[woodcote]

Thanks Gary! But it's not quite over yet...

Race 4: Slot.it Group C

       

Group C is our only class that goes beyond standard Scalextric fare - in this case it's very standard Slot.it, running to DiSCA Group C regs. There's a huge range of fabulous models to choose from and our twelve racers had six Porsches (one 956LH, three 962 IMSA and two 962 LH), two Toyotas, a Lancia, Jaguar, Sauber and a Nissan. Ryan, Gary, Isaac, Kevin, Ash and Andy sat this one out. Two groups of six ran for a three minute practice/qualifying sessions to give us a grid that looked like this...

   

The bottom six started the race in the C Final, aiming to finish in the top three and to step up. The five-minute race was a sprint to the line, Mike leading the way in his Wynn's Porsche and showing the sort of pace that was lacking in qualifying. Behind him was Jean, who'd spent qualifying fixing his car. Third was Mark, driving his brother's spare car - he gambled on a no-stop race, stroking the Sauber round for maximum fuel economy. It was a gamble that paid off, finishing a lap ahead of Stephen and Terry's Porsches in fourth and fifth. Matthew's usually rapid Nissan had a sub-optimal 5-minutes, finishing way back in sixth.

       

Mike had his mojo back and got stuck into the B Final - again leading the pack through the 5-minute race and qualifying for the feature race. His closest challenger was Ed, whose took his Toyota to second spot, a lap behind Mike and almost a lap ahead of Mark, who again went for a successful fuel-saving strategy to join Mike in a double step-up. Oliver, Jean and Simon all finished two laps behind the winner.

       

The feature was another quick-fire 5-minute race. Alex, Oli and Dean had been looking on as Mike, Mark and Ed got plenty of valuable track time. When the lights went green, it was Alex and Oli who disappeared up the road - Ed leading Mike, Mark and Dean in a second group. The Group C front-runners from 2019 were locked in a compelling battle for the win - and it would have continued that way without pit stops. Alex was a little more frugal on fuel and Oli pitted first - his stop a little longer than average. When it was Alex's time to stop, an efficient splash-and-dash gave him a 6.5 second advantage. Oli soon found himself under pressure from a hard-charging Mike, who'd also gained a few seconds on the pit stop.

Going into the final minute of the race, Alex's lead was almost comfortable - but Oli and Mike were now battling for second, with Dean close enough to pick up the pieces, should anything go amiss. Mark was yet again going for fuel-efficiency - and although he wasn't troubling the podium places, he was running in fifth. Mike had worked his way up through both the C and B finals - and he wasn't done yet. A late pass gave Mike an unlikely runner-up spot and made it a Porsche 1-2 ahead of Oli's Jag and Dean's Lancia. Mark just managed to get to the line with his Sauber running on fumes, Ed finishing sixth with his Toyota.

       

Here are the results...

   

And that leaves just the Muscle Car Mondiale race to wrap up the day.