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We're back at the Barn for our September HO Formula One race. This year, we've been picking some of our favourite layouts from the WHO archives - and we return to the Zandvoort-ish track from last autumn...

   

As always, doors open at 6.30pm for practice, heats start at 7 and we aim for the step-up finals to be all over by 9.30. Entry is £3 adults / £2 under-16s and we ask that racers younger than fourteen bring a responsible adult with them. Club cars and controllers are available for no extra cost.

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We welcomed 16 racers to the Barn last night - not a bad turnout for the start of the school year and an absolutely sweltering day on the south coast. The autumn is a perfect time to get a first taste of HO club racing, ready for a full season next year - so we were delighted that Jon made his WHO debut, borrowing a car from Matthew.

   

The set-up crew of Ash, Terry, Pete, Duncan and Andy managed to maximise table capacity to deliver the full-length Zandvoort-inspired layout, which at 104-foot (31.7 metres) is one of the longest HO tracks we've built in a while...

   

That 34-foot main straight was certainly going to favour the Super-G+ cars, unleashed from any minimum height restrictions this season. However, over a lap, some drivers were feeling their trusty Mega-G+ models would have the upper hand. A sole Tyco was driven by Duncan...

   

Qualifying heats came thick and fast, producing some big scores and some great racing. One of the best of the night was heat 7 - Terry, Andy, Ryan and Pete setting a blistering pace and staying on the same lap. Andy finished with the top score of 19.5 laps, the others on 19.2. Most ominous was that Terry was the only driver to crash - twice - and he still finished second. That heat also delivered the fastest lap of the heats - a 5.811 by Andy - showing how being in a group of four fast drivers can (sometimes, but not always) push everyone to perform at their best.

After everyone had completed two heats, Terry's Super-G+ led the way with 39.10 laps. Pete's Mega-G+ was second on 37.80, just a tenth of a lap ahead of Andy's Super-G. The gap between fourth and fifth was even smaller - Jerome's Mega-G+ on 36.55 and Ryan's Super-G on 36.50. Oliver's Mega-G+ rounded out the top six with a 36.30. Isaac was top junior, his Mega-G+ up in an impressive eighth place with 33.96 laps. On debut, Jon had banged-in two excellent heats with Matthew's Mega-G+ to put him eleventh on 32.65 laps.

   

With all four lanes extremely drivable, the second pair of heats would simply be about improving. Terry looked untouchable at the top and - as much as they tried - Pete and Andy could only shave a little off his advantage. Those would be the automatic qualifiers for the top final. It was incredibly close from fourth to seventh - covered by a mere 0.6 of a lap - Ryan having first choice of lane for the B final, but Jerome facing a fight out of the C. Isaac was overtaken by both Rob and Kevin - the three of them finishing with 52, 51.9 and 51.8 laps - but the youngster was comfortably top junior. Jon remained eleventh after an impressive debut performance...

   
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Next up are the five finals...

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The E Final featured two McCanns - Tracy & Mike - the only Tyco in the field (Duncan's), plus Ollie - who had some work to do to if he was going to challenge Isaac for the junior medal. If you take a look at the line-up, you'll see two cars with blue stickers... This wasn't the only line-up error of the night - and I think we should perhaps put it down to the brain-befuddling temperatures. Anyway, when Mike crashed - which he only did towards the end of the race - we had two cars on blue lane, adding an extra lap for Ollie. We did adjust the totals... Not that it mattered. 

   

Ollie hit the front from the start, building up a very nice lead and banging in some super-quick laps with his Mega-G+. Mike remained his closest challenger, both Duncan and Tracy having an early detour off track. Then it all got a bit messy at the end - everyone crashing apart from Ollie, who finished four laps ahead of Duncan in second, Tracy in third and Mike at the back.

   

That gave Ollie a crack at Isaac in the D Final. Their mano a mano junior battle also saw Jon and Ash line-up in an all-Mega-G+ race. All stickers correct, but Ollie and Isaac's cars shared the same paint-job. Would that be an issue? Jon got off to the worst possible start - a crash at the first corner. We've all done it. What followed, was a great recovery and a totally clean run to the line. Would that put him in contention for the win? Not if Isaac had anything to do with it...

   

It was Isaac who controlled the race from the front. Ollie pushed hard, taking the lead on lap 5, but then crashed, was marshalled onto Isaac's lane (blame the brain-addling weather...) and chaos briefly ensued. Isaac kept going (minus the extra lap Ollie's errant car had given him) as he delivered a error-free junior-medal-winning run to the line. Offs for Ash and Ollie meant Jon was comfortably in second, a highly-disciplined recovery drive leaving him less than a lap behind Isaac at the chequered flag. Impressive stuff.

   

Isaac joined his dad, Rob and Jerome in the C Final in another all-Mega-G+ encounter. All stickers present and correct, but two more identical paint-schemes in the centre lanes. Thankfully, that didn't prove an issue this time. It was Rob who crashed first lap, somewhat denting his chances of the step-up... Ahead, the other three were nice and consistent, but Jerome was half a second of a lap quicker...

   

As Jerome disappeared up the road, Isaac and Kevin had a cracking good race - dad just shading son by a few hundredths each lap. Rob had three more offs, but the other ran clean to the line - Jerome setting a huge 19.05 lap score and Kev coming home with 17.80, just a quarter of a lap ahead of Isaac.

   

Two Mega-G+ and two Super-G+ lined up in the B Final. Yes, you've noticed it... but Oliver and Ryan didn't. Oliver stickered up his Mega-G+ correctly, but then inexplicably put the car in blue lane. Ryan - last to the line - then simply placed his car in the empty lane. Deemed a 'racing incident', a brief moment of chaos ensued - Oliver losing 4 seconds, Ryan 7 seconds, Matthew backing off and losing a second or two, but Jerome just put his head down and went...

   

However, his Mega-G+ was no match for Matthew's Super-G... By the end of lap two, Matthew had slipped past into the lead. Jerome had to plug away and hope the less-well-planted Super-G+ came off. After some super-quick sub-six second laps, Matthew eased off just a little and controlled the gap to Jerome. The other Mega-G+ was having a torrid time, Oliver not reacting well to the first lap incident. Ryan had responded well - driving a fast and controlled race. Chipping away at both Jerome and Matthew, he passed Jerome into second place. There was no getting past Matthew, who just upped his pace as Ryan made progress - his winning margin 0.55 of a lap...

   

Matthew's win meant three Super-Gs and Pete's Mega-G+ lined up for the A Final, almost a repeat of Heat 7...

   

Terry got off to a blistering start, his first (not quite a) lap clocked at an astonishing 5.675 seconds - the fastest of the night! Andy, Pete and Matthew followed - Andy matching Terry's second lap and closing in by a tenth with a 5.809 on the third. But he was pushing too hard - an off on lap 4 knocked the body slightly askew and he retired with an overheating car...

   

Then it was three. Terry was on fire - 13 of his 20 laps were sub-six seconds, whereas Matthew managed only one and Pete none. After Andy's retirement, there were no more offs, Terry leading Pete and Matthew to the line - and getting the first 20-lap score of the night, 1.10 laps ahead of Pete...

   

That was quite a performance from Terry from his first heat right through to the final lap of the finals! Congratulations on the win and bravo to Isaac for his junior medal...

   

Top rookie was Rob, but Jon's second spot and eleventh overall was certainly one of the performances of the night...

   

No Viper-Jet Classic Cup entries this time, so we're looking to revert to the 'Tyco-Turbo-Like Like M' format for F1 Classic Cup from March 2024 (to be confirmed).

A very big thank you to everyone who made it another memorable night at the Barn. Special thanks goes to the set-up and tear-down crews and to the race control team. We're back on Wednesday 4 October for our last WHO Mod / WHO Tuners night of the year - when the 2023 WHO Mod trophy will be awarded... if I've managed to find and crunch the data from April and July!