Sebring R8 | ThunderEnduro

K-CLASS THUNDER ENDURO ROUND 8 SEBRING – 21st AUGUST 2018

CAL GOES FOURTH TO BRING HOME VICTORY

Carcrazycal wins in epic 4 car battle ~ RGreenwood, Robraceruk and CelticFox all battle for victory ~ Dreadful night for Nikemikerules and KRR twins ~ Devilsbogeyman takes his best result and breaks the lap record ~ Devil Lord takes the class Championship lead ~ ABigPieKey dominates support race

Carcrazycal battled race long for victory, whilst Nikemikes race fall apart at the end.

All week the threat of rain had hung over the 8th round of the Championship, and as the cars went to the grid, not a cloud was to be seen in the sky. The paddock was rife with gossip and speculation. News had filtered through that Team Cheetah had left the series, but one car was present for Bradderstig, minus any of the Team Cheetah personal to support him. Talk of a divorce at RML, as rumours that the two owner drivers of the team had submitted separate entries for next season. Massive interest also centred on the scrutinering bay and the legality of the cars. Both the Team Hard and RML machines were thoughly checked and found to comply with the regs and we could finally all get down to the business of racing.

14 cars lined up, the holiday season had stripped us of two of last week’s podium finishers, the pair of DMR Hyundai’s, both the Mad Motorsport Focus’s and also the second DART Ferrari, amongst others. The day had also started with the 80s Hot Hatch Heaven race, and ABigPieKey smashed the field in the 10 lap scrap, so the CK Motorsport driver went to the grid on a high and looking forward to the main event.

BMR Sutton was on pole and determined to continue KRR’s charge for the team’s title, alongside him was Robraceruk, over the moon to have qualified second and believing he had the race pace over the Gulf sponsored car alongside him. Sutton got the launch and held the inside line, Rob looking for a way around the outside, was unable to and had to slot into second, followed by CelticFox and Devil Lord in the sole Cerberus Escort. Through the third corner, and contact was made between ABigPieKey and NikeMike, which saw the Nissan spin down the order and slowed Mike slightly, but on the run down to the turn 7 Hairpin, the Lancia struggled to turn in on its cold tyres and Robraceruk was through and into the lead. The first lap was proving difficult for last week’s winner and through the Le Mans esses the Lancia spun in a plume of smoke and dropped down to 8th. This left the opening lap as Rob in first place, CelticFox close behind in the Dodge, Devil Lord third, RangersRick, Bradders, NikeMike, Carcrazycal and BMR Sutton. The two out front started to slowly edge away from the Escort in third, but Rob was under serious pressure from the Quicksilver run car and we looked set for a an epic battle between the pair. Behind Devil Lord, all the eyes were on 3 cars moving through quickly. Carcrazycal had managed to get the Alfa up to fourth by the end of lap 2 and also following him through the pack was the flying Team Hard BMW of RGreenwoood. These weren’t the only two, as Devilsbogeyman and Hoppers were both travelling quickly, although a spin on lap 4 lost Devils a bit of his time, and Hoppers doing the same two laps later.

Cal was through to third by lap 4, overtaking the Escort under barking at the end of the Ullman Straight, and now hoping to catch up to the pair out front, led now by CelticFox after a slight error from Robracer had reversed the positions. By the time lap 5 started, Celtic led the Mazda, that was right under the boot lid of the Viper, third and catching slowly 3 seconds back was Cal, followed by Devil Lord, NikeMikerules, RGreenwood, ABigPieKey, Bradderstig, the recovering Mercedes of DevilsBogeyman, the KRR twins, Major Raver and Hoppers. Out sadly was Atomstew. Stew had high hopes for the race, but an accident on lap 4 whilst running in 9th damaged the Honda, and the electrics died completely on the car when he rolled into the pitlane, meaning sadly retirement. Out front and Rob could see Cal closing and was keen to relieve Celtic of the lead again. Twice on lap 6 he looked for a way past, and finally the black Dodge made an error dropping to third. The front 3 were being caught by the BMW now in fourth and RGReenwood was keen to join in on the fun. Lap 8 and Robracer made a slight mistake through the esses and allowed Cal to sneak though in to the lead, but the Alfa wasn’t getting away, Rob again wanting a way past, but mindful of Celtic Fox close behind. Cal was under a lot of pressure, but soaking it up well, until lap 12 when he decided to call for fresh tyre. For Rob this was now time to get his head down and try to jump Cal in the pits, a slight error from Celtic lost the Dodge time and dropped him into the clutches of RGreenwood, this giving the Mazda the slight breathing space needed, that on lap 14 he entered the pits. The stop was quick and his cause was being helped by Cal being bottled up behind the sister of Mazda of Nikemike, that when Rob came out the pits they were all going to be one. It looked like Mike was about to take the lead, but Rob broke late, the back end snaking around under cold tyres and just managing to go around the outside in to the lead. For the next two laps the Championship leader tried to defend his teammate from the Sauber run Alfa Romeo, before pitting himself on lap 16. Rob was able to hold on down the straights, but the braking zones in those first two laps were a struggle and the Mazda was taking its time to warm the tyres up. The air temperature had changed as well, the threat of rain for the race was zero, but it was coming for later in the day and bringing a cooler breeze with it.

Rob went into lap 17 in the lead, Cal right behind him, but now only 3 seconds ahead of the flying BMW in third. Celtic though wasn’t out of this either and he was following Greenwood in closing in on the top 2. 5th place after the stops was Deil Lord, having a lonely race, whilst in 6th was Mike who was aware this was looking like a great day for RML. This was helped by the dreadful day for the two KRR Lancia’s who were fighting to even get in the points, and were involved in a fantastic dice with Bradderstig and Major Raver. Mike wasn’t safe in 6th as he was being closed down by the recovering ABigPieKey and Devilsebogeyman. The CK Motorsport Nissan was flying along and wasn’t far off the pace

Robraceruk and CelticFox fought for victory throughout

of the leading group, whilst Devilsbogeyman was having the race of his life. Twice he had made small mistakes, but the Mercedes was transformed around Sebring and on lap 19 he set the fastest lap of the race that was also a new lap record. Did all this pressure get too much for Mike? On lap 18 the Mazda got it all wrong through the last corner hitting the tyre wall hard, it was found after the racing that a steering malfunction had caused the error, not the driver. Either way this needed a further pit stop and dropped Mike out of the team points, a relief to RangersRick and BMR Sutton.

5 laps to go and Rob was still holding on, but a slight error down to the braking at Fangio, let the Alfa through into the lead, but onto the back straight and the Mazda was back alongside, and it had the inside line into the last corner, Cal through was braving it out around the outside. Across the start line these two remained side by side, but now into the first corner Cal had the inside line, but it was Rob’s turn to brave it out and the two went through to the Big Bend still door handle to door handle, until the slightest error from the Mazda allowed Cal to grab the lead, but also allowed Celtic to grab second place. This was brilliant stuff. Celtic had repassed RGreenwood two laps earlier after the BMW had a slight off, and was now sensing victory himself, challenging Cal, until an error through the Le Mans esses, saw him go wide and drop back to fourth. Rob was 2 seconds behind the leader but RGreenwood was all over him the Team Hard car transformed around the Florida circuit, and at the end of lap 22 he passed Robracer on the switchback after a slight mistake from the RML driver. Could RGrrenwood now catch Carcrazyxcal? Over the last two laps the gap came flying down that by the start of the last lap the two were as one. RGreenwood was determined to find away by, but as many have found out this season, Cal is unflappable under pressure and the Alfa very difficult to pass. Coming down to the last corner of the last lap, the BMW got a fantastic drive and slammed on the brakes late, looking to snatch the glory, the two touched spinning sideways, RGreenwood straightening up first, but then seeming to struggle for gears, allowing CarcrazyCal to beat him on the run to the line and victory. The pair just had enough to stop Robraceruk from jumping them both, but he was still overjoyed with third, in fact all three drivers were beaming on the podium after a fantastic dice. CelticFox followed home in fourth, and it’s not to be forgotten that he played his part in this thrilling race long battle.

RGreenwood and Team Hard caused a stir by so nearly grabbing the win at the last.

Fifth went to the lonely Devil Lord, who didn’t have the pace of the top 4, but had enough to stop the recovering pair behind him. He was overjoyed with the 9 points in class A, that not only took him into the lead of that class, but also the classes overall. Behind him was another well in the class fight now, as ABigPieKey came home 6th. The Nissan was fantastic around the corners, but lacked a bit of the straightline grunt to overtake others, but it was still a very competitive showing by the CK Motorsport run car. 7th was the delighted Devilsbogeyman, who had driven a fantastic race in the Mercedes, and the Fife Flyers seem to be getting the little saloon car sorted out well.

Devils fastest lap remained unbeaten, and will see him on pole position next week at Suzuka. He was well clear at the end of a fantastic battle behind between Bradderstig, BMR Sutton, RangersRick and Major Raver. All of the four led this battle at some stage, and were rarely more than a couple of seconds apart. Sutton seemed to have more of the speed out of the group, but was making more of the errors. BMR Sutton ended up winning the scrap, what a transformation from a week ago, those few vital points won on the last couple of laps could have such a big bearing on things in two weeks time. Bradderstig ended up in 9th place, still giving him faint hopes in the team scrap, but you get the impression the high hopes he had at the start of the season have been replaced with the thought that next season can’t come quick enough. For RangersRick it was a terribly frustrating day in a very down on power car, and it was little comfort that the position gives him a Pi raise for next week. 11th ended up being Major Raver, who found the DART Ferrari a joy to drive, but the car just not fast enough, whilst behind him was NikeMikerules whose battered Mazda rolled across the line rueing the lost team points. Finally we had Hoppers, the Lotus showing lots of pace early on but was a little bit lively with it and 13th was the best he could manage.

As the teams packed up, the rain came down, but it didn’t dampen the spirits, a thrill for the crowd and for the drivers up at the front battling. Next week sees the final Pi race at Suzuka in Japan. Mike could clinch the championship if results go his way at the Japanese venue, but the battle for team and class honours is far from over.