[woodcote]

Race Report - morning session

It was a wet and miserable morning in Worthing - but a sizeable set-up crew put together the O'Connor track in no time and the Barn's heating system kicked in to make it nice and cozy for the nineteen racers. That included a WHO/digital debut for Dylan and a first digital race since 2014 for Gareth! The fast and flowing track would be quite a challenge for a lot of drivers...

   

The day started with our beloved foogadgets Car ID programmer being shorted out, meaning we'd have to resort to on-track programming for all the races - a time-consuming business, not ideal for such a packed schedule. However, we knuckled down and got started with the Tin Top themed Club Car Rotation...

   

Mike had prepared six assorted tin top cars from across a variety of racing disciplines. What they all had in common is a high-ish centre of gravity and relatively narrow track. There were plenty of cars simply pushed too hard - and time off track means less laps in the two minute heats...

   

Rob and Ollie did a great job cleaning tyres, lining up the cars and keeping the heats ticking over. Some of those cars started looking a little worse for wear after repeated contact with the floor and two Chevys - the '69 Camaro and '86 Montecarlo - were withdrawn to be replaced by a pair of Ferraris... slow but relatively stable...

   

I'd like to say that the crash-fest calmed down as the race went on, but that wasn't entirely the case! Plenty of big 7 and 8 lap scores were put in, but inconsistency riddled the score sheet. It would be those drivers who remained calm, drove within the limits of each car and executed slick pit stops at the right times who'd be up the top of the table...

   

The first 40+ score across the six cars was a 42.50 for Ryan. Rob followed to go second, but both were then eclipsed by Andy's 45.75 - three 8s and three 7s. That was the score to beat. Jeremy came close - as did Dean and Mike. Oliver was left needing two 8s in his final two races to tie... he missed out by just one lap...

   

So that was another rotation win for Andy - plus a junior medal for Ollie...

   

It was a frantic start to the day - and we decided to call an early lunch, during which Mike and Andy got the eighteen BTCC cars scrutineered, programmed and lined-up ready for a busy afternoon session...