[woodcote]

   

The WHO Birkett Relay is an opportunity to run a bunch of our favourite WHO/digital classes in a four-hour team race. It borrows a lot from the real Birkett event - a quirky, but quite magnificent format that has run since 1951. The race currently runs at Silverstone each year, organised by the 750 Motor Club.

The basic idea of the relay is that each team runs several cars during the event - a handicap system meaning a vast array of cars appear on the track at the same time and no-one quite knows who has won until after the chequered flag has fallen.

Our WHO version of the Birkett relay will simplify things a bit - at least for the first year. Over four hours, each team will race one car from four different WHO classes - a mix that can change each year.

To ensure the race gets off to a good start in 2023 - and to adjust to a few of our car-owners being otherwise engaged next week - we have made a decision to run four all-time WHO/digital favourites in the relay...

   

All the class regs can be found in our 2023 WHO/digital Guide pdf available here: http://www.whoracing.org.uk/who_digital.html

Doors will open at 10am for practice, with two Goodwood classes - the TT Celebration and Sussex Trophy - running in short-format races from 10.30 to 11.30am so everyone gets a chance to warm-up for the big event. A second practice session runs up to midday, when the first hour of the inaugural Birkett Relay will start.

Our six teams won't be based on driver rankings - we've encouraged anyone who wants to form a team to do so. There will be some loaning of cars across teams - and nothing in the rules to say that the same car can't be run by different teams in different hours. The only cars that must run together are the Slot.it Group Cs, which will make up hour two.

Each leg of the relay will be set up as a 58-minute race in RCS64, allowing for a two-minute change of teams' cars - the new car starting from the piece of track the last car finished. Each hour is split into three 20 minute stints, with drivers able to double or triple stint if they want to. However, the total of twelve stints must be equally divided between each team's drivers.

Simon is working on a 1:32 scale Silverstone layout for Saturday - a track plan will be posted when it's ready.

[woodcote]

   

Did you know that Derby HO Racing Club founder Nick Sismey competed in the Birkett Relay at Silverstone in 1984? That's him third from the left in the photo, looking very young and dashing indeed.

That year, the Six Hour Relay saw 27 teams and 157 drivers taking part. Most of the teams were from one-marque clubs, Nick driving with five other Alfa Romeo enthusiasts. A big crash and an even bigger oil clear-up meant the race was shortened to just over 5 hours. The Bentley Drivers' Club took the handicap honours, with Wood Treatment Team Chevron winning the scratch race and the Alfa Romeo Owners' Club coming fifth.

In the eighties, Donington and Oulton Park both hosted four hour relay races along with the Birkett six hours at Silverstone. Points were awarded towards the Sir Williams Lyons Inter-Club Relay Challenge Trophy.

Motorsport magazine said of the 1984 Birkett race...

Everybody should experience these relay races, they are more than simply races, they are a celebration of the great tradition of British club racing. No matter how cynical one becomes when experiencing the antics prevalent in “higher” forms of racing, a few hours spent at these events restores your faith in the idea that motor racing can still be a sport — seriously fought competition leavened with humour, courtesy, camaraderie and fair play.

There is a section of the 750 Motor Club website that looks in-depth at the Birkett Relay and its history. You can find it here: https://www.750mc.co.uk/home.htm

And here's a slightly older, but no less dashing Nick at the Barn in July 2014...

   

[woodcote]

   

Simon has done well to squish a Silverstone-inspired layout into the confines of the Barn. Promises to be a good racing track!

[woodcote]

   

We will be trialling a handicap system on Saturday, based on our driver seeding system - and see if that makes a difference!

There is one team with four bronze drivers and two under-16s...

[Gpa113]

Great idea Andy, just like the real event it will keep everyone in with a chance of a win!

Hope the Handicapping Officials have got the bonus lap numbers about right 

[woodcote]

Let's hope so!

Here are the teams...

   

Doors open at 10am Saturday morning for practice.

[BAracer]

Missing it already!

Sorry I can't make it.

[woodcote]

We’ll be doing it again next October - hopefully even bigger and better!

I found this video that explains the race quite well…



Of course, we’ll be pausing and restarting the race every hour to change cars.

[woodcote]

Race Report - Morning Session

The WHO Birkett Relay would run during the afternoon, with the morning taken up with two half-hour practice sessions, plus an hour of quick-fire pairs races to get us warmed up. First, we needed to build Simon's wonderful Silverstone layout, which filled the Barn very nicely and gave us a flowing lap and some very enjoyable racing...

   

Sixteen racers joined us for the day, all allocated to their Birkett Relay teams before the event. However, we put together three pairs races with some hastily thrown together pairings. First up was a Formula Libre race, followed by two Goodwood classes - the TT Celebration and Sussex Trophy - with three cars in each...

   

Terry has wanted to run this Sideways Riley  for ages - and now was his chance! He and Matthew split the ten minutes and gradually pulled away from Stephen's Slot.it Porsche, which was shared with his brother Daniel. Rob got to run his new Scalextric Ford GTE '66 Le Mans Heritage car, but only after four minutes of work in the garage. An unfortunate rear-ending in the dying seconds of practice had dislodged something... The car was back on track for six minutes - Rob and Kev dividing the remaining time. Their 20 laps would have been at least 33.5 over ten minutes, plus a pretty quick fastest lap.

   

So that was six drivers warmed up and ready for the relay...

   

Next was the inaugural running of the TT Celebration for RTR front-motored GT cars of the early 1960s. With most of the TT car owners elsewhere - and a couple of cars still being prepared - bravo to Isaac, Dean and Simon for getting on the grid...

   

The three cars looked close in practice and that proved correct in the race. Dean and Alex kept the GTO on the road, while the other two cars lost ground with the occasional excursion. Typically, Simon's E-Type was a convertible by the end of the ten minutes!

   

Congrats to Alex and Dean on winning the first medals of the day. The TT Celebration will run as a pairs race after lunch at the WHO Goodwood Revival next September - expect at least three more cars on the grid, probably more...

   

Last up for the morning were the Sussex Trophy cars. With three owners unable to attend today, these were bumped from the relay - getting their own race in the morning...

   

Again, it was a very close start. However, Dean's D-Type was soon in the pits - leaving the Aston and the Ferrari to battle it out for the win. Alex got the better of Ash, handing the DBR1 to Oliver about a lap ahead of the yellow 250 TR. The final five minutes were all about Andy hunting down the Aston and taking the lead with around 50 seconds to go - these Sussex Trophy car needing gentle coaxing on their super-skinny tyres...

   

That meant all sixteen drivers had got some race laps under their belts in a most enjoyable and laid-back morning...

   

Meanwhile, twenty-four cars were assembled in parc fermé - ready for the WHO Birkett Relay...

   

[woodcote]

Race Report - WHO Birkett Relay

WHO regulars have been sorting their teams for the relay over the past few weeks. Unlike our usual endurance races, teams weren't led by a Gold-rated driver and didn't need any Bronze members to adhere to Pro-Am regulations. Our racers were free to race with the people they wanted. That gave us one team of four - the Hoonskies - two teams of three - Écurie Escargot and Days of Blunder - plus three pairs - DeadNuts, Smooth Operators and Laps in Concentration.

   

Although the Group C cars had the second hour to themselves, the other three legs of the relay would see a mix of the remaining three classes - BTCC, Trans-Am and Whitsun+. Four teams went with Trans-Ams in hour one, Laps in Concentration a Whitsun+ Chaparral 2F and Smooth Operators their BTCC BMW. After a drivers' briefing, we were off...

   

Hour One

Ryan was racing the full hour for Smooth Ops, taking the early lead ahead of three Camaros - Pete's Pioneer, Ash's Scalextric '69 model and Dean's '71 Brut car. They were followed by Terry in the Chaparral and Kev in the Hoonskies' '71 Camaro. We were using a new weather simulation, trialling it for 2024 - and the whole of hour one saw sunshine and fully-dry track. Everyone was taking advantage of the conditions - the order pretty much the same at the first driver change, the top five covered by 7 laps and Kev just losing touch in sixth.

   

The field spread out during the second stint, Ryan pulling out an eight-lap lead over Alex, who had five laps on Daniel in third. Following closely were Stephen and Matthew, Ollie working hard to keep on terms with an ill-handling Camaro. As we got into the final 18-minute stint, the Group C cars were sat waiting for the second hour...

   

Hard racing continued between Ryan, Dean, Simon, Andy, Terry and Isaac, but the positions on the road didn't change. The Smooth Operators took a big 13 laps lead, DeadNuts and Days of Blunder equal on 224 laps. Écurie Escargot were six laps back, three ahead of Laps in Concentration, with Hoonskies bringing up the rear on 199 laps - 38 off the lead. That was for the scratch race... The Handicap race would see 120 laps added to the Hoonskies' score at the end of four hours...

Hour Two

We'd separated out the Group C cars to minimise carnage - with the Slot.it 23k motors, they are by far the quickest class we've run at WHO/digital over the years. And after mothballing the class last November, this was a final hurrah for at least a while. Added to the mix was a wet, but drying track - 2 random weather choices designated for the second hour. All that speed and less-than-ideal brake response, the action didn't disappoint...

   

Ten minutes in and Alex had the DeadNuts just a whisker ahead of Pete's Porsche in second. Smooth Ops were third - two laps back - and Oliver wasn't entirely happy with his Porsche. Fourth was Ash, driving Stephen's Porsche IMSA 962 - and on the same lap as Ollie who was driving Andy's Porsche 956. Five Porsches led a Nissan - Matthew struggling with a car that would eventually be replaced by Terry's Porsche - incurring the team a 25 lap penalty...

   

It was still pouring at the first driver change. The top two were still locked together - Alex and Daniel now driving. Five laps behind, Stephen was just ahead of Oliver, with Isaac two laps back for Hoonskies. Terry had taken over the ailing Nissan. Over the next twenty minutes, Alex made huge gains - pulling out a 15 lap advantage over the pursuing pack of Daniel, Oliver, Stephen and Isaac. That might have been a race-defining stint...

   

However, Dean couldn't keep up the pressure in the final 18-minutes. Simon fought back brilliantly to finish just three laps shy of the DeadNuts Porsche. Another car on the move was Écurie Escargot's Porsche - Andy getting ahead of Oliver and finishing six laps behind Simon. The most important gap was that between Dean and Oliver - eleven laps... That meant the Smooth Operators were two laps ahead at the halfway point of the relay.

Hour Three

More rain was falling at the start of the third hour - forecast to stop and for the track to dry fully. We had three BTCC cars for this one, plus the Smooth Ops' Trans-Am Camaro, the Hoonskies' Whitsun+ Ferrari and the DeadNuts Chaparral 2A...

   

Ten minutes in and the Chaparral led Terry in his eBay-sponsored BTCC BMW. Those two were on the same lap, Oliver was four laps back with the Camaro. At the first driver change, Oliver had fought his way to second place and just three laps behind - but that gave the DeadNuts the overall lead by a lap. Stephen had the Escargots' MG6 in third, having overtaken Matthew in a slightly sickly BMW. That BMW would soon be replaced - another 25 lap penalty - dropping Laps in Concentration to the back...

   

With 18 minutes to go, Alex led Oliver by seven laps. Andy jumped into the MG6 a further twelve laps back, nine laps ahead of Kev in the Hoonskies' borrowed Ferrari 365 P2. Days of Blunder were having a tough leg with their BTCC Honda, but Simon had the Hoonskies in his sights...

   

A fast and furious final stint saw Alex stretch the lead to ten laps - that meant an eight-lap deficit for the Smooth Ops going into the final leg. Écurie Escargot finished the stint third and held third place overall - five laps ahead of Days of Blunder, Simon having fought back to fourth in the leg. Hoonskies sat fifth overall, but led the Handicap race by twelve laps over Écurie Escargot and 19 laps over DeadNuts. Could then defend that lead in the final 58 minutes?

We'll find out later...