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Our second slot rally club night of the year saw 22 drivers compete over four stages with a total of 57 cars. As the south coast was enjoying a bit of a heatwave, snow and ice were in short supply, limited to the deepest, darkest parts of Friston Forest. As usual, Jeremy had tweaked his Classic track layout and we had 3 entirely new stages - including a cut-down version of Jupp's Farm, a new twisty Ninco tarmac stage and a fast Scalextric Sport track...

   

One aim of set-up was to manage table and space to see if we can run six stages for our Slot Rally GB round in July. The plan is to run these four, plus the Ice Rink and a new stand-alone, single lane stage kindly donated by Johnny's Workshop. It looks like there's plenty of room, plus extra for pit tables. Three of the stages went together nicely - including the addition of Phil's HobbyClassic loops. The Boulevard proved problematic, but thanks to Mike's soldering skills it was up and running for the start of the event at 7pm.

The four groups would rotate through the four tracks during the evening. Group A starting on Friston Forest, Group B on Jupp's Farm II, Group C on The Boulevard and Group D on Northdown Farm...

   

The rally report will look at each stage in turn, starting with Friston Forest...

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Stage One: Friston Forest

Winner: Mike Dadson, SRC Peugeot 205 T16

   

The latest incarnation of Friston Forest retained some ice and mud sections. The SCX Classic track pieces offer low grip, combined with lots of tight inner radius corners and Scalextric Classic rally loops at each end. Two drivers failed to negotiate the shallow 6mm slot, their deep and pointy Scaleauto guide getting caught up. Otherwise everyone got round, although Ollie's Mini Cooper S struggled with grip and finished the 3 laps just 0.38 of a second inside the maximum time. It was later discovered that the Mini's rear axle wasn't fitted properly.

   

Three drivers were racing the club cars - a Scalextric Mitsubishi Lancer serving on Friston Forest. First blood went to Kevin, with James less than a second behind and Stephen 5 seconds back. Ten drivers were running SCX cars and eight Scalextric models in the two manufacturer's championships. Jeremy topped both on Friston Forest, his new Scalextric Puma WRC looking particularly rapid.

   

At the top, a mere four tenths separated Mike D's SRC Peugeot from Andy's Ninco Impreza. Indeed, Mike and Andy's cars filled the top 5 places on this stage - with Jeremy managing sixth, seventh and ninth. Eleven cars completed the stage in less than 50 seconds - the last of those just 8 seconds off the lead. An exciting battle was brewing for the overall victory and class honours.

   
You'll need to click the image to study the results tables.

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Stage Two: Jupp's Farm II

Winner: Oliver Walker, SRC Porsche 914/6 GT

   

The Jupp's Farm stage has been significantly shortened. Gone is the long, sprawling circuit of mostly Ninco off-road track, with just the bottom section retained. A Ninco loop is attached on the left and a tiny HobbyClassic loop on the right. It gives us a smaller dose of bumpy track and a footprint that saves space and tables.

   

Ollie's Mini was fixed for this stage and went remarkably well. Here it sits on top of the Hobby Classic loop - 3D printed and laid with braid. Despite the very tight radius, everyone seemed to get round it quite easily. However, the main challenge of Jupp's Farm remains the uneven surface of the off-road section. Forty-four of the 57 cars got round in less than a minute, but some didn't. The SCX Seat Ibiza club car skips over the bumps rather well and rally slot debutant Kevin managed to push the yellow hatchback to a fabulous eighth place overall, eight seconds ahead of James and nine ahead of Stephen...

   

Less impressive on pace, but always a good-looker, was Mike Mc's SCX MGA - five times round in 63.11 seconds...

   

Jeremy led the way in both manufacturer championships again, but was further back in the field - his Puma 21st and the SCX Peugeot 206 in 22nd.

   

SRC cars dominated the front of the field with four of the top five places. Oliver's 914/6 beat Mike's Peugeot to the stage win by a tiny margin of 0.09 seconds. Mike's 914/6 was third, Andy's Ninco Impreza fourth and Terry's 914/6 fifth - all of them within half a second of the winning time!

   

After two stages, that meant Mike's Peugeot had a 0.65 second lead over Andy's Subaru.

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Stage Three: The Boulevard

Winner: Andy Player, Ninco Porsche 911SC

   

This is a brand new stage - a test of speed and precision. The low-grip Scalextric Sport track is paired with borders around all the corners, so drivers can really push their cars to the limit of adhesion. Entry to the wooden bridge sections does require precision, as any tank-slapping out of the preceding corner will be punished by a hard hit. A curved cross-over gives an interesting line into the return straight, with a slight crest into the crossroads and the tight Radius-2 roundabout. The Boulevard is a nice bit of suburban duel carriageway in the north of Goring, connecting two roundabouts.

   

Almost the whole field completed the 4 laps in less than a minute. The Scalextric Renault Mégane club car managed a 50.4 stage time in the hands of James - beating Kevin by 20 seconds and taking the club car lead. Jeremy's SCX Peugeot 206 enjoyed this stage, finishing 8th overall but only nine tenths ahead of Andy's Fiat 124, which had been a bit below par on the opening stages. Jeremy's Puma had to make do with third in the Scalextric competition, beaten by John's Puma and Rob A's vintage Ford RS200...

   

In the battle for the junior medal, Ollie was showing good form with his Ninco Subaru Impreza, taking seventh best time on this stage. Meanwhile, Isaac had an impressive run with his Teamslot Alpine A110. Also in the Classic class, Matthew and James T were enjoying the SRC BMW 2800 CS they'd borrowed from Phil...

   

At the front, Andy closed out the top two spots with his final two runs of the night. Quickest was his Ninco Porsche 911SC in 37.48 seconds, the Subaru 0.48 slower. However, with Terry's Scaleauto Ford RS200 in third and Mike's Peugeot fourth on 39.18, the Ninco Impreza would move into the overall rally lead...

   

Here are the results for stage 3...

   

Andy's Subaru led Mike's Peugeot by fifty-five hundredths of a second going into the final stage - 119.35 to 119.9 seconds.

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Stage Four: Northdown Farm

Winner: Mike Dadson, NSR Abarth Punto S2000

   

Another brand new stage, designed at lunchtime and built at the Barn a few hours later. This takes as its starting point the roundabout at the north end of Titnore Lane, but then takes a sharp right to Northdown Farm. The Ninco tarmac is certainly more pristine than the real thing, but it gives drivers a succession of tight inner radius corners to tackle. The farm end of the stage has the second HobbyClassic return loop. As with the Titnore Lane stage, we can develop some elevation changes in the future...

   

In the battle for the rally win, this was the first stage for Andy's group and the penultimate stage for Mike. Would that have an impact on the results?

   

The club car runners had an SCX Renault Mégane for this stage and Kevin again showed excellent pace with RX-motored machinery. He beat James and Stephen for another club car stage win, but all three were covered by just over a second this time. After his brilliant showing on the Boulevard, James looked like he had bagged club car honours.

Jeremy's Scalextric and SCX challenge faltered on this stage, Steve's vintage Impreza the fastest Scalextric car and Andy's Fiat 124 topping the SCX times. John was second in both categories and Jeremy third - probably enough for a pair of 25 points, but we'd have to wait and see. Ollie had another solid run with his Subaru, six seconds ahead of fellow junior Isaac's Ninco Lancer EVO.

   

At the front, Mike finally hooked up an error-free run with his rapid NSR Abarth Punto S2000, finishing fourth hundredths of a second ahead of Oliver's SRC 914/6. Oliver grabbed third quickest time with the Scaleauto RS200, leaving the two rally-leading cars in fourth and fifth. Crucially, Andy's Impreza was ahead by 0.17 of a second...

   

All four groups finished in good time, leaving Ollie and Andy to enter the last of the data...

   

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While we're waiting for those results, here's some action from each of the stages...

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Here are the overall results of the WHO Spring Stages...

   
You will need to click on the image to study the data more closely.

And here's the data sorted into the classes...

   

Firstly, that means congratulations to James for his club car win...

   

We will gently encourage all three to buy (or borrow) cars for next time!

The Scalextric and SCX runners' results look like this...

   

Congrats to our SCX podium...

   

...and we got the Scalextric podium a bit wrong on the night, so here's Jeremy's class-winning Puma WRC...

   

The championship tables look like this...

   

   

Congrats to the three Slot Rally GB class winners, especially Oliver for his Classic win...

   

Mike's 80s/90s winner...

   

And the Modern class-winning Ninco Subaru...

   

The Impreza stayed on the start ramp for the overall podium, Ollie winning the junior medal after a superb third overall in Modern...

   

And that is a wrap from WHO Slot Rally HQ. Huge thanks to everyone who helped make the evening happen - especially the set-up crew, the group leaders, the Rally HQ team and all those who stayed to pack away. Special thanks goes to Jeremy for Friston Forest and to Phil for generously adding some awesome Ninco track to the WHO Slot Rally cause. And we couldn't have done it without Mike D's soldering iron.

Our next slot rally action at the Barn is the visit of Slot Rally GB on Saturday 19 July...

   

We plan to build six stages for a full day of competition. Everyone is welcome to take part, with entry £4 per car.

Then we return a few days later for the WHO Summer Stages on Wednesday 23 July...

   

That'll be an excellent week for WHO rally fans!

[BAracer]

A fun evening, thanks for organising it Woodcote.

I didn't spot the significance of my SCX win until I saw the table above...looks like you've got some competition now! And the Scalextric championship is building up nicely.

Not forgetting my TR7's continuing efforts to disrupt the Porsche 914-fest in the Classic class.

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@BAracer
Your Puma and Peugeot were sensational - and the TR7 certainly does remain a thorn in the side of those pesky SRC 914/6s...

I was very happy with my cars... Although, if I'd managed to pack my stuff properly - rather than just grab the Ninco briefcase - I would have been running the Pat Moss Alpine and an Avant Slot Mitsubishi Galant alongside the Subaru.

   

The SCX Fiat was a little out of sorts - or maybe I just needed a good warm-up on each stage? I'd hoped to get closer than 14 seconds to the class winner. It is going to be a close battle in July and October. I need to remember to push from the off.

   

The Ninco Porsche is prepared for the Slot Rally GB Classic class, but I bumped it up into 80s/90s because I forgot the Galant. The motor is loosening up nicely with every event, and this time it won a stage and finished third, a smidgeon under 3 seconds off Mike's class-winning SRC Peugeot. Still some room for development.

   

And my £20 eBay Ninco Subaru continues to delight me nearly 5 years after first racing at the 2020 Wye Valley Stages proxy. That motor is now as smooth as butter and the big car loved all four stages. No offs and a win by 0.72 of a second.