It was a foggy morning in San Jose, California as the racers congregated at Kiwi Mike Andrews Silicon Speedway. The track was open early at 9am and racers began pouring in one by one, enjoying fresh conversations and donuts. The races scheduled would start with IROC BMW M1s, followed up by Scaly GT3, Le Mans Classics, Group 5, and finally Can Am, the fastest class we run.
After a brief hour and a half of warm up, the track began rubbering in and the hot laps started.
BMW M1 IROC
The first race up was BMW M1 IROC cars prepared by master builder Randy Tragni. This is always a group favorite as the speeds are slow, and the racing tight. Early on, Ian was on a tear setting a 29 lap pace on Red. Jim came out on fire too, setting a matching 29 lap pace on red. Cedric and Steve were close on their heels with a 28 lap red stint. Red lane is often an early tell who will be in contention, as those with a great Red are frequently in the top 3.
Half way through the rotations, Ian had a several lap lead over Jim who was battling neck and neck with Cedric in third. Gary and Mike Andrews were 2 laps behind that pair. Mike finished early, and Ian crushed yellow with a 33, 2 laps better than the next highest total, to set the early high lap total with 125.
Jim was a man on a mission and was close behind, but had a difficult blue lane with a tippy car, still turning a 31. Franky was also setting hot laps and had a 31 on blue and 30 on yellow and was in the hunt.
When the dust settled, Ian’s 125 was good enough for the top spot, followed by Jim with 121, and Cedric with 120. Gary, freshly back from some slot car recovery, set a respectable 118 for fourth, and Mike Andrews 5th with 117.
- Ian 125
- Jim 121
- Cedric 120
- Gary 118
- Mike 117
- Steve 115
- Franky 115
- Jerry 111
- Scott 105
- Farley 103
Lunch Break
The first race clearly worked up an appetite with the racers, and Kiwi Mike never disappoints, providing complimentary BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches. Whether you want hot racing, or hot BBQ, Kiwi’s got you covered any time you show up to race day.
Scalextric / Carrera GT3
Next up was Scaly / Carrera GT3. Paul Leuty and Franky got out to an early lead with 25 laps. Paul with 25 on red was a strong signal to the field. Into the second heat, things were starting to warm up. Lap times were coming down now into the low 5.2s with Paul continuing his slight lead over Franky by another lap.
Mike Andrews wasn’t to be messed with, as he ran a monster 29 laps on Blue to put himself into the top spot in the early stages. Mike was averaging 28.3 laps per heat, with Cedric hot on his tail with 28. Now, Gary enters the chat. Halfway through his heats, Gary was averaging 29, putting the pressure on the other guys. It was looking to be a Gary, Cedric and Kiwi podium halfway through the rotations.
When the dust settled, Gary had put on a clinic – finishing well beyond the rest of the grid with 120. In second, Cedric came in with 115 and Mike Andrews beat out Ian by one lap to finish on third step of the podium.
- Gary 120
- Cedric 115
- Mike 113
- Ian 112
- Randy 109
- Franky 107
- Paul 107
- Farley 100
- Steve 98
- Scott 94
- Jerry 92
Le Mans Classic
The third Race was Classic Le Mans. This class features Le Mans cars from the years 1965 to 1980, with 21,5k motors and a variety of makes and models. It’s often the most variety infused class we race. Gary was driving a rocket with his NSR Porsche 908 and set the early pace. He was making effortless speed, running a white Hard chassis and red pod with NSR Ultragrip rear tires, the go to setup for Mike Andrews place.
Gary was averaging 33.7 but Ian came out of nowhere and averaged a 33.8 to take the late lead. Holding on at the end Ian took the victory by one lap with an excellent Slot.it Matra (prepared by Mike), 1 lap over Gary who ran a super clean race, followed by Mike Andrews. Jim Rose drove an underpowered Racer Sideways BMW M1 Group 5 to end up fourth, which is a strong result considering his speed handicap. Franky finished 5th, 6 laps down from Jim.
- Ian 135
- Gary 134
- Mike 132
- Jim 130
- Franky 124
- Randy 123
- Paul 121
- Cedric 121
- Jerry 119
- Steve 100
- Scott 97
- Farley 95
Sideways Group 5
Our newest class is Racer Sideways Group 5. These cars are an angle winder configuration using the stock motor with slot.it or Racer Sideways pods. The goal is to have a fun new class with minimum modifications allowed so that the racing is tighter. Recently it was agreed to allow 10mm wide wheels with a minimum diameter of 15.8mm.
Tight racing was the case at Mike’s Silicon Speedway as the entire first heat, all four drivers battled on the same lap. The field was made up of BMW M1s, Ford Capris, Porsche 911s, and a few others sprinkled here and there. The first heat saw Jim Rose set a scorching pace on RED of all lanes with 30 to take the early lead. After two, Jim had backed up his insane speed run on Red with a 34 on Blue, putting some crazy pressure on the rest of the field.
Jim finished strong with 130 which was the same as his previous race pace, averaging 33.5. Now it was time for the field to put their foot down and see what they were made of. At the halfway point, Jim had a commanding 14 lap lead over the closest other driver, Franky.
As the race continued, it was clear Gary and Ian were trying to make it close. After four lanes, Gary put up a smoking 135 with no errors. Ian was on a tear with a strong Red and wanted to take no prisoners today, but ended up one lap short of Gary after a small incident.
After the last heat ended, the totals were up, and Gary had finished at the top tier of the podium in first with 135, and Ian’s 134 was strong enough for second. Jim rounded out the final step on the podium with 130. There was a three way tie for 4th between Kiwi, Randy and Cedric – who all finished on the same lap.
- Gary 135
- Ian 134
- Jim 130
- Randy 123
- Mike 123
- Cedric 123
- Paul 121
- Franky 116
- Jerry 115
- Farley 107
- Scott 106
- Steve 102
Can Am Sportscars
The last race of the day, and usually the fastest, was Can Am. Often dominated by Thunderslot Can Am cars, Can Am allows a 25k motor, bearings, and many modifications, making these cars literal bullets down the straight and shredding corners. On Kiwi Mike’s track, a hot lap is between a 4.0 and a 4.3.
The race was off and after two lane rotations, Randy and his Bardahl Lola T70 spyder had a nice lead over Farley and was transitioning to sit out. Randy’s early average was 32.5. The usual suspects were in pursuit, but surprisingly Jim’s first heat on red showed some mechanical gremlins putting him out of contention early. While fast, his Thunderslot Mclaren 6a proved inconsistent and wasn’t comfortable for him to make laps with.
By the end of the fourth heat, Scott was the first to finish all four lanes, with 103 at the provisional top step. In that fifth heat, Franky pulled ahead of Scott and finished with 120 to take the overall lead – Time would tell if this would hold up to Gary, Ian and Mike. Jim was still working his knobs, looking for fast lap so it was clear he was on a test run.
After 9 completed heats (of 12), Ian had taken over the lead with his rocketship Lola T70 Spyder with a Cahoza 25k power unit, taking a 5 lap lead over Gary’s final lap count. It was up to Kiwi Mike at this stage to mount an attack and as he continued his run on Red, he set early lead in the heat. Kiwi finished the 10th (of 12) heat with the most laps of the heat on Red – so it was on!
Going into the final heat, Kiwi Mike needed a 45 lap heat to take the lead, which was going to be a massive undertaking! Mike was defending Randy who was only 2 laps back in his Bardahl T70. The final heat ended with Mike putting up a respectable 34 laps, but it wasn’t enough to catch Ian, or Gary.
After 12 of 12 heats, the final results were:
- Ian 141
- Gary 134
- Mike 132
- Randy 129
- Paul 129
- Franky 120
- Cedric 118
- Jerry 117
- Farley 112
- Scott 103
- Steve 101
- Jim (Mechanical) 76
