It’s Raining on Me!

Ashland, MA, January 13, 2024 – Nasty weather might have kept some people away but 13 adventurous drivers made it LenJet for a some racing on the Nuvolari and Viper tracks.

First up was Spec Racer on the Nuvolari.  I think this might have been the first time we have raced this class on the Nuvolari, but I could be wrong.  Given the light rail you needed to be low, but you also needed a car that would handle the esses.  Racing was fast with lap times in the low 3 second range.  Greg Burstein showed he can drive magnet cars with the best of them with a fast lap of 2.939.  He was the only driver to dip into the 2 second range.  We also had a new driver join us.  Bob Blanchette is a regular at Modelville racing 1/24 Retro and Flexis.  Read on to see how Bob handled the tiny cars.

Sportsman Spec Racer – As usual, the Sportsmen came ready to race and put up some impressive lap totals.  When the dust settled, Bruce Olsen was at the top of the field.  Jim Colligan rolled in four laps behind Bruce with newcomer Bob Blanchette just two laps back to take third.  Tom “Let me see what I have in my pit box” Bussmann rounded out the podium in fourth followed by Josh in fifth.  Great race guys!   Impressive finish by Bob for his first time racing H.O.  I think we’ll see him in the future.

Sportsman Spec Racer Results
Driver	Yellow	Blue	Orange	Green	White	Red	Total	Avg
Bruce Olsen	73	73	79	79	78	78	460.14	76.7
Jim Colligan	71	75	75	80	80	75	456.26	76.0
Bob Blanchette*	67	76	74	82	78	77	454.33	75.7
Tom Bussmann	53	80	79	83	68	70	433.08	72.2
Josh Goudreault*	64	48	62	75	74	73	396.01	66.0

* – Not MARC members

 

Pro Spec Racer – The Pros have been on this track many times when the track was at the Nantasket Beach Raceway.  Many laps raced in enduros as well as MARC races, so these guys should know the track.  Leading the way, John Pilieggi showed he does know the track blasting out 503 laps to take the top spot.  Greg might have been too focused on fast laps, but he managed to come home second just sections ahead of team principal Ryan who finished 3^rd.  The Mayor of LenJet rounded out the podium in fourth.  Hakim, Paul, Jim Mac, and Tom Gray filled the rest of the field.

Pro Spec Racer Results
Driver	Yellow	Blue	Orange	Green	White	Red	Total	Avg
John Pileggi	81	82	84	87	85	84	503.09	83.8
Greg Burstein	78	78	92	79	87	78	492.12	82.0
Ryan Achambault	75	75	86	86	87	83	492.07	82.0
Peter Lentros	75	76	79	82	83	80	475.36	79.2
Hakim Harris	72	78	80	81	81	77	469.26	78.2
Paul Ryer	73	83	72	77	81	75	461.16	76.8
Jim Macartney	65	76	78	80	73	71	443.22	73.8
Tom Gray	65	66	79	75	78	74	437.17	72.8

After lunch a few drivers had to leave but the racing continued with CMPM on the Viper.  Bruce and Tom Bussmann were the only remaining Sportsmen.  Checking his box, Tom did not find a Modified so he decided to run CMPM with the Pros.  Bruce decided to skip the race and sit in as Race Director.  Thanks Bruce!

CMPM – CMPM on the Viper is fast with lap times in the high 2 second range.  Ryan ripped off a 2.587 lap, but it’s the total laps that mean the most (A concept I am still trying to learn).  The top of the CMPM field was not made up of the usual cast of characters.  Tom Bussmann found some magic in his pit box and drove to the top of the podium.  Paul also found some goodness and rolled in 4 laps behind Tom for second.  Tom Gray also had a great drive just 6 laps behind Paul to take third.  Hakim just made the podium by sections over Ryan to take fourth.  John Pileggi, Jim Mac,  and Peter rounded out the field.

CMPM Results
Driver	White	Green	Orange	Blue	Total	Avg
Tom Bussmann*	96	98	97	92	383.16	95.8
Paul Ryer	91	97	102	89	379.25	94.8
Tom Gray	99	104	92	78	373.16	93.2
Hakim Harris	94	89	91	84	358.34	89.5
Ryan Archambault	101	81	88	88	358.32	89.5
John Pileggi	88	90	92	88	358.01	89.5
Jim Macartney	89	90	84	82	345.28	86.2
Peter Lentros	87	74	87	83	331.17	82.8

* Sportsman

Thanks to everyone who made the trip to LenJet.  Next up is the East Coast Championship at LenJet.  This will be a ffull race weekend starting with open practice on Friday Feb 2^nd from 4 PM – 10 PM.  Saturday will start with Super Stock followed by Spec Racer.  These 2 races will count towards the MARC season points.  We turn up the wick and finish Saturday with Modified and CMPM.  Sunday we’ll really speed things up Neo.  Hope to see you there!

The race report faithfully submitted this day,

January 27, 2024

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant At Arms