[woodcote]

Muscle Car Mondiale

The final race of the day is the chilled-out Muscle Car Mondiale format. We get to drive any car we want from a vast range of Scalextric saloon and touring cars in 10 minutes heats. The top two finishers from each heat meet in a six-car feature race. Ten of the 14 cars (Oliver had departed for work) were American - five Camaros, two Javelins, two Cougars and one Corvette L88. Representing the rest of the world, there was a Ford Falcon XB from down under, plus an Escort, a Sierra and a Rover...

   

Alex (Sierra), Jeremy ('79 Camaro Z28), Terry (Javelin) and Isaac ('86 Camaro IROC-Z) lined up for Heat One. Alex had certainly given himself a challenge with the Sierra, but settled into a perfect rhythm from the early stages and gradually pulled away...

   

After 5 minutes, he led Jeremy's Bastos Camaro by half a lap with almost identical fuel consumption and tyre wear. Isaac was a lap behind, followed by Terry. The second half of the heat saw the front two circulate on a similar pace, both finishing with a score of 48 laps. Isaac was two lap back and Terry four.

   

Heat Two was a group of five - Mike ('71 Camaro), Ash (Escort Mk1), Dean (Camaro IROC-Z), Ollie ('71 Camaro) and Daniel (Cougar) promising us an exciting ten minutes. Mike's Camaro was the pick of the bunch early on and he was able to control the race from the front. Behind, the battle was close for that runner-up spot...

   

Ash's slim-can powered Escort is both quick and extremely economical on fuel, meaning he could go to the end with just one fuel & tyre stop. Although dropped by Dean and Ollie in the Camaros, the Escort  was right back in the mix as the other made a second stop...

   

Dean was clearly feeling the pressure and cut his re-fuel a little short. He came out just in front of Ash, but would he make it to the end? By this time, Mike had the race wrapped up, but Dean, Ash and Ollie were neck-and-neck in an exciting run to the line. As feared, Dean had to peel into the pits right at the end, leaving Ollie the opportunity to pick off Ash and grab second place. It was a breathless final 30 seconds and bitterly disappointing for Dean. Mike's 49 laps was the best so far.

Heat Three saw a really diverse grid with Andy's Rover SD1, Simon's Falcon XB, Rob's Javelin, Stephen's Corvette L88 and Kev's Cougar...

   

The early stages saw Simon cruise away from Andy and Stephen - the Rover a little tippy and thirsty on fuel, the Corvette looking super-smooth and pretty nippy on its new tyres. Rob and Kev were having a great battle behind. Simon's Falcon was really piling on the laps - finishing on 49 and matching Mike's score from Heat Two. In the end, Andy got the Rover to behave and followed Simon home a lap behind. Stephen was third, Kev fourth and Rob fifth.

   

The feature race was extended from 5 minutes to 10 as we were ahead of schedule. Five of the six qualifiers had hit 48 or 49 laps, so it promised to be very close. The race started with the cars in close formation. Andy and then Ollie dropped back after offs, leaving us a fantastic battle between Mike, Alex, Simon and Jeremy. Alex gave us another perfect 10-minute run with the Sierra, stopping twice for fuel and tyres. Only Jeremy spent less time in the pits. Both Mike and Simon had the quicker cars over a lap, but were undone by the time they were stationary - Mike giving away half a lap with four stops and Simon's two longer than anyone else. So that was the outcome of the race - Alex winning with 49 laps, Jeremy almost exactly a lap behind, being chased by Simon and Mike...

   

And here are the results...

   

And that's it for another awesome Saturday of digital racing at the Barn. A big thank you to everyone who came along, especially the set-up and race control crews and to all those who stayed behind to pack away.

We'll be back on Saturday 14 December for an almost identical format, but expect a Christmas feel - the decorations should be up and there is a long WHO tradition of wearing festive jumpers.