| Race
Summary:
by Landon Thompson
The weekend started out pretty easy going
and laid back with the first folks making it to the
track around mid-day on friday afternoon. Lots of idle
chat, catching up, and smack talk about recent events
took place, and the atmosphere was just as nice as it
could be. Saturday morning was a little more serious.
People were intenetly working on their set ups, and
trying to get every last bit of testing out of the car
and track. Also, with the elevated track, people were
trying to get used to the latest shifts in the tiles.
Right before qualifying we did a good once over for
the track, cleaned up all the warm-up/practice debris,
and got all the bubbles out of the RCP itself. I added
some extra double sided tape, and we also added some
spacers to hold the track in place. Ive never had trouble
with it shifting during a race before, but Ive never
raced for more than 10 minutes on these elevations either.
This was going to be a test of the design of my modular
elevations, as well as testing the endurance of the
racers/cars.
As we cleared the track for the drivers meeting I could
see a track room full of serious faces.....the looks
of warriors ready to throw down in an all-out, four
hour RCP battle festival The drivers meeting ran a little
long, as the rules really needed going over. I didnt
pass them out early enough for every one to get their
questions and concerns out in the open, so I was open
to discussion about the things I changed from reflex's
original rulings. The changes were minor, and we sorted
them out like adults, and got on with the show.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying was a 30 minute open track session in which
every one had as many laps as they wanted to try and
throw down their very best hot lap. Pretty early on
reflex jumped out to about a three tenth lead on any
one else in the field. It seemed they had it wrapped
up, and were back in the pits as the rest of us gave
chase and sorted oursleves out. All of a sudden Rodney
(AMP) and Eric (Weaver) started really working the laps
down. They were all creeping down to that 11 flat bar
that had been set early on by reflex. Team Weaver ended
up right at 11 flat, but Rodney (AMP) got down to an
10.9 and forced reflex to come back out on the track.
Nobody was able to go faster in the last 10 minutes
of the session though, so in the end Reflex took the
pole, AMP was second and Team Weaver was third (tenths
seperating the two). Matt Ward (Team ADVAN) put his
GT down in the mid 11s, which was quite and impressive
feat which also got him to fourth on the grid in front
of the final prototype of MWG, and the final GT of SC
Racing who were both right around the 12 second mark.
This qualfying session really got the blood flowing,
and was a really cool format. It could have been a tiny
bit more organized, but nothing a small announcement
can't fix.
THE RACE
With the cars lined up on the starting grid, everyone
semeed pretty calm. It wasnt much different then the
first gorup of drivers stepping up on the stand for
the first qualifier of a regular race day. What would
ensue after the horn went off though, was totally different
than your typical 5 minute dash for laps
At the start the home team (Weaver) planted themsleves
on the wall coming down the first hill, and dropped
from 3rd to last on the grid within the first couple
of turns. The other home team (SC) also had trouble
on the start, and the home teams ran together at the
back of the field. It didnt take long for Weaver to
find a groove though, and they started working their
way back up through the field. The first few laps were
tense for every one. All the practice in the world cant
get you ready for the tension you face while under race
pressure. The elevations took a few teams a little time
to get used to, so the first few minutes were a bit
hectic. This played to Weavers advantage as they race
every week under the elevated pressure (pun intended
). As cars made minor mistakes they moved their way
up through to get in position to battle for second with
AMP. Through the first run it pretty much stayed like
this...reflex running away from the pack, AMP and Weaver
battling for second, ADVAN in a solid fourth, and MWG
and SC going toe to toe for fifth and sixth.
As the first set of pits came around though, things
got very interesting. Reflex had built up a 8 lap lead,
and stayed out for an impressive 17 minutes and 30 seconds.
But nonetheless, there were teams that were running
a bit longer. Reflex had a very fast first stop, going
on a total time of 45 seconds, where the norm for a
fast stop was usually about 1 minute and 10 seconds.
This helped the 8 lap lead be enough to come back out
in front with a 1 lap cushion over second. Just before
their first stop Weaver made a move and got into second
place, but then had to come in earlier than AMP. ADVAN
was close enough behind that Weaver didnt gap them either,
so they came out in fourth place. It seemed like AMP
was running forever, but when they finally did make
their stop they came out just behind Weaver in fourth
place, as ADVAN assumed second. ADVAN (running GT) strecthed
their first pit stop to what seemed like 25 or 30 minutes,
but when they came in it sent them back to fourth.
Within the next run Reflex really built up a commanding
lead, and were looking like they were going to be the
early runaway. We all know what endurance does to cars/drivers
in real life, so we could only hope that time would
slow their pace down to something the rest of us could
contend with. For them though, the second set of stops
went much like the first with them coming in, and back
out while maintaining the lead. It really made the next
group seem interesting though. Again Weaver was the
first of the middle pack in, and again they went back
to fourth after our stop. AMP came in shortly after
, but this time had a lightening fast stop (dont remember
if they made a driver swap) and came out in front of
Weaver on the same lap. ADVAN was still kicking with
a strong set of batteries and cruised in second until
their next pit stop. When they came out of the pits
though, they were slid back to fourth.
Getting close to the 30 minute mark of the race, Reflex
had their first breakage, and the first major breakage
we had seen of the race. The side clip of their Atomic
VDS II body had broken off so the body would not stay
on. Cristian Tabush chose to repair it rather than replace
it and take the 15 minut penalty assigned when changing
a body. CT acted very quickly and Team Reflex lost just
about a minute of track time. Their lead was large enough
at the time, that when the car hit the track again,
they still maintained a 10 lap lead over second. At
this point though ADVANs long pit strategy was really
paying off, as they moved up to second while AMP and
Weaver had to pit yet again. AMP went a little longer
again, and this time it had moved them up in front of
Weaver by 2 laps. MWG was running a little faster than
SC racing up to this point, but SC racings pit strategy
had them running right with proto car of MWG. There
were numerous position changes between the two of them,
and a constant strategy battle in the pits to gain some
advantage over the other competitor.
At around the 1 hour mark, every ones' pit strategies
had the field spread out and on differnt stop schedules.
By this point Reflex Racing had pulled away very far
from the pack into a comfortable 25+ Lap lead. Reflex
was never really challenged after this.
It was really cool to see the positions of 2nd through
4th (and 5th and 6th) swap every few minutes depending
on who pitted, who driver swapped, etc. It was any ones
game at this point, and all the teams wanted second....BAD
Soon after, the first foul weather was announced as
approaching. Every one got prepped in the pits to make
the switch to rain tires (ASC tires), and when the rain
started it was mayhem. There was one team with a wet
set up, and one team with a driver prepared for the
wet, and it was obvious that every one else was totally
unprepared. Team Weaver sped off to a commanding pace
suring the first rain stage. They made up 5 laps on
the leader in the 5 minute stage, and reclaimed second
place by putting 2 laps on AMP, who was the only other
car even making any ground on the track.
With the pit strategies really playing out, it was
interesting when the rain stage ended. Weaver decided
to leave "rain" battereis in, and get back
out on the track quick. AMP had a lightening fast pit
stop, and got back out on the track first. Weaver came
out about a lap later, but still had their radio settings
set for rain. Thinking the batteries must have died,
they came in for another pit stop, and gave up any laps
they had gained in the rain, and then some. Upon realizing
new batteries didnt fix the problem, the radio issue
was found, and they resumed from fourth, and tried to
correct their mistake. The rain stage didnt really mix
up the rest of the field, as no one else made/lost any
significant ground over the people around them.
By the mid point of the race, things were pretty settled
down. Weaver, AMP, and ADVAN were all still battling
for position, but they were all trading positions based
on pit timing. Weaver had made it out far enough ahead
of ADVAN they they werent contesting for second any
more, but AMP was right in the window where they were
going from second to fourth depending on how ADVAN and
Weavers pits compared to their own. MWG and SC were
constantly trading positions, and trying to gain an
advantage on each other. It seemed like when one did
well in the pits, something went worng on the track.
When things went right on the track, there were delays
in the pits. This battle continued profusely, until
SC started dropping laps. They had a transponder wire
failure, and lost almost 30 laps before noticing it
happened. When they cam back out, they came with a vengance
and starting making ground back up on MWG. I think it
got back down to like 17 laps from more than 30 (if
memory serves me correctly).
In the mean time a second stint of foul weather arose.
Teams were a bit more prepared this time, and every
one had a better idea of what to expect. Weaver came
out blazing and flying past most of the field, as AMP
was very steady and didnt make many mistakes again,
but this time ADVAN had a rain ready car, and Matt Ward
hammered down some great laps. It was a toss up between
ADVAN and Weaver for who turned the most laps this stint,
but ADVAN clearly had a much better car then they had
the first time out. Reflex and MWG moved along at about
the same pace as before, trying just to make as many
laps as they could for the stint, SC racing chose to
leave their car off the track, and get it prepped for
the next dry run. Doing this got them onto the track
first as weather cleared, and every one came in for
their "dry" tires. Team SC came out flying
trying desperately to make up the time they had lost
to the harness, and rain stage. AMP had another amazingly
fast pit stop, and were on the track seemingly right
after SC. Weaver had another bobble in the pits, and
were last out onto the track, but in a solid second
place, as it wasnt nearly as detrimental as their first
'bobble'.
After the second rain stage the excitement seemed to
flatten out for a bit with people riding in their respective
positions and gaining little to no ground on the people
around them.
Well, that was the case with every one but AMP and
Weaver. They had put a considerable amount of distance
between themselves and ADVAN (about 30-35 laps), and
were still a considerable amount behind Reflex, but
were still going at each other tooth and nail, looking
for every spare second on and off the track. I think
Weaver had a little advantage on the track, but AMP
had slightly longer run times, and significantly faster
pit stops, which was building up for a mad dash in the
last stints. Somewhere around the 3/4 mark AMP had a
major malfunction with their motor. A brush may have
gotten hung, and it cost them. They had to come into
the pits and change out a motor, which net them about
a 5 minute pit stop. They had been faster than Weaver
at times, but it was going to take somewhat of a miracle
for them to make up the time lost, as the two teams
had been running so close for the entire race up to
this point. In reality, it put their podium finish up
for grabs, as they came out only 7 laps ahead of ADVAN,
but 40 laps behind Weaver. Team ADVAN was on the march
after their impressive second rain stage, and seemed
determined to get back up into the mix for second and
third, and I could see them focusing more than ever
trying to lay down fast and consistant laps.
The last part of the race though, was all about AMP!
They spread themsleves away from ADVAN pretty quickly,
and were determined to make a race out of second again.
Without Weaver having some equipment failure, or faulty
pitting, it was going to be tough for them, but they
never gave up hope, and it almost seemed like putting
in a fresh motor to their care gave them fresh life,
as they were faster than they had been all day.
Down further in the pack SC racing kept trying to dig
out of their hole, and were doing pretty well, chopping
off a few laps at a time, and getting back within a
few pit cycles of MWG racing. Their strategy in the
second rain stage really paid off, as they had been
gaining ground with a good handling car ever since that
session. To their disappointment, another transponder
failure hit them hard. This time it took them almost
4 minutes to notice it. Once it was repaired, it only
lasted for a few laps, then went down again, and didnt
work again until it was entirely replaced with a new
one. All in all, an estimated 20 minutes of racing was
lost by SC Racing due to the transponder not counting.
Weaver could feel AMP closing in on them, making the
gap smaller with each passing lap. They didnt seem fazed,
though as they pressed on, managing their gap all while
nursing a damaged front end suffered earlier in the
race. With about 20 minutes to go there was some excitement.
A seemingly small collision with another car sent Weavers
car into an uncontrollable state. They pulled the car
into the pits to inspect it, but found nothing wrong,
so they sent it right back out to try and finish race.
At this time there was only about 10 minutes left in
the race, and they had almost 20 laps over AMP. AMP
continued to press on to narrow the gap to 17, but there
just wasnt enough time to close in on them. Throughout
all this time Team Reflex just continued to run away
with it, finishing an impressive 75 laps out in front
of 2nd place.
All in all, it was a very exciting race. There was
close, fast racing, with tons of strategy and pitting.
It was probably the most realistic race Ive ever been
to, as far as relating to 1:1 scale racing. You just
dont get to witness the things we did in your regular
heats and mains. Throw the elevations and rain stages
in, and youve got a recipe for unique, un-matched racing!
RESULTS
1st - Reflex Racing - Jacob Feinstein/Cristian Tabush
- 1053 laps in 4:00:08.
2nd - Team Weaver - Eric Hanna/Landon Thompson - 978
laps in 4:00:08.
3rd - AMP Racing - Rodney Combs/Mike Morse/Wade Smith
- 957 laps in 4:00:11
4th - Team ADVAN - Collin Hanna/Matt Ward - 933 laps
in 4:00:03
5th - MWG Racing Inc. - Connor Combs/James Pickard/Josh
Smith - 780 laps in 4:00:07
6th - SC Racing - Chad Millward/Steven Williamson -
743 laps in 4:00:08
Prototype Class:
1st - Reflex Racing
2nd - Team Weaver
3rd - AMP Racing
4th - MWG Racing Inc.
REFLEX RACING INTERNATIONAL
(1st Overall/ Prototype)
TEAM WEAVER (2nd Overall/ Prototype)
TEAM AMP (3rd Overall/ Prototype)
TEAM ADVAN (4th Overall/ 1st
GT1)
TEAM MWG (5th Overall/ 4th Prototype)
TEAM SC RACING (6th Overall/
2nd GT1)
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THE
LAYOUT:
SOME ACTION SHOTS:
THE PITS:
FACES IN THE CROWD:
SCREEN SHOTS:
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