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The fourth running of our WHO Birkett Relay (and third as a full six-hour race) takes place on Saturday 17 October, a week before the real thing.

The real-life Birkett Six Hour Relay is a quirky, but quite magnificent format that has run since 1951. Its current home is Silverstone and is organised by the 750 Motor Club.



The basic idea of the relay is that each team runs several cars during the event - a handicap system meaning a vast array of cars appear on the track at the same time and no-one quite knows who has won until after the chequered flag has fallen.

Our WHO version of the Birkett Relay simplifies things a bit. Over six hours, each team races cars from six different WHO classes - a mix that changes a little each year.

In 2026, we are sticking with these six WHO Digital favourites to make car preparation as easy as possible…

●    WHO BTCC
●    Euro Saloons
●    WHO GT Championship, including Carrera & SCX models
●    Pioneer Legends
●    Whitsun Trophy, plus 1967-69 sports prototypes
●    Slot.it Group C

Teams can run their cars in any order they want - as long as each car runs for the full hour. An important heads-up: the final hour will be run in twilight, with just the up-lighters on.

Each ‘hour’ will be a separate event in the RCS64 software, with a 57-minute race time and a two-minute turn-around when the new car replaces the previous one on the track - exactly where the previous one has stopped.

Birkett Relay Teams from 2025 had first dibs on places for 2026. These were: Gearzilla, Fuller-Beans, Écurie Escargot, Days of Blunder, Maximus Gastropodus and Brake ‘til Tyre. With Ned deciding to get married (congratulations!) next weekend, Mike's 'Maximus Gastropodus' will be replaced by Terry's 'Laps in Concentration'.

Teams have a looser line-up compared to our other team races. Although there are no restrictions on driver gradings, teams must have equal driving time across the six hours. 20-minute driving stints will apply, with double or triple stints allowed. The total of 18 stints must be shared equally between a team’s drivers.

There are two prizes up for grabs. The team with the most laps wins the Scratch Race. The team with the highest total after adjustments wins the Handicap Race. Teams get a +50 lap adjustment for each bronze driver +20 laps for each Silver driver +25 laps for each racer under 16 years old and +5 laps for over-65s. One team cannot win both prizes, so the Scratch Race winners are not eligible for the Handicap Race win.

Simon is working on a brand new track layout based on Snetterton, so this should be a rather excellent day of racing at the Barn!