17th-Jan-25, 05:23 PM
Pioneers Legends pairs race
Ten cars and nineteen racers meant that Stephen did double-duty, sharing his dad's #69 Gulf Chevy and digging out his own #44 car so Dean could get a ride. Mike duly lined up two heats of five - the top-scoring quartet of cars would automatically qualify for the Feature race, the rest fighting it out for the remaining two places in the Semi...
Heat One began with Andy's #55 Perrier Dodge escaping into the lead. He handed over to Legends newbie Rob at half way with a couple of laps over the rest. John & Ash and Isaac & Kev were having a good scrap over second place, Simon & Duncan a little off the pace in fourth and Mike & Stephen bringing up the rear.
Despite a couple of early spins while getting used to the Legends driving style, Rob did a great job to bring the #55 Dodge home with 35 laps, one lap ahead of Isaac & Kev and two ahead of John & Ash. The other two pairs would almost certainly be going again in the Semi...
The line-up for Heat Two certainly had the potential for some big scores, so none of the pairs from the first heat were home and dry. And so it proved - the whole field was rapid, close to the 20-lap mark at half distance - apart from Ollie & Rob who'd had car issues. Mike & Jeremy and Oliver & Terry were joined by a hard charging Matthew & Ryan in the closing stages as the laps kept on coming. Those three finished on 38, 38 and 37 laps respectively, the rather squirrelly car of Stephen & Dean managing 32 despite being sideways for most of the eight minutes. On 29 laps, Ollie & Rob would be going again with a fixed car.
That gave us the top three from Heat Two and the winners of Heat One in the Feature. Everyone else would race again in the Semi.
The Semi final started with high expectations. Stephen would start with his car and then race his dad's - Dean having improved the rear traction of the #44 car in the short break between races. Stephen was very much part of the tight pack at the start - it was only Mike's car that got dropped in the early stages. As the pairs stopped for their mid-race driver change, the top 5 were covered by just a lap - those two step-ups were completely up for grabs.
The second half of the race was an absolute classic. Although Ollie & Rob had led at the pit stops, the pair holding top spot continued to change. Simon & Duncan looked good, but a long pit stop gave them work to do. John & Ash battled their way through, but then had to dive into the pits for a late tyre change. As things seemed to settle, Ollie & Rob were heading for the win, Simon & Duncan in second and Isaac & Kev just missing out. Then Simon got tangled in a penultimate lap pile-up, Isaac slipped through, kept going and grabbed that all-important second place by less than half the length of the main straight. Phew!
The Feature race was pretty exciting too. After getting past Terry in the early stages, Andy got away from the squabbling pack to build a lap lead by the driver change. Rob was soon gobbled up by Oliver, but sat in second place, benefitting from a smooth, economical drive and a late pit stop. Oliver looked nicely in control and on for a massive score, but behind all hell broke loose. Ryan was driving Matthew's Ford brilliantly, gaining ground both on track and in the pits, sweeping past Rob while he was changing tyres. Rob rejoined with not much more than a minute to go. He tried to hold off Mike for an improbably third place, but the WHO veteran got past with time to spare. Oliver & Terry's 40 laps in 8 minutes was the best of the night.
Click to make it bigger
Congrats to Oliver & Terry on a superb win...
A very big thank you to everyone who came along for a perfect start to our 2025 WHO digital season. Special thanks - as always - to the set-up and race control crews, plus all those who stayed behind to clear away.
This was our seventy-ninth WHO Digital event at the Barn, starting back in January 2014. Quite a bit has changed, but we still get the same buzz
Ten cars and nineteen racers meant that Stephen did double-duty, sharing his dad's #69 Gulf Chevy and digging out his own #44 car so Dean could get a ride. Mike duly lined up two heats of five - the top-scoring quartet of cars would automatically qualify for the Feature race, the rest fighting it out for the remaining two places in the Semi...
Heat One began with Andy's #55 Perrier Dodge escaping into the lead. He handed over to Legends newbie Rob at half way with a couple of laps over the rest. John & Ash and Isaac & Kev were having a good scrap over second place, Simon & Duncan a little off the pace in fourth and Mike & Stephen bringing up the rear.
Despite a couple of early spins while getting used to the Legends driving style, Rob did a great job to bring the #55 Dodge home with 35 laps, one lap ahead of Isaac & Kev and two ahead of John & Ash. The other two pairs would almost certainly be going again in the Semi...
The line-up for Heat Two certainly had the potential for some big scores, so none of the pairs from the first heat were home and dry. And so it proved - the whole field was rapid, close to the 20-lap mark at half distance - apart from Ollie & Rob who'd had car issues. Mike & Jeremy and Oliver & Terry were joined by a hard charging Matthew & Ryan in the closing stages as the laps kept on coming. Those three finished on 38, 38 and 37 laps respectively, the rather squirrelly car of Stephen & Dean managing 32 despite being sideways for most of the eight minutes. On 29 laps, Ollie & Rob would be going again with a fixed car.
That gave us the top three from Heat Two and the winners of Heat One in the Feature. Everyone else would race again in the Semi.
The Semi final started with high expectations. Stephen would start with his car and then race his dad's - Dean having improved the rear traction of the #44 car in the short break between races. Stephen was very much part of the tight pack at the start - it was only Mike's car that got dropped in the early stages. As the pairs stopped for their mid-race driver change, the top 5 were covered by just a lap - those two step-ups were completely up for grabs.
The second half of the race was an absolute classic. Although Ollie & Rob had led at the pit stops, the pair holding top spot continued to change. Simon & Duncan looked good, but a long pit stop gave them work to do. John & Ash battled their way through, but then had to dive into the pits for a late tyre change. As things seemed to settle, Ollie & Rob were heading for the win, Simon & Duncan in second and Isaac & Kev just missing out. Then Simon got tangled in a penultimate lap pile-up, Isaac slipped through, kept going and grabbed that all-important second place by less than half the length of the main straight. Phew!
The Feature race was pretty exciting too. After getting past Terry in the early stages, Andy got away from the squabbling pack to build a lap lead by the driver change. Rob was soon gobbled up by Oliver, but sat in second place, benefitting from a smooth, economical drive and a late pit stop. Oliver looked nicely in control and on for a massive score, but behind all hell broke loose. Ryan was driving Matthew's Ford brilliantly, gaining ground both on track and in the pits, sweeping past Rob while he was changing tyres. Rob rejoined with not much more than a minute to go. He tried to hold off Mike for an improbably third place, but the WHO veteran got past with time to spare. Oliver & Terry's 40 laps in 8 minutes was the best of the night.
Click to make it bigger
Congrats to Oliver & Terry on a superb win...
A very big thank you to everyone who came along for a perfect start to our 2025 WHO digital season. Special thanks - as always - to the set-up and race control crews, plus all those who stayed behind to clear away.
This was our seventy-ninth WHO Digital event at the Barn, starting back in January 2014. Quite a bit has changed, but we still get the same buzz
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