Race Report Part 2 - Finals
A little later than usual - and with thunder booming over Worthing - we began the eight finals with a two-car Classic Cup eliminator between Stephen and Mike...
In fact, Stephen was eliminated by half distance in the
H Final - a big off early on required repairs and his Viper-Jet never got going. Meanwhile, Mike - who'd crashed on the first corner - mercilessly ticked off enough laps to ensure no comeback was possible for Stephen. It would be Mike who'd step up to the G Final and have a crack at Andy for Classic Cup honours...
The
G Final began with Ollie sprinting away and leading the first two laps. An unfortunate off handed Oliver the lead with the red club car. The debutant took this opportunity with both hands and drove a near-perfect race - one brief off towards the end being the only blemish. Meanwhile, Ollie and Andy has a good battle for second, the youngster leading most of the way and with both cars crashing on the final lap meaning it stayed that way. Oliver won by nearly three laps, Ollie was half a lap ahead of Andy - and Mike managed only eight laps in fourth.
Oliver stepped up into the dreaded yellow lane for the
F Final, where he met Franco, Laurence and Daniel. Franco had qualified well in his first race at the Barn and continued that form in his final, with a solid run to third place and a score on white two laps better than his heat - you can't ask better than that. And if Laurence and Daniel has slipped up, it could have been even better - but they didn't. Oliver led the first lap, but then was caught out by the lane he'd really hated in the heats - a succession of offs in the centre switch-backs dropping him back. Daniel inherited the lead and drove a faultless race - his only problem was that Laurence was slightly quicker! After letting Daniel get away early on, Laurence relentlessly reeled him back in by a few tenths each lap. The pass was perfectly timed - two laps from the end to give Laurence a win by less than a second!
It was Laurence's turn in yellow lane for the
E Final - something that didn't bother him too much. The opening laps were incredibly close - Laurence and Harry clocked on the same time leading Lap 1, with Alan a fraction ahead the second time round. Alan banged in some rapid times to pull out a slight margin, before a crash handed the lead back to Harry. Marios had the stand-out performance of our newcomers in qualifying and he now found himself in second place in this race, following just a couple of feet behind Harry, lap after lap. A crash for Marios let Harry off the hook, but also saw Alan snapping at his heels. It was a close battle for second, Alan eventually closing out runners-up spot by 1.878 seconds, both of them just a lap behind Harry. Laurence had put a brave fight in yellow, but was well out of contention by the end.
The
D Final was a cracker, with Aiden and Matthew serving us up a memorable battle. Not unusually, Matthew was off the line like a scalded cat - and not unusually, he binned it... although not until he'd led the first five laps. Aiden inherited the lead, but it was a narrow gap. Rather like the F Final, that advantage was slowly whittled down until Matthew passed - and then crashed again. A repeat performance saw Matthew catch and pass Aiden on the penultimate lap as Aiden tangled with Ash. It was a breathtaking end to the race. Ash and Harry were never on the same pace as the leading pair, but both put in very solid runs to finish just a lap behind Matthew.
If that race was good, the
C Final probably goes into the WHO annals as one of the best races ever at the Barn. For the whole of the first minute, all four cars circulated in close formation, swapping places and never separated by much more than a foot. Matthew not only stayed with the others, but set fastest laps in yellow lane and led the race for two laps, before he was the first to fall on lap nine. Of the three remaining cars in the leading bunch, Ryan's was the quickest and he attempted to pull out a gap. That plan fell apart on lap sixteen, leaving Oliver and Kevin locked in battle over the final four laps. Their cars crossed the line side-by-side, but then Oliver grabbed about a tenth of a lap to lead by two feet. Kevin fought back on the final lap, but it was race over - 0.097 of second apart as they crossed the line, the winning margin less than distance round Turn One. What a race! Ryan was third, a lap back and Matthew a further lap adrift.
It was back down to earth for the
B Final - not a bad race, but nothing could match the previous two minutes. Terry had chosen yellow lane and really got his Super-G+ flowing round the outside of the turns. He led the first few laps, before Keith slipped past and then Terry crashed. There was no looking back for Keith - he got his head down and banged in a succession of super-fast times in a faultless performance. There was nothing the others could do. Oliver hoped his consistent run in white lane would be enough to overcome Terry, but it wasn't - Terry mastering yellow with just two offs and some very quick times in between. Isaac was the only under-16 left, so had wrapped up the junior medal. He showed good pace in blue, but was also a bit ragged - too many offs leaving him two laps adrift of Oliver and Terry. Meanwhile, Keith scored a huge 20.65 laps and was ready for the A Final.
There was a lot at stake in the
A Final - all four racers wanted that winners' medal, but they also wanted championship points with the end of the season looming. The pressure told on Deborah and she spend two minutes recovering from a first lap crash. Jerome - on the other hand - thrives on pressure and he converted his dominance in the heats to a mighty two minutes in the final. Keith and Pete tried to hang on, but they just couldn't match Jerome's pace and frightening consistency. Keith's race got a bit scrappy towards the end, dropping back nearly a lap from Pete - and almost falling into Deborah's clutches. But up front, Jerome's score of 21.4 laps in white was the best of the night in any lane - and enough to beat Pete by a lap.
Huge congratulations to Jerome, who probably now has one hand on the club championship trophy with only three round to go... but anything could happen between now and December. Congrats also go to Isaac who won another junior medal and scored top points in the Rookie championship. Andy won tonight's F1 Classic Cup battle and wraps up the 2020-22 F1 Classic Cup title.
Here are all the stats from the finals...
There's still the video and updated championship tables to come, but massive thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable evening at the Barn - one of the best since we've been back. Special thanks goes to the set-up crew and to all those who stayed behind to pack away in record time. As always, enormous thanks to Ash, who did a brilliant solo job on Race Control - he really has mastered the new software!
Our next event at the Barn is our Goodwood Revival Digital Saturday on 24 September - and then a WHO Mod race on Wednesday 5 October.
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