22nd-Apr-25, 06:13 AM
In short, the fourth stint moved Smooth Ops out of reach. Although Simon hadn't driven a lap on the circuit he designed, he wasn't going to lose a 21 lap advantage, even against Ollie and Mike. Ash's magnificent stint - 103 laps vs Ryan's 102 - transformed WHAM! Racing's race. Sure, they had their rookie Bronze driver back next, but WHAM! now sat 19 laps ahead of the recovering Écurie Escargot and just 5 behind Gearzilla in the last of the podium places...
The leaders hit 400 laps just moments after the 80 minute mark - that gave us about 175 to go. Simon was soon in the groove and banging in some quick laps with the pink and silver AMG. Ollie was not hanging about either, throwing the Slimline Bentley round the track. Also on a quick pace was Stephen in the Écurie Escargot Aston. He sensed an opportunity with his namesake in the WHAM! Bentley and Steve in the Gearzilla AMG - could he drag his team back into the fight for a podium place? Finally, Scott was in the MOZZIE car, trying to hang on to the Aston Martin in front and ease back into the pack...
As the race hit 100 minutes and the final driver change of the night, it was Écurie Escargot who had won the stint, followed by Slimline and Smooth Ops - Ollie taking just 2 laps out of Simon's lead. The Bronze drivers for WHAM! and Gearzilla had limited their losses to Stephen's rampaging Aston - the Escargots were now 11 laps behind WHAM! and 13 laps behind Gearzilla in third. Looking at the driver line-up for the final short stint of 15-17 minutes, the only realistic excitement was that two lap gap between third and fourth.
At the front, Simon was enjoying his double stint. Behind, Mike was probably more preoccupied by Oliver's charge with the Gearzilla AMG, although he was never going to lose 15 laps in a little over 15 minutes. Jeremy for WHAM! and Andy for Écurie Escargot were on a good pace, but everyone was focused on bringing their cars home - and mostly did a good job, although MOZZIE had yet another trip to pits for repairs.
As the chequered flag fell at 576 laps, Smooth Ops celebrated a fine win by twenty-one laps. Slimline followed up last month's victory with second and Gearzilla delivered another podium place. WHAM! were fourth, Écurie Escargot wondering what could have been in fifth and MOZZIE sixth...
Huge congrats to Ryan, Simon and Duncan on their Easter win...
That result leaves the 2025 WHO GT championship table looking like this...
The next round is another two-hour race on Wednesday 21 May, with the double-points championship finale a four-hour race at the GT Saturday on 21 June.
Huge thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable evening. Special thanks goes to the set-up crew, the Race Control team - especially James - and to all those who stayed behind to pack away at the end. We couldn't do it without you.
One final Easter-themed item...
The church attached to the Barn was featured in a BBC Sussex piece over the weekend (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g2j1gv9e4o). During the 1980s, the church ceiling was painted with a replica of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco and continues to attract coachloads of visitors to Goring every year. The main voice in the interview is of church secretary Anne, who has been an honorary member of the WHO team since 2009 - looking after us as we set up the club and throughout the past 15 years. It's definitely worth a read and a listen. And if you wanted to visit, details are here: https://english-martyrs.co.uk/our-church/visiting-us/
The leaders hit 400 laps just moments after the 80 minute mark - that gave us about 175 to go. Simon was soon in the groove and banging in some quick laps with the pink and silver AMG. Ollie was not hanging about either, throwing the Slimline Bentley round the track. Also on a quick pace was Stephen in the Écurie Escargot Aston. He sensed an opportunity with his namesake in the WHAM! Bentley and Steve in the Gearzilla AMG - could he drag his team back into the fight for a podium place? Finally, Scott was in the MOZZIE car, trying to hang on to the Aston Martin in front and ease back into the pack...
As the race hit 100 minutes and the final driver change of the night, it was Écurie Escargot who had won the stint, followed by Slimline and Smooth Ops - Ollie taking just 2 laps out of Simon's lead. The Bronze drivers for WHAM! and Gearzilla had limited their losses to Stephen's rampaging Aston - the Escargots were now 11 laps behind WHAM! and 13 laps behind Gearzilla in third. Looking at the driver line-up for the final short stint of 15-17 minutes, the only realistic excitement was that two lap gap between third and fourth.
At the front, Simon was enjoying his double stint. Behind, Mike was probably more preoccupied by Oliver's charge with the Gearzilla AMG, although he was never going to lose 15 laps in a little over 15 minutes. Jeremy for WHAM! and Andy for Écurie Escargot were on a good pace, but everyone was focused on bringing their cars home - and mostly did a good job, although MOZZIE had yet another trip to pits for repairs.
As the chequered flag fell at 576 laps, Smooth Ops celebrated a fine win by twenty-one laps. Slimline followed up last month's victory with second and Gearzilla delivered another podium place. WHAM! were fourth, Écurie Escargot wondering what could have been in fifth and MOZZIE sixth...
Huge congrats to Ryan, Simon and Duncan on their Easter win...
That result leaves the 2025 WHO GT championship table looking like this...
The next round is another two-hour race on Wednesday 21 May, with the double-points championship finale a four-hour race at the GT Saturday on 21 June.
Huge thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable evening. Special thanks goes to the set-up crew, the Race Control team - especially James - and to all those who stayed behind to pack away at the end. We couldn't do it without you.
One final Easter-themed item...
The church attached to the Barn was featured in a BBC Sussex piece over the weekend (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g2j1gv9e4o). During the 1980s, the church ceiling was painted with a replica of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco and continues to attract coachloads of visitors to Goring every year. The main voice in the interview is of church secretary Anne, who has been an honorary member of the WHO team since 2009 - looking after us as we set up the club and throughout the past 15 years. It's definitely worth a read and a listen. And if you wanted to visit, details are here: https://english-martyrs.co.uk/our-church/visiting-us/
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