin and Sparky from AMSC, Terry Moss and the track team, the COC and the Marshalls, and the drivers and supporters of our first event. Much appreciated and we cannot wait for the next one! Top of Form Bottom of Form |