[woodcote]

   

Our autumn schedule at the Barn began with our third AFX Formula One race of the year. These races are supported by AFX HQ in Reno - and we had some quality AFX-branded ballpoint pens to give away to all our racers, plus a couple of AFX baseball caps.

We brought back a layout we built for the final Micro Scalextric team race in October 2016 - Micro Suzuka...

   

The track certainly had a good flow to it and filled the Barn nicely...

   

I'll hand over to Gareth for the race report...

[Gareth]

   

Round 3 of the F1 championship saw the return of one of our old Micro Scalextric team championship tracks; the fabulous Suzuka.  The track stretched beautifully across the Barn requiring some careful positioning of the marshals to ensure the drivers could see past the Kobayashi hairpin to Spoon curve at the far end.  During practice we saw a lot of crashing and a wild variety of times as people either adapted to the track or didn’t!  It was certainly a challenge with the tyre limited Super Gs.  

   

We had 22 drivers on the grid this time with people grabbing an end of summer holiday before returning to school and work.  No new drivers this month but we did welcome back young Oliver and Adam the Elder for a couple of rounds of heats.  


The first of the big scores arrived in Heat 2 with Pete blasting in an 18.9 on yellow.  Indeed by the halfway point, he had nearly a 2 lap lead on Oliver W, Keith and Terry.  I was in p5 in my new Bulldog F1 car, the first one in the club.  I had changed the axles to get a lower ride height and the result was a super safe car through Suzuka’s fearsome esses and Casio chicane. 


There were many fast drivers who had struggles in one or two lanes but recovered with big scores elsewhere to vault themselves up the order.  Ryan’s 19 in white, Jerome’s 19 in red and Deborah’s improvements changed the order all changed things up at the end of qualifying to leave the order Pete, Keith, Oliver, Ryan, Terry and Deborah.

   

[Gareth]

G Final

Ollie had had a miserable time through the heats as he struggled to keep his Super G on the track. He managed to break no fewer than 3 resin printed bodies before the finals and was down to a last unpainted body for the final.  Would it stay intact? 

   

He would be in blue and facing Simon (sporting a rather nice RNLI cap, please support the lifeboats!) in red with a new Formula N Mega G+. Whether it was the reduced pressure of just a single competitor or the joy of a new bodyshell, Ollie produced the best drive of his night so far as he cruised to a very respectable 17 laps.  Simon couldn’t keep pace with the SG+ and several crashes saw him drop nearly 2 laps to Ollie at the flag.  But he did go home with a rather nice wooden spoon. ?

   

[Gareth]

F Final

   

Ollie stepped up into white lane where he would take on Stephen (yellow/Mega G+), James (blue/Mega G+) and his dad Rob (SG+) in red.  Ollie stormed into the lead before a pair of laps crashing at his favourite spot, the hairpin, saw him relegated to 3rd and Rob out front ahead of Stephen.  Meanwhile James was having his own private disaster of a race.  Crashing on lap 1 and then 3 crashes at the end of his race left him mired on only 11 laps. I wonder if we will see a Bulldog in the Blackmore garage in December.  

   

Stephen was also unhappy with his car as he complained of it being slow and not particularly easy to drive as he had some big crashes of his own as he fell back to 3rd.  
Up front Rob was driving consistent laps but not particularly quick ones and he was being rapidly caught by a charging Ollie who took the lead on the minute mark and held it to the flag for a superb double step up win.  How far could he go!

   

[Gareth]

E Final

   

Mike McCann (Mega G+) was on pole in our second father/son duel of the evening as he took on Daniel McCann (red/Mega G+),, Kevin (blue/Mega G+) and Ollie remaining in white for the second race.  Mike was rolling the dice with the yellow lane which was fast but did feature the tightest line in the hairpin. The gamble didn’t pay off as Ollie led the early stages from Daniel with Mike and Kevin in a very entertaining battle for 3rd which changed hands almost every single lap.  

   

Ollie was looking rapid but the McCann Mega G+ cars had come alive during the heats after some tyre fiddling and Daniel was never far away which meant that when Ollie crashed on lap 7, Daniel was through into the lead.  Within two laps, Ollie was just a few pieces of track behind but crashed again.  And with that his rhythm was gone as he fell back to a distant second place leaving Daniel to complete an error free run to victory.  Behind the younger pair, Mike finally secured that 3rd place against Kevin who had one of those evenings where his car just wouldn’t do what he wanted.  

[Gareth]

D Final

   

It’s very unusual to find the chairman of the board in the D Final but Andy (Super G+) had had a very middling set of heats.  16 laps a heat wasn’t to be sniffed at but he was missing a lap or 2 each run to get him up the order and he missed out on the C Final by just half a lap to Matthew.  He picked blue lane for his pole position and Tracy in 2nd went for the so far unfavoured white lane in her Mega G+.  That gave Ash and his Mega G+ red lane and Daniel yellow.  


Both Ash and Daniel immediately crashed on lap 1 leaving Andy leading Tracy.  It was not a vintage run for Ash as he had 3 laps in a row with a crash and struggled to get his car out of the 7 second lap time.  A real shame for one of our most friendly and enthusiastic racers and race controllers.  Daniel meanwhile clawed his way back towards his mum in the race who had a very lengthy off just past the middle stages of the race which allowed Daniel into p2.  Once back on track though, Tracy blasted in some rapid times to put the pressure on Daniel who promptly crashed but a final crash for Tracy on lap 14 let Daniel back through.  

   

No one though had an answer for Andy who despite a brief scare on lap 9, kept the lead from start to finish for probably his most cautious and slowest win ever.

[Gareth]

C Final

   

Jerome was one of the drivers who had struggled a bit in the heats but two big scores had shown the potential of his Super G+.  He’d be going from red while I chose to gamble on yellow lane with my Bulldog as it was the lane I did my best heat in.  That gave Matthew’s Super G+ blue and Andy white.  

   

There was a noticeable step up in pace for this final as Jerome rocketed into the lead from me, Andy and Matthew.  Disaster struck for Jerome on lap 3 as he crashed allowing my Bulldog through while Matthew swept past Andy and Jerome and into 2nd place.  Matthew blinked on lap 7 allowing Jerome through who was rapidly closing me down by several 10ths per lap until a second crash on lap 10 saw Andy briefly into 2nd only to be overtaken again by Jerome but another crash on lap 12 halted Jerome’s charge.  Even so he closed the gap just over half a lap to me at the flag as I slowed way too much for fear of crashing!  Andy kept it on track for a slightly distant third ahead of Matthew who seemed rather dejected at the flag.  The pace was there but the crashes hurt just a little too much.

[Gareth]

B Final

   

I was delighted to be keeping yellow lane in the B but I’d be up against pole man Ryan in blue whose Super G+ was looking incredibly quick.  Terry elected for white lane in his Super G+ leaving Deborah’s Mega+ in blue.  This was going to be good. 

   

Terry’s white lane hunch paid off as he led the early going from Ryan, Deborah and me.  I was the first to blink on just lap 3 and 2 laps later, Ryan nosed past Terry for the lead.  The pace was electric, the first final with all 4 cars lapping consistently at 6 or under seconds.  I crashed again on lap 8 but nothing else really happened until lap 11 when Terry had a huge off.  Losing a massive 14 seconds in a single crash and then another 2 the following lap, he fell to the back. Deborah was now in 2nd place but I was pushing incredibly hard with the Bulldog and suddenly the two cars were side by side for several laps before the Bulldog nosed ahead for p2.  Out front it was Ryan’s race to lose and despite a late off on lap 17, he elected to win instead smashing the 20 lap barrier for the first time that evening.  Phenomenal drive.  

[Gareth]

A Final

   

Pete (Super G+) chose red lane for his pole position while Keith (Mega G+) had gone for blue.  This felt like it would be a classic confrontation.  Keith’s MG+ cars always seem made for these twisty tracks while Pete can wring the neck of an SG+ in an almost unmatched manner.  Oliver (Super G+) has been a consistent feature of the A Finals this year and he’d be going from yellow with Ryan feeling pumped and confident that white lane could give him a double victory.  

   

Immediately Ryan took the lead of the race with Pete hot on his heels, both of them putting in eye scorching laptimes. 5.2 for Pete, 5.3 for Ryan both on just lap 2 of the race. The whole Barn was gasping as we tried to comprehend how the cars were staying on track at this pace!  Behind these two, Oliver and Keith were locked in their own tight battle, Oli having the upper hand until he crashed on lap 5. There were more crashes to follow and poor Oli was forced to settle for 4th place.  A great evening’s work but you could tell he was a bit frustrated.  Keith too seemed slightly mystified that his Jordan bodied rocketship was struggling to match the top 2.  Apart from one crash on lap 10 and the opening 2 laps, Keith never lapped above 6 seconds but he had no answer for Pete and Ryan.  


Meanwhile, the top 2 were fighting hard.  Ryan crashed on lap 6 then Pete crashed on lap 12 and again on lap 16.  That put Ryan back into the lead but thanks to some incredibly quick marshalling, Pete was right behind and lapping faster.  


Both drivers were onto lap 20 as the time ticked under 3 seconds before the unthinkable happened.  Ryan crashed in the esses right in front of race control and as the power cut, Pete was through to Degner 2 and the win.  Less than a quarter of a lap separated the two of them at the finish after an epic battle.  


So congratulations to Pete for the win, Ollie for the junior medal and Matthew and Kevin who took home AFX caps after a random draw.  

   

Thanks as always to the set up crew, the strike down crew and an especially big thank you to Ash.  For most of the heats, he heroically marshalled the Degners and hairpin which was where the bulk of the crashing took place.  A real selfless act and one that should be recognised.  Thanks Ash!  

   

See you all for the final rounds of the season.  

[woodcote]

Thank you Gareth for that fabulous report! And massive thanks to everyone who helped make it such a fun night at the Barn.

Here are the official results...

   

Which give us this AFX Formula One Championship table...

   

And Pete's last lap overtake could be really crucial in the race for the 2025 club championship...

   

It's pretty close between James and Stephen for the Rookie of the Year...

   

Every HO night is now a championship decider!