[woodcote]

Qualifying is now over for the first event. Each car had three timed runs, with at least one on each lane. Cars were run on 9 volts beforehand to get a steady motor tone and then were revved at 12volts immediately before each run. Tyres were also cleaned on masking tape. A couple of cars did need a little TLC to get them running smoothly down the strip.

First up was Micro Scalextric Street Stock.

After the first run-through, Alan's Mercedes held top spot by 0.021 of second from Jeremy's Veyron and Rebecca's Porsche not far behind. The second round saw Alan shave 0.006 off his best to record the first sub 0.650 second pass. Jeremy bettered his first round time by 0.002s and Gareth leapt up to third, just 0.002 behind Jeremy. Alan broke clear of the chasing pack with a sensational 0.636 in the final qualifying round - topping out at 7.792 mph. Dylan W also found his best form, finishing second with a 0.666 second pass. Jeremy's second round score of 0.670s kept him third, but with three times covered by just 0.006s he looks to have a very consistent car. Gareth was fourth, Terry fifth, Rebecca sixth, Noah seventh and David eighth. The top eleven all beat the 0.700 second mark - second to eleventh covered by just 0.033 of a second.

Here are all the times...


   

The bottom five will have another inspection tomorrow to see if times can be improved before the eliminations. They might have a few spares included in their return boxes.

Micro Scalextric Super Stock qualifying followed, with both Terry and Leo's spare cars included - running on the higher tyres.

Alan's first round run was only 0.002s quicker than his Street Stock car - but it was quick enough to finish top. Andy got within 0.001 of a second in his final pass and Rebecca's Nissan was a further 0.006s behind in third. All of Andy's three runs were sub 0.650s, which no-one else achieved - so the eliminators will be exciting. Rob's Focus was just ahead of Clive's Nissan - and Terry's hatchback beat Leo's Jaguar in the battle of the spare cars. Leo's car was certainly running better with the big tyres. Best top speed was shared by Rebecca and Andy with 8.091 mph recorded at the finish line.

   

Finally, the Nostalgia T-Jets had their qualifying session. As expected, there were some inconsistent times with most of the cars suffering a little with front end lift off the line. The Chesterfield trio required a lot of coaxing! Alan's Camaro topped the first session with a 0.746, just 0.009 ahead of Andy's Thunderbolt and Clive's Thunderbolt third. Rebecca's AMX jumped into the lead with a 0.743 in the second round, but Alan's final run saw him smash in a 0.706 with a blistering 8.503 mph top speed. That Camaro is so smooth and runs like an arrow down the strip - all the other have some work to do for next month. However, it not over until after the elimination rounds - Alan did have a poor run in the second round, so there is hope. Rebecca came in second, with times all over the place. The Thunderbolts were more consistent...

   

Huge congratulations to Alan for a clinical clean sweep of qualifying. It goes to show that preparation is key - Alan cars look fabulous, sound incredibly smooth and run really quick. Here are the three top qualifiers...

   

Tomorrow, Alan's cars have the upper hand - but anything can happen in eliminators! Expect the first results around 6.30pm.