R.I.P. Super GT.
There wasn’t a race last week, the club’s AGM taking place instead. Amongst the things debated were three which passed with almost universal agreement: 1) Super GT should be killed off because it wasn’t popular and didn’t provide close racing; 2) racing should commence at 8:15pm instead of 8:30pm so that everyone could get to bed a little earlier, and 3) the length of the mid-race tea break should be monitored more closely so that it didn’t drag on interminably. No prizes for guessing what happened this week…
Super GT gave us one of its best ever races, racing started later than ever and the mid-race tea break was its usual length, filled with mickey-taking, banter and all the non-racing stuff that makes a race evening at Molesey so enjoyable. Rules? Who needs them?!
Perhaps because of Super GT’s unpopularity, just seven drivers lined up to race, but the class didn’t intend to die quietly. Heat 1, group 1 (Graham, Neil and Mario) went first, Graham narrowly ahead of Neil and Mario who were fighting neck and neck not to be last. The excitement proved too much for Mario. He crashed twice in quick succession, then slumped against the wall, dizzy and unable to see his car properly. Fortunately the much vaunted sugar tax hasn’t yet decimated the contents of the clubroom’s fridge and an emergency can of full-fat Coca-Cola came to Mario’s rescue.
With Mario replenished, racing restarted, but this time it was Neil who was overexcited and crashed. Terry, who’d been providing a running commentary, let out a loud “Oh no!!“, his shout momentarily confusing Mario who slowed to a crawl for a couple of seconds before getting going again. Those lost few seconds were to prove very costly.
In group 2 (Simon, Julian, Terry and David) the racing was equally frenetic, Julian with his hands full fighting off a very rapid Simon. Julian won heat 1 by 1.4 seconds, but that was the greatest his lead would be, Simon shrinking it to 1.2 seconds in heat 2, then to 0.6 in heat 3.
After the usual Molesey tea break, racing resumed exactly as it had finished: Neil and Mario swapping places every few laps, Julian flat out trying to stay ahead of Simon.
Going into the final heat, Neil led Mario by seven seconds, but Super GT wasn’t done yet. Neil crashed twice early in the heat and gifted a sizeable gap to Mario, then, with only a couple of laps left, he crashed again. The marshal, thinking that the race was almost over and Neil was miles behind, reslotted him several metres further round the lap, unaware how close Neil and Mario were on overall time. It saved Neil about a second and he crossed the line 5.5 seconds behind Mario, the final result showing Neil 1.79 seconds ahead. Would it have been a different result if Mario hadn’t lost a second or so by slowing in heat 1, or if Neil had had to complete a whole lap when he’d crashed in the final heat? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll never know.
Back at the head of the race, Julian had rarely looked so under pressure. Two crashes in heat 4 lost him almost seven seconds, then another crash in heat 5 sealed his fate, Simon’s lead now an insurmountable 8.2 seconds. Julian clawed back 2.8 seconds in the final heat, but the damage was already done. Simon won, Julian didn’t, Super GT had gone out on a high. Will we miss it? Unlikely, but for this race at least, nobody could accuse it of not providing close racing. R.I.P Super GT.
