2008 3-Hour Team Race Reports

FarrOut Slot Racing Club

2008 3-Hour Team Race Reports

3 Hour Team Championship
Series Race 6
2008 Race 40
Dec. 6, 2008
Farrout Raceway

The penultimate (there's that word again-thanks, Hobbs) meet of the OTHG World Championship was the final team race of the year, as well as the last round for the 4WD cars. Due to time and meeting constraints, qualifying was dispensed with and the race started forthwith. While all of this was going on, SFJ and Nigel were working on a "big surprise"-and the source of the subtitle of this round's report-that was supposed to debut around 3:30. (As of the time of this writing, it was still nonfunctional.) Meanwhile, a race happened. With 20 drivers entered into four teams of five, diversity was the order of the day. The first of the four heats went to Team Smalley (Mike, Thomas Lauffenberger, Bill Schniedewind, Bill Polakow and Ed Beer), but only by 0.3 laps, with Team Williamson (Craig, Gary Woods, Mike Pawl, Chris Chan, Tim Weston) having completed a run on the outers (but having to face the dreaded red lane in the finale). Team De Los Santos (Terry, Bob Beck, Nigel Rick, Stan Smith, Russell Bracher) were 13 laps back in third, with Team Farr-Jones (Stephen, Jim Wiseman, Eddie Shorer, J.R. Ewing, Opel Barnes) 22 circuits in arrears.

A closer second heat (5 laps difference top to bottom) didn't change things much; Team Williamson now held the lead but had exhausted two quick lanes, with Team Smalley in close proximity. Further back and enjoying their own little battle were Teams DLS and F-J in third and fourth, respectively.

The technical glitch for the "big surprise" was fixed during the third heat. Team Smalley also fixed their ways to retake the lead, while also savoring the upcoming heat on the orange lane. Team DLS moved to second on the strength of their orange lane performance, with a realistic chance to win with a benign green lane upcoming, while Team Williamson was relegated to third, now struggling to finish up on red with a decidedly twitchy Citroen, not to mention that lane's own quirks. Team F-J had their own worries in fourth, having to deal with a decidedly shaky Subaru.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened in the last leg; Team Smalley motored to the heat victory as well as overall, finishing 12.5 laps ahead of Team DLS.

	Team Race--Meet 23, Race 40
	Farrout Raceway				45 Minute Heats
		Lane1	Lane2	Lane3	Lane4
Driver		Red	White	Green	Orange	Total	Rank	Rank	Points
SMALLEY, Michael		259.2	254.8	261.8	269.6	1045.4	1	1	20
LAUFFENBERGER, Thomas								1	20
SCHNIEDEWIND, Bill								1	20
BEER, Ed								1	20
POLAKOW, Bill								1	20
DE LOS SANTOS, Terry		254.2	248.4	261.9	268.4	1032.9	2	2	18
BECK, Bob								2	18
RICK, Nigel								2	18
SMITH, Stan								2	18
BRACHER, Russell								2	18
WILLIAMSON, Craig		253.5	245.8	257.8	261.5	1018.6	3	3	16
WOODS, Gary								3	16
PAWL, Mike								3	16
CHAN, Chris								3	16
WESTON, Tim								3	16
FARR-JONES, Stephen		239.6	252.8	252.4	259.9	1004.7	4	4	15
WISEMAN, Jim								4	15
SHORER, Eddie								4	15
EWING, J.R.								4	15
BARNES, Opel								4	15

3 Hour Team Championship
Series Race 5
2008 Race 31
Sep. 20, 2008
SSI Raceway

Round 18 of the OTHG World Championship saw another racing rarity; last week, it was Sebastian Vettel at Monza claiming his maiden, and this week the model masters held an enduro at the fast-yet-twisty SpeedShooters International with some intriguing action of its own. The "E" drivers of the four teams contested pole, but this time, it was not a progression of each knocking off the other sequentially. J.R. Ewing for Team Cortez (Rene, Stephen Farr-Jones, Stan Smith doubling) snatched pole on the final lap; had this not been the case, they would have been third, yet only 0.004 secs behind the provisional pole winner, Team Smalley (Mike, Gary Woods, Bob Scott doubling, Jim Wolfe qualified), which took second. As it was, Team De Los Santos (Terry, Craig Williamson, Nigel Rick [shared with Team Snipes], Eddie Shorer, Bruce Talamon qualified) was 0.003 secs behind for third, with Team Snipes (Daniel, Thomas Lauffenberger, Nigel Rick, Chris Chan, Ed Beer qualified) picking the leftovers.

The start was one to remember; on the weekend where Mike Smalley didn't bring his camera we had something truly inspiring to shoot; in the first stint of the first round, the four drivers (Thomas, Stan, Bob, Craig) did something that has never been done in our club's known history-they drove the entire leg without the leader lapping anyone; all four drivers managed 64 laps in nine minutes, and the next set of drivers managed 16 more laps before the leader managed to put anyone down. For reference, this was almost 12 minutes of continuous racing, and except for the flyer on blue, the others were bunched and racing hard in close quarters; surely Bob Varsha and his team would have creamed themselves describing this action. At the first bell, Team Cortez lead with 313 laps, but fourth place was by no means out of it, down by only 6.

The start of the second round was nearly as good as the first, with Stan and Thomas (yellow and blue, respectively) duking out the lead, blue harrying yellow for a dozen or so laps before flipping and losing a half-lap. The others all ran their heats well, too, and when the race hit half-time, Team Cortez maintained the lead, but by a razor-thin one lap margin over Team Smalley. Team DLS, which had been second, was now third but only by seven tenths, and Team Snipes, though fourth and having run the supposedly faster inner lanes, was only 9 laps in arrears. Was the outers-to-inners tactic going to fail this time?

The third stanza again started tensely, with only a two-lap spread from first to fourth. For the third consecutive start, the teams managed an average of 64 laps completed with a tiny spread. Things, inexplicably, slowed down for Team Snipes, as when the three-quarters-time were calculated, Team Smalley had usurped the lead, with Team Cortez only 2.7 laps down and Team DLS 5 down from the lead. Team Snipes, 22 laps in the rearview mirrors, was watching from the sidelines.

The last round held station and mimicked the others; not much changed, though an interesting phenomenon occurred in the final results; Team Smalley held on for a 3-lap overall victory, followed by Team Cortez, with Team DLS 13 laps behind the winners, and Team Snipes off the podium 26 laps down. In all four cases, the tenths were the same; everyone finished on half a lap, so the lap deficits stated here are exact.

	90s Ninco Le Mans--Meet 18, Race 31: 20 September 2008
	SpeedShooters Intl. Raceway			46 Min Heats: Clockwise 13v
		Lane1	Lane2	Lane3	Lane4
Driver		Red	White	Blue	Yellow	Total	Rank	Points
SMALLEY, Michael	Team 2	*318.1*	*319.4*	*319.5*	*308.5*	1265.5	1	20
WOODS, Gary	Team 2							20
SCOTT, Bob	fastest lap							20
SCOTT, Bob	Team 2							20
WOLFE, Jim	Team 2							20
CORTEZ, Rene	Team 4	*315.7*	*319.2*	*313.8*	*313.8*	1262.5	2	18
FARR-JONES, Stephen	Team 4							18
SMITH, Stan	fastest lap							18
SMITH, Stan	Team 4							18
EWING, J.R.	Team 4							18
DE LOS SANTOS, Terry	Team 3	*312.3*	*313.6*	*315.1*	*311.5*	1252.5	3	16
WILLIAMSON, Craig	Team 3							16
RICK, Nigel	fastest lap							16
SHORER, Eddie	Team 3							16
TALAMON, Bruce	Team 3							16
SNIPES, Daniel	Team 1	*315.4*	*307.7*	*310.7*	*305.7*	1239.5	4	15
LAUFFENBERGER, Thomas	Team 1							15
RICK, N.	fastest lap							15
CHAN, Chris	Team 1							15
BEER, Ed	Team 1							15

3 Hour Team Championship
Series Race 4
2008 Race 26
Aug. 2, 2008
Autodromo Baia della Sud

We were about to enter another dimension, a dimension not of sight or sound, but of mind and short circuits and dead computers we were about to enter the Team-Race Zone.

Meet 15 of the OTHG World Championship resembled a day on the 405 as we once again dealt with issues on track. The "B" drivers for the four teams did the qualifying with the tipsy Porsche 356 on the blue lane, and like usual, each succeeding driver supplanted the last to capture provisional pole; Stephen Farr-Jones set the early standard for Team Smalley (Mike, Jim Wolfe, with SFJ and J.R. Ewing relieving), only to be bettered in turn by Gary Woods for Team Beck (Bob, Gary, Stan Smith), then Chris Chan for Team Williamson (Craig, Chris, SFJ, Ed Beer), then finally by Thomas Lauffenberger for Team De Los Santos (Terry, Thomas, Mike Pawl, J.R.)

While qualifying was smooth, the race was not nearly as such; power issues with the yellow lane caused an early abandonment of the race, followed by at least two track calls during the second attempt. Early racing proved very close among the four lanes, but car issues on the blue lane caused Team DLS to fall off the pace. Team Beck had the quarter-pole lead, followed by Team Smalley only 2 laps back, Team Williamson 6 back, and Team DLS 18 in arrears, but hopefully done with the troublesome lane.

Troubles continued in the second round; after the first leg ran uneventfully, power issues resurfaced-first on one lane, then on all four as some of the cars began to ground out and cause short circuits. Finally, the computer hosting the timing and scoring crashed and would not reboot properly. After some masterful diagnosis by Craig and Gary, the computer problem was worked around, the program brought back on-line, and the race resumed, only to suffer more shorts and car issues. At halftime, Team Smalley took the overall lead, with Team Williamson second, Team Beck falling to third, and Team DLS still floundering at the tail.

Due to the extra time needed for the first two phases, a quick discussion followed on whether to cut the other two phases in half and halve the scores from the two completed; it was decided that our delay issues had been sorted out, so no changes were made, which made for an extra exciting day. The third phase was uneventful, thankfully; there were more circuit-breaker issues, but nothing fatal with respect to conduct of the race this time. Team Smalley maintained the lead, but now faced the dreaded blue lane, with Team DLS now moving to third after a good show on red (though still 33 laps down). Team Beck now held second, with Team Williamson last; although 43 laps down, they had a decent lane to run on (yellow), so the miracle prayers were again being chanted.

	50s/60s Ninco LeMans--Meet 15, Race 26
	Autodromo Baia Della Sud			45 Minute Heats
		Lane1	Lane2	Lane3	Lane4
Driver		Red	Green	Blue	Yellow	Total	Rank	Points
SMALLEY, Michael		241.0	240.7	226.2	220.0	927.9	1	20
WOLFE, Jim					x	8.3		20
FARR-JONES, Stephen								20
EWING, J.R.								20
								20
								20
BECK, Bob		241.2	222.3	218.0	238.1	919.6	2	18
WOODS, Gary			x			-7.3		18
SMITH, Stan								18
								18
								18
								18
DE LOS SANTOS, Terry		231.6	242.5	204.4	233.8	912.3	3	16
LAUFFENBERGER, Thomas				x				16
PAWL, Mike								16
JRE								16
								16
								16
WILLIAMSON, Craig		216.0	230.9	212.0	236.5	895.4	4	15
CHAN, Chris		x				16.9		15
SFJ								15
BEER, Ed								15
								15
								15

3 Hour Team Championship
Series Race 3
2008 Race 19
Jun. 7, 2008
Nigelstone

It was enduro time again as we anxiously counted the days to the greatest race on planet Earth, while also sating our Formula 1 appetites by staging the Formula 1 non-stopper at Nigelstone. Mike Pawl snagged a nifty pole for Team Farr-Jones (Stephen, Craig Williamson, Russell Bracher) with Bill Schniedewind claiming second choice for Team Lauffenberger (yours truly, Stan Smith, Ed Beer), Grant Delgatty securing third for Team Cortez (Rene, Gary Woods, Bruce Talamon) and Team Snipes (Daniel, Chris Chan, Nigel Rick, Tim Weston) being left the Hobson's choice.

Small confusion reigned during the first act as the timer was set for teams of five, but only four actually did so due to Bob Beck's sudden cancellation. The idea was to actually have two pit stops instead of one, but in the end we opted for just ending things one minute short. Team Cortez looked strong after the first round, standing on 255 laps, with Team Farr-Jones second, 8 laps back, Team L 10 in arrears, and Team Snipes still in the tail by 14.

The second heat was uneventful as Team Cortez maintained, but curiously did not extend, its lead; Team Yours Truly nicked a couple laps off the lead, with Team Snipes still sighting the leader in its crosshairs a mere 10 laps down.

A command decision was made during the third stint of round three, as Team L changed cars while on the notorious red lane. (The guide flag on the original car was loose and hampering its handling, so this was within the guidelines.) Performance didn't help, though, as the team slid to the bottom, 23 laps to the bad side of yesterday.

Team Cortez was still nursing its lead, but was now on the same red lane that vexed us all day long. Team Snipes was second a mere 7 laps down, and Team Farr-Jones still in answering distance 14 laps away. As usual, Team L was left praying for another worst-to-first miracle.

A miracle did happen, but not this one, in the last heat. While Team L drove a valiant final stint on what was the best lane overall (green), falling only half a lap short of third place Team Farr-Jones, Team Cortez was driving for its life as the Snipers reeled them in. At the final gun, history was made-for the first time in the history of our club, we had a dead heat for the victory (yes, down to the tenth!) as both Team Cortez and Team Snipes finished on 1019.3 laps. (Stephen announced this whilst holding one finger over the cells on the spreadsheet to prolong the drama.)

Now, if only the movie ended like this

	SCX Formula 1 Team Race -- Meet 11, Race 19: 7 June 2008
	Nigelstone			45 Minute Heats
		Lane 1	Lane 2	Lane 3	Lane 4
Driver		Red	Green	Yellow	Blue	Total	Rank	Points
SNIPES, Daniel		240.9	258.1	259.4	260.9	1019.3	1	20
CHAN, Chris								20
RICK, Nigel	9.471							20
WESTON, Tim								20

CORTEZ, Rene		253.7	255.2	254.3	256.1	1019.3	1	20
WOODS, Gary						0.0		20
DELGATTY, Grant	9.388							20
TALAMON, Bruce								20

FARR-JONES, Stephen		243.0	261.4	254.7	247.0	1006.1	3	16
WILLIAMSON, Craig						13.2		16
PAWL, Mike	8.851							16
BRACHER, Russell								16

LAUFFENBERGER, Thomas		241.4	263.3	245.8	255.1	1005.6	4	15
SMITH, Stan						13.7		15
SCHNIEDEWIND, Bill	8.962							15
BEER, Ed								15

		McLaren	WillRace	Lotus	Ferrari
		(Lola Indy)	(Minardi)	(Minardi)

3 Hour Team Championship
Series Race 2
2008 Race 12
Apr. 5, 2008
Mr. Model Car Raceway

And what a gang it was! Most of the regulars, along with our newest newbie Opel Barnes and two additional visitors Derek and Cornell Lewis, showed to make a wonderful team race meet. Mike Pawl scored pole for Team Smalley, followed by Bill Polakow for Team Cruzin' Scott, SFJ for Team Williamson and, lastly, Stan Smith for Team Beck. Russell Bracher and Tim Weston pulled double-duty due to a non-multiple of 4 entered; Tim was on Team Smalley and Russ on Team Williamson, but they will be listed on the team with whom they score better.

In the early going, it was a slugfest on the outers, as Teams Scott and Beck fought it out within 2 laps of each other; Team Smalley had some early misfortune with slow driving, as did Team Scott when their car broke (though their troubles were more mitigated by a track call.) At the quarter pole, it was Scott, Beck and Williamson and Smalley, with only 6 laps separating 1st and 3rd.

In the second leg, the white lane began to show its teeth, as a disagreeable controller made an already-hard-to-drive-car even more difficult, causing some team captains to scratch their heads about lane choice strategy. At halftime, it looked like a two horse race, with Team Williamson leading the way, Team Scott in close pursuit, and Beck and Smalley left to squabble over third.

In the third leg, more problems continued, though these could only be attributed to lousy driving, at least on the part of yours truly; at the three-quarters pole, Team Beck was solidly mired in last place, not even getting the crumbs from the table. Team Williamson had amassed a lead of 23 laps on second-place Team Scott, who in turn had 13 laps in hand on Team Smalley. The final leg would prove interesting, as the leaders would encounter the biting white lane, Team Scott would have a chance to catch on blue, and Team Smalley would have its own perils on red. Was a cataclysm brewing?

Alas, it was not. In the homeward leg, everything held station, with Team Williamson taking overall victory by a solid 37 laps.

	60s/70s Fly LeMans Team Race--Meet 7, Race 12: 5 April 2008
	Mr. ModelCar Raceway			46 Minute Heats
	Lane1	Lane2	Lane3		Lane4
Driver	Red	White	Blue		Yellow	Total	Rank	Rank	Points
WILLIAMSON, Craig	356.4	355.9	337.4		357.3	1407.0	1	1	20
WOODS, Gary			x					1	20
FARR-JONES, Stephen								1	20	7.266
BRACHER, Russell								1	20
WESTON, Tim								1	20
SCOTT, Bob	347.4	337.2	342.1		343.5	1370.2	2	2	18
DE LOS SANTOS, Terry					x			2	18
POLAKOW, Bill								2	18	7.154
EWING, J.R.								2	18
								2	18
SMALLEY, Michael	345.5	328.3	332.9		354.3	1361.0	3	3	16
CHAN, Chris		x						3	16
PAWL, Mike								3	16	7.029
BARNES, Opel								3	16
								3	16
BECK, Bob	340.9	327.5	336.9		345.2	1350.5	4	4	15
LAUFFENBERGER, Thomas	x							4	15
SMITH, Stan								4	15	7.362
TALAMON, Bruce								4	15
BEER, Ed								4	15
	Porsche 917LH	Ferrari 512M	Lola T-70		Ford GT-40

3 Hour Team Championship
Series Race 1
2008 Race 1
Jan. 12, 2008
Riverside Raceway

The first race of the 2008 season was a team race of Slot.it cars at Michael Smalley's amazing Riverside track. The Slot.it cars are always fun to drive on the grippy Ortmann tires and the cars look so good on Michael's detailed track.

It was a closely fought race. In the end, Michael and Stephen came up short and their team was beaten by both the team of Bob Beck, Terry De Los Santos, Gary Woods and JR Ewing in second, and the winning team of Daniel Snipes, Craig Williamson, Jom Wolfe and Mike Pawl, who commanded three of the four lanes.

	Slot.it 90s LeMans Team Race--Meet 1, Race 1
	Smalley's Riverside Raceway				45 Minute Heats
		Lane1	Lane2	Lane3	Lane4
Driver		Red	White	Blue	Yellow	Total	Rank	Rank	Points
SNIPES, Daniel	Team 1	396.2	399.8	398.7	387.4	1582.1	1	1	20
WILLIAMSON, Craig	Team 1	2	1	4	3			1	20
WOLFE, Jim	fastest lap	6.100	6.186	6.215	6.296			1	20
PAWL, Mike	Team 1							1	20
	Team 1							1	20
SMALLEY, Michael	Team 2	385.6	400.5	390.8	380.4	1557.3	3	3	16
FARR-JONES, Stephen	Team 2	3	2	1	4	11.9		3	16
CHAN, Chris	fastest lap	5.977	6.086	6.248	6.183			3	16
BEER, Ed	Team 2							3	16
	Team 2							3	16
BECK, Bob	Team 3	390.6	401.8	393.4	383.4	1569.2	2	2	18
DE LOS SANTOS, Terry	Team 3	4	3	2	1	12.9		2	18
WOODS, Gary	fastest lap	6.128	6.024	6.248	6.319			2	18
EWING, J.R.	Team 3							2	18
	Team 3							2