TSRF 1/32 Scale July 29, 2006

Buena Park, CA

8th 2006 SoCal Championship Points Race

To Paul Sterrett All The Marbles!

Paul Sterrett built a new Courage C60 and simply walked away with the 8th TSRF Championship Race. The 2-hour enduro, run in 15-minute segments, offered plenty of time for the 10 entrants to get it right. The hand-out motors were all pretty even except for two that were mysteriously slow all day. It is even more mysterious to this writer as they tested the same on the dynamometer AFTER the race as the winning motor. It is suspected that electrical contact might be the cause in the affected cars, as one of the two was actually allowed to pick a second motor and the result was the same.

Tech inspection went smoothly until John Emmons noted that the front tires on Paul Sterrett's car had been ground to a smaller diameter. Paul was sent to the pits to change the tires for stock units, which did not make much difference on the track but was nonetheless not an allowed modification.

Practiced showed the Sterrett car as the one to beat and indeed, it was. Was it the new low-slung Courage body or other factors? Paul picked a good motor from the pool, but it was no faster than most others. However, Paul could coax a lot more speed out of simply out-driving most others, and this writer could not even get close to Paul's times while driving the car in practice, a good indication of where the talent lies.

The race began late as the Death Star races took a bit longer than anticipated, because the general opinion of the TSR racers was to run the enduro on the larger track.

The first heat saw Philippe de Lespinay leading with 123 laps on orange, Paul Sterrett having a rare "off" but still ending in the same lap, a sign of things to come. Rick Salvino was leading the pack but already 4 laps in arrears. Scott Corwin was doing well on yellow, turning 114 laps, two more than Dennis Samson with a few driving issues with a very fast car. John Emmons had issues of his own with an unlucky "off" after a rider issue with a missing turn marshal. Craig Williamson found that his car was just slow, and this did not changed all day.

The second part of the Checkpoint Team was in mortal agony with a car set too "tight", forcing Mike to tiptoe through the corners, and he was lucky to turn 111 laps. This was only the beginning of his bad day.

The second heat saw the lead change once and for all, Paul turning 127 laps on blue to only 123-plus for Philippe. Mike Steube and Dennis Samson also turned 123 laps, with Emmons at 120. Drew Ballard began to show his form by turning 112 very fast laps, but had several "offs" that hampered his progress.

Paul continued his smooth ride in the third heat, winning it with 124 laps over Dennis' s 123. Drew also turned 123, while Mike continued his agony and only managed 38 laps due to a necessary long pit stop after a wall smashing episode. Scott Corwin was doing well with a consistent drive and 120 laps. Roger Uusitalo soldiered on with a slow car, keeping out of trouble for 108 laps.

Mike Steube came back with a vengeance and won the fourth heat with 125 laps to Paul's 123, Drew and John at 119 and Rick Salvino cruising at 112. Dennis Samson's car became errant and cleanly kissed a wall, bending an axle. Back to the pits for some repairs but only 99 laps in this heat.

Philippe returned on red to turn a miserable 118 laps to Paul's 129 and fastest time (so far) on yellow. He will improve on that. Salvino was second with 121 to Dennis 120, Drew keeping piling the laps at 118. Drew was driving an older version of the car with plastic guide blade, which was a handling handicap as people who are using the tapered steel pin know oh so well. Mike Steube had the gremlins go back and managed only 111 laps after several agricultural excursions.

The next heat saw Philippe's motor coming on song and 127-plus laps. This did not bother Paul much as he replied with a cool 130 laps.

Rick followed with an outstanding 125 laps, Mike soldiering on with 120 with an un-happy car, Scott turning 117.

Paul again turned 129 laps on white to Philippe's 124 on blue, confirming his domination. Salvino was third with 122, Scooter with a clean 121, Drew at 120. Emmons was still fighting his car with 115 laps, Roger plugging in 105 with his slow car.

With Sterrett out for the rotation, Philippe won the next heat with 127 to Dennis Samson's and Drew's 124. John Emmons did better at 123-plus to Scott Corwin's 121. Roger and Craig kept piling slow laps with their speed challenged cars.

The last heats did not change much except that by now, there was a regrouping behind Paul and Philippe, now separated by 31 laps, an un-surmountable obstacle. Indeed the next four racers were now separated by only 6 laps. The last heat saw a small controversy as Rick Salvino needed a relief driver in the form of Adam K. Always-astute John Emmons noted that while it did not say anywhere in the rules that a driver could switch, it did not say either that it could be done. So to be fair, the points will be awarded to Rick as of the beginning of the last heat, and the prize money for third was awarded to the 4th place driver. However, the team of Rick and Adam will retain 3rd place because this is none of their own fault and they both drove brilliantly.

Besides the cash money to the winners, TSRF awarded merchandise certificates to Roger Uusitalo and Craig Williamson for their bad luck as well as a special award to Drew Ballard, "Best of the Rest" with a car handicapped by an older part that made it tough to drive.

Results:

*  Fastest lap

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