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Race Report

We started 2024 with our best post-covid HO attendance of 23 - and that was despite being missing five WHO regulars. We welcomed David, Harry, Nathan and Ethan, plus Roy would have made it 24, but he had to head home sharpish just before the heats began. There were also returns for John, Alex, Dylan and Gareth for their first WHO races since 2020. What a great way to start the year at the Barn.

   

The track build was a little more of an ordeal than usual, including the inclusion of a chicane - necessary to fit the power taps! This was a tweak we did in January 2018 and gives the track a certain character... Next time we use it, we'll keep the chicane, but run the track in the reverse direction. The marshal at the chicane - mostly Alex or John - was kept very busy all night...

   

The layout was a very satisfying challenge for both the ultra-fast Mod cars and the hard-bodied WHO Tuners. Gareth had a pair of Life Like T Porsches for him and Dylan, breaking a strong field of Mega-G+ Nascars, including five racers using the club cars. With the big field and plenty of WHO champions and A Final winners on show, the racing  was incredibly competitive for the top ten places - scores upwards of 15 looking good, until Pete started breaking the 18-lap barrier. It was our 2023 F1 champ who led the way on the first two heats, Andy second and Jerome third. Gareth was sitting top of the WHO Tuners field and not too far off the top ten. David and Harry left after their first two heats, it being a late night for young Harry - but both had performed very well on their debuts.

   

The scores kept creeping up in the second part of qualifying. The three automatic A Final spots went down to the wire - Andy pipping Pete to pole in a head-to-head in the penultimate heat and then Oliver clinching the third spot in the very last race. That bumped Jerome down to the B Final, where he'd face four-time Mod champion John and a very rapid Alex, who had the second fastest lap of the heats. Reigning Mod champion Terry had first lane choice in the C Final, up against Ryan and Daniel...

   

Ollie rounded out the top ten and was top junior qualifier, just one place ahead of Isaac. In twelfth was top Tuner Gareth, four places ahead of his nearest rival Ash. Nathan was our top rookie on his debut - a great performance with the club cars to put him eighteenth overall and in the F Final with Ash and Kev. Here are all the heat scores and fastest laps - remember only the best three heats count towards a racer's total...

   
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Next it was time for seven frantic finals...