15th-Oct-23, 04:27 PM
Final Hour
It was lights out for the final hour as we raced into the dark. The weather gods had been kind and given us an all-dry track for the duration. DeadNuts held an eight lap lead over the Smooth Operators in the scratch race, with Hoonskies having a twelve lap lead over Écurie Escargot in the handicap race. As Birkett Relay rules state that each team can only win one winner's trophy, Smooth Ops and DeadNuts might have a consolation if they failed to win the scratch race. It was going to be an exciting final leg...
Ryan was driving the full hour with a Scalextric Ferrari 412P borrowed from Simon. Alex and Dean split the leg - the latter starting and finishing with a rapid BTCC BMW. Ryan was hoping to make a dent in the lead during the first 20 minutes, but he didn't - the two teams neck-and-neck when Dean handed the BMW over to Alex.
The front two were so quick, they'd left everyone else in their wake. Pete was nearest - handing over to Daniel with the Days of Blunder GT40 nine laps adrift. Rob had the Hoonskies BMW up in fourth, just ahead of Ash in the Escargot GT40. Kev and Stephen would take over those two cars for the penultimate stint. Matthew was 8 laps in arrears, however the AMC Javelin would make it to the end without another costly car swap...
Ryan was worried about the Ferrari not counting laps - a quick clean of a filthy LED on the car seemed to quell his fears. However, Alex got his head down, without distractions, and pulled out a three lap lead - now 11 overall. Stephen had dragged the Écurie Escargot up to third, albeit 16 laps adrift of the leaders. Daniel was two laps behind. Kev and Terry were fighting for fifth place, now thirty laps off the lead...
There wasn't a huge amount of pressure on Dean in the final stint, but Ryan pressed on - reducing the gap to one lap with eight minutes to go. Andy had trimmed the deficit by a lap and had put another two laps on Simon. Matthew had a three lap advantage over Ollie, who was driving the last stint for the Hoonskies.
Ryan kept pushing, grabbing the lead and a lap - but that gave the overall win to Alex and Dean by seven laps. Écurie Escargot finished third in the stint and third in the race - the gap to Days of Blunder a pretty slim eight laps. Hoonskies were fifth overall, looking after their cars and driving well. Laps in Concentration were sixth overall - and would have been even without losing 50 laps for two car changes.
And how about the Handicap race? With laps added for each silver (10), bronze (25) and junior (10) racer, DeadNuts were top by eight laps over Écurie Escargot. Those Birkett Relay rules meant Alex and Dean had to be happy with the overall Scratch race medals and trophy. No medals or trophy for Stephen, Ash and Andy (there will be some for next year), but there was most definitely some satisfaction...
So lets see those post-race team photos in ascending order...
That was last place in both for Matthew & Terry, but fifth overall and third in the Handicap race for the Hoonskies!
Days of Blunder finished fourth in both the Scratch and Handicap races - Écurie Escargot third overall and Handicap winners.
The two standout teams overall... a rather blurry Smooth Operators had to make do with runner-up spot in both races - the victorious DeadNuts not that bothered about ceding the Handicap win to the Escargots.
A very big thank you to everyone who took part. It was great to see 7 of the 16 racers were either current or former WHO junior racers - Stephen and Daniel from the original class of 2010, Ash first racing in 2013, Ryan and Oliver in 2017 - and with Isaac and Ollie joining us just last year. They all helped keep the average of the day in the mid-thirties!
Special thanks goes to the set-up and tear-down crews, Écurie Escargot for running race control, Daniel for taking control of the washing up and Ash for treating us - yet again - to tubs of chocolates! Everyone's help and commitment is always very much appreciated.
For a final treat, here's all the race data and stint stats for the afternoon relay race...
You can click the images to make them bigger!
The next Scalextric digital racing at the Barn is in five weeks time on 18 November - the first of a pair of WHO Tin Top Saturdays. The day will start with a club car rotation and then feature a full 3-race BTCC weekend simulation, a Muscle Car Mondiale heats & final competition, plus a 30-minute Sierra vs BMW team race. For the December Tin Top Saturday, we'll trial a new rotation pairs format and squeeze in a demonstration of the Carrera Classic Nascar class that will be introduced to the WHO calendar next season.
It was lights out for the final hour as we raced into the dark. The weather gods had been kind and given us an all-dry track for the duration. DeadNuts held an eight lap lead over the Smooth Operators in the scratch race, with Hoonskies having a twelve lap lead over Écurie Escargot in the handicap race. As Birkett Relay rules state that each team can only win one winner's trophy, Smooth Ops and DeadNuts might have a consolation if they failed to win the scratch race. It was going to be an exciting final leg...
Ryan was driving the full hour with a Scalextric Ferrari 412P borrowed from Simon. Alex and Dean split the leg - the latter starting and finishing with a rapid BTCC BMW. Ryan was hoping to make a dent in the lead during the first 20 minutes, but he didn't - the two teams neck-and-neck when Dean handed the BMW over to Alex.
The front two were so quick, they'd left everyone else in their wake. Pete was nearest - handing over to Daniel with the Days of Blunder GT40 nine laps adrift. Rob had the Hoonskies BMW up in fourth, just ahead of Ash in the Escargot GT40. Kev and Stephen would take over those two cars for the penultimate stint. Matthew was 8 laps in arrears, however the AMC Javelin would make it to the end without another costly car swap...
Ryan was worried about the Ferrari not counting laps - a quick clean of a filthy LED on the car seemed to quell his fears. However, Alex got his head down, without distractions, and pulled out a three lap lead - now 11 overall. Stephen had dragged the Écurie Escargot up to third, albeit 16 laps adrift of the leaders. Daniel was two laps behind. Kev and Terry were fighting for fifth place, now thirty laps off the lead...
There wasn't a huge amount of pressure on Dean in the final stint, but Ryan pressed on - reducing the gap to one lap with eight minutes to go. Andy had trimmed the deficit by a lap and had put another two laps on Simon. Matthew had a three lap advantage over Ollie, who was driving the last stint for the Hoonskies.
Ryan kept pushing, grabbing the lead and a lap - but that gave the overall win to Alex and Dean by seven laps. Écurie Escargot finished third in the stint and third in the race - the gap to Days of Blunder a pretty slim eight laps. Hoonskies were fifth overall, looking after their cars and driving well. Laps in Concentration were sixth overall - and would have been even without losing 50 laps for two car changes.
And how about the Handicap race? With laps added for each silver (10), bronze (25) and junior (10) racer, DeadNuts were top by eight laps over Écurie Escargot. Those Birkett Relay rules meant Alex and Dean had to be happy with the overall Scratch race medals and trophy. No medals or trophy for Stephen, Ash and Andy (there will be some for next year), but there was most definitely some satisfaction...
So lets see those post-race team photos in ascending order...
That was last place in both for Matthew & Terry, but fifth overall and third in the Handicap race for the Hoonskies!
Days of Blunder finished fourth in both the Scratch and Handicap races - Écurie Escargot third overall and Handicap winners.
The two standout teams overall... a rather blurry Smooth Operators had to make do with runner-up spot in both races - the victorious DeadNuts not that bothered about ceding the Handicap win to the Escargots.
A very big thank you to everyone who took part. It was great to see 7 of the 16 racers were either current or former WHO junior racers - Stephen and Daniel from the original class of 2010, Ash first racing in 2013, Ryan and Oliver in 2017 - and with Isaac and Ollie joining us just last year. They all helped keep the average of the day in the mid-thirties!
Special thanks goes to the set-up and tear-down crews, Écurie Escargot for running race control, Daniel for taking control of the washing up and Ash for treating us - yet again - to tubs of chocolates! Everyone's help and commitment is always very much appreciated.
For a final treat, here's all the race data and stint stats for the afternoon relay race...
You can click the images to make them bigger!
The next Scalextric digital racing at the Barn is in five weeks time on 18 November - the first of a pair of WHO Tin Top Saturdays. The day will start with a club car rotation and then feature a full 3-race BTCC weekend simulation, a Muscle Car Mondiale heats & final competition, plus a 30-minute Sierra vs BMW team race. For the December Tin Top Saturday, we'll trial a new rotation pairs format and squeeze in a demonstration of the Carrera Classic Nascar class that will be introduced to the WHO calendar next season.
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