[woodcote]

Down on the South Coast, things were busy. In all, just over a hundred people raced during the day - and it was a much younger and more local group of racers than 2014...

   

Racing on the big SSDC track was more organised this year and more people paid their money and took part...

   

The competition for the Scalextric World Championship was fierce, especially between the youngsters!

   

And the younger generation did well on the big track too. We managed to get through two complete non-mag GT series - six races of six, followed by the six winners meeting in a grand final. First time round it was six-year-old Noah - a star from the summer’s events at the Brighton Open Market - who won...

   

The second GT competition saw WHO regular Duncan taking first place and WHO-newbie Callum was top junior. This year I wasn't tied to the World Championship track so much - fellow club members got stuck in to running the races and collecting contact details...

   

Again, dozens visiting the Barn for the first time on this special Saturday have returned over the years for the occasional race. Some - including multiple WHO/digital junior champion Jonathon - have become WHO regulars.

   

A 45 minute Nascar team race took place on the SSDC track in the afternoon - and it was an incredibly close finish with Mike Mc, Neil and Duncan (aka Haven’t Got a Clue) beating the Millennium Falcons (John, Alex and me) by just one lap. That showcased exactly what to expect from our regular WHO/digital events.

   

Meanwhile, things were getting exciting on the Scalextric World Championship layout. The clock was ticking round to the finish time of four o'clock and there were plenty of youngsters who wanted a final shot at the top prize - plus a few grown-ups who wanted to log their first time of the day...

   

We called time at 4pm - and after 64 ten-lap races, local Goring schoolboy Vlad was the winner. Vlad had set the fastest race time of the day - 32.537 seconds - with one of the Maserati Trofeos. He received a medal, T-shirt and a Micro Scalextric set...

   

Following close behind were WHO father and son John and Alex - with times of 33.047 and 33.927 seconds. We'd have to wait to see where exactly those times would fit into the overall World Championship leaderboard.

Over on the big track, we ran a few more GT races - before ending the day with a ten minute, six car Goodwood Revival pairs race...

   

This, the proper debut of our new WHO/digital class, saw Mike D and Duncan pilot the awesome George Turner Ford Galaxie to an impressive win...

   

And that was the end of a brilliant day at the Barn...



It was a great team effort and pretty relaxed too. We knew what we were doing this year!

However, in terms of the media coverage, that was just the start of the fun...