[woodcote]

   

Eighteen racers took part in the first of two Tin Top Saturdays that bring our Scalextric digital season to a close. We welcomed back Matthew's brother Daniel for his first taste of our digital format, which he seemed to pick up quickly in the practice session.

   

Simon had designed us another whopper of a layout, taking up most of the length of the Barn and posing a challenge for the more myopic amongst us. It was certainly fun to drive, with good overtaking opportunities and enough Radius 2 corners to keep us on our toes.

The day would start with a 30 minute Sierra - BMW - Commodore team race to get us warmed up and familiar with the track. Then the BTCC weekend simulation - qualifying plus three races - would play out, with lunch and a Carrera Classic Nascar race interspersed. The day would end with our Muscle Car Mondiale format - a nice leisurely climax to a Saturday of saloon car action.

Race One: Group A Team Race

   

Seventeen racers were divided into five teams of three and one pair - bothers Simon and Mark sharing Alex's BMW. Dean's VL Commodore returned, shared with Ash & Terry, but the remaining four cars were all Sierras. No qualifying this time - we were straight into a dry race...

   

The similar machinery always gives us a pretty close race and the start of this one couldn't have been tighter. Simon took the lone BMW into the lead of a six-car snake. Driving well in the middle of the pack, newcomer Daniel got a fine Tin Top welcome, being punted off the bridge and onto the floor - rear axle and gearing repairs dropping him well back and leaving five cars battling for the lead...

   

Drivers changed every ten minutes, apart from the Coombes brothers who'd swap over at half way. At ten minutes, Simon didn't need to pit and that gave the BMW a nice advantage over the chasing pack. Matthew had work to do to close a 12 lap gap at the back. Simon handed the BMW to Mark and they still looked good going into the final driver change - although he'd be up against a very strong bunch of drivers on the final leg...

   

It was incredibly close at the front with three cars in with a shout of the win. The BMW was out of sequence on pit stops and Mark dropped off the lead in the pits - but the others - Mike and Alex's Sierras - would need to stop too. The Commodore had dropped off the lead pace and Terry had Oliver closing in fast. It did eventually come down pit stops. The red Sierra of Mike, Rob & Daniel spent 16 seconds less in the pits and finished on the same laps and just ahead of Alex, Ollie & Stephen's blue car. Mark & Simon came in a lap behind, Mark just couldn't match the pace of Mike and Alex in the closing stages...

   

Behind, Oliver pipped Terry to fourth place, both cars finishing on the same lap after a frantic battle through the final ten minutes. The Écurie Escargot Sierra - last December's winner - came home 15 laps off the lead, having eventually recovered from that early crash damage.

   

Here are the results and stats from the opening race...

   
You can click on the image to make it bigger.

Congratulations to our winners - Mike, Rob & Daniel - and to all our teams on a scintillating start to the day...

         

         

         

Some of these Group A cars might appear later in the Muscle Car Mondiale race, but now we would focus on BTCC...