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Our 2025 season kicks off with a WHO Mod & WHO Tuners night on Wednesday 8 January. Don't forget that we're introducing some changes to all our classes this year to simplify the rules and focus on chassis that are readily available in the UK. All the details are here: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...p?tid=4574

We have a brand new track design to start the year - an 85-footer with a fly-over...

   

Both our super-fast WHO Modified class and the slightly slower hard-bodies WHO Tuners run in the same heats and finals. We expect the speed differential between the two to close over the next two seasons with the rule changes. WHO Mod remains lexan-clad and is for the Viper and Bulldog chassis. From this month, WHO Tuners is restricted to the Bulldog and AFX Mega-G+ chassis.

As always for HO, doors open at 6.15pm for practice with the heats starting between 6.45 and 7 o'clock, depending on numbers. Race fees remain £3 for adults and £2 for under-16s. Club cars and controllers are available for no extra cost.

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We also have our annual season tickets available this month...

• All HO events (13 Wednesday evenings) - £30 adults, £20 under-16s
  
• All WHO Digital events (8 Wednesdays + 5 all-day Saturdays) - £50 adults, £30 under-16s
  
• WHO Slot Rally events (4 Wednesday evenings) - £10 adults, £5 under-16s
  
• All 30 WHO Events - £90 adults, £50 under-16s
  

Terry will take cash and cheques (payable to Worthing HO Racing) at any January WHO event. Or contact us for our account details for a bank transfer.

Under-16 price is available for any junior racer who is under 16 at the time of payment.

On-the-door payment (cash or bank transfer) is £3 adults / £2 under-16s for a Wednesday evening, £6 adults / £4 under-16s for a Saturday.

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Race Report - Qualifying Heats

Having escaped the arctic conditions that have swept the UK over the past week or so, snow unexpectedly hit the South Coast just as it was time to set up the first track of the WHO season. Snow is a rare sight in these parts, so chaos ensued. Thankfully a bit of slush on the roads and pavements was all we had to deal with in West Sussex, but parts of Brighton were cut off, sadly depriving us of Gareth's involvement.

   

Once inside the Barn, the weather was forgotten - a big new track design was built and ready just in time for practice at 6.15. We welcomed James for a first taste of racing - he only popped in to see what it was all about, but stayed for three heats. Kay likewise came to say hello and ended up racing James' fourth heat and the final. That worked perfectly.

   

This season sees a final hurrah for the Level-10 Viper cars - and this was a track which was ideal for them, but took time to master fully. Mike, Isaac and Kev all had Bulldogs, which had a mixed night on debut in Mod and Tuners - Mike's Tuners-spec version running more smoothly than the other two. Plus we had a gaggle of Mega-G+ runners, for which the track looked a lot of fun.

   

At the front, a good score seemed to be 26 laps - and a lot of drivers were hitting that mark, making the standings very close after everyone had completed two heats. The top six - Andy, Pete, Terry, Ryan, Oliver & Rob - were separated by four laps. The next five - Ash, Matthew, Ollie, Stephen & Daniel - covered by just two laps. Isaac was first of the Bulldog runners in thirteenth and rookie James was doing great in fifteenth with the club cars...

   

As racers got more heats under their belts, the track started to give up its secrets. Lap times started to tumble and scores crept up. The highlight of qualifying - and possibly the night - was Heat 14, which saw four drivers push each other to break the 28-lap mark for the first time. They did so in style, Andy finishing on 29.1 laps, Ryan 28.2, Terry 28.15 and Rob 26.1. That one heat pretty much set the A Final line-up, but Ryan had a chance in the penultimate race to grab pole. Another 28 lap run left him just a quarter of a lap short of beating Andy to top spot...

   

Some great heats left us with six mouth-watering finals to finish the night.

   

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Race Report Finals - Part One

Kevin, Kay and Kev lined up for the F Final, Kay having taken over for James at the end of the heats. She chose red lane, with Kevin in blue and Kev in yellow...

   

Both Kev and Kay had slow starts, leaving Kevin's orange Mega-G+ out front. Kev had endured a difficult evening with his new Bulldog's drivetrain not moving freely at all. The car seemed better for the final, but he still found himself at the back of the pack...

   

Despite a couple of wobbles, Kevin maintained his lead over Kay, who was driving well for only her second 2-minutes of HO club racing!

   

A solid middle of the race gave Kevin a comfortable lead, but drama behind put Kay just ahead of Kev with the seconds counting down. As the power was cut at the end of the race, all three cars were strewn across the same section of track - Kevin and Kay's cars no longer in the slot. Kevin had won the race by three laps, with Kay snatching second by just two car lengths...

   

That was quite a dramatic finish!

Kevin stepped up into yellow for the E Final...

   

This would be the race for WHO Tuners honours, with Mike's Bulldog in blue and Steve driving the red club car. Isaac's Bulldog had the uprated magnets, so was a Mod car. Mike was quickest off the line and led the first three laps, before an off let Isaac get by...

   

Isaac was driving a great race and his car was clearly quickest. Behind him, a fabulous battle for the Tuners win unfolded...

   

All on a similar pace, each driver had opportunities, but all made errors. Mike led the Tuners trio with four laps to go, but binned it. Kevin now only had three laps to hold on, but crashed on the penultimate time round. That meant Steve - who'd had plenty of offs during the two minutes - took a famous WHO Tuners victory to start the year. The E Final win went to Isaac and prize for most valuable car body to Mike...

   

Isaac's Bulldog  stayed in white lane for the D Final, where he'd face the Vipers of Stephen (blue), Ash (yellow) and Daniel (red)...

   

Compared to the previous race, this was faster and cleaner - Stephen got the jump on the field at the start and his Viper looked to be the class act. Ash and Isaac attempted to keep in contact, but were steadily dropped...

   

We had to wait twelve laps for the first crash in this race, but it was a significant one. Isaac came off on the switchbacks and collected Stephen. Such was the impact, the front of Isaac's Ferrari body disintegrated and Stephen's Viper stripped its pinion. Isaac would eventually continue, but it was race over for the erstwhile leader. Ash took over the lead and despite a late off, comfortably held Isaac at bay. Daniel rolled in third as the wreckage of Isaac's car was collected up...

   

Ash swapped over to white lane for the C Final, where he's meet three more Vipers - Oliver choosing yellow, Ollie blue and Matthew in red...

   

Matthew caused consternation by deciding to strip off his jacket during the 5- second countdown, but managed to grab his controller and complete the first lap comfortably in the pack. Ollie led through the line, but Oliver's Viper - featuring a superb new paint-job - overtook last year's junior champion on the second time round. Those two battled for the lead and were soon joined by Matthew...

   

Ash couldn't match the pace of the others and a crash on lap 3 dropped him right back. Matthew crashed on lap 7 and Ollie the next time round, taking the pressure off Oliver in the leading Viper...

   

Oliver's pace did not falter and he looked fully in control. This was another very fast and mostly error-free two minutes. Ollie and Matthew pursued, but they needed Oliver to make a mistake. He didn't. A last lap off for Matthew meant Ollie was safe in second.

Could Oliver strike again from yellow lane in the B Final? Or would Pete (red), Jerome (blue) or Rob (white) have a crack at the overall race win?

   

We'll find out soon...

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Jerome blasted off the line, was a foot ahead of Oliver going into the first corner and had a good three yards on the rest at the end of the first lap. Pete struggled to get the better of Oliver and their super-close battle would be a highlight of the race. Rob took his time to settle in to a fast pace and Jerome was so quick he was soon closing in to lap the fourth-place man...

   

This was a great track for the Vipers to strut their stuff and it was lap 11 before we had our first crash - a quick off for Rob. The battle for second was more or less decided in Pete's favour when Oliver had a big one on lap 19, losing three laps. Oliver's car would also leave the track at the end, finishing the race on the floor...

   

But this was a magnificent win for Jerome after a below-par qualifying. Pete finished second, Rob third and Oliver stranded in fourth.

Jerome stepped up to yellow for the first  A Final of 2025. Pole-sitter Andy had chosen blue, Ryan red and Terry white...

   

Ryan had a sensational opening lap, leading Jerome, Terry and Andy through the line. The first six laps were absolutely cracking. Andy responded to Ryan's opening move with a 4.063 on lap three, a 3.981 on lap four and a 3.965 on lap five to take him past Terry and Jerome and put him just a few feet behind Ryan. However, the leader certainly wasn't backing off and banged in a 4-second dead lap five and then a 3.968 on lap six...

   

So intense was the pace, something had to give. Lap seven saw Jerome, Terry and Ryan all crash in the switchbacks - although Ryan just managed to stay on the lead lap. Andy sensibly backed off by a quarter of a second a lap, controlling his lead. However, Ryan was still in contention thanks to some great marshalling and quickly getting back on his 4.0 to 4.1 second pace. Andy soon had to respond to keep Ryan at bay and it was a full-on final 30 second run to the line - Andy dipping into the 3.9s on two occasions. At the end of the race, Andy stopped at 28.80 laps, Ryan just crossing the line for 28.00. Jerome was four laps back, Terry five adrift after a big late-race crash...

   

Jerome secured fastest lap with a 3.895 - one of a trio of mid-race sub-four-second laps.

   

Here are the full results from all the finals...

   
click on the image to make it bigger

   

Congrats to our winners - Andy for the race win, Ollie as top junior, Steve for the WHO Tuners win, with James and Fay sharing top rookie honours in the absence of Ryan and Frankie. Championship tables are as per the results, so we don't have to worry about that this month.

A very big thank you to everyone who turned out for a snowy start to the season. Special thanks - as always - go to the set-up and race control crews and to everyone who stayed to help pack away. We couldn't do it without you.

Our next HO race is on Wednesday 5 February - the opening round of the WHO Nascar championship and a chance to celebrate the club's 15th birthday. There will be cake! And here's a preview of the four Nascar layouts we'll be using this year, starting with a big one...

   

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Here are some video highlights of Wednesday's finals...




There are loads more videos on our WorthingHORacing YouTube Channel.