[woodcote]

   

Our traditional summer holidays HO race is a Nascar night on the Tricky Triangle...

   

An homage to Pocono, each corner features a difference radius and angle of banking, making the layout a real challenge.

Over to Gareth for the race report...

[Gareth]

20 drivers took to the grid for round 3 of the Nascar championship.  Our venue would be the most infamous of tracks in the WHO track library; Pocono.  The Tricky Triangle has its fans in Andy and Pete but also people who groan when they see it…like me! 


Half way through the heats and it was Oliver with a commanding 3.7 lap lead over Matthew whose car had shown great promise in the informal practice after Mod.  Pete and John were locked together with Chas, an impressive p5 in front of Andy, me and Ash.  

   

At the end of the heats, Oliver had extended his lead to an astonishing 7 laps over Matthew who himself was nearly 6 laps clear of the next driver. John and Terry equalled each other with John getting the nod having set his score first.  Both inched out Andy by just 0.4 laps while Ollie Bean has leaped up to p6 to nab Gen6 pole.  


It was an extra special race night too as Ash celebrated his birthday by bringing in cake.  Happy birthday Ash!  

   

[Gareth]

G Final

   

It was a two horse race for the G Final between Tracy (blue) and James (red).  Neither had seemed at home at Pocono and the story continued for this race with both having several crashes throughout but James’ Bulldog proved the quicker car and he eased to a comfortable win.

   

   

[Gareth]

F Final

   

Gary (blue) was on pole here against Kevin (red), Rob (white) and James stepping up into yellow.  James was quick away but crashed on laps 2, 3 and 4 which left him mired at the back.  That allowed Rob into the lead from Gary and Kevin.  Gary crashed on lap 5 but by lapping consistently and quickly he hauled himself back to Rob and took the lead before Rob pumped in a string of rapid laps in the dying moments to grab the win at the death.  Kevin finished 3rd and James 4th.

   
   
   

[Gareth]

E Final

   

Mike (white) was on pole for this one with Kev (blue), Dylan (red) and Rob stepping into yellow.  It was a must win for Dylan if he had any hope of getting close to Isaac to battle for the Junior medal.  He made a good start but crashing on lap 5 allowed Kev through but he rejoined in 2nd ahead of Rob who had also crashed and Mike who had crashed on lap 3 to fall to 4th.   

   

Kev and Dylan traded places for the first quarter of the race before yet more offs saw Dylan slip to p3 behind Rob and allowed Kev to cruise to the win.  The race finished in that order with poor Mike trailing in 4th.

   

   

[Gareth]

D Final 

   

I had chosen blue lane as pole man for this one with Ash going white, Alex red and Kev stepping up into yellow.  Alex was first into T1 and he held onto it.  I was in 2nd but getting more and more erratic as the race went on.  45 seconds in and Ash had gone through into 2nd.  He was consistent but I was quicker so the places changed multiple times for the next 25 seconds until I established second again.  Then another bout of crashing for me allowed Ash back through.

   

Meanwhile Alex too was starting to lose focus and he crashed on lap 36 and on lap 37.  Fortunately that was the end of the race as Ash oh so nearly snuck through for the win.  Just 0.8 separated them at the flag.  

   
Kev meanwhile had lost precious time behind wiped out coming out of T3 and onto the main straight.  The Triangle does pose some marshalling issues on that straight.  Sorry Kev!

   

[Gareth]

C Final

   

Pete (blue) was the pole man here taking on Isaac (white), Chas (red) and Alex stepping up into yellow lane.  It was Isaac who led them away from Pete, Chas and Alex.  A crash on lap 9 for both Pete and Isaac saw Pete gain 3 second and jump into 1st as Isaac plummeted to last.  The race now was between Pete and Chas who was having his best night to date.  Sadly for Chas a crash on lap 16 and a lengthier one on lap 22 settled the race in Pete’s favour.  Alex also snuck through to take p2 with Chas in 3rd and Isaac in 4th.  

   

   

   

[Gareth]

B Final 

   

Terry (blue) was a little miffed to not be an automatic qualifier for the A Final.  He will also be relieved to know that it has taken me so long to write this race report (sorry) that I can’t remember what Terry’s highlight of the week was this time.  This is the moment that occurs every month where Terry has appalling luck or does something utterly inexplicable such as ruining his Mod car before last race.  He would be taking on Andy (white), Ollie (red) and Pete stepping up into yellow.  

   

It was Pocono enthusiast Andy who led them away in white before a trio of crashes saw him fall to 3rd and allowed Terry into the lead.  Andy might well have been last if it hadn’t been for renowned crash enthusiast Ollie who either didn’t get away or lost it on lap 1.  Either way he lost a heck of a lot of time and was mired at the back.  

   

With Terry out in front, Pete and Andy engaged in an epic duel for p2.  Last time we saw these guys battling at Pocono it was for the A final win so this was surprising to see it take place in the B final.  This time the fight was all done in the first minute as Andy eased away and Pete struggled with the tight yellow lane falling nearly 6 laps behind Andy who was over 5 laps behind the dominant Terry.  Ollie came home a distant 4th. 

   

[Gareth]

A Final

   

From the heats, this race had all the hallmarks of being an exhibition race.  Like when you hook an enthusiastic hobby player from a crowd and make them play Steven Hendry at snooker.  So would it all go the way of Oliver in blue and on pole or would Matthew (red), John (yellow) or Terry in white be able to do something to halt his charge?

   

Terry shadowed a cautious Oliver for the opening laps and then eased into the lead.  But Oliver was right with him and the lead changed hands 10 times over the first minute of the race.  It was Oliver who blinked first and crashed on lap 17, swiftly back on and in the hunt.  Then Terry on lap 19, slightly slower back on and suddenly back to 2nd place.  All of a sudden the momentum was all with Oliver now he was in the lead.  Terry pushed as hard as he could but a trio of extra crashes left him 2 laps down as Oliver drove to an emphatic win on 42 laps.  Just a brutally efficient and effective drive.  

   

Behind these two, Matthew had come agonisingly close to snatching his second win but he couldn’t keep it on like the other two and had to settle for a still excellent 3rd and with the fastest lap of the race.  John meanwhile had superb pace in yellow but crashed on lap 1 and his rapid laps were punctuated by several more crashes.

   

So Oliver picked up yet another win this season and his second in Nascar.  With a 90 point lead over Matthew, it is going to take a Matthew win and several other drivers to keep Oliver out of the A final otherwise the title is his.   

   

Congratulations to Isaac too on his Junior win.  When will our next batch of juniors arrive?  

   

In Gen6 we have Ollie Bean with 2 wins, Ash with 1, Mike and Rob currently occupying the other 2 grid spots.  

   

Thanks as always to the set up, race control and strike down crews.  

   

   

   

   

   

[Gareth]

Some cool photos from the heats

   

   

   

   

And next time out, it will be F1.  These two are still in the club shop should you need an F1 car for your Bulldog.