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The real-life Birkett Relay is a fabulously quirky format and arguably the biggest annual event on the UK motorsport calendar in terms of cars and drivers...



The WHO Birkett Relay format is a simplified version that allows us to run six different classes during the day, with all six teams in with a shout of the Handicap win...

   

Here are the teams for 2025, with Mike's Maximus Gastropodus replacing Terry's Laps in Concentration...

   

And these are the six classes we'll be running...

   

Each hour is a separate 57 minute race in RCS64. When the power is cut, each team's car is replaced where it stops by their car for the next hour.

The first running of the WHO Birkett Relay used a Silverstone-inspired track, but we made the decision to run a new track each year and giving us six-hours to learn and maybe master it. For 2025, Simon has worked on this layout, based on the Monaco street circuit...

   

Like our other Digital Saturdays, this event is not for beginners - we do ask that all racers have successfully completed at least one Wednesday evening Nascar team race & Legends pairs race.

[BAracer]

Polished and ready to hand on...
   

[BAracer]

Or maybe not...

[Kevan]

Tell tell...

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WHO Birkett Six-Hour Relay 2025 Race Report

Sixteen racers gathered at the Barn for the third running of the WHO Birkett Relay. James also joined us, but as his day would be disrupted by work, he very generously decided to marshal for us and enjoy the vibe. He did sterling work at the chicane - especially in the first couple of hours as we learned the track - and was deservedly awarded the 'Spirit of the Race' award and took home a Silverstone mug and a stick of UNISON rock (thanks to Dean and Kev for those).

   

With minimal practice time, all six teams would be learning the track during those first couple of hours. It was a whopper - Simon's WHO Monaco filling almost the entire floor space of the Barn and using up all the WHO track stock plus plenty more...

   

And it was a delight to drive - although the single-lane chicane and the hairpin were busy marshalling points to begin with. The chicane added a hazard, but also gave an overtaking opportunity for faster cars - and with such a mix of classes on track at the same time, that would prove ideal.

Our sixteen drivers made up a team of four, two threes and three pairs...

• Brake 'Til Tyre: Alex (Gold) & Dean (G) - Handicap 0 laps
  
• Fuller-Beans: Rob (Silver), Ollie (Bronze), Isaac (B) & Kev (B) - Handicap +170 laps
  
• Écurie Escargot: Andy (G) & Jeremy (S) - Handicap +20 laps
  
• Gearzilla: Oliver (G) & Ash (S) - Handicap +20 laps
  
• Days of Blunder: Simon (S). John (B) & Duncan (B) - Handicap +120 laps
  
• Maximus Gastropodus: Mike (G), Matthew (S) & Stephen (B) - Handicap +70 laps
  

It was time to decide on driver order and car choice for that first hour... and we were off!

Hour One - Legends! Legends! Legends!

   

Four teams wisely chose to get the Pioneer Legends out of the way first. With their short wheelbase and lively on-track behaviour,they'd certainly wake everyone up. Écurie Escargot and Maximus Gastropodus bucked the trend and ran a Trans-Am and a BTCC car respectively...

   

Each 57-minute race was run separately, with random weather decided in advance. Hour One saw two sunny spells, giving us clean, dry track conditions. The Escargot's Camaro and the Gearzilla Legend battled for the first hour honours, although the Days of Blunder Legend came back strong at the end. Ash drove the whole hour, with all the other teams swapping twice - the 120-second driver change windows straddling the 19 and 38-minute marks. Three teams needed brief trips to the garage for repairs - and this saw them in the bottom three places, although not too far off the pace...

   
Don't forget to click the image to make it bigger

Hour Two - Blunder Boys grab the initiative

   

The second batch of cars were collected and checked-over during the opening hour. There was more of a mix this time - leaders Écurie Escargot played their Legends card, alongside three Trans-Ams (Brake 'Til Tyre, Gearzilla and the Gastropods) the Days of Thunder BTCC Honda and a Whitsun+ GT Mk2 for the Fuller-Beans. The latter would lose its bonnet and spend a short time in the garage - as did the Brake 'Til Tyre Camaro. However, Oliver's hour in the Gearzilla Camaro was wrecked by braid plate issues, dropped him and Ash right to the back.

At the front, Écurie Escargot, Days of Blunder and Maximus Gastropodus battled in out in overcast conditions on a damp track. Intermediates were the tyres to have, although not everyone made it easy for themselves! In the end, it was the Days of Blunder BTCC Honda that took Hour Two honours and the lead of the race overall...

   

Back soon for the next couple of hours...

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Hour Three - Yellow Ferrari

   

This third hour saw Damp-Wet-Damp track conditions, which is always tricky with braking points as the conditions change. Tyre choice is crucial. We had some quicker cars on the grid - the race leaders threw their Slot.it Sauber Group C into the mix, alongside Jeremy's Policar Ferrari - the Whitsun+ choice for Écurie Escargot. The classic yellow prototype was super-smooth and ate up the laps - only Ash with the Gearzilla BTCC BMW keeping in touch. The Gastropods were running their Legend and despite setting the best score for that class, lost ground on the front two. Days of Blunder were disappointed not to be up there to defend their overall lead - although their +120 lap bonus still made them firm favourites in the Handicap race.

   

Jeremy & Andy finished on 214 laps, but the drive of hour was most definitely Ash, who also broke the 200-lap mark with the Gearzilla Pirtek BMW. 

   

However, it was a tough hour for the Brake 'Til Tyre BTCC car - the team needing help from Mike to stay in the race and keep the laps ticking over...

   

Here's some video action from hours 2 & 3...



Hour Four - A suspect device lights up the race

   

The weather stayed grim for the fourth hour with Damp and Wet conditions forecast. The hour was also disrupted by two restarts after short circuits, so the full data is not available for this one. Two Slot.it Group C Porsches (Escargot & Fuller-Beans) and a fast GT3 Mustang (Gastropods) were outclassed by a not entirely legal Thunderslot McLaren M6A. We're introducing a Can-Am race to a new Digital Saturday next February, so we wanted to see how quick the Thunderslots might be. Even with the WHO legal motor, the McLaren was by far the quickest car on track all day - its 10:813 second fastest lap comparing to 12:916 for the Policar Ferrari and 12:224 for the fastest Group C (the Gastropods).

   

After their early race nightmares, this hour with the McLaren did bring a smile back on the faces of Alex and Dean - and the orange car lit up the race, barrelling through the hairpin section as if it was stuck to the track (no traction magnet - we checked)...

   

We never quite got to the bottom of the short circuits, but with the race set up as it is, it wasn't a huge issue to restart twice. It prolonged the agony for Oliver, whose borrowed Whitsun+ cars was off the pace. The Days of Blunder Camaro needed time in the garage, but the Fuller-Beans banged in their best run of the race so far with Rob's new Slot.it Porsche 962.

   


At the end of Hour Four, the McLaren had completed a massive 228 laps, giving everyone else a thrashing and lifting Brake 'Til Tyre back up to fourth overall. The Écurie Escargot Porsche 956 was second with 209 laps to maintain the overall lead. Third were Maximus Gastropodus and their rapid Mustang GT3, hitting 201 laps and moving up to the runner-up spot overall. Days of Blunder led the Fuller-Beans by one lap in the Handicap race...

   

We'll back for the final two hours a bit later...

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Hour Five - The Pace Quickens

   

The track was now dry - and would remain so for the whole hour. Three GT3 cars (Brake TT, Days of Blunder & Écurie Escargot) were joined by Gearzilla's Group C, the Fuller-Beans Trans-Am and the George Turner McLaren M1A of Maximus Gastropodus. This hour would see the most laps completed by all six teams so far. It was Ash in the Gearzilla Group C that had the best of the first 19 minute stint, but then Andy hauled the Escargot Bentley into the lead during the middle session. Despite a humdinger of a battle, Jeremy held on to that one-lap advantage to win the hour and clock up 215 laps - the best score of the day for Écurie Escargot.

   

Brake 'Til Tyre and Maximus Gastropodus had enjoyed their own battle for third and Mike brought his McLaren home just ahead of the Audi R8 GT3, both on 202 laps. Days of Blunder had a decent run with their Corvette GTE, gaining ground over the Fuller-Beans to lead them in the Handicap race by 16 laps with one hour to go.

   

Hour Six - Into the Darkness

   

The hall lights were turned off for the final hour. Thankfully, all the teams had remembered to keep a car with working lights - although it was still very tricky to see anything in the gloom. The weather dice threw another fully-dry hour to make things less complicated. This looked to be another rapid hour - two Group C cars (Brake TT & the Gastropods), two GT3s (Fuller-Beans & Gearzilla), Days of Blunder's Ferrari Whitsun+ car and Écurie Escargot's BTCC MG6.

   

The race leaders had the slowest car in this final hour, but the MG6 is no slouch and the pair had a 58 laps advantage - they could afford to lose a lap a minute. It was Oliver who raced off into the lead with his AMG GT3, closely followed by Alex in his Group C Porsche. A gap opened to Stephen in the Gastropods' Slot.it Lancia and Andy's MG6 - the Escargots weren't losing anything to their nearest rivals. A loose screw caused a stop and a restart with 46 minutes to go - and we would run through to the end.

Here's some action from the darkened Barn...



Oliver maintained his lead over Alex and Dean until the closing stint of the race - it was quite a battle and showed how quick our Scalextric GT cars are compared to a stock Slot.it Group C model in a head-to-head. Behind them, Mike gradually made up ground in the Lancia, setting the fastest non-Thunderslot lap time of the race. Jeremy and Andy hung on in fourth, setting the best BTCC class score of the race - 207 laps - with the MG6. Consistent scoring and bullet-proof cars had given Écurie Escargot the overall race win.

   

Meanwhile, disaster had struck for Days of Blunder when their Ferrari broke down early on. They swapped cars and received a 50 lap penalty, blowing their chances of the Handicap race win. The Fuller-Beans hadn't done quite enough either - when the extra laps were added, Maximus Gastropodus and Écurie Escargot were equal on 1243 laps, just 16 ahead of Isaac, Ollie, Kev & Rob. Even without their penalty, Days of Blunder would have fallen two laps short of glory.

So congratulations to all six teams (Stephen and John had dashed off before the team photos)...

         

         

         

And the overall and Handicap scores?

   

Having won the Scratch Race, Écurie Escargot couldn't win both - so the Handicap Race went to Maximus Gastropodus, ahead of the Fuller-Beans and Days of Blunder. it was a pretty close thing between those four - ignoring the Blunders' penalty, just 16 laps separating four teams after six hours of racing!

   

Jeremy would again take home the WHO Birkett Relay trophy, although maybe only for six months.

A very big thank you to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable, non-stop six hours of action. Special thanks goes to Simon for an awesome track design, James for marshalling, to the set-up and race control crews and to all who stayed behind at the end to pack away.

We now finish the WHO digital year with Tin-Top Saturdays in November and December, but we are back at the Barn on Wednesday 22 October (not long!) for our fourth and final WHO Slot Rally club night. Expect lots of ice and snow...

[Kevan]

Very interesting event!

When you say wet conditions, how exactly is that achieved?

[BAracer]

Thr quick answer is it's done throught the RCS race management system. 

Wet = longer braking distances
Full fuel load = slower acceleration
Etc

[Kevan]

I did wonder if it was done digitally; sounds great.