K-CLASS THUNDER ENDURO ROUND 6 LE MANS – 23rd OCTOBER 2018
THE FIELD ENDURO AN RML DOMINATION
Weebilly leads Nikemikerules across the line in RML dominant display ~ Bradderstig the best of the rest in third ~ CQR Rob makes it a good day for DARE in 4th ~ Good drives by NitroRushmini and Robraceruk ~ Carcrazycal returns in a wild Caddy ~ Good comeback drive by J47TEE on his debut ~ Basslinejunkio wins AM from the impressive Badbeat.
The RML TVR's dominated the race, the positions reversed by the time the flag fell
The half way point of the season, would give us a rare chance to see all the cars at their fastest for the second time this season, the extra long round at Le Mans was held in the usual Thunder Enduro beautiful sunshine, and 45 Laps would sort the men from the boys. Many drivers had expressed concerns about the length, but that didn’t stop a superb 25 car entry and it could have been higher. The paddock was full of surprises, as the Sauber trailer rolled up with Carcrazycal, and the Caddy seen ever so briefly at Brands Hatch at the start of the season. A second Hoppers Sport Porsche was on the grid for newcomer J47TEE, but the team’s joy was sort lived as the usual electrical issues plagued the Academy Subaru of AtomStew and left him unable to start.
Bradders was on the front row, but knew that he would have a job on his hands leading into the first corner, and so it proved as RangersRick made a blinder, behind him though Kinkycowboys was equally as fast and he hang it out on the inside of the Ferrari on the run to the chicane to make it two AWD cars out front. Rick was having a great first lap and started to build a small lead, helped by his teammate having a difficult opening few corners, that dropping from 4th to 8th, and Bradders trying to get the Ferrari back through to second. He did this going in to the last sequence of corners, to cross the line second at the end of lap 1, Kinky third ahead of the CQR Rob in the second Ferrari, the impressive Robraceruk, NitroRush, BMR Sutton, and a brilliant opening lap from Devilsbogeyman in the first of the AM cars. It wasn’t the best lap for some others though, as Devil Lord who had started fantastically and was 4th through the first few corners, was finding the Audi a real handful once again, and CelticFox and J47TEE had a coming together on the back straight that saw the Porsche in the tyre wall and heading for the pits for repairs. The first lap was a horror for Hoppers Sport, as the sister car of Hoppers lost his clutch off the line and he had to roll to a halt and the first retirement. Behind Devilsbogeyman we had the menacing presence of the two RML TVR’s, Mike had qualified well down, whilst Billy started from the back but they were slowly moving through and by the start of lap 3 they were up to 5th and 6th. The passage was helped slightly, by the smallest contact between BMR Sutton and Nitrorush at the chicane which slowed the pair, and also the rest behind. Out front and Rick was leading but the lead was coming down rapidly and the two Ferrari’s were giving chase, Posh Rob now up to third having dislodged the Cerberus Audi. Bradders was keen to get in front and aware of the TVR’s coming through behind, and on lap 5 he moved into the lead and started to edge away. Rob was finding it a little harder to overtake the Nissan and was now joined by Mike and Billy. He did make it past on lap 7, swiftly followed by the RML twins and they made short work the following lap of Posh Rob and now had 6 seconds to make up to Bradders. At first it looked like Bradders had the pace to keep them behind, but slowly the black Martini Sponsored Ferrari started to slide around it was obvious he was struggling with tyre wear and falling into the grasp of the championship leader. Mike made short work out of the esses to take the lead and two lap’s laterr Billy followed him through. On lap 15, Bradders pitted which shocked the pitlane, was this an early one stopper or was it in fact a two stopper? RML were keeping a watching brief on the pitwall, looking for any undercut, but the two TVR’s were lapping nearly a second faster and it was clear that Bradders wouldn’t be able to close enough to them on this day. Billy stopped on the lap 24, Mike two laps later and they rejoined over 10 seconds in front. This is where the race for victory was over as on lap 30 Bradders stopped for a second time, and the TVR twins could rest easy knowing that only reliability would spoil their day. The next 15 laps the two swapped positions and towed each other along to set fastest laps, Billy taking the lead four laps from home, the team deciding to give him his first win of the season to make up for Monza, and knowing that Mikes lead in the championship has become massive and they could afford to play the team game.
Bradders led him a DARE 3 – 4, Posh Rob one stopping unlike his teammate, and they both admitted after the race that they had no answer to the TVR’s pace but very happy with the big points haul in the teams championship, the result being the best they could have hoped for. The battle for 5th was a lot more uncertain though, as were who would fill out the rest of the top 10. Early on and RangersRick had slipped into the best of the race, although unable to keep up with the TVR’s and Ferrari’s, the Nissan wasn’t in for a lonely race, as the Lotus of Robraceruk and the Corvette of NitroRushmin all had designs of finishing in the top 5. Another trying hard to join this group was the Caddy of Carcrazycal.
Bradderstig led the chase all race, whilst it was another poor day for Cerberus
The American car looked the part, and was frighteningly fast on the straight bits, but it was hammering its tyres and brakes, and this heading it into two a two stop strategy. He wasn’t the only one as Rick was finding the Nissan using it tyres as well, and this meant two stops for him two. He tried after his second stop to close the Corvette of Nitrorush down, who had now jumped into 5th place, and going into the last lap he tried everything, even though he had his mirrors full of the yellow Lotus, who had its mirrors full of the black and white Caddy. It was a mega last lap dice that had all on their feet, and was won by the JDR Racing car. It was a very good drive by NitroRush, who once again got on with consistently doing a fantastic job, and out driving the Corvette. Rick was happy with 6th, the Nissan easily winning the AWD class and leaving him with a massive lead in that, and the overall class championship to defend in the second half of the season. The KRR driver was making it clear what his aims were for the last 5 rounds. Cal was able to dislodge the Lotus for 7th, it was great to see the car on the grid, and Cal was the first to admit it was a massive handful to deal with, even though it did look and sound the part. 8th place was a very good race for Robraceruk, in possibly his best drive in the series. He and the Lotus were superb all race, and Rob was regularly the fastest ProAm runner, he even felt that if the Pi handicaps had been in place that a 5th place or more may have been on the cards.
For the teammates of these drivers it was a harder day. BMR Sutton went backwards early on, the RWD version of the Nissan looked a massive handful under braking, and he had to stop for a few laps on the grass, to let them cool down when they overheated and locked up. It is turning into an up and down year for the KRR driver, and today was a down one after two promising races. For Mad in the second Lotus, it was a difficult early few laps which left him playing catch up, and by the time he got into free air those ahead were gone and 13th was the best he could manage.
9th went to newcomer J47TEE, who after his pitstop showed fantastic pace and gave Hoppers Sport their best ever Thunder Enduro race. He had to make a second stop on lap 25 and he felt without the first lap drama a top five was possible. It will be fascinating to see what he does at Sebring next week. The top 10 was completed by CelticFox, who had a race long battle with Major Raver. The Aston and Alfa sounded fantastic together and it seemed the Quicksilver car had enough as it held the Alfa back a second behind, lap after lap, but on the last lap the Alfa’s tyres were in better shape and Raver was sensing the final spot in the top 10.
ABigPieKey's championship charge went up in smoke early on.
He twice got alongside, the two giving each other room and respect through the final corners, but the Aston Martin held on and Celtic took the tenth place. Whereas Major Raver was happy with the balance in the lead Alfa Romeo 8c, the same could not be said of his team mate. Wambogini found the car a real struggle with chronic understeer, and it was so bad that he parked the car into retirement after 19 laps. For Cerberus, it was a painful day for the pair of Audi TT’s. Kinky looked lively early on and amongst the top 6, but the tyres like some others were really struggling around the French circuit, and two stops were needed, which left him in 12th at the end. For Devil lord it was another really frustrating race, and he summed it up afterwards when he admitted he was envious of watching his ex Ford Escort Cosworth in the hands of Basslinejunkio breeze past him, the balance on the Ford so much better than the Audi. For Bass it was a good recovery to 14th after two stops, the Escort having some fantastic pace and in truth not far from the pace of the battle for 5th place. His lead in AM is now becoming a big one. Next up in AM and in 16th place was Badbeat, who drove brilliantly in the Mercedes A45. The SMEG Racing team had spent some time testing at the French venue, and it paid off, with a solid performance which has left Badbeat confident for the second half of the season. The second Mercedes of Devilsbogeyman showed good pace early on and was challenging the top 10, although the faster drivers muscled their through and he fell down the order. He finished 17th and third in the class, more points in the class very much welcome after the frustrating start to the season. He finished ahead of the first of the two DMR Kia Stringers, the team having a dreadful day. Kenty struggled all the way through and was never in contention, whilst teammate Penfold keeps feeling he is taking two steps back for everyone forward. Between these two was RGreenwood in the Mercedes, the Team Hard car was again quick in a straight line, but difficult for its driver and it needs massive test and development to unlock the potential in it.
So what of the man second in the championship? Well it was a horrible day for the big PieKey, it started great with a win in the support race, but the little Alfa 33 struggled at the start in the pack and although he started to move though he got jammed up behind Major Raver, which caused the engine to overheat and the car to shoot off into the gravel and retirement as oil dropped on the back tyres and spun him into the gravel. So all this has left Mike was a massive lead in the championship, bigger than at the same stage of last season. It’s off to Sebring now, and back to the Pi’s, and all the rest of the field will be hoping that this will help slow the flying RML TVR’s, as Le Mans showed nothing else can.
Result After 45 Laps
1 . WeeBilly TVR Sagaris 1hr 16mins 52secs
2. Nikemikerules TVR Sagaris + 2 secs
3. Bradderstig Ferrari 360 +55secs
4. CQR Posh Rob Ferrari 360 +1min 20secs
5. Nitrorushmini Corvette 02 +1 lap
6. RangersRick Nissan 370z +1 lap
7. CarCrazyCal Caddy ATV FE +1 lap
8. Robraceruk Lotus Espirit +1 Lap
9. J47TEE Porsche 911 GT2 +1 Lap
10. CelticFox Aston Martin Vantage +1 Lap
11. Major Raver Alfa 8c +1 Lap
12. Kinkycowboys Audi TT +1 lap
13. Mad2210 Lotus Esprit +2 Laps
14. Basslinejunkio Ford Escort +2 Laps
15. Devil Lord Audi TT +2 Laps
16. Badbeat75 Mercedes A45 +2 Laps
17. Devilsbogeyman Mercedes A45 +3 Laps
18. Kenty76 Kia Stringer +4 Laps
19. BMR Sutton Nissan 370z +6 laps
20. RGreenwood Mercedes GT +6 laps
21. Penfold Kia Stringer +6 laps
22. ABigPieKey Alfa 33 DNF
23. Wambogini Alfa Romeo 8C DNF
24. Hopperswwfc Porsche 911 GT2 DNF
Carcrazycal returned to the series in the lively Caddy
FASTEST LAP: NikeMikeRules 1 minute 40.854seconds (New Lap Record)
A promising debut for newboy J47TEE and Hoppers Sport
The midfield battle was a close one throughout.