Tuning Race [Race 13 of 20]

Today's race will be 100 laps for Class A cars only. The track is fast, with a switch-back at the end of the front straight:

Running counter-clockwise, the tricky part isn't the small-S at the end of the backstretch, but the switchback after the main straight.

Pre-Race Notes:
All cars were blueprinted [disassembled and reassembled] prior to the race, with special attention put on the Gulf Ford. The cars were then tested and run at last 200 laps each and deemed clear to race.

Team Orders:
Alfa: light body float only, sanded tires
Shell Ford: medium body float only, sanded tires
Gulf Ford: medium body float only, sanded tires

RESULTS [Race 13 of 20]:

Car                                Time            Offs           Points
Alfa Romeo #2            5:12.51           0                  5                      
Shell Ford #8               5:16.51           0                  3                                  
Gulf Ford #11              5:18.99           1                  1                                    


Split Times:
                              1-25                  26-50                51-75              76-100
Alfa                    1:18.48              1:18.07              1:19.97            1:15.97
Shell Ford          1:16.75              1:17.53              1:18.84            1:26.17
Gulf Ford           1:24.87              1:18.62              1:18.12            1:17.37

[blue denotes fastest time]                                                                                          

It looks like the Gulf Ford is finally getting ready to make a race of it. If it hadn't have crashed, it would have come in 2nd for sure. Its standard lap times were equal that of the other cars. Seems like the blueprinting helped the Gulf Ford.
The Shell Ford ran a hot race and had only one close call on the last segment that caused a considerable slowdown. I find on some tracks it can take as many as 4 or 5 laps to get back up to the speed and rhythm of the previous laps prior to the crash. In this case it didn't crash but jumped out and back in, but it was enough to cause me to lose my rhythm.

The Alfa has more in the tank. I wasn't sandbagging or anything, and I think beating the Shell Ford by 4 seconds is a pretty respectable time. If anything, the Alfa is the easiest car to drive now, and really can move when you put your foot down. After I raced it I decided to run some extra laps with each Ford to get used to their particular peculiarities. My thinking is that maybe what is happening is that I get used to the Alfa, then when I switch to a Ford I try to push it as hard, it won't allow it.

All in all a good, clean race. The Gulf Ford didn't make up any ground, however, so it's not quite there yet. What it needs, I think, is a little weight. I'll just have to wait until I get some weight.
There is a competition for first overall in the championship, as the Shell Ford is keeping up with the Alfa and not letting it run away with the trophy.

Team Standings

Car                           Points                    Total
Alfa Romeo                 5                            55
Shell Ford #8               3                            53
Gulf Ford #11             1                             38