[woodcote]

   

Our 2023 GT championship ended deep into the summer holidays - two months later than scheduled. That meant a few regulars were missing, but we welcomed back Matt and Florence - last seen at the Barn in November 2016 - who brought along Dylan for his WHO debut. They formed a rookie team with Andy at Race Control and the other fifteen racers were nicely split into five teams of three. Oliver's Slot Carazing pretty much had the championship in the bag, but Ryan's Smooth Operators still had a mathematical chance - they needed the bonus point for pole position, the race win and Carazing finishing last. Oliver had Jean and Terry on board again, whereas Ryan had brand new teammates in Ash and Jerome...

   

Mike's Brands Hatch-inspired track filled the width of the Barn and gave us a fast track, but with plenty of braking required. It was a far more challenging track than a first glance suggested...

   

The two minute super-pole session gave Ryan what he needed - by 34 thousandths of a second...

   

It was now simply a case of winning the race and hoping his big brother's team were hit by mechanical gremlins.