ROUND 1 – SUNSET PENINSULA FULL & CLUB – 8th

NOVEMBER 2009

SUN SHINES FOR VANQUISH

Vanquish finally grabs an Enduro win – Double support victory for

Gixerben – Supercars dominate Enduro – JC Meister solid start to defence
of his crown – Bad day for Favourite Wookie – Many cars suffer rolling
incidents.

IN THE JACK – VANQUISH HEADS THE ENDURO PACK

ENTRY

Gixerben – Mini Cooper, BMW M3 E36, Porsche 997 Turbo

Last minute choice to run the Mini meant it was unsorted after his original
car falls foul of the scrutinisers’. High hopes for his BMW in the FTCC as
he had put some real development into it, as had the pretty Red bull
sponsored Porsche that looked very strong. Hoping for a good weekend in
fast cars on a very fast track.

JC Meister – Fiat Abrath, VW Corrado, Subaru S22

Return of the Enduro Champion was late in the day so he showed up in 3
very undeveloped cars, and had already conceded that the first round was
all about damage limitation.

Major Raver – Alfa Romeo MiTo, BMW 135i, Ford RS200

Martini sponsorship returned to Major’s Enduro car, whilst the Alfa was
surprisingly in rear wheel drive pose. Sponsorship deal hadn’t been
agreed for the BMW, so it showed up in a pink colour with logo’s for
cancer research.

Maverick – Renault Twingo, Mugen Integra, Ferrari 360 CS

Problems at his team headquarters meant that they lost the cars and
setups they originally had, even having to source their Enduro car from
Mart Engineering leaving the ever chirpy Maverick on the back foot.

ScoLancer – Toyota Yaris, Mugen Integra, BMW M3 GTR

Scot star Lancer was a late entry to the grid that meant his cars were
unsorted but believed he had a good base and platform for development,
the Mugen already proving to be a very solid handling car.

Vanquish BHP – Scion XD, Mugen Integra, Lamborghini Muira 06

Vanquish was looking for his and 40 Yarder racing first victory and the
team had taken a very different and brave route with the choice of two of
his cars, the team even deciding on the Muira over other cars in the
Lamborghini stable at the very last moment. Jack Daniels had also stayed
loyal to the team in sponsoring all 3 cars.

Wiseoldduck – Mini Cooper, BMW M3 E36, Porsche 911 GT2

Wise had picked up a good sponsorship package that offered hope for a
good season, and made two late changes to his car line up with the Mini
making its debut and the Porsche being a late change two. Mallard racing
had decided to forgo the Seat deal for one with BMW late in the day.
Wookie Pete – Renault Twingo, Mazda 3, Ferrari 360 CS

Championship favourite Wookie was overjoyed with a Blockbuster Video

sponsorship on race day, and the nippy Twingo not expected to be a pace
setter on the faster tracks, looked full of promise. The Mazda a proven
winner in the Autumn Cup, and Wookie was confident that his Ferrari was
well sorted.

BRAWN FREE – GIXERBEN ON HIS WAY TO HIS SECOND SUPPORT

WIN

FX ENDURO – SUNSET PENINSULA FULL 25 LAPS

With 4 wheel drive cars on the grid the rush to the first corner was
expected to be rather hectic, and it was as Raver made a fantastic start
from 5th on the grid, diving down the inside of the Lamborghini of
Vanquish into the first corner. The first few corners were uneventful
everyone being careful and Wookie showed his Ferrari to have good
balance as he moved into the top 3. Major was flying along and he had
started to open a little gap as they headed on to the banking for the first
time, when he clipped the kerb which sent the Martini car on to its roof
and out of contention with heavy damage. Amazingly everyone avoided
the stricken Ford and this gave Wookie his chance to attack Vanquish, but
he found out straight away that although his Ferrari was very well
balanced the Muira packed a mighty punch in a straight line. Any hopes
of a real ding dong battle out front went on lap 2 when the Ferrari pulled
off with a mystery terminal problem that left Pete out of luck and out of
the race. Gixerben now took up the mantle of challenge Vanquish and up
until the their pit stops around half distance did a good job, actually
closing which promised much for the second half of the race. At the back
things weren’t so easy, with Maverick and Wiseoldduck taking it in turns in
putting their cars on the roof. Wise was really regretting running the
unsorted Porsche and while last season was about blown gearboxes in
round 1, this was about crushed roofs and bodywork. Maverick was
having the same problems with his unsorted Ferrari and never seemed to
be comfortable either as both slipped badly off the pace. Third place was
nicely poised, as Lancer had to fend off reigning champion JC Meister. JC’s
Subaru looked an awful under steering handful, but he showed his
experience and race craft to take what looked like the slowest car in the
field in to a respectable position race wise.

ARE YOU GOING MY WAY? – REIGNING CHAMP JC DID WELL WITH AN EVIL
HANDLING CAR.

Half distance saw all the major runners having stopped, those at the back
more than once and Vanquish looking very unflustered out front.
Gixerben started to close but any hopes of victory were crushed as the
Lamborghini put in some astonishing laps in the 1:28s, amazing as no one
else was dipping into the 1.30s. With Vanquish in control Gixerben wisely
decided to bring his car home in one piece, knowing bar a mistake that
Vanquish was finally about to take the top step of the podium. It was a
sweet moment for 40 Yarder racing that have often tried a different car
route, and Vanquish for finally ridding himself of the nearly man mantle
that has bugged him in the past. The battle for third was sadly cut short 5
laps from home, with Lancer closing on JC having problems, and meaning
 4th was the best he could get. The BMW showed lots of promise to show
that on tighter tracks it could be the car to have. For JC Meister it was a
great drive, one of his best, possibly the slowest car on the grid and the
driver admitting to be rather ring rusty, had sent out a warning shot to the
rest of the grid that once car and driver are up to speed a championship
challenge is certainly on.

Major was a lap down in 5th, a second roll doing his stiffly sprung Ford no
good, whilst Maverick did one less roll than Wise and stole 6th place.

MORE OF A DAMP SQUIB – IT ALL WENT WRONG FOR FAVOURITE

WOOKIE

RESULT AFTER 25LAPS

1. Vanquish BHP 38minutes and 12secs

2. Gixerben +12seconds

3. JC Meister +1min 07secs

4. ScoLancer +1 Lap

5. Major Raver + 1 Lap

6. Maverick +4 Laps
7. Wiseoldduck +5 Laps

8. Wookie Pete DNF

Fastest Lap: Vanquish BHP 1:28:150 (NEW LAP RECORD)

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS AFTER ROUND 1

1. Vanquish BHP 12 points

2. Gixerben 9 pts

3. JC Meister 6 pts

4. ScoLancer 5 pts

5. Major Raver 4 pts

6. Maverick 3 pts

7. Wiseoldduck 2 pts

8. Wookie Pete 1 pts

FX SUPERMINIS – SUNSET PENINSULA CLUB 4 LAPS

All eyes were on the Mini’s as the cars lined up on the grid but it was
Raver who judged the start best moving up from 7th to be right on the tail
of Lancer into the first corner. Challenging alongside Raver was Wise, and
also Wookie, Wookie diving inside the mini but tagging the Alfa in the
process and putting Raver back to last after a spin. In the confusion
Gixerben had moved up to second and that became first on the bank
straight as the power of the cooper engine put him into the lead, a lead he
was never to lose and score his first victory. Behind him and Raver was
back on a charge helped by Lancer, Maverick and JC having a few
moments and on lap two he slid up the inside of Wookie and Wise off the
main straight in a very late braking move. He made it through, but Wise
unsighted hit the back of the Alfa and both spun, leaving Wookie clear in
second. Wise felt Raver left his braking far too late, whilst Raver believed
he was hit in the boot showing the Coca Cola car had made the corner,
either way a promising start for both was ruined, and the stewards
deemed it a racing accident. For Wise it got worse further around the lap
and that left him last but he showed so much potential to know a he has
race winning pace in the little cars. With the first two now safe it left
 Vanquish clear in third for a podium, whilst Lancer gave chase but with
half of the rest of field showing damage the race petered out.

Result after 4 Laps

1. Gixerben

2. Wookie Pete

3. Vanquish

4. ScoLancer

5. Major Raver

6. JC Meister

7. Maverick

8. Wiseoldduck

Fastest Lap: Gixerben 1:10:432 (NEW LAP RECORD)

Points after Round 1

1. Gixerben 12pts

2. Wookie Pete 8pts

3. Vanquish 6pts

4. ScoLancer 5pts

5. Major Raver 4pts

6. JC Meister 3pts

7. Maverick 2pts

8. Wiseoldduck 2pts
KEEP ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING – MAVERICK IS ON HIS WAY UPSIDE DOWN
AGAIN.

FTCC – SUNSET PENINSULA FULL – 6 LAPS

Rear wheel drive was always likely to be the key here and thus the BMW
hoard tore off the line with Gixerben leading down to the first turn, Raver
behind him diving up the inside of Vanquish for second until Pete decided
to make himself the filling in the sandwich and the pink BMW was spun to
the rear of the field. Mavericks hopes of success went as they headed to
the banking for the third time as he found his car upside down and sliding
down the bank, giving Autumn Cup holder Wookie the chance to chase the
leader Gixerben with less presure, with Wise now in third, and Vanquish
fourth, Lancer meanwhile having spun in the chicances on the first lap. At
the back were both JC Meister and Raver, Raver starting a charge through
the field whilst JC was rueing two first lap incidents in his Corrado. Wookie
was looking a little flustered and on lap 4th coming out of one the
chicanes, he got out of shape and hit the wall hard. With a damaged car
he limped around to the pits, only for an unsighted JC Meister to drive in
to the back of him virtually putting both out on the spot. For JC and his
unsorted new Corrado it was the end of a couple of very fraught support
races. Wise was now elevated to 5th, but was unable to get close to the
battle between Lancer and Vanquish. Settled in the favour of the latter,
both the Mugen’s handling well although Vanquish complained his car was
stiff on the kerbs, but breathless down the long fast straights. So a
second support win for Gixerben, and Raver over joyed with second, but
for Autumn Cup winner Pete it was a bitter pill to swallow in his
championship chase.
 Result after 6 Laps

1. Gixerben

2. Major Raver

3. ScoLancer

4. Vanquish

5. Wiseoldduck

6. Maverick

7. Wookie Pete

8. JC Meister

Fastest Lap: Gixerben 1:39:657 (New Lap Record)

Points after round 1

1. Gixerben 12pts

2. Major Raver 8pts

3. ScoLancer 6pts

4. Vanquish 5pts

5. Wiseoldduck 4pts

6. Maverick 3pts

7. Wookie Pete 2pts

8. JC Meister. 1pts

ROUND-UP

So round 1 for all 3 is over and shock winners in all promise much for the
season ahead. Expect better sorted cars for round 2, and Wookie Pete
attempting to make up for lost ground. Maple Valley is next and expect
many drivers to be very wary of the kerbs at the track after 11 rolls in the
3 races on Sunday. Big question is how will the handicap system effect
the Lamborghini Muira, and will Gixerben and his BMW still be as fast in a
straight line with a bit of ballest. Roll on Sunday!