K-CLASS THUNDER ENDURO ROUND 10 SPA – 20th November 2018
NIKEMIKERULES WINS WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS
Nikemikerules wins the race on the last lap ~ Clinches the championship with a round to spare ~ Robraceruk loses victory on the last lap ~ RGReenwood has best run for Team Hard ~ Return to form for ABigPieKey ~ DART Alfa’s quick ~ Podium and Class A title to RangersRick ~ Basslinejunkio clinches the AM Class
Last lap brake failure broke Robraceruk's heart and cost him his first victory
Spa is a fantastic circuit, a challenge to the drivers, but in last season’s final with the Pi’s equal, it was a boring race. Round 10 of this season with the mixed Pi turned out to be an absolute classic and the race that no one seemed to want to win, that in fact it seemed to double up into a game of pass the parcel.
The prerace gossip had been about next season, but also the news that WeeBilly had left the series and that the RML team would be one TVR for the rest of the season. This wasn’t going to hurt too badly, as DARE were also present with only one car at Spa, Posh Rob away rehearsing for an upcoming tour with his band. Rumours were rife that
KRR had signed a second driver to join the returning BMR Sutton, and the name of ABigPieKey was the whisper being spread around. Less of a rumour was that Badbeat had signed to join K-Class Vapes with team boss Basslinejunkio, putting him down as favourite for the AM class next season, whilst his future teammate was looking to clinch that title for himself in Belgium. The support race was for the Formula Mazda cars, which proved entertaining and was won at impressive Thunder Enduro pace, by Bradderstig.
Devil Lord was on pole from AtomStew, and whilst the Audi made a quick start and led into the first corner, the Subaru of the Road Atlanta winner was absolutely swamped, and it was the Mercedes of Badbeat, up from row 4 and Kenty up from row 3 that followed the Cerberus car down to Eau Rouge. Devil Lord didn’t expect to have the Pi to win this but was keen to take advantage of his good start and build a lead, which was extended as Badbeat seemed to be suffering from a long brake pedal that saw him go off at Les Combe and allowed both Kenty and Robraceruk through. Behind these was Rangersrick who led a large group of cars, who were bumping and rubbing, so close were they. Two were already way up from very lowly positions, Major Raver was 7th until pushed off at Fanges, and RGreenwood was up to 6th and all over the back of the Nissan, although his first lap had caught the attention of the stewards for the amount cars overtaken off circuit. Across the line for the first time and Devil led, 2 seconds ahead of Kenty, with the Lotus of Robraceruk looking for a way past, RGreenwood was up to 4th, after another brake issue at the chicane for Badbeat, 5th was Rick, 6th Kinkycowboys, and the rest of the top 10 was filled by Nikemike, BMR Sutton, Bradderstig and ABigPieKey. Robraceruk didn’t have the speed down the straight to pass the Kia, although the Lotus was quick in a straight line, but through the corners it looked a far more balanced car, and on the run down to Rivage, Rob managed to slide through and take second place. RGReenwood was soon through at Pouhon as well, and now these two set about homing in on the leading Audi. Devil Lord teammate, Kinkycowboys was having a terrible time, he got it all wrong at the Bus Stop Chicane on lap 2, and then again on lap 4 at Eau Rouge and the Audi TT was left in a heap and in retirement, the driver not happy that with it his class A hopes vanished.
Devil Lord was driving really well but fighting a losing battle to defend from the two behind and on lap 4 he was down to 3rd, as first the Lotus and then the Mercedes slipped through. These two quickly made their escape, but again the stewards were keeping a watching brief as the Mercedes took the lead by using a bit of the run off through Eau Rouge. RGreenwood was flying in the Team Hard car, but everyone watching was left in no doubt that it was a complete handful to drive. The Lotus though looked a joy, and for the next 6 laps these two battled superbly and started to steadily extend the lead to the car in third. This was not now the Audi, but another AWD car, the KRR Nissan of RangersRick. Devil had made a mistake and now had to stop early, Rick now in third and clear of the Championship leader Mike in 4th, who had escaped Ricks teammate and also the Ferrari of Bradderstig, who was really struggling for pace. Both of these two had been passed by the once again impressive NitroRushmini, who had slowly moved through and was now homing in on Mike. Mike and RML were confident they wouldn’t need to stop, so he was more than happy to run his own race and not get into any fights that might delay or use up the tyres and fuel. He wasn’t the only one, down in11th was ABigPieKey who was also hopeful of doing the race without stopping and the Alfa was running along nicely. He wasn’t the only Alfa running well, as the DART pair were also running at some pace, in fact the fastest pace. Major Raver had twice got up into the top 10 on the opening couple of laps to be spun down the field, but with the field now spaced out a little he was picking cars off, passing Mike on lap 7, Nitro on lap 9, and now homing in on the top 3. He was taking nearly 2 seconds out of Rangers Rick, and a second on the squabbling pair out front, but on lap 12 he pushed it too hard, put a wheel on the kerb at the bottom of Eau Rouge and the car got airborne and into a spin hitting the wall hard, so hard that the Alfa was wrecked and it became obvious that he would be unable to get it back to the pits and parked it on the straight, race over. So that was one potential winner gone.
His teammate was being a lot more careful and was gradually picking people off and upping his pace lap after lap and was now into the top 10 and leading the class. Wambogini had the pace to lead the AM class on merit, but his chances were helped by those around him. Basllinejunkio damaged the Escort on lap 5 which left him well down the field, but safe in the knowledge that he was doing enough to lift the title, whilst Badbeat’s brake pedal got longer and longer to in the end it didn’t work anymore and he became the next retirement after one too many brushes with the wall. The second Mercedes A Class was also in the wars early on, but Devilsbogeyman was now running well and not far off Basslines pace, although 35
Nikemike won the race and with it the championship in the dominant RML TVR
seconds behind. Behind them Penfold and Hoppers were having one of their regular AM scraps, swapping positions regularly and keeping both cars on the black stuff. The same could not be said for the other Kia Stinger. After a good opening couple of laps, Kenty looked set for a strong race, but the DMR car was eating its tyres and proving to be a real handful around the fast corners of Spa. This left him plummeting down the order and he was in fact the final runner at the end of the race.
Lap 10 and RGreenwood stopped the Mercedes, and 3 laps later the Lotus was in as well, these two rejoining right with the non stopping Alfa of ABigPieKey. PieKey had the speed around the corners to keep up with the pair, but not the speed on the straight, but he was doing a fantastic job of staying close through Eau Rouge and using the draft up the long Kemmel straight to keep him in touch. He was helped by both Robracer and RGreenwood regularly swapping positions in front of him. Out front and Nikemike was looking comfortable and at first he and the team looked likely to be able to do the race without stopping, but on lap 18 their became a real concern that the tyres would cry enough and the fuel was far to marginal, so the TVR pulled the leader into the pits and he rejoined in third, just in front of the Alfa. These two now had a grandstand view on the battle in front and the Lotus and Mercedes were hard at it still. On lap 21 though the Lotus was followed by the TVR, the Mercedes was in the pits needing a splash and dash fuel run. As the car returned to the track in 6th, its engine died and it rolled down to Eau Rouge out of power and into retirement. RGreenwood was gutted, all hopes of the cars best result was gone and to make matters worse the clearly shattered driver was reprimanded by the stewards afterwards for track limits abuse. So now the Lotus was heading to his first victory, PieKey was trying everything to get past the TVR, which was acting as a buffer for the sister RML car. Going up to the Kemmel straight for the last time the Lotus had a 2 second lead and looked home and dry, but it didn’t turn right into Les Combe, but instead went straight on, Robraceruk was able to spin the car into the tyre wall so as to not write off the yellow machine, but the impact and damage was enough do drop him out of the top 3. He returned to the track and limped around the final 2 miles, the cars brakes had exploded and 4th place was poor reward after such a great drive. The Stockport based driver was absolutely crestfallen by the bad luck, and locked himself away and didn’t speak to anyone for hours after the race.
The heartbreak on one side of the RML garage was utter joy on the other as Nikemike crossed the line for victory, and wrapping up the title in style. He was one of 5 to throw away his chances of the top step at one stage, but he didn’t let his second opportunity slip through his fingers. He and the team were overjoyed and celebrated long into the night, and then surprised all by announcing they wouldn’t be returning for the final round at Watkins Glen, as job done. For ABigPieKey it was a brilliant second and a return to form after a difficult middle part to the season. The Alfa 33 worked well at Spa, and PIeKey was looking forward to a return to base Pi and what he believes a chance to win next week. The final podium spot went to another drive and team celebrating, as RangersRick clinched the Class A for AWD, and has all but clinched the Class Overall title as well. Rick never had the pace to touch the leaders, but stayed out trouble. He wasn’t alone though, as for the middle part of the race he ran very closely with class rival Devil lord, the outgoing Class A champion, was driving well, but needed a splash and dash late on that dropped him down to 10th place at the end of the race.
Nitrorushmini impressed everyone again in the JDR Corvette
5th place fell to the ever consistent Nitrorushmini, who drove another inch perfect race in the JRD Racing Corvette, he was having a late battle with the DART Alfa of Wambogini. Wambogini caution early on had paid dividends and he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 15 as he homed in on the top 5. He briefly got ahead of the Corvette, but in the last few laps the tyres started to go off and he even considered a late stop for new boots, but he hung on in there and was overjoyed with his second best result in the series and his first ever race fastest lap, which gives him pole next week at the final round. Behind these two was the breathless Ferrari of Bradderstig. Bradders knew that only rain may give him a chance.
of victory and that never came, so 7th in the underpowered Ferrari was the best he could do, so hard had he worked that he was another left very tired at the end. He didn’t have a lonely race either, with the second Lotus of Mad keeping him more than honest for the second half of the race. Mad had a good run, but was again left wondering why he couldn’t quite find the final tenths to match his teammate’s time out front. In 9th was Celtic in the Aston Martin, that proved to be a massive handful, some of his slides in the early laps on cold tyres were spectacular, but he was pressuring the Lotus and Ferrari ahead in the latter part of the race. 11th place was another celebrating as he crossed the finishing line, as Basslinejunkio bought the Escort Cosworth home to win the AM Championship. Bassline was clearly the fastest driver in the AM class this season, and deserves his promotion, but he has driven very well and made the fewest mistakes in the class as well.
Next up was AtomStew, the Hoppers Sport Subaru lacked the pace recently seen, but it wasn’t a bad drive from the Road Atlanta winner, and he did well to hold off the 2 stopping BMR Sutton, who had a difficult race on his return to the series. Behind these and on his own was the Fife Flyer, Devilsbogeyman, who was another to show good pace in the second half of the race, even though it was a lonely one. He managed to stay ahead of the squabbling pair of Penfold and Hoppers, who enjoyed a bit of a race long duel, and the Kia managed to come out tops in their fight.
It was a fantastic race, some great battles and close driving, and some heartbreak not seen since a green Focus lost victory at Long Beach last season. Nikemike deserves his title, he and the TVR have truly dominated the season, but whilst the pit lane congratulated a worthy champion, you couldn’t help but feel very sorry for the driver of car 44.
Result After 24 Laps
1. Nikemikerules TVR Sagaris
2. ABigPieKey Alfa 33
3. RangersRick Nissan 370z
4. Robraceruk Lotus Espirit
5. Nitrorushmini Corvette 02
6. Wambogini Alfa Romeo 8c
7. Bradderstig Ferrari 360
8. Mad2210 Lotus Espirit
9. CelticFox Aston Martin Vantage
10. Devil Lord Audi TT
11. Basslinejunkio Ford Escort
12. AtomStew Subaru BRZ
13. BMR Sutton Nissan 370
14. Devilsbogeyman Mercedes A45
15. Penfold Kia Stinger
16. Hopperswwfc Porsche 911
17. Kenty76 Kia Stinger
18. RGreenwood Mercedes GT
19. Major Raver Alfa Romeo 8c DNF
20. Badbeat Mercedes A45 DNF
21. Kinkycowboys Audi TT DNF
RGreenwood manhandled the Mercedes and was very unlucky
FASTEST LAP: Wambogini 2 minute 29.367seconds
It was a return to form for Abigpiekey and the Alfa 33
Wambogini set the fastest lap with his drive to 6th place