RACE REPORTThe race was run with two pairs of drivers and sufficient corner workers that power-off track calls were not required. The seven race run groups were cycled through the first driver team and then the second driver team, so all cars were driven by all four drivers. Track power was set at 10 volts and each car was raced for a total of 12 minutes (4 x 3 min. heats). Lap counts to a tenth of a lap and fastest lap times were recorded for each car in each heat.
Race Group #1Due to the odd number of cars, the first run group was made up of three cars in rotation. These were the back of the starting grid cars: the #69 Ferrari, #23 Honda and the #5 Lotus.
The gear issue with the Lotus was corrected but the lack of traction problem continued, making it very challenging to keep on track. It trailed the field by quite a margin. The PG tires simply would not hook up like the tires on the other cars, but I think a contributing factor was excess friction in the front axle due to contact with the motor lead wires. There is so little room between the body, chassis and front axle assembly that there is only room for the thinnest of wires and the ones used were too thick. Marek's Ferrari had two good heats in yellow lane but two poor ones in black lane so his chances of moving up the order were limited. On the other hand, Chappy's Honda had three very good heats and one middling heat. In a very tight mid-field pack it rose to the occasion.
Race Group #2The second pairing consisted of Old23's #1 Brabham and Aloha's Eagle #6.
The Brabham's traction problems continued, making it a challenge to put the power down out of the corners. In the two yellow lane heats, the drivers managed to ease the car to decent lap counts, but the black lane heats were not good and the car failed to get close to its Qualy time with any driver. Aloha's Eagle did manage to best its Qualy lap and had three good heats. Unfortunately, an off track excursion in the other heat resulted in the rear bushings popping out of their mounts. Time to diagnose and repair the problem cost it some laps.
Race Group #3David's Ferrari and the Ecurie Martini Eagle had a see-saw battle through three heats, running within a tenth of a lap of one another most of the time. In the fourth heat, the Eagle suffered a few unforced errors and dropped behind for good. Nevertheless, the two cars finished one after the other in the final order.
Race Group #4Terry's #47 Honda and the #7 Lola BMW of Thomas qualified within hundredths of a second of each other and their pairing promised some good, close racing.
However, while the Lola managed to beat its Qualy time and yellow lane heats racked up some good lap totals, the black lane heats led to a less happy result. The car seemed to want to tip out of the slot, especially in the tightest corners. On the other hand, Terry's Honda could do no wrong and all four drivers did very well with it, easily besting its Qualy time and logging high lap counts. This was a car on a mission to ascend the order.
Race Group #5Only a single thousandth of a second separated Val's #14 McLaren and Brian's #13 BRM on the starting grid.
In the race, both cars had a bad heat in yellow lane, with the McLaren troubled at Buffalo Jump corner more than once. Sadly, the BRM was the victim of a bizarre incident when it lifted from the slot near the end of the start/finish straight, careened off a foam hay bale and was launched over the track safety wall. The contact with the floor broke the nose of the BRM cleanly off. Fortunately, it looks like a repair (with added bracing on the underside) will be quite easy to carry out. The car will, however carry a scar from the paint lost at the break's edges (as can be seen in the photo). We continued to race the car and it managed some good results in subsequent heats.
Race Group #6Marc's #19 McLaren and Richard's #17 Cooper formed the next to last group.
Though the McLaren qualified faster, the "dirty" Cooper proved to be the giant killer, much as it had in the 1967 South African Grand Prix. It won every heat in this group and was remarkably consistent across all drivers, both in terms of fastest lap times and lap count. In contrast, Marc's McLaren suffered one terrible heat where nothing seemed to go right. Unlucky versus lucky?
Race Group #7The top two qualifiers, Chris's #4 Lotus and Andi's #11 Eagle, easily set Q-times that the other cars could only dream of. They were the clear favourites going into this race.
But sometimes favourites stumble over one another on their way to the podium. Trouble hit the Lotus in the first heat with a completely unexpected off at Buffalo Jump, a corner at which it had previously been bulletproof. The driver lost confidence. More offs followed. Its final run in black lane was its worst and it also had the side effect of delaying Andi's Eagle.The hopes of a race win for the Lotus were down the drain and suddenly Andi's race-leading position looked at risk as well.
The prestigious accounting firm of Excel & Excel tallied up the lap count and told us the result:
And Terry's Honda-that-could, in fact,
did it, taking the win by just over a lap from Andi's Eagle and the giant-killing Cooper from Richard. Here are the podium celebrations:
And that's the story from Mesa Roja. Thanks to Peter for the photos and hosting the race. The next round should be in a couple of weeks.
Stewart