Our new WHO random weather algorithm served up a race that started Wet and would gradually turn to Damp by the end of the scheduled 500 laps. It was not a good start for Écurie Escargot. The power issue that cut short Alex's Super Pole run persisted. An early pit stop cycled through all possible issues - and it turned out to simply require the controller to be turned off and on... but that was six laps lost before the race had really begun...
Locked at the front after ten minutes were Gearzilla, Smooth Ops and WHAM! - Oliver, Ryan and Ash really enjoying the track in wet conditions. Pole-sitter Ollie was a lap behind, with Dean three off the front-runners. Things went from bad to worse for Écurie Escargot - the red & white Aston lost all power after 15 minutes. It was a repeat of last month's broken wire to the front ferrite man - this time the other wire... Mike stepped in with his soldering iron, but repairs ran into the second stint, with the team losing nearly 50 laps in the pits...
Meanwhile, Gearzilla led into the first driver change - Oliver rattling up a massive 101 laps. Ollie had fought back to put Sidewinder second on 99 laps, equal with Smooth Ops. Fourth were Astone Modsell, Dean handing over to Steve for stint two. They were equal with WHAM! on 97 laps.
The second stint continued in the rain, everyone staying on Wet tyres, although Mike inexplicably fitted Hards to the WHAM! Bentley. Écurie Escargot were back in the game and Stuart drove hard to end the stint 45 laps behind fifth place and 54 laps off the lead...
Star of this 20 minutes was Rob, who set the top score of 95 laps and put Sidewinder into a 5-lap lead over Astone Mosdell in second - Steve had a cracking stint in the black Vantage GT3. Smooth Operators held third, just a lap behind, after a strong drive by Duncan. Gearzilla dropped from first to fourth, Stephen having a tough 20-minutes. WHAM! Racing were just behind, Mike gaining ground with the Bentley.
At the second driver change, Rob handed over the 'Vette to Matthew, Isaac took over the second-placed Aston, Nathan was up for Smooth Ops, Ethan for Gearzilla, Steve for WHAM! and John took control of the last-placed Écurie Escargot Aston.
The fastest car on track for this third 20-minutes was that troubled red & white Vantage. John drove it beautifully to set a race record equalling 101 laps and cut the deficit to fifth place from 45 laps to just 25 - now 45 laps off the lead. The rain stopped after 52 minutes, but the track remained wet. With cloud cover, conditions wouldn't improve very quickly...
At the front, Matthew maintained Siderwinder's lead - although Isaac had taken two laps off their advantage by scoring 94 laps to Matthew's 92. That battle was shaping up nicely. WHAM! sat in third, eleven laps back thanks to Steve's 88 score - an excellent rookie performance. Smooth Ops were in fourth after Nathan's stint and Gearzilla dropped another place despite a solid 20-minutes by Ethan.
An hour gone and the drivers changed again - Mike D was driving for Sidewinder and Pete for Astone Mosdell, Mike Mc back on for WHAM!, Mark for Smooth Ops, Stephen for Gearzilla and Andy for Écurie Escargot...
The track had dried just a tad - but that was enough for Sidewinder, Gearzilla and Smooth Ops to try the Intermediate tyres. However, top score for this stint went to WHAM! Racing - Mike banging in 98 laps and driving the Bentley beautifully. That closed the gap to Astone Mosdell significantly - now just two laps. Pete's steady 89 laps was eclipsed by both Mikes, Mike D adding eight laps to Siderwinder's lead. In the midfield, Gearzilla jumped ahead of Smooth Ops and Écurie Escargot stayed 25 laps back.
The driving so far had been great and the track quicker than expected, so the 2-hour estimate for the 500-laps was a little off. The fifth stint looked like it would be the last full 20-minutes, with Ollie in particularly good form for Sidewinder...
It was blisteringly fast stint - Ollie leading the way with the Sidewinder Corvette. His 99 laps was sensational, a string of sub-10 laps punctuated by the occasional crash. John was again on top form for Écurie Escargot, managing 98 laps and regularly getting close to the 10-second mark. If that wire had remained intact, the Aston might well have run Sidewinder close for the win.
Instead, it was WHAM! Racing who moved up to second place - Steve's 94 laps beating Scott's 85 for Astone Mosdell, whose flimsy rear wing was becoming a liability. Smooth Ops also had wing issues in this stint, Simon dropping four laps to Terry, who moved Gearzilla to within one lap of the podium places. John's heroics had Écurie Escargot just 19 laps behind fifth, but the team's recovery had pretty much run out of time.
The final driver change took place with Sidewinder needing less than 20 laps for victory. Rob made quick work of it...
Jeremy finally hung up his team manager hat and took the Bentley for a spin - very satisfied with runner-up spot. Oliver went all guns blazing and was just too quick for Isaac - Gearzilla Racing stealing third spot in those final minutes. It was mildly disappointing for Astone Mosdell, who'd run in second for much of the race. However, as team captain Dean said, after last months litany of mechanical woes, it was great to get through the race without any major issues. Ryan was disappointed with fifth and the Écurie Escargot had mixed feelings - devastated by the early stop, but exhilarated by the pace of the car and the recovery to 23 laps off fifth, 55 of the winners...
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Congrats to the winners and all the teams on a great evening of racing...
And here are all the stint stats...
That leaves the GT Championship table looking like this after two of the four races...
Don't forget it's double points for the final round - a 4-hour race in June!
As always, big thanks to everyone who came along and contributed to a most enjoyable evening at the Barn. Special thanks goes to the set-up crew, the race control team and all those who stayed behind to pack away.
We're back for Round Three on Wednesday 15 May, a few days after the UK Slot Car Festival at Gaydon - where you can race your St Mary's Trophy and RAC TT Celebration cars to WHO rules on a 100-foot replica of Goodwood Motor Circuit. More details
here.