Chappy's Race Report from Canfield Green:Well it sure was an honor having the 1.5ltr and 2.5ltr GP cars at the Green.
The new track has been fully operational for about 3 or so months now and it is a real drivers track. 90 feet 4 inches in length with a 3/8th difference in longest to shortest of the 3 lanes. The track is nicely broken in and silky smooth as built by Art from Dart, he sure knows how to build a nice track.
The big front straight is 24 feet long going into a high speed sweeper with a tightening radius and has some nice down hill curves through the spoon, another 12 foot straight to a double apex corner and uphill through the esses into a hairpin, before an 8 foot straight back into a decreasing radius before going back to the front straight. The track has 5 power taps and is using dead strip timing from Daniel out west. It is copper taped and I run it at 10.5 volts. The amperage allows for a pull of 20. The controller stations are from Daniel too and Professor motor adjustable electronic controllers are at each station. As with any new track the scenery is ongoing and done in a 60s/70s theme.
The track only runs stock rubber tires or urethane and has good grip for a well balanced car. It is painted with a gray satin finish, acrylic latex paint.
Well enough about the track, I bet you want to hear about your cars.
In a word magnificent comes to mind. If I owned these cars I don’t think I would ever buy another car. The workmanship is simply superb, the detail and liveries are beautiful. It would be very difficult to pick just one as it is so subjective to personal tastes.
So what arrived was 26 cars, 13 of each class with only the #5 Maserati 250 of Christian missing.
The cars were inspected and cleaned and the only one requiring any repair was the 69 Maserati 250 of Marek. It had a guide wire off, but was an easy fix and running again in a few minutes. Each car was tested for race preparedness and driver familiarity. You can imagine 26 cars all a bit different in handling and performance would take the driver some getting used too. After all that was done the cars were qualified by our top driver Lloyd in the center lane. The best lap obtained in a 1.5 minute session was recorded. Although there were some deslots, there were no rollovers or off track excursions.
Now it is race time, and each heat was fairly close with some excellent challenges although the drivers were careful as requested, the competition was good in both classes. We started with the 2.5s and ran 4 minute heats on each of the 3 lanes. Our plan to have them all done on Sunday just didn’t work out so the 1.5 class was set for the following Wednesday night. Anyway it was some hours to run off each class. But the cars were just so much fun it went by quickly. The only way we noticed the time was when the drivers were getting shoulder burn.
I’ll start with the 1.5 cars and give a rundown on performance and then do the 2.5 cars all by number, as we didn’t look at a who’s who until all racing was done. So here we go with my findings of these beauties.
#61 Brabham BT3 -- nice handling , but something was rubbing, likely the guide and the gear lash is
off and not easily adjustable
#7 Ferrari 158 -- again there seems to be a rub, I believe body related, and the driver needs to be
reattached as the adhesive on the motor to the driver has come loose, this
could account for the rub experienced
#5 BRM P48/57 -- I Really liked this car, smooth and predictable, it didn’t have enough legs for the
long straights , it needed more motor, it also had a rub on left hand curves and
corners. The motor was not fast but was smooth. Oh for a bit more cow bell.
#6 Cooper Climax T60 -- this was another beautiful car, it handled well and was sufficiently motored
and geared, it only suffered from guide rub , a very nice running car.
#22 Brabham BT7 -- What a perfect car, ran smooth and handled so well it seemed to have the perfect
set up for the GREEN. Well prepared which showed.
#47 Brabham BT7 -- another great running car. The guide was rubbing a bit but not a real issue.
The guide may be a bit deep rather than thick.
#16 Brabham BT7/11 -- Another almost perfect car smooth and forgiving just a hair slower than any
car above it in race position.
#8 Lotus 21 Climax -- This was another superb car the only thing that held it up was guide rub, I think
this one was perhaps due to thickness rather than depth, a great drive though.
#9 BRM P578 -- Beautiful car but topped out about 9 feet into the 24 ft straight otherwise
perfect. Will likely do well on a shorter track.
#4 Emeryson -- I would say this was one of my favourite cars , a bit noisey but ran well.
If anything, it could use a bit more motor.
#11 Honda RA272 -- Nicely finished car, a bit tail happy and not enough legs on the straight, maxed
out about 10 ft into the straight.
#28 Lotus 21 Climax -- A perfect car on a shorter straight track, simply maxed out to soon about 8 or
9 feet into the long straight.
#69 Porsche 804 -- What a beautiful car, the only hold backs were the guide rub on curves likely due
to thickness rather than depth, and it had short legs for the long straight again
about 8 to 10 feet in.
2.5 ltr cars#2 Mercedes W196 -- Nice and smooth, great grip, lots of legs for the straight, a bit heavier than some
of the other cars.
#4 Aston Martin DB4R -- Another nice smooth car with great grip, short legs for the long straight a bit
tail happy when punched upon acceleration. Nice car though.
#7 Maserati 250F -- This car also peaks out early on the straight about 8 feet in. It sounds like a tire
not trued, if it had longer legs it would be a real looker.
#8 BRM P25 -- A real nice smooth runner , a bit of gear noise, just a hair slower than those
above it in race position.
#10 Mercedes W196 -- Very smooth but lacked power, maxed out about 6 - 8 feet into the straight.
Definitely needs more motor.
#14 Maserari 250f -- Very nice car, light in the back end, twitchy on acceleration, good speed.
#19 Vanwall -- Great handling car , needs more motor and maxed out at 6 – 8 feet ìn the straight
#20 Vanwall -- Tippy if pushed, likes to tricycle, lacks speed and has guide rub, maxed at 8 feet on
straights
#22 Lotus 16 -- Close to the perfect car, for this track just got out raced this time out. Beautiful build.
#26 Bugatti 251 -- A good performer, a bit of corner chatter but geared well for this track
#28 Maserati 250f -- This was a joy to drive, well prepared and set up for this track, both speed and
torque.
#38 Ferrari 246 -- Decent handling, maxed out about 10 feet on straights a great looker too but
sounded like a tire needs truing
#69 Maserati 250f -- No body rock, and likes to tricycle on left turns, has good straight line speed but
tippy at the rear, causing guide to lift, also had guide rub. Fast car just needs to
handle better.
Pictures to follow.
Bob