TSRF 1/24 Scale races, September 9, 2006
Buena Park, CA
11th So-Cal Championship Race
De Lespinay's lead sled wins at last.
The 11th TSRF So-Cal Championship Race was won for the first time by a car fitted with an injected plastic body, benefiting from the 20-lap handicap computed from measured lap times. This is the first time that a 180-gram car actually won a race counting for the championship. De Lespinay used his tried and true Ford Probe GTP car, now over 190 grams, to edge his team mate Mike Steube's 150-gram vacuum-formed BMW LMP car by just 2 laps or about 14 seconds over the 24-minute race. Both Mike and Philippe drove perfect races, never de-slotting once, both trying real hard to beat each other in a friendly contest. Time to reduce the handicap?
Track conditions today were very slippery to very stuck, making setup difficult. Lap times were substantially slower than usual, and no records were set.
Behind the racing Checkpoint aces, Sam Brown was trying hard with his incredible over-60-races Porsche 956, but could not keep up this time and was 4 laps down. Scott Corwin had one of the fastest cars but succumbed under pressure, de-slotting a couple of times and finished another 8 laps down, while young Kyle Matthes ran beautifully and consistently with a spare car kindly loaned by Paul Sterrett. Dennis Samson had his usual frustrating race, wishing that turn marshals would actually put his car back now rather than later. The Crash & Burn format is tough discipline for some racers who are pushing harder than the car wants to deliver. Dennis is a racer and wants to go fast now!
Kyle's father Doug did a good job of keeping his borrowed Lancia in its slot, while Keith Tanaka had his new BMW set up overweight because of a misreading of the regulations. The car carried 30 grams of extra lead, and Keith just could not keep it off track by simply braking too late.
So what happened to points leader Paul Sterrett? Paul had his usual very fast Courage-Peugeot doing a very unusual dance and kept crashing it all over the scenery, losing the points lead to Mike Steube. Not a good day for a superb racer. Paul keeps the Concours points lead over Philippe de Lespinay and Dennis Samson.
Poor Roger Uusitalo had a gear fail on his car and spent lots of time in the pits, while John Sinz's Lancia also quit and spent some time off track.
Concours was won by Dennis Samson's le Mans-winning BMW-Williams, with Paul's Courage and Philippe's Ford filling the top spots.
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The field before the start. Sam Brown's "Old Faithful" is on top left of the picture, with the winning Ford near center on the bottom row. It needed to be 180-gram, but in fact is over 190 grams now as the weight makes if more stable if delicate under braking. Mike Steube's BMW V12 is second from left on the bottom row.
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The winning car is based on a Tamiya Ford GTP fitted with a TSRF ground-effect rear tunnel. The chassis has had much weight added to bring the total weight to 190 grams, 10 grams over the legal minimum. It is a bit rough to drive but certainly performs nicely. The body weighs 54 grams. |
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The chassis is kept stock except for the minor allowed modifications to reinforce the chassis in case of severe impact. The 3-year old body has survived wonderfully nary a scratch or two. The under-tray is available separately from the TSRF catalogue. |
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Pos |
Driver |
Body type |
Laps |
Fastest lap |
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1 |
Philippe de Lespinay |
Ford Probe GTP ** |
187 (207) |
7.469" |
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2 |
Mike Steube |
BMW V12 |
205 |
6.858" * |
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3 |
Sam Brown |
Porsche 956 |
201 |
6.922" |
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4 |
Scott Corwin |
Porsche 956 |
193 |
7.191" |
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5 |
Kyle Matthes |
Porsche 956 |
188 |
7.026" |
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6 |
Dennis Samson |
BMW V12 |
185 |
7.418" |
| 7 | Doug Matthes | Porsche 956 | 180 | 7.250" |
| 8 | Keith Tanaka | Porsche 956 | 174 | 7.359" |
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9 |
Paul Sterrett |
Courage-Peugeot |
168 |
7.027" |
| 10 | Roger Uusitalo | Porsche 956 | 156 | 7.418" |
| 11 | John Sinz | Lancia LC2 | 125 | 7.469" |
* Fastest lap
** Injected-plastic body (+ 30-gram, + 20-lap handicap)
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The podium: Mike Steube takes the points lead. Philippe de Lespinay has been encouraging others to run the heavier cars. Sam Brown soldiers on with the oldest TSRF car running, this having the most miles of any car running in the series. Time for a new one, Sam?
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