Club Newsletter

The April Series Round 3 of FNC had the Le Mans track set up with the Hell's Gate Hairpin track this week, cutting off Heart Break Corner and The Banks to add yet another killer hairpin.

HEAT 1

With 26 drivers in each group and a shortened track, all drivers were fighting for a position from the get go.  Warren Irwin came out at the top of the pack, winning Group A’s 1st Heat over Stewart Matthews by a mere .2 of a sec, with Michael Simmons in third a full 2 seconds behind the leaders. Ethan Kouth was the biggest mover gaining 16 positions to finish 5th.

 

Group B had a challenge ahead of them with Rod Tate, Nathan Waldon and Donnelle Smith in the one group; all drivers had to bring their A game… and that’s exactly what they did.  Wade Gray snuck in for a second place finish in Heat 1 but no one could beat Rocket Rod pulling the best lap time for the whole night with a 39.69sec lap in that 1st Heat.

 

Joel Pobar took first place for Group C, he had to fight for it though, with the first 5 drivers separated by only 0.1 of a second.

 

Group D broke the record for most tyres hit in one race, keeping the track boys on their toes. Scott Finley, Darren Peterson and Vivek Raj got through relatively cleanly, finishing 1st 2nd 3rd respectively with 41 second laps consistently.

 

HEAT 2

Group A’s Heat 2 was won by Michael Simmons who started in 15th position. He had some work to do though; Warren Irwin was a good 2 seconds faster but couldn’t get past so had to settle for second.

 

Waldon won the second race for Group B, but not by much Rocket was nipping at his heals with the help of Matthew Harper they rounded up the top three positions with Smith closely behind them in fourth.

 

Pobar repeated his efforts in Group C to take out the second race, however this time starting in 17th place. With a 41.18 sec best lap, a full 2 seconds faster the Alistair Dadds in second, he put another 50 points next to his name.

 

The grids for Group D just kept getting smaller. With a few drivers getting a little hot under the collar, the track boys had to put their foot down.  One black flag disqualification set a few of them straight but we still had to end the race 2 laps short for safety reasons.  Well Done to Ben Mackie who managed to dodge all the carnage to finish first.

 

THE FINAL

Irwin had the 50 points for the final race already in his pocket starting in pole position for the final, all he had to do was hold onto them for 10 laps. And that’s exactly what he did…what a great final race!

 

Who could ask for a better final? Rocket, Waldon and Smith starting in the first three positions. Waldon wasn’t as fast as Rocket, however managed to get in front him and held on to take first place closely followed by Smith, then Rocket back in third, (what happened Rod?).  Klae Eckhardt was the fastest out there though with a 40.98 sec lap.

 

Even though Pobar did not finish first in the final he still won overall.  Paul Hynd and Glenn Van Drunen showed that consistency pays, finishing 2nd and 3rd.

 

With only 14 drivers left out of the 25 starters Vivek Raj, Chriss Connolly and Ben Mackie all had a clear run to the finish.  Mackie posted the best lap time for the group with a 40.56 sec lap. A nice clean race to end the night off was exactly what we all needed.