TSRF 1/24 Scale races, October 15, 2005
Buena Park, CA
Silent Sam Smokes them all!
The race for 1/24 scale TSRF cars was run on the "Hillclimb" track. We had the visit of former top pro Howie Ursaner (virtually the 1969 open-class national champion) and his buddy John Cukras. Gil Gundersen arrived too late for the race as well as John Anderson, so they sat on the side lines. John Cukras is going to join us as a regular as he fell in love with the cars and the racing format.
|
|
Old pros Gil Gundersen, Mike Steube, Philippe de Lespinay, Howie Ursaner and John Cukras filled the pages of the late 1960's and early 1970's slot racing magazines. Now they are just having fun and enjoy the hobby in the most relaxed manner. But competitive, they still are... oh yes indeed... |
Race
Mike Steube had his Courage-Peugeot beginning to show the scars of too many offs and in dire need of a new body. But he was as usual, quite fast. Guest Howie Ursaner visiting from Wisconsin, was immediately competitive and set some pretty quick laps using Mike Steube's back-up car. Philippe had his brakeless chrome BMW re-geared to a more reasonable clip and while it lost top speed, if handled quite well. Others were very fast: Scott Jarrett had his car misassembled and Philippe repaired the thing in minutes for Scott to show immediate competitiveness. Jim Watterson had his Lancia going ballistic as usual, while Ridge Ellis showed a good turn of speed. Steve Forsythe and Jonathan had new very quick BMW's and of course, Paul Sterrett had his usual very competitive Porsche.
But Sam Brown still running the same old (but quite quick) Porsche 959, made no noise and edged Mike Steube by a mere 6 feet in one of the most competitive TSRF races yet. Philippe crashed twice, taking him out of the fight, and Paul Sterrett unusually got off a couple of times. Scott Jarrett also had a couple of offs and that was enough to get all three of them out of contention.
Jim Watterson did a good job trying to follow these guys, and Ridge Ellis had his best result yet. Steve Forsythe had too many incidents with his new very fast car, and it is interesting to note then no less 9 out of the 13 entrants turned lap times within a 20/1000" bracket... Fastest lap was by Mike Steube, but Ridge Ellis had a flyer.
Howie Ursaner took over Rick Salvino's car about mid race, and turned some quick laps, racing Philippe who could hardly keep up. But the car had lost too many laps earlier and Howie began losing it too.
|
|
|
Sam Brown's Porsche is possibly the TSRF car with more miles on it than any other. This was one of the original Uncle Kal's rental cars and had a hard life. Sam makes little noise but won this one convincingly.
|
Main event results:
|
Pos |
Driver |
Body type |
Laps |
Fastest lap |
|
1 |
Sam Brown |
Porsche 956 |
200 |
6.870" |
|
2 |
Mike Steube |
Courage-Peugeot |
200 |
6.589" * |
|
3 |
Philippe de Lespinay |
BMW V12 |
193 |
6.808" |
| 4 | Scott Jarrett |
BMW V12 |
192 |
6.859" |
| 5 | Paul Sterrett |
Porsche 956 |
189 |
6.808" |
|
6 |
Jim Watterson |
Lancia LC2 |
186 |
6.968" |
| 7 | Jonathan |
BMW V12 |
182 |
6.968" |
|
8 |
Ridge Ellis |
Porsche 956 |
179 |
6.660" |
| 9 | Steve Forsythe | BMW V12 | 168 | 6.968" |
|
10 |
Paul Wilde |
Courage-Peugeot |
167 |
6.917" |
|
11 |
Greg |
Porsche 956 |
166 |
7.249" |
|
12 |
Rick Salvino / Howie Ursaner |
Porsche 956 |
146 |
6.807" |
|
13 |
Tyler Watterson |
Lancia LC2 |
115 |
7.250" |
* Fastest lap
|
|
|
Sam Brown's chassis is dead-stock but has received the recommended crash-proof modifications for serious racing: the addition of two bold and nuts amid ship, and that of an added brass tubing brace around the front axle. Little added weight to the nose makes the car sweet and forgiving. |
|
Winner "Silent Sam" Brown is flanked by Mike Steube and Philippe de Lespinay. Between the three of them, they have over a century and a half of experience... Mike got a haircut. Sam has the coolest shirt of the three. |
|
|
Please note:
will have a display booth at the iHobby Expo
at the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 22-23, 2005. The public is
invited to attend and we will have a demonstration track and many cars to play
with! We welcome all slot car enthusiasts to attend this show that features slot
cars, racio controlled cars, boats and airplanes as well as die-cast cars,
plastic model kits and model trains. Don't miss it!
