[woodcote]

   
          
At our WHO Goodwood Revival Saturday we race models of cars from the 1948-1966 era, when the Goodwood racing circuit in West Sussex held regular national and international race meetings. The aim of the day is to recreate the atmosphere of the Goodwood Revival historic racing festival that has been held since 1998. Our racing uses the Scalextric Sport Digital system and RCS64 software. Cars are run without traction magnets and may be modern ready-to-run models, kits or scratch-builds with plastic chassis. We race on a layout inspired by the Goodwood Motor Circuit and featuring a single-lane chicane...

   

This is a summary of our current Goodwood Revival classes, but the full car regs in the pdf should be consulted if you are preparing a car to race. Those regs can be downloaded from our website here: http://www.whoracing.org.uk/who_digital.html

• Club Car Rotation: Six race-prepared Goodwood Revival club cars race for two minutes by each driver. The total laps completed will count towards the final result.
  
• St Mary’s Trophy (Parts I & II): A two-part pairs race (one ten-minute heat per driver) for 4-seat, hard top saloon cars 1948-1966. The aggregate of the two drivers’ scores count towards the final result. RTR models by Scalextric, Carrera and Revell with standard S-Can motors or FF as fitted. Also George Turner kits (GTM chassis) or other bodies with PCS32 chassis. Wheel & tyre width: Minimum 5mm, maximum 10mm.
  
• Richmond Trophy: An individual sprint race for front-engined 2.5-litre Grand Prix cars 1948-1960 to include George Turner kits, plus Cartrix and Scalextric RTR cars. Wheels & tyres: minimum diameter 19mm, minimum width 5mm, maximum width 7.5mm. Rear track must not exceed a maximum overall width of 55mm.
  
• Whitsun Trophy: An individual race for Sports Prototype and Can-Am cars to 1966, including various RTR models and George Turner kits. Maximum tyre width 10mm. Slot.it and Policar models are now eligible for the Whitsun Trophy, but must be run as with a built kit - using a Scalextric or PSR AC6 motor and Scalextric gear ratios.
  
• Kinrara Trophy: A 45-minute team race for 1959-64 closed-cockpit GT cars. Must have headlights fitted and use a Scalextric or PSR AC6 S-can motor. A 3D-printed chassis with Slot.it pod (inline or Sidewinder) may be used, or suitable George Turner cars with resin chassis. Wheels & tyres: minimum diameter 19mm, minimum width 5mm, maximum width 7.5mm.
  
• RAC TT Celebration: A pairs race (with driver change) for 1959-64 closed-cockpit GT cars featuring front-motored RTR models by Scalextric, Revell and Fly, using original wheels only. To run in October 2023 as the Birkett Relay warm-up race. A reserve class for September.
  
• Sussex Trophy: A 45-minute team race for 1950-59 World Championship sports cars and production sports racing cars featuring kits by George Turner, Racing Replicas, OCAR etc using a Scalextric or PSR S-can motor. A limited number of RTR models are also included as options. Wheels & tyres: minimum diameter 19mm (front) 21mm (rear), minimum width 5mm, maximum width 7.5mm. Maximum overall width of car 57mm. To be run in October 2023 as the first hour of the Birkett Relay race. A reserve class for September.
  
  

Motors. From 2023, all built kits and scratch built cars must be powered by either a standard Scalextric C8146 S-Can motor or the Pendles PSR AC6 double-shaft can. Kits requiring a slim can motor should use the PSR AC1 can.

The schedule for this year's event is as follows...

   

We do encourage racers to make even a small effort to dress in period costume - as at the real event. However, authenticity ends when it comes to catering - prices at the local chippy and Tesco Express shouldn't break the bank.

[Kevan]

That should be a grand day out 

[BAracer]

4no. cars at the ready!

I've been waiting 4 years to attend this event.

[woodcote]

Race Report - Morning session

Sixteen of us gathered at the Barn on an unusually sunny and bright autumn day. Building of Mike's Goodwood-inspired layout - featuring a single-lane chicane - was finished in short order, extending the practice time nicely...

   

The Club Car Rotation was also Goodwood-themed, Mike preparing a plethora of Scalextric GT40s, a Ferrari 330 P3 and a out-of-period Chapparal 2F to provide plenty of action and fun way of learning the track. The 2-minute format was tweaked recently because pit stops had become a rare sight when the heat times were trimmed. Now each heat is a gas-guzzling, tyre-eating frenzy, requiring at least one pitstop - and sometimes two. That was certainly the case with the Goodwood club cars - especially the blue GT40, which was an evil first car for most. For racers like Marios and Oliver, who haven't raced for a while, it was a big challenge. Even for those of us who are WHO/digital regulars, it's a case of being 100% dialled-in for every heat...

   

Mike showed great form from the off, a string of sixes and a seven leaving him only the blue car - but he would have to wait to the final heat of the race for that. In the meantime, Alex put together a potential race-winning sequence of 5, 7, 6, 6, 7 and a 5.75 - the first and last scores being good for those cars. The next driver to nail the rotation was Andy, identical scores to Alex up to the final heat and then a 6.75 to put him one lap ahead. It all came to Mike and that 'challenging' gas-guzzling blue GT40... He needed 6 laps to tie, but fell two laps short...

   


So our top three were Andy, Alex and Mike - Isaac picking up the junior medal in the absence of Ollie, recovering at home from Covid (get well soon!)...

   

Next was the first of two individual races - the Richmond Trophy for front engined 2.5-litre Grand Prix cars of the period 1948-60. These were gathered in parc fermé at the start of the day and scrutineered during the rotation. A very fine bunch...

   

With seven on the grid, there was a 2-minute qualifying session, a four-car B Final and six-car Feature. Alex hit trouble with his Aston DBR4 in qualifying, requiring a quick super-glue remedy. It worked... he blitzed the B Final as the only car to complete ten laps, followed into the Feature by Pete's Vanwall and Simon's Maserati...

   

Alas, Dean's misfiring Ferrari was eliminated...

   

Mike was quickest away from the line and led the first lap of the Feature race, but Jeremy, Alex and Terry were in close pursuit - covered by not much more than a second. These 1950s F1 cars are brilliant to watch as the race plays out in slower-motion than other classes. Alex moved his Aston ahead of Jeremy to put pressure on Mike - while the pressure was too much for Terry, who crashed and dropped to the back. By half distance, Mike, Alex, Jeremy and Pete were all on the same lap - the main battle between Alex and Jeremy for second, Mike having a cushion of about a quarter of a lap. Despite setting the fastest lap of the race towards the end, Jeremy couldn't find his was past Alex - and that gave the Aston Martin space to close the gap to the leader. He trimmed Mike's lead a little, but Mike comfortably brought the BRM home. Alex and Jeremy filled the remaining podium places, with Pete scraping fourth after a late splash-and-dash, finishing just ahead of Simon and Terry...

   
(click the image to make it bigger)

Huge congrats to Mike and his two closest rivals for a highly entertaining race...

   

That was the end of the morning session, but there was important business over lunch - voting for the Concours d'Élégance competition. Most of the cars were entered by Alex and Mike - Alex in particular having been very busy producing some sensational kit builds and re-paints this year. His Aston Martin DBR1 overwhelmingly won the popular vote...

   

The car began as a 1990s re-release of the classic Scalextric model, Alex carefully re-painting and detailing it to produce a racer that is both eye-catching and of great sentimental value. Chapeau!

[woodcote]

Race Report - Afternoon Session Part One

The afternoon began with the St Mary's pairs race. With Oliver, Marios and Matthew only here for the morning, plus Kev and Isaac having to head home unexpectedly, we were left with eleven - Jean's arrival making a perfect dozen. Six great cars, six rather adept pairs - we were ready for some tin-top fun...

   

The first 10-minute heat started with a pile-up on the first corner. Ash got through in the big '57 Chevy and built a nice lead... before Jean came back at him with the blue Falcon, pursued by Oliver in the Monogram Galaxie. Just behind those three, Ryan was driving the '65 Mustang beautifully and Jeremy was right in the mix with the re-engined Scalextric Cortina. Pete had lost a little ground, but the George Turner Jaguar Mk1 looked super-smooth. Disaster hit the Galaxie half way into the heat... It ceased to function and, despite plenty of diagnostic work, was retired. More mid-race exuberance saw the Falcon leap the barriers and was marshalled incorrectly - something that was noted and would impact on the final result.

The standings after Heat One: Ford Falcon 35 laps; Chevy Bel Air 34 laps; Ford Mustang 33 laps; Lotus Cortina 32 laps; Jaguar Mk1 28 laps; and Ford Galaxie 17 laps.

   

Mike kindly loaned his George Turner Galaxie to Simon for Heat Two. Mike had a lead to defend in the Falcon, with Andy needing to make up a lap, Dean needing two or Terry needing three. It was a typically-frantic St Mary's race, with plenty of (mostly) side-by-side contact and some breath-taking moments going into the chicane. At the front, Mike and Andy matched each other lap-after-lap, Simon driving the Galaxie beautifully to stay in contention. Terry, Dean and Alex had there own, equally close battle for fourth place. As the ten minutes ran down, a late wobble from Falcon dramatically allowed Andy to grab the extra lap he needed. But the second St Mary's tie in two years wasn't to happen - Jean remembered the missed lap from Heat One, the protest was accepted and the Falcon entered Victory Lane alone. Ash and Andy finished a lap back, with Terry and Jeremy's Cortina an excellent third overall...

   

Congrats to Mike and Jean on their St Mary's win!

   

A change to the schedule saw the Whitsun Trophy cars next - the Kinrara team race shifted to its rightful end-of-the-day spot. Everyone got a car for Whitsun, some not-entirely legal club cars being loaned to Oliver, Ryan and Jean - a move that would prove a little controversial!

   

The Whitsun Trophy is run using our Muscle Car Mondiale format - two 10-minute heats sending the top three from each into a 10-minute Feature. The heats are about position on the road, not about laps - so those final couple of minutes can get very frantic!

   

Heat One saw an unexpected dice at the front between Oliver in his GT40 club car with low-profile tyres and Jeremy's fully-legal Policar 412P. In the end, the yellow Ferrari eased out a two lap margin of victory. Behind them, there was an absolutely huge ding-dong between Mike's George Turner McLaren M1A, Jean's GT40 club car and Terry's Monogram Lola. Simon has been up there, but his Fly Porsche began to croak shortly after half distance. That battle for the all-important third spot went right down to the wire. Mike had made errors, but was relying on Jean needing to pit in the final minute of the race... Jean executed the splash & dash to perfection - and not needing tyres was able to comfortably come out a lap ahead of the McLaren. Last year's Whitsun winner was gutted - and cursing those club cars!

   

Heat Two saw the racing debut of Alex's George Turner Chaparral 2A. It was quick, super-smooth and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. Behind, Ryan and Andy had a non-stop dice for second spot. Well-matched on the track, their positions changed at the pit stops - Andy's GT40 eventually prevailing. Those three would go through. Dean's GT40 was a lap adrift of Feature race glory, followed by Ash's Carrera Ferrari P2 and Pete's GT40.

The Feature race was fast and furious, with no room for error. After a quarter distance, Jeremy's Ferrari led a bunched pack of Jean, Andy, Alex, Oliver and Ryan. An unfortunate double pit stop dropped Andy's GT40 to the back - with Alex having dropped to fifth. That left Jeremy leading a chasing trio of club cars by one lap at half distance. Alex managed to get into a rhythm and up to to third with two minutes to go. By this time, Jeremy was nearly three laps up and cruising, but the next four were still on the same lap - Andy still a lap adrift after his pit stop disaster. That's how close this race was for the minor places. A mad dash to the line saw Oliver grab second and Ryan third in the Ferrari - two club cars on the podium! Alex came in fourth, ahead of Jean and then Andy...

   

   

Huge congrats to Jeremy, who might just have changed the Whitsun Trophy paradigm with that Policar win? And it's also possible those pesky club cars won't get an afternoon run-out next year!


   

More to follow after a visit to the Havant swapmeet...

[BAracer]

Can I just apologise for that podium photo. The excitement of my first ever solo win after 4 years of playing went to my Quality Street infused head!

[woodcote]

Race Report - Afternoon Session Part Two

Before the final scheduled action of the day, two new classes for 2023 made their debuts in quick-fire exhibition races. The Sussex Trophy and TT Celebration cars will both race next month as part of the Birkett Relay day and will race at the 2024 WHO Goodwood Revival...

   


Six 1950s World Championship sportscars lined up for a three minute race - briefly interrupted by a short-circuit  - and Duncan's Mercedes came home ahead of Mike's Merc, Andy's Ferrari, Alex's Aston and then the two Jaguar D-Types of Dean and Simon. Next there were five front-engined GT cars, three of which will also race in the Kinrara Trophy, including these two...

   

Jeremy's new-for-2023 Scalextric Cobra finished third, just behind Simon's E-Type Jag. Mike's Fly Ferrari 250 GTO was the victor, with the two Scalextric GTOs of Dean and Jean bringing up the rear.

And then it was time for the Kinrara Trophy -  the Barn's lights dimmed to replicate the Friday-evening twilight race at the real Revival. The cars' headlights took centre-stage...

   

Qualifying saw Alex take pole from Ash, Mike third and Jeremy fourth. Dean beat Simon to fifth. At the front were the three 'pro' cars. At the rear, Jeremy, Dean and Simon all hoped the reliability of a standard ready-to-run car would pay dividends in the 45-minute endurance race. Duncan had joined us to make thirteen racers (unlucky for some?) across five pairs and one team of three - Jeremy, Jean and Terry driving the 'Snake Eyes' Cobra.

Oliver in Alex's Targa Florio Ferrari and Ash in Andy's Shelby Cobra Daytona took control of the race in the early stages - the only two cars lapping under 13 seconds. They pulled ahead of Jeremy's Cobra in third. Disaster struck for Oliver and Alex at their first pit stop - the Ferrari failed to trigger the pit entry sensor in what was a highly-unusual chip malfunction. Although ending up with a manual workaround, the Ferrari had tumbled down the order and out of contention within the first ten minutes of the race. At five minutes gone - just as this drama was developing - Ash led Jeremy by two laps, Ryan in Dean's Ferrari was third, Simon fourth in the E-Type, Oliver still fifth and Pete in sixth, struggling with Mike's George Turner E-Type...

   

Ash and Andy were surprised to be out front without a three-way 'pro' car tussle, but Ash certainly made the most of the opportunity to stretch his lead. At the driver change - marking half way or 22 minutes and 30 seconds - Ash had notched up 80 laps, seven more than Simon in the Scalextric E-Type. Third was the Cobra, which now had Jean at the wheel and was just a lap behind Simon. Dean would soon take over the red Ferrari in fourth, with Pete seven laps back in fifth and Oliver a further 25 laps in arrears with the malfunctioning 250 GTO.

Light rain had started to fall after 13 minutes of the race, the track slowly getting damp. By the mid-point driver change, Hard tyres were getting a little tricky to handle on the greasy surface - and that would only get worse. Ryan had already switched to Softs, with Jean's Cobra and Simon's E-Type on Intermediates. The conditions would certainly catch out Mike, who was more preoccupied by his misfiring Jaguar. Alex was now charging as hard as he could in his Ferrari, but pit stops remained a palaver. At the front, Andy changed to Softs and kept pulling away from the rest - the only issue being unpredictable handling on the curbs...

   

Jean handed the Cobra over to Terry with 15 minutes to go - sitting in fourth place. Ahead by a lap was Duncan in the E-Type - and they were three laps adrift of Dean in second. Andy was seven laps ahead, but with a full tank and brand new Intermediate tyres. At the back, Mike was 25 laps adrift of the pack, Alex a further 22 laps behind - both of them frustrated and deflated. The Inters were working nicely for everyone, although Dean chose to stay on the Softs to defend second place. The Cobra Daytona stretched its lead to 10 laps with five minutes to go and fourteen at the chequered flag. Dean successfully brought the Ferrari home in second. However, the interest in the final stages was who come third. Duncan and Terry were swapping places on the track and in the pits, the E-Type a little more thirsty on fuel. As the chequered flag fell, it was the Snake Eyes Cobra which grabbed that final podium spot for the team of three...

   

   

After coming close last year, the brightly-lit Cobra Daytona climbed up to the top step, with Ash and Andy taking victory...

   

And a trio of standard Scalextric cars showing that they can still mix it at the top...

   

That was that for a second hugely-enjoyable WHO Goodwood Revival. Very big thanks to everyone who came along during the day to join in the fun and help make it such a memorable occasion. Special thanks goes to the set-up and tear-down teams and to some fantastically slick work on Race Control.

We're back next month with our inaugural WHO Birkett Relay, but the date for the 2024 WHO Goodwood Revival can go in your diaries...

   

If you're thinking of coming along to race, we'd thoroughly recommend a couple of Nascar & Legends Digital Wednesdays to get you up to speed with Scalextric digital and the RCS64 software. Our 2024 calendar will be announced in the next few weeks, along with all the regs and formats for the new season.

[woodcote]

The excitement of my first ever solo win…

That win - plus your podium in the Richmond Trophy - may well have implications for next season’s driver gradings…

[BAracer]

Oh dear...

[Gpa113]

Great looking event guys, just my sort of cars...

I was hoping to run something similar this year at my club, but a new track layout, and ensuing issues, have meant it hasn't happened. 
This will definitely spur me on to get organised for next year!

Pip