The Track
For Round 3 of the Tyco F1 and Modified Championships Al had designed a mini-Monaco style track featuring some elevation change and the famous hairpin but missing the modern chicanes. Just like its 1:1 equivalent, the track was a very tricky drive and required 100% concentration. Unfortunately that divided opinion, while some drivers relished the challenge of the circuit, others didn’t enjoy it at all. There was however some general hilarity as cars flew off the track and into the “harbour”.
F1
Qualifying
With the white and blue lanes being significantly easier to drive than red and yellow, it was vital to secure a good qualifying result to snag one of the good lanes. Track position was everything and making up places in the finals looked likely to be tricky…
Qualifying was surprisingly close with just 3.6 laps separating pole from 7th place. Paul Homewood has the honour of securing pole position by just 0.2 laps from Paul Rose who put in the fastest F1 lap of the night in the blue lane. Jim returning for his first race of the 2014 season was straight on the pace in third just half a lap back from pole. Ray’s new Tyco had a promising first outing securing fourth place on the grid ahead of Al in fifth. Tony took sixth just two tenths in front of John with Roy and Steve completing the grid.
C Final
John in Blue and Roy in white had a real battle in the C final. Roy had the upper hand initially but a couple of offs handed the lead to John. Roy spent the rest of the race hunting John down but he ever quite managed to pass John once he caught him and finished half a lap down. Steve in the tricky yellow lane drove a consistent race and bettered his heat score but he wasn’t able to trouble John or Roy from the trickiest lane.
B Final
Al made a good start in white, but an early off left him third behind Ray in blue and Tony in red. Tony wasn’t far behind Ray in the early phase of the race but a series of offs saw him drop steadily back to third place from where he retired handing John the position. Al couldn’t match Ray’s pace and finished 1.6 laps behind him as the chequered flag fell.
A Final
The F1 A Final was possibly the most chaotic race of the nice with multiple offs in the opening stages seeing the lead pass from Paul Rose in white, to Paul Homewood in blue and then to Jim in Red. A big off for Jim sent him from first to last and left the two Pauls to swap places several more times at the front before Paul Rose managed to capitalise on a couple of mistakes from Paul Homewood and consolidate a lead he would hold to the end of the race. Behind them a second epic battle between Jim and Ray was ongoing as they traded third and fourth place with Jim just taking the last spot on the podium by 4 tenths of a lap.
Mod
Qualifying
After setting the best scores in Red, Blue and White, Paul Rose was able to retire from his yellow heat and still secure pole by an impressive 6.2 laps from Paul Homewood. Al took the third spot after finding his Mod a bit too much of a handful on the twisty street circuit. Tony lined up fourth just under two laps behind Al and just over a lap ahead of Roy in fifth. John took the sixth spot ahead of Jim who tried a variety of cars through the heats but couldn’t find anything that really worked for him. Steve and Ray completed the order.
C Final
An early off for Ray in red left him on the back foot and behind Steve in blue and Jim in white who spent the first half of the race next and more or less neck and neck dicing of the lead. Offs for both Jim and Steve on the same lap opened things up again, and further offs for Jim allowed Ray to sneak into second behind Steve who took the win.
B Final
A solid start for Tony in blue while the others faltered gave him the early lead of the B final. As the race progressed the field spread out behind Tony, with Roy in white running second followed by Steve in yellow and John in red. This order would remain for the duration of the race although Roy went hard on the charge in the later phase of the race and closed the gap to Tony to just three tenths of a lap. Steve’s third place in the B final meant he improved on his qualifying position by two places which was the most of anyone over the course of the evening.
A Final
Paul Rose had the start he needed in white and held a narrow early lead from Paul Homewood in blue. Al in red and Tony in yellow quickly dropped back from the leaders and Al held third for the remainder of the race despite coming under pressure from Tony in the latter part of the race. Up front an off for Paul Rose at the start of the final minute handed the lead to Paul Homewood. A final off for Paul Homewood gave the lead back to Paul Rose who went on to finish just half a lap ahead and take the double win and the title of SCHORC Monaco Master.
Thanks to all who attended.