2013/14 Race reports
CLICK ON NON-SLIDE SHOW IMAGES TO SEE LARGER VERSIONS, ALL REPORTS AUTHORED BY DEANE WALPOLE UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
round 9, Goring-By-Sea
Well, it has been quite a ride. I don't know how many miles the valiant Saxo, 'famous' in it's own right, has done on duty for EAHORC, combined with the vehicles either side of it, nor how many days I have spent building tracks and tweaking peripherals, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat if I had the time over. There has been the odd blip in the enjoyment but days like yesterday's cracking meeting always put them in their proper, very minor, context.
Truth be told, I didn't originally set out to do this on any kind of scale or for a long period of time. The national racing back at the beginning was patchy at best and I'd been beseeching Peter Baldock to resurrect his club in South London. He didn't but he did agree to help me set up a track if I found a hall, and a few months later that is what we did. The meeting itself featured the regular national guys of the time, and they ran it. Only after some stuff I won't go into here was I presented with both a blank sheet of paper and extinction at the same time, and that is when EAHORC really hit the ground running.
Luckily I found John Kelly, who put our venue-finding on a secure financial footing, and a little while later Andy Whorton, who has done more things for our group than I can count. I'm immensely grateful to them, as well as Peter and to Doug Passell, and all those who have help me in ways big and small, but it is the body of people that have come through the doors on race day over the years that have been the real stars. That people would get up early on a day when a lie in must sound enticing to come race toy cars to my vision has always fascinated and moved me. So to the 'Stupid O'Clock brigade', I salute you whilst returning to your ranks.
Here's to the next 12 years (at least)....
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
If having a national in Worthing HO's true home for the first time was not enough, we also had the unprecedented three way showdown for the Premier Grade title to get our teeth into. WHO had put together brilliantly tricky layout in short order, a testament to the experience gained over the years putting on excellent club night against the clock. You either had to approach some sections 'blind' or switch your vision to those and bomb through the one before on trust. It was possible to find a rhythm, but hard (as it should be) and time lost/gained was a lot. Early doors we wondered if one of the three in the fight would rise above the other two, and so it proved.
Andy Whorton hadn't really expected to be in the title fight, having dipped a little since winning in 2012, but he'd found top form again the second half of the season and came down to the coast having only lost in Open Wheel once all year. The way he had come into the battle possibly meant he was more relaxed than his two rivals, and therefore more able to access his talent. Not that Clive Harland and Mike Dadson were exactly slow, even under immense pressure in The Barn they filled out the A final with Andy. But a 33 lap score in yellow of all lanes helped Andy take pole and tag as favourite. None of his could of predicted what eventually followed.
The finals commenced with the F, Callum Norris, complete with wrist in plaster after a fall, and struggling, against Loius Townsend, Josh Whorton and the returning Ash Johnson. In the only lane he'd been happy in during the heats Callum was able to take the win as well as ensuring he would be the first recipient of the Junior championship, and go up into another of a long series of races against his mother Carol for E final honours. As they crossed the line for the final time the younger Norris was ahead, but a mistake in the dying seconds saw mum move past, to much good-natured ribbing from all those present. Better was to follow for Callum, but Carol could count herself lucky to be the one stepping up, as Marc Townsend, having a torrid time by his recent standards, was only a few feet behind.
Truth be told, I didn't originally set out to do this on any kind of scale or for a long period of time. The national racing back at the beginning was patchy at best and I'd been beseeching Peter Baldock to resurrect his club in South London. He didn't but he did agree to help me set up a track if I found a hall, and a few months later that is what we did. The meeting itself featured the regular national guys of the time, and they ran it. Only after some stuff I won't go into here was I presented with both a blank sheet of paper and extinction at the same time, and that is when EAHORC really hit the ground running.
Luckily I found John Kelly, who put our venue-finding on a secure financial footing, and a little while later Andy Whorton, who has done more things for our group than I can count. I'm immensely grateful to them, as well as Peter and to Doug Passell, and all those who have help me in ways big and small, but it is the body of people that have come through the doors on race day over the years that have been the real stars. That people would get up early on a day when a lie in must sound enticing to come race toy cars to my vision has always fascinated and moved me. So to the 'Stupid O'Clock brigade', I salute you whilst returning to your ranks.
Here's to the next 12 years (at least)....
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
If having a national in Worthing HO's true home for the first time was not enough, we also had the unprecedented three way showdown for the Premier Grade title to get our teeth into. WHO had put together brilliantly tricky layout in short order, a testament to the experience gained over the years putting on excellent club night against the clock. You either had to approach some sections 'blind' or switch your vision to those and bomb through the one before on trust. It was possible to find a rhythm, but hard (as it should be) and time lost/gained was a lot. Early doors we wondered if one of the three in the fight would rise above the other two, and so it proved.
Andy Whorton hadn't really expected to be in the title fight, having dipped a little since winning in 2012, but he'd found top form again the second half of the season and came down to the coast having only lost in Open Wheel once all year. The way he had come into the battle possibly meant he was more relaxed than his two rivals, and therefore more able to access his talent. Not that Clive Harland and Mike Dadson were exactly slow, even under immense pressure in The Barn they filled out the A final with Andy. But a 33 lap score in yellow of all lanes helped Andy take pole and tag as favourite. None of his could of predicted what eventually followed.
The finals commenced with the F, Callum Norris, complete with wrist in plaster after a fall, and struggling, against Loius Townsend, Josh Whorton and the returning Ash Johnson. In the only lane he'd been happy in during the heats Callum was able to take the win as well as ensuring he would be the first recipient of the Junior championship, and go up into another of a long series of races against his mother Carol for E final honours. As they crossed the line for the final time the younger Norris was ahead, but a mistake in the dying seconds saw mum move past, to much good-natured ribbing from all those present. Better was to follow for Callum, but Carol could count herself lucky to be the one stepping up, as Marc Townsend, having a torrid time by his recent standards, was only a few feet behind.
With the bit between her teeth Carol was now flying, and having denied her son a double step-up was looking to get one of her one. Sure enough neither Dave Hannington, national rookie Keith Schooling (using a quick and smooth Tyco) nor Henry Townsend could step up enough from the heat scores to deny Carol, who very much did. Positions changed so much race control lost their voice calling it, but in the end the lady racer was just too quick for the guys. So, next up, could she get onto the scrap with the two drivers who had done enough on the day already to step up to Premier Grade status next season, Jim Sanders and Alan Twiddy?
Staying in yellow she would face those two and Gareth Winslade. Gareth usually makes the top two finals, and/or qualifies glued to Deane Walpole, but an interloper whom we would all be worshipping come lunchtime pushing him down into unfamiliar territory. Nonetheless, on pole and in the steady red lane he was ultimately able to drive well clear of an immense scrap behind him. At the death Carol had taken another scalp, beating Alan by 0.35 laps and being merely the same distance behind Jim, now crowned at Main Grade champion.
So, Gareth and Deane once again in a B final, this time with the interloper, local Simon Coombes as well as the slowest of the 'aliens' in Andy Player, who has nonetheless impressed all with his pace since returning to nationals after a long gap. I guess you never lose it, and so it was 'Mr WHO' was able to give everyone the A final they expected, winning comfortably. Deane and Gareth never really got going, and so Simon was able to take a very impressive fifth place as well as top honours on the day in Main Grade. Hopefully we will see more of him next season.
On then to the final 3 minutes of the open wheel season, with about as much at stake as there could be. With specially selected marshals in place and race control armed with various showdown scenarios three nervous guys and one host lined their cars up. On pole, and in his second best lane from the heats, Andy Whorton. Next up, Mike Dadson in yellow, his second best (!). Third, Clive Harland in his second best lane (blue) and, joining them Andy Player in white but with little to lose. 180 seconds, 30 or so laps, and then we would have our champion.
Andy streaked away, and by half distance it all look a forgone conclusion. Like Clive, his nearest pursuer, he knew a win would be enough, and looked relaxed out front. Mike had at this point dropped into third, but close enough to Clive to be in the hunt, and ready to pounce on any drama. That seemed unlikely as Andy motored into a 2 lap lead, but deep into the final minute the biggest drama of the season unfolded. Heading into the section before the shorter straight, his car stopped. Seemingly the arm had popped after a small off earlier. With impressively calm thinking Andy sent his spare car on it's way, and at the time all seemed well, his big lead looking impenetrable. But the replacement car was, in his own words, a dog, and a series of crashes and mishaps followed.
As the time ticked down, Andy and Clive headed down the main straight at either end, with one car sick and the other healthy. With the cars stopped Andy had held on by just 0.2 laps. The season, after nine rounds and 10 months, had been decided by about 14 feet! Mike was only half a lap back, so the swing he needed was very small as well. At least he had the consolation of putting one hand on the bigger prize of the EAHORC cup, for Clive coming so close to being the only driver (at the time) to retain a title this season must of being galling. But took it well he did, to his credit. He'll be back! But well done Andy, who was mighty in the second half of the season, winning the last four rounds.
Staying in yellow she would face those two and Gareth Winslade. Gareth usually makes the top two finals, and/or qualifies glued to Deane Walpole, but an interloper whom we would all be worshipping come lunchtime pushing him down into unfamiliar territory. Nonetheless, on pole and in the steady red lane he was ultimately able to drive well clear of an immense scrap behind him. At the death Carol had taken another scalp, beating Alan by 0.35 laps and being merely the same distance behind Jim, now crowned at Main Grade champion.
So, Gareth and Deane once again in a B final, this time with the interloper, local Simon Coombes as well as the slowest of the 'aliens' in Andy Player, who has nonetheless impressed all with his pace since returning to nationals after a long gap. I guess you never lose it, and so it was 'Mr WHO' was able to give everyone the A final they expected, winning comfortably. Deane and Gareth never really got going, and so Simon was able to take a very impressive fifth place as well as top honours on the day in Main Grade. Hopefully we will see more of him next season.
On then to the final 3 minutes of the open wheel season, with about as much at stake as there could be. With specially selected marshals in place and race control armed with various showdown scenarios three nervous guys and one host lined their cars up. On pole, and in his second best lane from the heats, Andy Whorton. Next up, Mike Dadson in yellow, his second best (!). Third, Clive Harland in his second best lane (blue) and, joining them Andy Player in white but with little to lose. 180 seconds, 30 or so laps, and then we would have our champion.
Andy streaked away, and by half distance it all look a forgone conclusion. Like Clive, his nearest pursuer, he knew a win would be enough, and looked relaxed out front. Mike had at this point dropped into third, but close enough to Clive to be in the hunt, and ready to pounce on any drama. That seemed unlikely as Andy motored into a 2 lap lead, but deep into the final minute the biggest drama of the season unfolded. Heading into the section before the shorter straight, his car stopped. Seemingly the arm had popped after a small off earlier. With impressively calm thinking Andy sent his spare car on it's way, and at the time all seemed well, his big lead looking impenetrable. But the replacement car was, in his own words, a dog, and a series of crashes and mishaps followed.
As the time ticked down, Andy and Clive headed down the main straight at either end, with one car sick and the other healthy. With the cars stopped Andy had held on by just 0.2 laps. The season, after nine rounds and 10 months, had been decided by about 14 feet! Mike was only half a lap back, so the swing he needed was very small as well. At least he had the consolation of putting one hand on the bigger prize of the EAHORC cup, for Clive coming so close to being the only driver (at the time) to retain a title this season must of being galling. But took it well he did, to his credit. He'll be back! But well done Andy, who was mighty in the second half of the season, winning the last four rounds.
PM REPORT
After all that drama we all needed some sustenance and headed to the kitchen where Simon began dolling out cheap but incredibly tasty hot dogs that are already a local legend. Many had brought no food with them having heard about what was on offer, so the pressure was on. He did not disappoint, and soon the main room was full of both the smell of onions and smack talk & hard luck stories, with a backdrop of people picking their afternoon classes.
Once that was complete we had another champion, Gareth assured of the CW title. In the end his only rival, now vanquished by the maths, picked the wildly popular Nascar class in any case. Marc had had to depart after the morning dramatics, his boys too tired to last all day, but had been sent on his way with the Pro-Modified trophy under his arm. That class had not run of late, but will be back next season under a new format. Marc's win back in September had been the key to the title, as it turned out, 8 driver's trying the class with half of them winning 1 round each.
After all that drama we all needed some sustenance and headed to the kitchen where Simon began dolling out cheap but incredibly tasty hot dogs that are already a local legend. Many had brought no food with them having heard about what was on offer, so the pressure was on. He did not disappoint, and soon the main room was full of both the smell of onions and smack talk & hard luck stories, with a backdrop of people picking their afternoon classes.
Once that was complete we had another champion, Gareth assured of the CW title. In the end his only rival, now vanquished by the maths, picked the wildly popular Nascar class in any case. Marc had had to depart after the morning dramatics, his boys too tired to last all day, but had been sent on his way with the Pro-Modified trophy under his arm. That class had not run of late, but will be back next season under a new format. Marc's win back in September had been the key to the title, as it turned out, 8 driver's trying the class with half of them winning 1 round each.
Four lane black top had also taken back the club title, the 1-2 from Andy and Clive meaning the minimums points they could take in the afternoon put them out of mathematical reach, and so all racing was for it's own sake and things became very chilled. Only Mike could lose a title but given his past Nascar form that was unlikely, and half way through his third heat he retained the big prize. He would still be pushing hard for another win, against 7 others.
CW kicked things off in the finals. Gareth (blue lane) had taken a comfortable pole, but Callum had bested him in red and had that lane for the final. Deane, in white and testing a Winslade wagon ahead of a title tilt next season, was all over the place, but had smashed both in his only clean heat, so it was all to play for. Local Tony 'The stig' Morris, making his EAHORC début, completed the line up. In the end Callum finally delivered what he had threatened for some time, and was simply unstoppable and unflappable. We all give Callum some stick, but note the cheer as the power went off was the biggest of the day. Even Gareth was beaming like Daniel Ricciardo.
Next up, LMP1. Carol, like Deane, had made a class switch, and would face Simon, Alan and Josh. As such we were guaranteed a second all-new A final winner, Callum being the first. Alan and Simon had been close in the heats, but the former raised their game to take the win by over two laps. Is there no end to the man's talents? That just left three Nascar finals of the Walpole era, with Keith and Ash facing off first. Keith was running his JL body fully 'Daniced' up, a process that many had followed on Facebook. Expect to see more of Ms Patrick's colour schemes on track next season! For now the lady did not bring good luck, Ash winning by three quarters of a lap to join Andy W, former champ Dave and newly minted Prem driver Jim in the B final.
If Andy, as well as Clive, are to fight for future E-Cups the key will be finding an afternoon class they can be strong in all season. Choosing Nascar means facing Mike, which is brave. Andy duly won his B final (from Dave, Jim and Ash) so both drivers were able to show Mike where they stood at the end of 2013/14. Right now they both have some way to go! Mike was able to win by three laps, from the two Andy's and Clive, to take 7 wins out of eight. Only club-mate John Ferrigno, who one presumes is now off the Dadson Christmas card list, denied him a perfect season, winning back in September at the Heene.
So, a brilliant and vibrant season, possibly one of the best of them all, came to a close. Deane, in his last duties in charge, and finally able to muster some words of thanks after being presented with some gifts and kind words via Mike (but compiled by several people) during the break, presented the end-of-season trophies in front of what seemed like a media scrum. All that was left was to pack away, and for Jim, Gareth and Callum to disrupt a wedding taking place next door to create another memory for Deane I am sure, and to then all head home into a mix of sunshine and showers.
Roll on September 20th....
CW kicked things off in the finals. Gareth (blue lane) had taken a comfortable pole, but Callum had bested him in red and had that lane for the final. Deane, in white and testing a Winslade wagon ahead of a title tilt next season, was all over the place, but had smashed both in his only clean heat, so it was all to play for. Local Tony 'The stig' Morris, making his EAHORC début, completed the line up. In the end Callum finally delivered what he had threatened for some time, and was simply unstoppable and unflappable. We all give Callum some stick, but note the cheer as the power went off was the biggest of the day. Even Gareth was beaming like Daniel Ricciardo.
Next up, LMP1. Carol, like Deane, had made a class switch, and would face Simon, Alan and Josh. As such we were guaranteed a second all-new A final winner, Callum being the first. Alan and Simon had been close in the heats, but the former raised their game to take the win by over two laps. Is there no end to the man's talents? That just left three Nascar finals of the Walpole era, with Keith and Ash facing off first. Keith was running his JL body fully 'Daniced' up, a process that many had followed on Facebook. Expect to see more of Ms Patrick's colour schemes on track next season! For now the lady did not bring good luck, Ash winning by three quarters of a lap to join Andy W, former champ Dave and newly minted Prem driver Jim in the B final.
If Andy, as well as Clive, are to fight for future E-Cups the key will be finding an afternoon class they can be strong in all season. Choosing Nascar means facing Mike, which is brave. Andy duly won his B final (from Dave, Jim and Ash) so both drivers were able to show Mike where they stood at the end of 2013/14. Right now they both have some way to go! Mike was able to win by three laps, from the two Andy's and Clive, to take 7 wins out of eight. Only club-mate John Ferrigno, who one presumes is now off the Dadson Christmas card list, denied him a perfect season, winning back in September at the Heene.
So, a brilliant and vibrant season, possibly one of the best of them all, came to a close. Deane, in his last duties in charge, and finally able to muster some words of thanks after being presented with some gifts and kind words via Mike (but compiled by several people) during the break, presented the end-of-season trophies in front of what seemed like a media scrum. All that was left was to pack away, and for Jim, Gareth and Callum to disrupt a wedding taking place next door to create another memory for Deane I am sure, and to then all head home into a mix of sunshine and showers.
Roll on September 20th....
round 8, Marlborough
OPEN WHEEL REPORT, Author Gareth Winslade
A beautiful, sunny and warm June day makes Marlborough look even more picturesque and charming than it does in December, ideal conditions then to stand inside a church hall and race slot cars! Yes it was the penultimate round of the 2013/14 EAHORC Championship and the first since the announcement that head honcho Deane Walpole would be standing down and handing over the reins to Andy Whorton, Andy Player and Marc Townsend. Deane has done a sterling job over the past 12 years and many of us can be grateful to him for getting us into organised HO racing.
As befitted such a momentous and solemn occasion, many of the drivers chose to wear black t-shirts as a tribute…..Clive wore a bright Scalextric controllers t-shirt and brought cakes!
FLBT had set up a challenging circuit in which each lane seemed to have a corner that bit the unwary and where consistently getting the braking points right on the limit seemed more challenging than at other rounds this season. Well I thought so but I was really hungover.
The heats saw a number of drivers shine such as the customary trio of Andy W, Mike Dadson and Clive Harland, the returning Andy P, Rob Lees, Alan Twiddy, Deane and Dave Hannington despite his car sounding like a right bag of bolts. Indeed one of his chassis did grind to a halt emitting the soul sapping whine of shredded gears. We also saw the first appearance of Deane’s long awaited Brabham BT50 resin body produced by Gary Fast. Photos were graciously allowed during its one heat and also in the Paddock Club after the race. Marc Townsend really shone in the first pair of heats but regrettably had to attend a call out for his work and missed the rest of the morning session. Such a shame as he would have been another fascinating prospect at the sharp end.
Finals
The E Final kicked things off with Josh Wharton and Callum Norris facing off against newcomers (and brothers) Euan and Jacob Avery. Callum was sporting a particularly natty pair of enormous can earphones so he could deafen himself with some dreadful drum n’ bass probably while he was racing. They didn’t help him as Euan stormed into an early lead which never looked in doubt past the first 30 seconds of the race. A brilliant drive from the youngster earned him a rousing round of applause which made him beam with pleasure.
Euan stepped up into the D Final then to face Henry Townsend who was on pole with Mat Lock second and Gareth third who had endured a bad morning with pickups, low grip….and I mentioned the hangover right?! Henry really came alive when the lights went out and put in one of his amazing performances that was very reminiscent of our last ECHO meeting. A dominant performance with Euan just a couple of laps back. Meanwhile behind them the two adults were being somewhat less composed with Gareth just beating Mat.
The C Final was next and the determined Master Townsend had clearly got a taste for winning as he thrashed them all. Jim Sanders, Alan Twiddy and Dave Hannington are all no slouches but they could do nothing about the imperious form of Henry.
Andy Wharton was on pole for the B Final. With all four of the elite club Deane likes to call the “Aliens” in attendance, it was obvious one of them would be there but it was perhaps surprising to see Andy there. When the race got underway, it was clear that everything wasn’t quite on song with Andy’s car. Devastatingly quick but also slightly unpredictable meant he had several offs early on and there was Henry once again keeping a watching eye and trying to take advantage of each mistake. Deane and Rob Lees especially had been quick all morning and as Henry perhaps began to tire, Rob pounced on him and moved himself into second but Henry finished a fighting 3rd and the applause of all.
And so the A Final where a relieved Andy W joined Clive who had done a great job in qualifying to take pole from Mike and Andy P. It was a crashtastic 3 minutes of mayhem that we were treated to rather than the more usual 3 minutes of virtuoso and very fast racing that we usually witness. Early crashes for Clive saw him slip to 4th while Mike also overdrove and fell back. This left the two Andys battling and when Andy W fell off, Mr P was into the lead. Were we heading for a fairytale comeback? No. Back came Mr W and drove past and back into the lead. Mike too came to join the front end party and was soon in 2nd and looking for 1st. Which is when it got really interesting. Mr W had a huge off and popped his armature. Luckily for him, some very nifty trackside repairs by Callum meant he was racing again in record time. This off should have given the lead to Mike but at the same point in time he jumped lanes and before a track call could be made his car vaulted the side wall and hit the floor where body parted company with chassis. The re-build time completely removed Mike from the hunt leaving him mired in 4th till the end and from there Mr W was able to open a gap to Mr P which saw him take a fantastic race win.
Clive had also had a brief stint singing Iggy Pop (“I am the passenger, and he rides and rides”) so Race Control was asked to add a lap to his score at the end. Unfortunately while this was noted and duly done, the extra lap wasn't consistently communicated to Mr P who had eased off to ensure his 2nd place which was where he was on track. But with the addition of the lap at the end, he was demoted to 3rd by Clive which naturally caused a bit of controversy and upset from Andy. In the defence of the useless bloke on Race Control, I was really hungover and there was a lot happening in that race!!
Anyway a brilliant win from Andy W and he did it the hard way from pole in the B Final. We have one hell of a three way scrap for the title waiting for us in Worthing.
A beautiful, sunny and warm June day makes Marlborough look even more picturesque and charming than it does in December, ideal conditions then to stand inside a church hall and race slot cars! Yes it was the penultimate round of the 2013/14 EAHORC Championship and the first since the announcement that head honcho Deane Walpole would be standing down and handing over the reins to Andy Whorton, Andy Player and Marc Townsend. Deane has done a sterling job over the past 12 years and many of us can be grateful to him for getting us into organised HO racing.
As befitted such a momentous and solemn occasion, many of the drivers chose to wear black t-shirts as a tribute…..Clive wore a bright Scalextric controllers t-shirt and brought cakes!
FLBT had set up a challenging circuit in which each lane seemed to have a corner that bit the unwary and where consistently getting the braking points right on the limit seemed more challenging than at other rounds this season. Well I thought so but I was really hungover.
The heats saw a number of drivers shine such as the customary trio of Andy W, Mike Dadson and Clive Harland, the returning Andy P, Rob Lees, Alan Twiddy, Deane and Dave Hannington despite his car sounding like a right bag of bolts. Indeed one of his chassis did grind to a halt emitting the soul sapping whine of shredded gears. We also saw the first appearance of Deane’s long awaited Brabham BT50 resin body produced by Gary Fast. Photos were graciously allowed during its one heat and also in the Paddock Club after the race. Marc Townsend really shone in the first pair of heats but regrettably had to attend a call out for his work and missed the rest of the morning session. Such a shame as he would have been another fascinating prospect at the sharp end.
Finals
The E Final kicked things off with Josh Wharton and Callum Norris facing off against newcomers (and brothers) Euan and Jacob Avery. Callum was sporting a particularly natty pair of enormous can earphones so he could deafen himself with some dreadful drum n’ bass probably while he was racing. They didn’t help him as Euan stormed into an early lead which never looked in doubt past the first 30 seconds of the race. A brilliant drive from the youngster earned him a rousing round of applause which made him beam with pleasure.
Euan stepped up into the D Final then to face Henry Townsend who was on pole with Mat Lock second and Gareth third who had endured a bad morning with pickups, low grip….and I mentioned the hangover right?! Henry really came alive when the lights went out and put in one of his amazing performances that was very reminiscent of our last ECHO meeting. A dominant performance with Euan just a couple of laps back. Meanwhile behind them the two adults were being somewhat less composed with Gareth just beating Mat.
The C Final was next and the determined Master Townsend had clearly got a taste for winning as he thrashed them all. Jim Sanders, Alan Twiddy and Dave Hannington are all no slouches but they could do nothing about the imperious form of Henry.
Andy Wharton was on pole for the B Final. With all four of the elite club Deane likes to call the “Aliens” in attendance, it was obvious one of them would be there but it was perhaps surprising to see Andy there. When the race got underway, it was clear that everything wasn’t quite on song with Andy’s car. Devastatingly quick but also slightly unpredictable meant he had several offs early on and there was Henry once again keeping a watching eye and trying to take advantage of each mistake. Deane and Rob Lees especially had been quick all morning and as Henry perhaps began to tire, Rob pounced on him and moved himself into second but Henry finished a fighting 3rd and the applause of all.
And so the A Final where a relieved Andy W joined Clive who had done a great job in qualifying to take pole from Mike and Andy P. It was a crashtastic 3 minutes of mayhem that we were treated to rather than the more usual 3 minutes of virtuoso and very fast racing that we usually witness. Early crashes for Clive saw him slip to 4th while Mike also overdrove and fell back. This left the two Andys battling and when Andy W fell off, Mr P was into the lead. Were we heading for a fairytale comeback? No. Back came Mr W and drove past and back into the lead. Mike too came to join the front end party and was soon in 2nd and looking for 1st. Which is when it got really interesting. Mr W had a huge off and popped his armature. Luckily for him, some very nifty trackside repairs by Callum meant he was racing again in record time. This off should have given the lead to Mike but at the same point in time he jumped lanes and before a track call could be made his car vaulted the side wall and hit the floor where body parted company with chassis. The re-build time completely removed Mike from the hunt leaving him mired in 4th till the end and from there Mr W was able to open a gap to Mr P which saw him take a fantastic race win.
Clive had also had a brief stint singing Iggy Pop (“I am the passenger, and he rides and rides”) so Race Control was asked to add a lap to his score at the end. Unfortunately while this was noted and duly done, the extra lap wasn't consistently communicated to Mr P who had eased off to ensure his 2nd place which was where he was on track. But with the addition of the lap at the end, he was demoted to 3rd by Clive which naturally caused a bit of controversy and upset from Andy. In the defence of the useless bloke on Race Control, I was really hungover and there was a lot happening in that race!!
Anyway a brilliant win from Andy W and he did it the hard way from pole in the B Final. We have one hell of a three way scrap for the title waiting for us in Worthing.
PM REPORT, Author Gareth Winslade
After suitable refreshments, the afternoon session got going where the EAHORC faithful would be doing battle in three different classes: Closed Wheel, LMP1 and Nascar. With the confirmation that LMP and Nascar were going to be running, everyone gave a round of applause for the two new champions, Deane and Mike respectively, who were now mathematically assured of the titles.
It is always an interesting time of year in the dying stages of a championship where some people are feverishly calculating what they need to do in order to win or improve their final position while others have already written off the year and are instead speculating on what they will do next year and with what car. So far both Dave H and Deane confirmed they were thinking of a run in CW which could be the most popular class next season. Quite a contrast from this year!
The CW field today was boosted to four with Andy P and his faithful Taco Bell SG+ joining the Lifelike T trio of Andy W, Callum and Gareth. All three Lifelikes had spectacular detonations with hard crashes and early on it was Andy who was heading for pole with his slower but more predictable car. In the end though it was Gareth on pole from Andy P, Callum and Andy W. Mr W had enormous problems with his car and used an SRT in two heats.
In Nascar it was very much business as usual as Mike pulverised the field on his way to pole. His pace was in fact so prodigious he actually was quickest out of everyone in the afternoon. Behind him it was triple champion Dave followed by Clive taking the remaining two A Final places.
The LMP1 grid was also treated to an astonishing qualifying performance courtesy of Deane who was 3rd quickest overall and was simply imperious on his way to pole. Rob did a great job to take 2nd in front of Alan who has done great work to develop his car over the year. I think Alan could well be a very serious LMP title contender next season.
Finals
As is traditional the finals commenced with the least popular class which was CW. Off the line the three Lifelikes pulled away from Andy P’s SG+ with Callum leading the way. An off from Gareth left him 3rd and with work to do. Then it was Andy W who suffered another detonation which dropped him down the field. With Gareth closing on Callum, both drivers had big offs. The prospect of his first win set Callum’s nerves as he harangued the marshals working to restore his car to working order. Still out in front but with Gareth closing again, another off saw him slip to 2nd. After a track call with 30 seconds left, Gareth slipped into cruise mode but Callum was pushing and closing before once again crashing. Now it was Andy W and Callum both closing on the race lead but time ran out on them. Gareth took the win from Andy who just pipped Callum at the death with Andy P a valiant 4th. Callum took the fastest lap of the day and that first win really does seem to be more a question of when rather than if.
LMP1 had a B Final with Marc on pole from Henry and Mat. Marc’s car seemed a shadow of the beast he has used so successfully in the past and tricky to drive but he kept it together and drove well to take a clean win. Behind him Mat and Henry went at it hammer and tongs and it was a very close finish between them with Mat the victor.
The A Final should have been a slam dunk for Deane. Indeed he said before the race that he was almost racing himself. These words came back to haunt him as he binned it big style and Alan driving a really stunning repainted Peugeot taking the lead. Nerves got the better of him though and he commenced a series of agonising offs. Now it was Rockin’ Rob(in) in the lead and while the driver was jiggling like his feet were on fire, the car itself was smoothly and rapidly lapping the track. An unlikely win was on the cards but Deane was back in the groove and smoothly climbing back up the order and in the half of the race he eased back into the lead and pulled safely clear of Rob for the win. Time and again Alan reeled in Rob but every time he got close he would again fall off the track and drop back which left him mired in 3rd. Alan will have to work on that next season as it isn’t the first time it has happened to him. Behind him Marc wrestled his car but ultimately could do no more than 4th. No doubt a thoroughly disappointing day for him so expect to see him fired up in Worthing.
The Nascar B Final saw Jim Sanders line up on pole from Josh, Jacob and Euan. Nice to see Jacob out qualify Euan after it being the other way round in the morning. Jim did everything right in the race and kept a cool head to take a cool win. Josh tried hard to not let him have it all his own way but the final corner in white lane kept biting him as it did with many other drivers. Euan got the better of his younger brother to take 3rd.
Off the line in the A Final and the top three were neck and neck until the back straight where Mike pulled the trigger for the first time in the race and simply disappeared up the road. Every minute of the race, he increased his advantage over Clive by a lap. Astonishing stuff. Clive himself managed to get clear of Dave and open a 2 lap gap up over the course of the race. Dave didn’t seem to have an answer so it will be interesting to see what developments will happen to the car before the start of the new season. Jim’s car just didn’t have the speed of the other guys sadly so he was a distant 4th at the finish.
So, two championships decided (three if you include Pro-Mod which is unlikely to run at Worthing) and one all but mathematically decided means the afternoon in Worthing will be glory runs and experimenting for the new season. But that’s ok because the morning is going to be such a tense and hard fought affair.
Thanks again to all at FLBT for hosting us so well.
After suitable refreshments, the afternoon session got going where the EAHORC faithful would be doing battle in three different classes: Closed Wheel, LMP1 and Nascar. With the confirmation that LMP and Nascar were going to be running, everyone gave a round of applause for the two new champions, Deane and Mike respectively, who were now mathematically assured of the titles.
It is always an interesting time of year in the dying stages of a championship where some people are feverishly calculating what they need to do in order to win or improve their final position while others have already written off the year and are instead speculating on what they will do next year and with what car. So far both Dave H and Deane confirmed they were thinking of a run in CW which could be the most popular class next season. Quite a contrast from this year!
The CW field today was boosted to four with Andy P and his faithful Taco Bell SG+ joining the Lifelike T trio of Andy W, Callum and Gareth. All three Lifelikes had spectacular detonations with hard crashes and early on it was Andy who was heading for pole with his slower but more predictable car. In the end though it was Gareth on pole from Andy P, Callum and Andy W. Mr W had enormous problems with his car and used an SRT in two heats.
In Nascar it was very much business as usual as Mike pulverised the field on his way to pole. His pace was in fact so prodigious he actually was quickest out of everyone in the afternoon. Behind him it was triple champion Dave followed by Clive taking the remaining two A Final places.
The LMP1 grid was also treated to an astonishing qualifying performance courtesy of Deane who was 3rd quickest overall and was simply imperious on his way to pole. Rob did a great job to take 2nd in front of Alan who has done great work to develop his car over the year. I think Alan could well be a very serious LMP title contender next season.
Finals
As is traditional the finals commenced with the least popular class which was CW. Off the line the three Lifelikes pulled away from Andy P’s SG+ with Callum leading the way. An off from Gareth left him 3rd and with work to do. Then it was Andy W who suffered another detonation which dropped him down the field. With Gareth closing on Callum, both drivers had big offs. The prospect of his first win set Callum’s nerves as he harangued the marshals working to restore his car to working order. Still out in front but with Gareth closing again, another off saw him slip to 2nd. After a track call with 30 seconds left, Gareth slipped into cruise mode but Callum was pushing and closing before once again crashing. Now it was Andy W and Callum both closing on the race lead but time ran out on them. Gareth took the win from Andy who just pipped Callum at the death with Andy P a valiant 4th. Callum took the fastest lap of the day and that first win really does seem to be more a question of when rather than if.
LMP1 had a B Final with Marc on pole from Henry and Mat. Marc’s car seemed a shadow of the beast he has used so successfully in the past and tricky to drive but he kept it together and drove well to take a clean win. Behind him Mat and Henry went at it hammer and tongs and it was a very close finish between them with Mat the victor.
The A Final should have been a slam dunk for Deane. Indeed he said before the race that he was almost racing himself. These words came back to haunt him as he binned it big style and Alan driving a really stunning repainted Peugeot taking the lead. Nerves got the better of him though and he commenced a series of agonising offs. Now it was Rockin’ Rob(in) in the lead and while the driver was jiggling like his feet were on fire, the car itself was smoothly and rapidly lapping the track. An unlikely win was on the cards but Deane was back in the groove and smoothly climbing back up the order and in the half of the race he eased back into the lead and pulled safely clear of Rob for the win. Time and again Alan reeled in Rob but every time he got close he would again fall off the track and drop back which left him mired in 3rd. Alan will have to work on that next season as it isn’t the first time it has happened to him. Behind him Marc wrestled his car but ultimately could do no more than 4th. No doubt a thoroughly disappointing day for him so expect to see him fired up in Worthing.
The Nascar B Final saw Jim Sanders line up on pole from Josh, Jacob and Euan. Nice to see Jacob out qualify Euan after it being the other way round in the morning. Jim did everything right in the race and kept a cool head to take a cool win. Josh tried hard to not let him have it all his own way but the final corner in white lane kept biting him as it did with many other drivers. Euan got the better of his younger brother to take 3rd.
Off the line in the A Final and the top three were neck and neck until the back straight where Mike pulled the trigger for the first time in the race and simply disappeared up the road. Every minute of the race, he increased his advantage over Clive by a lap. Astonishing stuff. Clive himself managed to get clear of Dave and open a 2 lap gap up over the course of the race. Dave didn’t seem to have an answer so it will be interesting to see what developments will happen to the car before the start of the new season. Jim’s car just didn’t have the speed of the other guys sadly so he was a distant 4th at the finish.
So, two championships decided (three if you include Pro-Mod which is unlikely to run at Worthing) and one all but mathematically decided means the afternoon in Worthing will be glory runs and experimenting for the new season. But that’s ok because the morning is going to be such a tense and hard fought affair.
Thanks again to all at FLBT for hosting us so well.
round 7, Orpington
April 27th 2014
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
With very little notice HONK stepped into the breach when we lost the London venue we were supposed to use, and so round 7 saw EAHORC using the same venue two rounds running. The late change cost us a few racers, and so only 15 headed to Orpington. This became 14 when Dave Hannington had to leave due to being on call at work.
The remaining drivers got to sample a short (20m) and simple track featuring BSTS banking for the very first time. The banking, deliberately shallow at only 9.5 degrees, was purchased to prove that such turns could be a challenge if designed and implemented correctly, and were a success if the comments of those present are anything to go by. The two curves will hopefully be used in different ways at the next two rounds, which should make things interesting.
Open Wheel provided a shock, as for the first time in two years one of the 'Aliens' quartet did not make the A final when present, Clive Harland seeming to struggle for straightline speed, and missing out on Automatic qualification by 0.8 laps. He would thus feature in the 4th of 5 finals, and be looking to make the 'big one' the hard way. The five finals commenced with Callum Norris vs Josh Whorton in the E, and a comfortable win for the later despite faster lap times from the former. Josh then faced, from the mostly unloved white lane, Alan Twiddy, Carol Norris and a victorious Dave Peters.
The C final bucked the anti-white lane trend, Deane Walpole taking it as his first choice and using his controller's coast feature to negate a tricky turn just after the banking, and win that final by 0.7 laps from Jim Easton, with Jim Sanders and and Dave completing the order. He would thus face Al Wood, Gareth Winslade and Clive. With race control using Race Coordinator for the first time with a four lane track, it was fascinating to see Al and Gareth move up and down the leaderboard during heats 11-14. Clive, with first choice for the B final, went for Blue lane, interestingly not his best lane or even second best from the heats. Gareth also eschewed picking his best lane, Al could not and Deane was left with his despite stepping up! - so there was all to play for.
In the end Gareth stepped up hugely over his heat score in the same lane, to win by well over a lap. Clive was next, thus limiting the damage on what was a poor morning for him relatively, with Al and Deane next up and half a lap apart. This promised to make both the E-Cup and Premier Grade titles very interesting, with Andy Whorton and Mike Dadson serenely qualifying for the A final by right, with Marc Townsend in the spot where one might expect to find Clive. All we needed now was an epic final final!
Mike, on pole, was very tactical, choosing red lane to keep Andy, who had produced a stunning 45.55 in that lane during the heats, away from it. Andy then picked blue,'next door', despite scoring more laps in both gutters during the heats. This kept Marc, who had been strong and consistent in all lanes, away from his very best, and left Gareth (another able to use coast) in White. After an initial flurry of close racing, the four cars looking epic flying into the banking, Mike and Andy settled into two-man dual. Fastest laps were traded for a while before Andy started to ease away, a mistake on lap 18 then bringing things back to the boil.
The gap was never very big, but given the level both guys can drive at, it seemed Andy had enough in hand. In one last twist though he had a off almost at the very end of the final, and when the power was killed and the cars had stopped rolling his winning margin was only a few inches. That small distance could have massive consequences come the end of June, and meant Andy was the first driver to take back-to-back wins since Clive did so at the start of the season. With dropped scores to come, the battle between the three active aliens should be outstanding.
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
With very little notice HONK stepped into the breach when we lost the London venue we were supposed to use, and so round 7 saw EAHORC using the same venue two rounds running. The late change cost us a few racers, and so only 15 headed to Orpington. This became 14 when Dave Hannington had to leave due to being on call at work.
The remaining drivers got to sample a short (20m) and simple track featuring BSTS banking for the very first time. The banking, deliberately shallow at only 9.5 degrees, was purchased to prove that such turns could be a challenge if designed and implemented correctly, and were a success if the comments of those present are anything to go by. The two curves will hopefully be used in different ways at the next two rounds, which should make things interesting.
Open Wheel provided a shock, as for the first time in two years one of the 'Aliens' quartet did not make the A final when present, Clive Harland seeming to struggle for straightline speed, and missing out on Automatic qualification by 0.8 laps. He would thus feature in the 4th of 5 finals, and be looking to make the 'big one' the hard way. The five finals commenced with Callum Norris vs Josh Whorton in the E, and a comfortable win for the later despite faster lap times from the former. Josh then faced, from the mostly unloved white lane, Alan Twiddy, Carol Norris and a victorious Dave Peters.
The C final bucked the anti-white lane trend, Deane Walpole taking it as his first choice and using his controller's coast feature to negate a tricky turn just after the banking, and win that final by 0.7 laps from Jim Easton, with Jim Sanders and and Dave completing the order. He would thus face Al Wood, Gareth Winslade and Clive. With race control using Race Coordinator for the first time with a four lane track, it was fascinating to see Al and Gareth move up and down the leaderboard during heats 11-14. Clive, with first choice for the B final, went for Blue lane, interestingly not his best lane or even second best from the heats. Gareth also eschewed picking his best lane, Al could not and Deane was left with his despite stepping up! - so there was all to play for.
In the end Gareth stepped up hugely over his heat score in the same lane, to win by well over a lap. Clive was next, thus limiting the damage on what was a poor morning for him relatively, with Al and Deane next up and half a lap apart. This promised to make both the E-Cup and Premier Grade titles very interesting, with Andy Whorton and Mike Dadson serenely qualifying for the A final by right, with Marc Townsend in the spot where one might expect to find Clive. All we needed now was an epic final final!
Mike, on pole, was very tactical, choosing red lane to keep Andy, who had produced a stunning 45.55 in that lane during the heats, away from it. Andy then picked blue,'next door', despite scoring more laps in both gutters during the heats. This kept Marc, who had been strong and consistent in all lanes, away from his very best, and left Gareth (another able to use coast) in White. After an initial flurry of close racing, the four cars looking epic flying into the banking, Mike and Andy settled into two-man dual. Fastest laps were traded for a while before Andy started to ease away, a mistake on lap 18 then bringing things back to the boil.
The gap was never very big, but given the level both guys can drive at, it seemed Andy had enough in hand. In one last twist though he had a off almost at the very end of the final, and when the power was killed and the cars had stopped rolling his winning margin was only a few inches. That small distance could have massive consequences come the end of June, and meant Andy was the first driver to take back-to-back wins since Clive did so at the start of the season. With dropped scores to come, the battle between the three active aliens should be outstanding.
PM REPORT
The afternoon choices often throw up some interest, and for this round that centred around CW class. In the lead up to what should of been a meeting at 'Edmo' Gareth had been facing a strong and deep field, but the change of venue and unexpected decisions from Callum and Dave meant the class only just had enough to run, after Jim Easton had to head home. Dave probably ended the afternoon with the same points, Callum decidedly didn't after a trying afternoon in Nascar.
The results ended up being static, the only change between quali and the finals being a dramatic reversal in CW. There was still some good battles, though, and some championships moving towards their conclusions. In CW Gareth had nicked pole from Al right at the death, with Andy struggling and not a factor in the final either. That was a massive scrap, the lead changing hands between Al and Gareth many times, before the SCHORC racer took the win. Gareth was content to know the championship is likely to be his if he can keep calm. In LMP1 Deane was able to clinically exact revenge on Marc after their battle at the same venue last time out, and with Alan third that championship, Deane's first for seven years, is almost a formality.
Nascar is also pretty much done, but for Mike it was important for the E-Cup to keep pushing. He duly took the win, beating his EC rival Clive in the process, and now has a handy EC lead of just under 200 points, or just over with dropped scores factored in as things stand. Dave came close to making things even worse for Clive, but the Wiltshire resident was able to take the runner up spot and still end a tough day as 7th overall. The action now moves to FLBT in June, with the likely return of the fourth Alien, Andy Player.
The afternoon choices often throw up some interest, and for this round that centred around CW class. In the lead up to what should of been a meeting at 'Edmo' Gareth had been facing a strong and deep field, but the change of venue and unexpected decisions from Callum and Dave meant the class only just had enough to run, after Jim Easton had to head home. Dave probably ended the afternoon with the same points, Callum decidedly didn't after a trying afternoon in Nascar.
The results ended up being static, the only change between quali and the finals being a dramatic reversal in CW. There was still some good battles, though, and some championships moving towards their conclusions. In CW Gareth had nicked pole from Al right at the death, with Andy struggling and not a factor in the final either. That was a massive scrap, the lead changing hands between Al and Gareth many times, before the SCHORC racer took the win. Gareth was content to know the championship is likely to be his if he can keep calm. In LMP1 Deane was able to clinically exact revenge on Marc after their battle at the same venue last time out, and with Alan third that championship, Deane's first for seven years, is almost a formality.
Nascar is also pretty much done, but for Mike it was important for the E-Cup to keep pushing. He duly took the win, beating his EC rival Clive in the process, and now has a handy EC lead of just under 200 points, or just over with dropped scores factored in as things stand. Dave came close to making things even worse for Clive, but the Wiltshire resident was able to take the runner up spot and still end a tough day as 7th overall. The action now moves to FLBT in June, with the likely return of the fourth Alien, Andy Player.
round 6, Orpington
March 9th 2014
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
March saw the first national round for HONK in their 'own' venue since the loss of the permanent track in Lordswood and the subsequent move to Orpington. The EAHORC extenders were pressed into service for the first time in a while, combined with the tables on site to make a short (just under 60') but challenging track. Fifteen racers were present to give it their best.
Open Wheel followed the by now usual pattern, who would take the final A final place behind the trio of aliens, with Gareth Winslade, Marc Townsend and Deane Walpole in the running for that once again, joined this time by Dave Hannington, who would go on to qualify an excellent fifth. Alan Twiddy was top qualifier in Main Grade.
Finals kicked off with the E final, Dave Peters versus juniors Josh Whorton and Louis Townsend. Dave took the win by a couple of laps, and then improved his overall position by one more place by beating Carol Norris in the next final, which was won by Henry Townsend by a large margin from Callum Norris. Henry would thus face Deane, Alan and Jim Sanders (having a stronger than usual morning) in the C final.
Alan and Deane transferred their cat and mouse finals from LMP1 earlier in the season out front, Deane very relieved to take the win on a day he was otherwise struggling to hang on in Premier Grade. Alan was not far behind, and did enough to convert Main Grade pole to Main Grade win, and also take a big step towards Premier Grade promotion next season.
March saw the first national round for HONK in their 'own' venue since the loss of the permanent track in Lordswood and the subsequent move to Orpington. The EAHORC extenders were pressed into service for the first time in a while, combined with the tables on site to make a short (just under 60') but challenging track. Fifteen racers were present to give it their best.
Open Wheel followed the by now usual pattern, who would take the final A final place behind the trio of aliens, with Gareth Winslade, Marc Townsend and Deane Walpole in the running for that once again, joined this time by Dave Hannington, who would go on to qualify an excellent fifth. Alan Twiddy was top qualifier in Main Grade.
Finals kicked off with the E final, Dave Peters versus juniors Josh Whorton and Louis Townsend. Dave took the win by a couple of laps, and then improved his overall position by one more place by beating Carol Norris in the next final, which was won by Henry Townsend by a large margin from Callum Norris. Henry would thus face Deane, Alan and Jim Sanders (having a stronger than usual morning) in the C final.
Alan and Deane transferred their cat and mouse finals from LMP1 earlier in the season out front, Deane very relieved to take the win on a day he was otherwise struggling to hang on in Premier Grade. Alan was not far behind, and did enough to convert Main Grade pole to Main Grade win, and also take a big step towards Premier Grade promotion next season.
Deane threw caution to the wind in the unloved yellow lane, and kept Gareth on his toes throughout, but the classic B final we often see did not come to pass this time, with Marc well up the road. Dave struggled, and could not match his heat score in white, but he nonetheless served notice that his is right in the Premier grade scrap now.
So, revenge for Marc over Gareth after their battle at Yelling, and a place in the big final alongside the inevitable trio of Andy Whorton (on pole and in red), Clive Harland (white) and Mike Dadson (blue). It wasn't a classic by any means, but it was impressive to watch the guys consistenlty lapping at or just under 4 seconds with very few mistakes, and end the session at the only four to score more than 39 laps in a single heat. From the outside it did seem that Andy was driving that much freer, the championship perhaps less on his mind than for Mike and Clive.
The finishing order was Andy, Mike, Clive, Marc with the championship gap from Clive to Mike back down to just 30 points, and Andy only another 45 back. No pressure on them as we head back to London next month then!
So, revenge for Marc over Gareth after their battle at Yelling, and a place in the big final alongside the inevitable trio of Andy Whorton (on pole and in red), Clive Harland (white) and Mike Dadson (blue). It wasn't a classic by any means, but it was impressive to watch the guys consistenlty lapping at or just under 4 seconds with very few mistakes, and end the session at the only four to score more than 39 laps in a single heat. From the outside it did seem that Andy was driving that much freer, the championship perhaps less on his mind than for Mike and Clive.
The finishing order was Andy, Mike, Clive, Marc with the championship gap from Clive to Mike back down to just 30 points, and Andy only another 45 back. No pressure on them as we head back to London next month then!
PM REPORT
Lunch, then the usual split into three classes, and some tasty battle resumptions. Marc vs Deane in LMP1, Clive in damage limitation mode in Nascar and Gareth and Andy in CW, but about to be outclassed. There were strong performances that particularly caught my eye from Callum, Henry and Josh, the juniors racing in with the adults once more giving what we do an extra dimension.
The theme of championship runners possibly tensing up continued. In the most popular class, Nascar, Dave was pushing champion-elect Mike harder than ever early on. Mike was able to steady the ship subsequently, and win, and crucially for his E-cup hopes Dave managed to defeat Clive for runner-up by 0.4 of a lap. Josh was 4th after a storming drive in the B final, where he ran Carol (using a Gen5 body) and Jim into the ground.
Neither Gareth nor Andy could really hook it up in CW, Dave Peters top scoring in every heat and smashing them in the final. It was very impressive stuff. Gareth managed to turn only qualifying third into finishing second, to once more lead the standings. His lead may only be 5 points but he does have a zero to drop compared to Andy's 48 from his round one nightmare, so can perhaps start to dream? Callum was last placed, but his lap times and the general way he attacked the corners impressed all, he just needs some clean heats and he too could be giving the title protagonists something to worry about.
LMP1 kept the pattern going. Deane had produced a monster score in blue, and this was the key to taking pole. He then drove poorly in the final just as Marc really got on song, free of pressure and 'only' doing LMP1 whilst Pro Mod is on hiatus. Deane quickly switched to making sure that he did not impede Henry, who had beaten his brother to make the A final, when they were close on track, as the youngster battled with Alan to eventually take third place.
The action now moves to London, where the tension for those trying to win titles will only increase.
Lunch, then the usual split into three classes, and some tasty battle resumptions. Marc vs Deane in LMP1, Clive in damage limitation mode in Nascar and Gareth and Andy in CW, but about to be outclassed. There were strong performances that particularly caught my eye from Callum, Henry and Josh, the juniors racing in with the adults once more giving what we do an extra dimension.
The theme of championship runners possibly tensing up continued. In the most popular class, Nascar, Dave was pushing champion-elect Mike harder than ever early on. Mike was able to steady the ship subsequently, and win, and crucially for his E-cup hopes Dave managed to defeat Clive for runner-up by 0.4 of a lap. Josh was 4th after a storming drive in the B final, where he ran Carol (using a Gen5 body) and Jim into the ground.
Neither Gareth nor Andy could really hook it up in CW, Dave Peters top scoring in every heat and smashing them in the final. It was very impressive stuff. Gareth managed to turn only qualifying third into finishing second, to once more lead the standings. His lead may only be 5 points but he does have a zero to drop compared to Andy's 48 from his round one nightmare, so can perhaps start to dream? Callum was last placed, but his lap times and the general way he attacked the corners impressed all, he just needs some clean heats and he too could be giving the title protagonists something to worry about.
LMP1 kept the pattern going. Deane had produced a monster score in blue, and this was the key to taking pole. He then drove poorly in the final just as Marc really got on song, free of pressure and 'only' doing LMP1 whilst Pro Mod is on hiatus. Deane quickly switched to making sure that he did not impede Henry, who had beaten his brother to make the A final, when they were close on track, as the youngster battled with Alan to eventually take third place.
The action now moves to London, where the tension for those trying to win titles will only increase.
round 5, yelling
January 26th 2014
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
After a lengthy Christmas/New Year break to try and avoid any snow (!) the season resumed with another meeting at SCHORC. Twenty drivers lined up, including Gareth Jones of Chase Cars fame, and the Village hall was buzzing. Clive Harland and Mike Dadson continued to be in an open wheel world of their own during the heats, with Andy Whorton the only one able to hang on. With the fourth 'alien', Andy Player, again absent Gareth Winslade took a turn to be the fourth A finalist.
Those finals kicked off with the F final. John Chell, racing for the first time at national for two years lead for the first 30 seconds before Callum Norris motored away, leaving his Mum Carol and Louis Townsend in his wake as well, In the next final he would beat Alan Twiddy as well, to cap an impressive morning. He was quite a long way back from an intense, race-long scrap between Dave Peters and Lee Taylor, which Lee only put beyond doubt in the last couple of laps.
The D final was a cracking race,with all four drivers in the mix. Lee was intent on making up for a poor qualifying by his standards and led until the tricky yellow lane caught him out. He kept the other three in his sights all the way to the end, but Al Wood,Jim Sanders and Henry Townsend were all driving beautifully despite circulating in close company. The field spread increased in the last half minute with Al the one to step up and take on club-mates Jim Easton and Paul Rose as well as Dave Hannington in the C final. He would beat two of those, but could do nothing about Jim.
Jim pulled out of the B early doors, not wanting to mess up a crazy scrap between Gareth, Marc Townsend and Deane Walpole for the final spot in 'the big one'. Deane fell back, but the other two went at it right to the death, and it was a relieved Gareth that left the drivers area wide-eyed and smiling. This continued a pattern of B finals outshining A finals, as we soon saw.
The A final featured Gareth in yellow, Clive on pole in blue, Mike in red and Andy in white. During an intense first few laps Mike binned it hugely and fell to the back, but then produced three amazing laps to drive past everyone, and he seemed well set. Clive and Mike then left the other two in the dust, but it was Mike making mistakes first, and then getting uncharacteristically flustered. At one point his inconsistency looked like it might drop him to P3, but he calmed himself and was saved somewhat by Andy having a rough time of it too.
Clive was by this point a long way up the road, and the full-on scrap between him and Mike looks almost inevitably to be heading all the way to Worthing in June, as it did last year. For the rest of us it is a privilege to watch.
After a lengthy Christmas/New Year break to try and avoid any snow (!) the season resumed with another meeting at SCHORC. Twenty drivers lined up, including Gareth Jones of Chase Cars fame, and the Village hall was buzzing. Clive Harland and Mike Dadson continued to be in an open wheel world of their own during the heats, with Andy Whorton the only one able to hang on. With the fourth 'alien', Andy Player, again absent Gareth Winslade took a turn to be the fourth A finalist.
Those finals kicked off with the F final. John Chell, racing for the first time at national for two years lead for the first 30 seconds before Callum Norris motored away, leaving his Mum Carol and Louis Townsend in his wake as well, In the next final he would beat Alan Twiddy as well, to cap an impressive morning. He was quite a long way back from an intense, race-long scrap between Dave Peters and Lee Taylor, which Lee only put beyond doubt in the last couple of laps.
The D final was a cracking race,with all four drivers in the mix. Lee was intent on making up for a poor qualifying by his standards and led until the tricky yellow lane caught him out. He kept the other three in his sights all the way to the end, but Al Wood,Jim Sanders and Henry Townsend were all driving beautifully despite circulating in close company. The field spread increased in the last half minute with Al the one to step up and take on club-mates Jim Easton and Paul Rose as well as Dave Hannington in the C final. He would beat two of those, but could do nothing about Jim.
Jim pulled out of the B early doors, not wanting to mess up a crazy scrap between Gareth, Marc Townsend and Deane Walpole for the final spot in 'the big one'. Deane fell back, but the other two went at it right to the death, and it was a relieved Gareth that left the drivers area wide-eyed and smiling. This continued a pattern of B finals outshining A finals, as we soon saw.
The A final featured Gareth in yellow, Clive on pole in blue, Mike in red and Andy in white. During an intense first few laps Mike binned it hugely and fell to the back, but then produced three amazing laps to drive past everyone, and he seemed well set. Clive and Mike then left the other two in the dust, but it was Mike making mistakes first, and then getting uncharacteristically flustered. At one point his inconsistency looked like it might drop him to P3, but he calmed himself and was saved somewhat by Andy having a rough time of it too.
Clive was by this point a long way up the road, and the full-on scrap between him and Mike looks almost inevitably to be heading all the way to Worthing in June, as it did last year. For the rest of us it is a privilege to watch.
PM REPORT
After a longer than planned lunch due to a trip by the race controllers to the new Subway on the A428, which those busy fettling and testing cars barely noticed, racing resumed with just three classes. Marc had decided his kid's homework was more important that getting a Pro-Mod ready, quite rightly, so he dropped into LMP1. This left Clive choosing Nascar, bravely taking on Mike who has been in the class, and winning it, all season. This was to backfire. The heats produced three of the most comfortable pole position takers I can recall seeing. Al took pole in CW by 13 laps, Mike Nascar pole by 7 laps and Marc LMP1 pole by five. The resulting six finals at least gave everyone a second chance, but on paper it was going to be hard to displace that trio. The first of the six finals would be the B final for CW, in which Gareth (who had been experimenting with an Artin) really needed to take the win to keep his championship bid on track. |
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He duly took it, comfortably ahead of Dave Peters and Callum. The Junior had an impressive afternoon though, including fastest lap in one lane.
In the A final Al romped it but Gareth had further good news when his main rival Andy dropped out on lap 11. Under the circumstances 3rd place behind Paul was just the ticket. Championship swings was the order of the day in the next final, LMP1 B, were a win for Henry meant that Alan would be losing bit points to Deane. The A final would see a massive scrap between Henry's Dad and Deane, with Marc just about taking it after a race where their 'traces' looked almost overlapped (see below).
In the A final Al romped it but Gareth had further good news when his main rival Andy dropped out on lap 11. Under the circumstances 3rd place behind Paul was just the ticket. Championship swings was the order of the day in the next final, LMP1 B, were a win for Henry meant that Alan would be losing bit points to Deane. The A final would see a massive scrap between Henry's Dad and Deane, with Marc just about taking it after a race where their 'traces' looked almost overlapped (see below).
A cracking day ended with Nascar. After the monumental effort to win Open Wheel Clive had not been able to take the fight to Mike, and the consensus was he should of gone for LMP1. Nonetheless he managed to limit the damage by winning a very close battle with Lee in the B final. The A final saw all four cars very close for just under the first minute, before splitting slightly into two pairs.
Mike was able to keep Dave H at bay and deny him a Nascar win that not long ago was a given, thus ending the proceedings with a handily larger score in the E-Cup than Clive, who try as he might could not get past a smooth driving John Chell, who intends to do some more nationals this season, and on today's form could get in the mix and titles start to hove into view.
Mike was able to keep Dave H at bay and deny him a Nascar win that not long ago was a given, thus ending the proceedings with a handily larger score in the E-Cup than Clive, who try as he might could not get past a smooth driving John Chell, who intends to do some more nationals this season, and on today's form could get in the mix and titles start to hove into view.
round 4, marlborough
December 1st 2013
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
The national circus rolled into Wiltshire on the first day of December, to see out the year. The three aliens would dominate as usual, with Marc Townsend the only one able to live with them, and thus make the open wheel A final. Dave May delivered on the promise shown last time with 6th overall and another main grade win. Even better was to follow in the afternoon. Dave Hannington recovered from a sticky qualification run to keep his decent form going, but this time Jim Sanders, really getting to grips with the Mega-G at last, was right behind him in 8th overall. Alan Twiddy and Gareth Winslade completed the top 10, with Deane Walpole in his usual 5th place!
The A final was very fast, but spread out. Mike Dadson took the win, from Clive Harland, Andy Whorton and Marc. The E-cup at the sharp end looks like it could be even closer than last season. The best final of the OW session featured Callum Norris and his mum Carol. Callum's car rolled past Carol's after the power had gone off, to hoots of laughter and sighs of sympathy from the rest of the 17 racers assembled.
PM REPORT
The afternoon split into the usual Pro-Mod duo joined by FLBT chairman Rob Lees and by Dave M using a loaner and his basic controller, Gareth and Andy back for more in CW, and joined by Callum, another LMP1 scrap between Deane and Alan alongside the Whorton and Townsend juniors, and a five-man field in Nascar: Mike, Dave H, Jim, Carol and the returning Mat Lock with an axle borrowed from Marc.
Despite being the first driver to post more than 220 IPS in CW for some time, and taking Pole, Gareth could not live with the consistancy of Andy in that class and had to settle for second place. Next month he faces the SCHORC hoard, but possibly not Andy. In Nascar Mike took another win with his Mega-G but was pushed really hard by Dave H. Dave took pole, had a bigger best score and faster fastest lap but was a couple of tenths of lap shy of converting that to victory.
Deane had an easy time of it in LMP1, at one point following Alan just under a lap ahead in an attempt distract him and get the juniors between them. At the death he managed to pass Henry T and limit the damage to 30 points. The big story of the afternoon was Dave M and that borrowed car and basic controller. He took Pro-Mod pole with the only set of clean-but-fast heats, and took the lead in the final when early leader Marc retired with a busted pinion. He then held on despite immense pressure from Clive, 0.7s behind as they crossed the line for the last time, to take the most popular and most impressive win of the day.
The national circus rolled into Wiltshire on the first day of December, to see out the year. The three aliens would dominate as usual, with Marc Townsend the only one able to live with them, and thus make the open wheel A final. Dave May delivered on the promise shown last time with 6th overall and another main grade win. Even better was to follow in the afternoon. Dave Hannington recovered from a sticky qualification run to keep his decent form going, but this time Jim Sanders, really getting to grips with the Mega-G at last, was right behind him in 8th overall. Alan Twiddy and Gareth Winslade completed the top 10, with Deane Walpole in his usual 5th place!
The A final was very fast, but spread out. Mike Dadson took the win, from Clive Harland, Andy Whorton and Marc. The E-cup at the sharp end looks like it could be even closer than last season. The best final of the OW session featured Callum Norris and his mum Carol. Callum's car rolled past Carol's after the power had gone off, to hoots of laughter and sighs of sympathy from the rest of the 17 racers assembled.
PM REPORT
The afternoon split into the usual Pro-Mod duo joined by FLBT chairman Rob Lees and by Dave M using a loaner and his basic controller, Gareth and Andy back for more in CW, and joined by Callum, another LMP1 scrap between Deane and Alan alongside the Whorton and Townsend juniors, and a five-man field in Nascar: Mike, Dave H, Jim, Carol and the returning Mat Lock with an axle borrowed from Marc.
Despite being the first driver to post more than 220 IPS in CW for some time, and taking Pole, Gareth could not live with the consistancy of Andy in that class and had to settle for second place. Next month he faces the SCHORC hoard, but possibly not Andy. In Nascar Mike took another win with his Mega-G but was pushed really hard by Dave H. Dave took pole, had a bigger best score and faster fastest lap but was a couple of tenths of lap shy of converting that to victory.
Deane had an easy time of it in LMP1, at one point following Alan just under a lap ahead in an attempt distract him and get the juniors between them. At the death he managed to pass Henry T and limit the damage to 30 points. The big story of the afternoon was Dave M and that borrowed car and basic controller. He took Pro-Mod pole with the only set of clean-but-fast heats, and took the lead in the final when early leader Marc retired with a busted pinion. He then held on despite immense pressure from Clive, 0.7s behind as they crossed the line for the last time, to take the most popular and most impressive win of the day.
round 3, brenley corner
October 27th 2013
OPEN WHEEL REPORT
Following the lose of HONK HQ Scalextric PR guru Adrian Norman agreed to host HONK's national round at the Viking club near Faversham, last used for an HO race in January 2011. Adrian had drummed up a lot of local support, all of whom showed great enthusiasm for the smaller form of racing. I even managed to get one of Viking's top drivers, Keith Fishenden, along after about three years of gentle 'pursuit'!
With Andy Player absent the 'aliens' contingent was down to a trio, and of those three Mike Dadson was putting together a clinical set of heats, with his dropped score better than anyone elses best bar the other two aliens. This meant the rest of us were battling for the other finals again, with former A final winner Jim Easton, in his first HO race of any kind since the summer, the one to end up joining them in the top final from the B final.
Finals commenced with the F final. George Parsons from Viking faced fellow rookie Mike Lassam (a regular at two other 1/32nd clubs in Kent) and Alan Twiddy. Alan had had a torrid time in the heats, but used his slightly higher level of experience to beat George by just over half a lap. From the unloved yellow lane he then won the next final, beating Callum Norris, local Phil Shearsby and another Viking HO rookie, Mike West. This would put Alan up against Jim Sanders, Adrian, and a struggling Deane Walpole.
Following the lose of HONK HQ Scalextric PR guru Adrian Norman agreed to host HONK's national round at the Viking club near Faversham, last used for an HO race in January 2011. Adrian had drummed up a lot of local support, all of whom showed great enthusiasm for the smaller form of racing. I even managed to get one of Viking's top drivers, Keith Fishenden, along after about three years of gentle 'pursuit'!
With Andy Player absent the 'aliens' contingent was down to a trio, and of those three Mike Dadson was putting together a clinical set of heats, with his dropped score better than anyone elses best bar the other two aliens. This meant the rest of us were battling for the other finals again, with former A final winner Jim Easton, in his first HO race of any kind since the summer, the one to end up joining them in the top final from the B final.
Finals commenced with the F final. George Parsons from Viking faced fellow rookie Mike Lassam (a regular at two other 1/32nd clubs in Kent) and Alan Twiddy. Alan had had a torrid time in the heats, but used his slightly higher level of experience to beat George by just over half a lap. From the unloved yellow lane he then won the next final, beating Callum Norris, local Phil Shearsby and another Viking HO rookie, Mike West. This would put Alan up against Jim Sanders, Adrian, and a struggling Deane Walpole.
Deane would end up emulating Alan by winning two finals, too ensure the Premier Grade drivers present locked out the top eight places. Along the way he would defeat Keith and fellow Viking member Dave May, as well as Dave Hannington in a cat and mouse battle that copied one earlier against Adrian and would crop up again later. Dave had the consolation of flying with his own car purchased and removed from it's packet half an hour before the off, and winning Main Grade as a consequence. Keith, using club cars, showed very much the promise I had expected.
All this created a mouth-watering B final, Jim facing Marc Townsend alongside him in blue lane, with Gareth Winslade and Deane in the gutters. Jim, from Pole, got off to a terrible start, and it was Gareth unexpectedly leading. Jim passed Deane soon enough but Marc was a much harder nut to crack. Gareth had two late, small offs and that was enough for Jim to sweep past both of them for a win that had not looked at all likely 2 minutes before. He would then face the aliens from the white gutter lane.
With hindsight what would follow was not that big a surprise. Whilst Mike picked his best lane Clive Harland passed up on his second best (denied his best by Mike) for the safety of a middle lane, leaving the under-the-radar Andy Whorton to land in his best lane, yellow. From there, in a generally scrappy race, he most closely copied his heat whilst the other three struggled for form. He had his share of offs too, but amazing pace when things were going well. His 6.405 fastest lap ended up the quickest of the session by a hundredth His win was comfortable in the end, and with Clive on the back foot down in third it looks like we do have an epic season in prospect after all!
PM REPORT
After a short break the afternoon classes saw Marc and Clive loaning a car to Dave Peters to ensure their class run, with CW also having just enough to happen, as Andy W looked to up his game lest Gareth run away with it. LMP1 was also safe, season long protagonists joined by Dave M placing a borrowed 908 on his morning purchase, and the same going for Mike L. Only Nascar had not needed any jiggery-pokery to happen, with the remaining locals using clubs cars a bumper field of 8 would see the class having three finals, Mike D with his MG17 and Christmas decoration body versus a slew of Life-Likes. Jim E departed, Dave P arrived and off we went for part II.
All this created a mouth-watering B final, Jim facing Marc Townsend alongside him in blue lane, with Gareth Winslade and Deane in the gutters. Jim, from Pole, got off to a terrible start, and it was Gareth unexpectedly leading. Jim passed Deane soon enough but Marc was a much harder nut to crack. Gareth had two late, small offs and that was enough for Jim to sweep past both of them for a win that had not looked at all likely 2 minutes before. He would then face the aliens from the white gutter lane.
With hindsight what would follow was not that big a surprise. Whilst Mike picked his best lane Clive Harland passed up on his second best (denied his best by Mike) for the safety of a middle lane, leaving the under-the-radar Andy Whorton to land in his best lane, yellow. From there, in a generally scrappy race, he most closely copied his heat whilst the other three struggled for form. He had his share of offs too, but amazing pace when things were going well. His 6.405 fastest lap ended up the quickest of the session by a hundredth His win was comfortable in the end, and with Clive on the back foot down in third it looks like we do have an epic season in prospect after all!
PM REPORT
After a short break the afternoon classes saw Marc and Clive loaning a car to Dave Peters to ensure their class run, with CW also having just enough to happen, as Andy W looked to up his game lest Gareth run away with it. LMP1 was also safe, season long protagonists joined by Dave M placing a borrowed 908 on his morning purchase, and the same going for Mike L. Only Nascar had not needed any jiggery-pokery to happen, with the remaining locals using clubs cars a bumper field of 8 would see the class having three finals, Mike D with his MG17 and Christmas decoration body versus a slew of Life-Likes. Jim E departed, Dave P arrived and off we went for part II.
The heats did not throw up any surprises, although Dave H made much more of a fist of pushing Mike D than previously, nor close battles other than Dave M and Alan in LMP1. Finals commenced with CW, where Andy W had done enough to keep Gareth off pole, his rival from Brighton quicker over a single lap but making more mistakes. The final win duly followed, although Gareth kept fastest lap in class despite Andy lowering his personal best by lowering his own.
With the Pro-Mods curiously slow by their standards, and all drivers electing to miss lanes or lap slowly during their heats it was decided not to hold back the hobby chassis until the end as a highlight, and run them instead straight after CW. Clive duly took a straightforward win, and left the venue at the end of the day as the only man to lap under five seconds. Marc took second to lead the championship as we head to the end of the year. Hopefully the cars will be back to their impressive best at Marc and Clive's home round.
LMP1 was a much better affair. Deane had the early lead ahead of main championship rival, but wasn't lapping as freely as in the heats. Even when Alan dropped back to third he was not able to relax and was not able to respond as Dave M closed in from white lane. Alan had further woe and dropped to last place, aiding Deane in terms of the whole season but still Deane could not raise his pace. In the end holding the gap steady on the penultimate lap was enough to scrap the win, but one has to wonder how quick Dave will be if he comes to future rounds where he won't be learning the Mega-G on lower tyres as he goes.
Nascar wrapped an excellent day of racing with it's three finals. George had the early lead in the C final, but binned it, and then Adrian took a move from Deane's playbook to drive steadily hoping the rope extended would hang George. It didn't, but 'Mr Scalextric' did still hang on. He would then feature in an even bigger scrape in the B final with Phil and Keith. Whilst Keith would eventually snatch the win that was rewarded with white lane in the last final of the day, albeit not by much, Phil and Adrian could not be separated when the power went off, and were both awarded 5th place.
For the A final Dave H and Mike motored away from Jim and Keith early on, and it was Mike's turn to settle into a tactical pace out front. Dave would reduce his best lap time of the afternoon by nearly sixth tenths of a second, but Mike was able to hang on on an even track that seemed to reward getting and then protecting an early lead. Dave stated before the meet that his best Nascar has recently 'died' so it will interesting to see what he does next and how long a Mega-G can continue to take Nascar wins.
After a quick tear-down of the track and medals presented to the four winners by Jim S on behalf of HONK and Adrian on behalf of Viking, the assembled drivers departed for their various destinations by 5pm, meaning 'night time' driving for many now the clocks have turned back. By the time we meet again that will probably be true for all. see you at FLBT on December 1st?
LMP1 was a much better affair. Deane had the early lead ahead of main championship rival, but wasn't lapping as freely as in the heats. Even when Alan dropped back to third he was not able to relax and was not able to respond as Dave M closed in from white lane. Alan had further woe and dropped to last place, aiding Deane in terms of the whole season but still Deane could not raise his pace. In the end holding the gap steady on the penultimate lap was enough to scrap the win, but one has to wonder how quick Dave will be if he comes to future rounds where he won't be learning the Mega-G on lower tyres as he goes.
Nascar wrapped an excellent day of racing with it's three finals. George had the early lead in the C final, but binned it, and then Adrian took a move from Deane's playbook to drive steadily hoping the rope extended would hang George. It didn't, but 'Mr Scalextric' did still hang on. He would then feature in an even bigger scrape in the B final with Phil and Keith. Whilst Keith would eventually snatch the win that was rewarded with white lane in the last final of the day, albeit not by much, Phil and Adrian could not be separated when the power went off, and were both awarded 5th place.
For the A final Dave H and Mike motored away from Jim and Keith early on, and it was Mike's turn to settle into a tactical pace out front. Dave would reduce his best lap time of the afternoon by nearly sixth tenths of a second, but Mike was able to hang on on an even track that seemed to reward getting and then protecting an early lead. Dave stated before the meet that his best Nascar has recently 'died' so it will interesting to see what he does next and how long a Mega-G can continue to take Nascar wins.
After a quick tear-down of the track and medals presented to the four winners by Jim S on behalf of HONK and Adrian on behalf of Viking, the assembled drivers departed for their various destinations by 5pm, meaning 'night time' driving for many now the clocks have turned back. By the time we meet again that will probably be true for all. see you at FLBT on December 1st?
round 2, worthing
September 29th 2013
OPEN WHEEL REPORT:
After an atypical three week gap the EAHORC bangwagon rolled in to Worthing for round two. Open Wheel was to give further credence to the theory we now have a group of 'aliens' (MotoGP fans will instantly get the reference) at the head of the field, with the same four heading qualification, and by some margin, as on our last visit to Heene Community Centre, weekend home of Worthing HO. The quartet, EAHORC cup holder Mike Dadson, reigning Open Wheel champion Clive Harland, Pro-Modified champion Andy Player and former multiple champion Andy Whorton, further underlined this by being the only ones to lap under five seconds on the latest sweeping WHO layout.
Behind the extra-terrestrials were a bunch of racers manfully trying to keep up. Dave Hannington, racing for the first time with Premier grade status, got closest to the 5 second barrier, and would end the session with a ninth place, whilst Deane Walpole, Marc Townsend, and Gareth Winslade (the other newly promoted driver) all pushed against or slightly over the 30 lap barrier that the big four broke through at will it seemed. Simon Coombes won Main Grade by finishing 8th after a mighty scrap with Dave H.
After an atypical three week gap the EAHORC bangwagon rolled in to Worthing for round two. Open Wheel was to give further credence to the theory we now have a group of 'aliens' (MotoGP fans will instantly get the reference) at the head of the field, with the same four heading qualification, and by some margin, as on our last visit to Heene Community Centre, weekend home of Worthing HO. The quartet, EAHORC cup holder Mike Dadson, reigning Open Wheel champion Clive Harland, Pro-Modified champion Andy Player and former multiple champion Andy Whorton, further underlined this by being the only ones to lap under five seconds on the latest sweeping WHO layout.
Behind the extra-terrestrials were a bunch of racers manfully trying to keep up. Dave Hannington, racing for the first time with Premier grade status, got closest to the 5 second barrier, and would end the session with a ninth place, whilst Deane Walpole, Marc Townsend, and Gareth Winslade (the other newly promoted driver) all pushed against or slightly over the 30 lap barrier that the big four broke through at will it seemed. Simon Coombes won Main Grade by finishing 8th after a mighty scrap with Dave H.
OW finals began with the first G final for some time, Dave Peters facing off against Josh Whorton and locals Ash Johnson and Paul Yates. Ash took the win by a large margin, via a big improvement over his blue lane heat score, to face Mum Helen, Callum Norris and Alex Ferrigno. Callum would come through a tense battle with Helen, as his racecraft continues to improve, placing him in the hugely unpopular yellow lane for the E final. This final would feature a great scrap between the fast but slightly erratic Louis Townsend and the steady, much improved Jim Sanders. Louis took the win by just 0.05 laps, and his celebration was one of the highlights of the day, not for him the subtle fist-pumps or faked nonchalance of the adults!
The D final saw another Townsend win, Henry racing for the first time since his head-turning performance in April, and beating former Open Wheel A final winner John Ferrigno, the impressive Carol Norris, and his sibling. That yellow lane meant he would have no chance to repeat the 8th place from April and he did will to keep within a few laps of Dave and Simon in the next final. These two would both record 26.05, but with Simon slightly ahead he was able to claim one Prem scalp on the way to that Main Grade win. Neither could live with Gareth, ensuring both the top finals would be wall-to-wall Premier Graders.
The B final saw Andy P take the win by a huge margin, emphasising further the 'aliens' factor. Deane, Gareth and Marc Townsend finished in that order in his wake, with Andy scoring what at the time was the biggest laps and parts total for blue lane, but knowing yellow lane was his prize. The A final, whilst anti-climatic, showed again how the top four are on another level right now, absent Paul Homewood potentially notwithstanding (we will find out next month). The quarter quickly became spreadout, and already victor Clive is looking ominous to take at least three titles this season. Mike would himself in the frame with another runner-up finish, ahead of the two Andys.
The D final saw another Townsend win, Henry racing for the first time since his head-turning performance in April, and beating former Open Wheel A final winner John Ferrigno, the impressive Carol Norris, and his sibling. That yellow lane meant he would have no chance to repeat the 8th place from April and he did will to keep within a few laps of Dave and Simon in the next final. These two would both record 26.05, but with Simon slightly ahead he was able to claim one Prem scalp on the way to that Main Grade win. Neither could live with Gareth, ensuring both the top finals would be wall-to-wall Premier Graders.
The B final saw Andy P take the win by a huge margin, emphasising further the 'aliens' factor. Deane, Gareth and Marc Townsend finished in that order in his wake, with Andy scoring what at the time was the biggest laps and parts total for blue lane, but knowing yellow lane was his prize. The A final, whilst anti-climatic, showed again how the top four are on another level right now, absent Paul Homewood potentially notwithstanding (we will find out next month). The quarter quickly became spreadout, and already victor Clive is looking ominous to take at least three titles this season. Mike would himself in the frame with another runner-up finish, ahead of the two Andys.
PM REPORT:
The selection of classes for the afternoon threw up the by now normal variance from one meeting to the next. Nascar, which did not run at round one at all, was easily the most popular choice with nine drivers, Pro-Modified was back down to three. LMP1 ran for the first time this season, with the same number of entries as CW (five).
Nascar was deep with the usual Life-Likes and Super G pluses, but triple champion provided some interest by trying a COT body, and Mike took things even further with a long wheelbase Mega-G decked out with a series of cool looking Trevco Christmas decorations dremeled to within a millimeter of their lives! Neither would win the class, that honour went to John, comfortably. Late on Mike came under massive pressure from Carol, but just held on to get what looks a solid start to a tilt at the title. Dave recovered from an tough set of heats to take 4th after stepping up from the B final, to limit the damage. Ash continued to impress with a strong 5th in class
LMP1 was a typical cat-and-mouse affair. Deane had taken pole comfortably enough, but tensed up in the final whilst leading against Alan Twiddy and the two Townsend Juniors.
The selection of classes for the afternoon threw up the by now normal variance from one meeting to the next. Nascar, which did not run at round one at all, was easily the most popular choice with nine drivers, Pro-Modified was back down to three. LMP1 ran for the first time this season, with the same number of entries as CW (five).
Nascar was deep with the usual Life-Likes and Super G pluses, but triple champion provided some interest by trying a COT body, and Mike took things even further with a long wheelbase Mega-G decked out with a series of cool looking Trevco Christmas decorations dremeled to within a millimeter of their lives! Neither would win the class, that honour went to John, comfortably. Late on Mike came under massive pressure from Carol, but just held on to get what looks a solid start to a tilt at the title. Dave recovered from an tough set of heats to take 4th after stepping up from the B final, to limit the damage. Ash continued to impress with a strong 5th in class
LMP1 was a typical cat-and-mouse affair. Deane had taken pole comfortably enough, but tensed up in the final whilst leading against Alan Twiddy and the two Townsend Juniors.
Alan closed the gap several times, but was pushing hard and made several mistakes as a consequence. He had a comfortable lead over Louis and Henry, so leaving nothing in reserve was definitely the right strategy, but in the end Deane took his first A final win in several seasons through experience more than pace.
CW had been dominated by Yelling winner Gareth and by Andy Whorton (almost certain to take a tilt at the CW crown?) during the heats, but neither would win the class. Gareth had to depart after two heats, and Andy, from Pole, had over-oiled this car, resulting in a slow car that went fast without warning, a visit to the floor, and a withdrawal in quick succession. For Gareth, non-scoring, this was perfect news, and means the CW title will be fascinating all season. With all the drama, a popular win fell to Dave Peters, from Simon, Callum and Andy.
CW had been dominated by Yelling winner Gareth and by Andy Whorton (almost certain to take a tilt at the CW crown?) during the heats, but neither would win the class. Gareth had to depart after two heats, and Andy, from Pole, had over-oiled this car, resulting in a slow car that went fast without warning, a visit to the floor, and a withdrawal in quick succession. For Gareth, non-scoring, this was perfect news, and means the CW title will be fascinating all season. With all the drama, a popular win fell to Dave Peters, from Simon, Callum and Andy.
Pro-Modified once again completed the day of racing. Both Clive and Marc had been pushing Andy really hard all through the heats, the work in the summer break hinted at Yelling clearly working spectacularly. That was definitely the right word too, the three cars running line astern as cosmic speeds lap after lap. In the end Clive had done the most solid job in qualifying, with Andy uncharacteristically at sea by comparison and Marc electing to not even run in Yellow.
As in the heats the trio ran close the whole final, the gaps between them growing and shrinking each lap |
by a tenth here and there the norm, between more than the usual number of offs. As at Yelling the track was struggling to cope, and in the end Clive's car hesitated into turn one, and both his rivals swept past, with Marc taking his first ever win in class by 0.9 laps (which the PM cars cover in 2.5 seconds). Efforts to make the tracks more resistant to the side-to-side movement of the hobby chassis is already under way, with more epic thrashes in prospect for the class, and a tight season in prospect.
Next stop a return to the Viking club near Faversham. Who is coming? |
Round 1, Yelling
September 8th 2013, Author Gareth Winslade
OPEN WHEEL REPORT:
The EAHORC season finally kicked back into life on September 8th and thirteen drivers made the trip to South Cambridgeshire and the wilds of Yelling. With EAHORC ringmaster Bernie Walpole out of commission and stuck at home watching Deane Ecclestone and the rest of the F1 circus on TV, it was Paul Homewood and the rest of the SCHORC boys who had put the track together and were running the meeting.
The track itself received the thumbs up from all the drivers with a long back straight, good size main straight and two technical sections at either end.
As ever, the day kicked off with Open Wheel and the reigning champion, Clive Harland, started brightly in white lane but struggled in the unfancied yellow lane. We had to wait several more heats until the other big guns in the form of Mike Dadson and Andy Wharton hit the track and laid down scores 3 – 4 laps more than everyone else was managing.
Slightly further back Paul H, Marc Townsend, Craig Homewood, Andy Player, Al Wood and Jim Easton were engaged in a huge battle for best of the rest in qualifying. Andy P looked absolutely gutted when he discovered he had once again qualified in 4th place and outside of the automatic A Final spots. It would be interesting to see the statistic for Andy qualifying in that position in OW.
The finals started with the Dunce D Final. It was somewhat surprising to find Lee Taylor and Paul Rose down here, especially Lee after his NSR heroics last season. Gareth Winslade struggled all morning with his Mega G and also with a Tyco while local Nick Lamplough also found his Mega G to be an ill handling beast. Lee got the hammer down and won the race by 2 laps from Paul while Gareth challenged for 2nd but fell off whenever he pulled near Paul. Nick followed them home in 4th.
The C Final also had some big scalps in it with Al, Marc and Jim taking on the stepping up Lee who remained on the white lane and almost did the double as he romped home second a scant ¾ of a lap back from winner Al in blue. Marc was a further lap back in blue and Jim fell back from 3rd for most of the race to 4th at the death.
With Al in the gutter lane that was yellow, the B Final would be all about Paul in red, pole man Andy P in white and Craig in blue. Or it would if Craig had not had an un-Craig like race with crashes through the second minute to leave him less than a quarter of a lap ahead of Al. Up front, a crash for Andy 20 seconds in and then 2 more later on left him with a mountain to climb. Paul obligingly fell off with a minute to go and suddenly we had a real duel for the final space in the A. Paul hung on to take the win a little over a lap clear of Andy.
And so to the A Final where the protagonists of the last season looked set to do battle all over again. It was Andy W who claimed the Pole with Mike 2nd and Clive having a slightly up and down of it in 3rd. Off the line and all 4 cars were neck and neck until the yellow lane claimed Paul as its latest victim at the 5 second mark and then Andy succumbed to the pressure with 10 seconds gone. This was to set the tone for Andy’s race. The fastest car in the race when he was on track but with several crashes through the first minute. Mike took the lead but Clive was never far behind and at 1 minute 20 seconds in, Mike crashed. Sadly for him it was in front of Gareth who completely ballsed up the car recovery. Mike’s frustration showed when he crashed a scant 1 corner later. Clive was now out in front and Andy and Mike ran neck and neck until a final late crash for the FLBT man sealed his 3rd place. Mike had the hammer down and started hunting down the champion. Clive made a charitable inspection of the barriers in the final minute and when the power went off the gap was just a few short pieces of track. A fantastic start to the day and congratulations to Clive for picking up where he left off in June.
The EAHORC season finally kicked back into life on September 8th and thirteen drivers made the trip to South Cambridgeshire and the wilds of Yelling. With EAHORC ringmaster Bernie Walpole out of commission and stuck at home watching Deane Ecclestone and the rest of the F1 circus on TV, it was Paul Homewood and the rest of the SCHORC boys who had put the track together and were running the meeting.
The track itself received the thumbs up from all the drivers with a long back straight, good size main straight and two technical sections at either end.
As ever, the day kicked off with Open Wheel and the reigning champion, Clive Harland, started brightly in white lane but struggled in the unfancied yellow lane. We had to wait several more heats until the other big guns in the form of Mike Dadson and Andy Wharton hit the track and laid down scores 3 – 4 laps more than everyone else was managing.
Slightly further back Paul H, Marc Townsend, Craig Homewood, Andy Player, Al Wood and Jim Easton were engaged in a huge battle for best of the rest in qualifying. Andy P looked absolutely gutted when he discovered he had once again qualified in 4th place and outside of the automatic A Final spots. It would be interesting to see the statistic for Andy qualifying in that position in OW.
The finals started with the Dunce D Final. It was somewhat surprising to find Lee Taylor and Paul Rose down here, especially Lee after his NSR heroics last season. Gareth Winslade struggled all morning with his Mega G and also with a Tyco while local Nick Lamplough also found his Mega G to be an ill handling beast. Lee got the hammer down and won the race by 2 laps from Paul while Gareth challenged for 2nd but fell off whenever he pulled near Paul. Nick followed them home in 4th.
The C Final also had some big scalps in it with Al, Marc and Jim taking on the stepping up Lee who remained on the white lane and almost did the double as he romped home second a scant ¾ of a lap back from winner Al in blue. Marc was a further lap back in blue and Jim fell back from 3rd for most of the race to 4th at the death.
With Al in the gutter lane that was yellow, the B Final would be all about Paul in red, pole man Andy P in white and Craig in blue. Or it would if Craig had not had an un-Craig like race with crashes through the second minute to leave him less than a quarter of a lap ahead of Al. Up front, a crash for Andy 20 seconds in and then 2 more later on left him with a mountain to climb. Paul obligingly fell off with a minute to go and suddenly we had a real duel for the final space in the A. Paul hung on to take the win a little over a lap clear of Andy.
And so to the A Final where the protagonists of the last season looked set to do battle all over again. It was Andy W who claimed the Pole with Mike 2nd and Clive having a slightly up and down of it in 3rd. Off the line and all 4 cars were neck and neck until the yellow lane claimed Paul as its latest victim at the 5 second mark and then Andy succumbed to the pressure with 10 seconds gone. This was to set the tone for Andy’s race. The fastest car in the race when he was on track but with several crashes through the first minute. Mike took the lead but Clive was never far behind and at 1 minute 20 seconds in, Mike crashed. Sadly for him it was in front of Gareth who completely ballsed up the car recovery. Mike’s frustration showed when he crashed a scant 1 corner later. Clive was now out in front and Andy and Mike ran neck and neck until a final late crash for the FLBT man sealed his 3rd place. Mike had the hammer down and started hunting down the champion. Clive made a charitable inspection of the barriers in the final minute and when the power went off the gap was just a few short pieces of track. A fantastic start to the day and congratulations to Clive for picking up where he left off in June.
PM REPORT:
SCHORC has come to be the spiritual home of the Marchon MR1 chassis, perennial favourite of drivers in the Closed Wheel class. It was no surprise therefore to see 6 of the 7 local drivers pick CW for their afternoon class with Paul H choosing to revive his G3 in Pro-Mod. Mike was in a serious quandary as he had hoped to run Nascar but he was unable to get the three drivers necessary as Gareth and Andy W chose CW and the three usual Pro-Mod runners went that route. The question for the afternoon would be; did Mike make a mistake choosing Pro-Mod?
The CW heats saw Al, Paul R and Lee making the early running with their MR1s and Gareth joining them at the sharp end with his Lifelike T chassis. An over-abundance of red coloured bodies and the pressure causing some issues as the heats went on. Craig had another up and down afternoon with 2 massive scores in red and yellow, an average score in blue and major issues in white. Nick’s car lacked the speed and grip of the more developed cars. Jim meanwhile struggled with his car and Andy W experimented with a Lifelike and his LMP1 car.
The qualifying results were incredibly tight with Gareth squeaking pole by having a higher dropped score than Al with Lee just ¾ of a lap back and Paul just 2.2 laps further back and on pole for the B final.
SCHORC has come to be the spiritual home of the Marchon MR1 chassis, perennial favourite of drivers in the Closed Wheel class. It was no surprise therefore to see 6 of the 7 local drivers pick CW for their afternoon class with Paul H choosing to revive his G3 in Pro-Mod. Mike was in a serious quandary as he had hoped to run Nascar but he was unable to get the three drivers necessary as Gareth and Andy W chose CW and the three usual Pro-Mod runners went that route. The question for the afternoon would be; did Mike make a mistake choosing Pro-Mod?
The CW heats saw Al, Paul R and Lee making the early running with their MR1s and Gareth joining them at the sharp end with his Lifelike T chassis. An over-abundance of red coloured bodies and the pressure causing some issues as the heats went on. Craig had another up and down afternoon with 2 massive scores in red and yellow, an average score in blue and major issues in white. Nick’s car lacked the speed and grip of the more developed cars. Jim meanwhile struggled with his car and Andy W experimented with a Lifelike and his LMP1 car.
The qualifying results were incredibly tight with Gareth squeaking pole by having a higher dropped score than Al with Lee just ¾ of a lap back and Paul just 2.2 laps further back and on pole for the B final.
In Pro-Mod, Mike campaigned Andy P’s Wizzard Patriot but the older car was lapping slightly slower than the top CW cars and sure enough it finally expired forcing him to switch to his WHO Modified class cars. Paul H’s car had looked quick in practise but the Wizzard trio of Andy P, Clive and Marc took quick to a whole new level, Paul ending up 55 laps behind Andy. His car losing a guide pin during the heats and the misunderstanding that resulted in Marc rear-ending Paul’s car probably didn’t help either driver. Clive and Andy were separated by just 1.6 laps at the end.
Such is the grip level of these cars that they were regularly ripping the track apart necessitating some gaffer taped repair work. Marc commented that once the track was taped down, he had to relearn how to drive one corner as the car moving the track each lap had actually made the corner faster than it was when the track was held in place.
Pro-Mod kicked off the finals and it was a heads up duel between Paul H and Mike. Mike was now piloting Andy P’s back up Storm. Despite his unfamiliarity with the car, we were treated to a good race with Paul taking the victory by a lap.
The A Final saw Andy get away in front but Clive was visibly gaining lap by lap and after 40 seconds he took the lead. The race had to be suspended due to power issues with the blue lane and once they were repaired, the fastest car was Andy again. He re-passed Marc on yellow and in the final minute of the race heaped the pressure onto Clive who tried to respond but unfortunately cartwheeled off the road with 2 crashes in 20 seconds. Andy retook the lead with 25 seconds to go and went on to take the win from Clive, Marc and Paul.
All indications are that this is going to be probably the closest and best Pro-Mod championship yet as Clive and Marc used the summer to really learn their Storm cars and have caught up to Andy’s cars pace. This is definitely one to watch.
The CW finals also started with a heads up duel between Nick and Jim. Jim switched from his recalcitrant MR1 to a 1.5 Mega G. The undeveloped proved tricky to drive and Jim’s challenge faded throughout the race as Nick had a composed drive to the win, all the way with a smile on his face!
The B Final found Paul R in dominant form as he ran a perfect 3 minutes to pick up the win on blue lane. Behind him chaos reigned supreme! First to falter was Craig in red lane while Nick in white and Andy W in yellow enjoyed a great scrap for 2nd. Craig rejoined the party after 30 seconds and when Andy began to experience axle and body issues as his car found the barriers one too many times, it was Craig who took the fight to Nick. Craig finally sneaked through in the final 30 seconds to pick up 2nd place but it had been a very enjoyable battle to watch.
The A Final had to be restarted after a major track break was discovered a few short laps into the race. It would certainly explain why Gareth’s car was on its roof every lap onto the main straight. Once repairs had been undertaken, the race proper began with Al and Gareth engaging in a neck and neck race for the first 45 seconds. It was Al who blinked first as the pressure began to tell on everyone. All 4 drivers had niggling offs throughout the race. Paul fell behind Lee and retired from the race. Lee himself closed on Al and was under a lap behind at the finish in 3rd place. Gareth took the eventual win from Al in 2nd.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a season long battle in CW. I’m expecting Andy W’s Lifelike (if he persists with it) to rapidly overtake mine in the speed stakes and hopefully Dave Peters and some other drivers will also join us.
Such is the grip level of these cars that they were regularly ripping the track apart necessitating some gaffer taped repair work. Marc commented that once the track was taped down, he had to relearn how to drive one corner as the car moving the track each lap had actually made the corner faster than it was when the track was held in place.
Pro-Mod kicked off the finals and it was a heads up duel between Paul H and Mike. Mike was now piloting Andy P’s back up Storm. Despite his unfamiliarity with the car, we were treated to a good race with Paul taking the victory by a lap.
The A Final saw Andy get away in front but Clive was visibly gaining lap by lap and after 40 seconds he took the lead. The race had to be suspended due to power issues with the blue lane and once they were repaired, the fastest car was Andy again. He re-passed Marc on yellow and in the final minute of the race heaped the pressure onto Clive who tried to respond but unfortunately cartwheeled off the road with 2 crashes in 20 seconds. Andy retook the lead with 25 seconds to go and went on to take the win from Clive, Marc and Paul.
All indications are that this is going to be probably the closest and best Pro-Mod championship yet as Clive and Marc used the summer to really learn their Storm cars and have caught up to Andy’s cars pace. This is definitely one to watch.
The CW finals also started with a heads up duel between Nick and Jim. Jim switched from his recalcitrant MR1 to a 1.5 Mega G. The undeveloped proved tricky to drive and Jim’s challenge faded throughout the race as Nick had a composed drive to the win, all the way with a smile on his face!
The B Final found Paul R in dominant form as he ran a perfect 3 minutes to pick up the win on blue lane. Behind him chaos reigned supreme! First to falter was Craig in red lane while Nick in white and Andy W in yellow enjoyed a great scrap for 2nd. Craig rejoined the party after 30 seconds and when Andy began to experience axle and body issues as his car found the barriers one too many times, it was Craig who took the fight to Nick. Craig finally sneaked through in the final 30 seconds to pick up 2nd place but it had been a very enjoyable battle to watch.
The A Final had to be restarted after a major track break was discovered a few short laps into the race. It would certainly explain why Gareth’s car was on its roof every lap onto the main straight. Once repairs had been undertaken, the race proper began with Al and Gareth engaging in a neck and neck race for the first 45 seconds. It was Al who blinked first as the pressure began to tell on everyone. All 4 drivers had niggling offs throughout the race. Paul fell behind Lee and retired from the race. Lee himself closed on Al and was under a lap behind at the finish in 3rd place. Gareth took the eventual win from Al in 2nd.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a season long battle in CW. I’m expecting Andy W’s Lifelike (if he persists with it) to rapidly overtake mine in the speed stakes and hopefully Dave Peters and some other drivers will also join us.
2012/13 Race reports
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round 10, Worthing
June 30th 2013
open wheel reportThe 2012/13 season ended as it began, with a win from pole position for Clive Harland in Open Wheel. It also ended with some bizarre goings on around attendance (in this instance, 11 racers dropped out in the four days before the event), just as it started. But in between that start and that end was the best season of OW racing ever.
Despite the drop outs Andy Player and the WHO crew had worked hard to ensure there was a deep field, with 20 forming the line-up. Clive knew he would only need to qualify in the top nine to ensure he would take the OW title, having had the upper hand for most of the season following rival Mike Dadson's 'failure' to make the A final at the first two rounds. In the end pole was more than enough, and so Clive followed his FLBT colleague Andy Whorton as champion. Nonetheless, he was still pushing hard due to the 'big one' still just about being possible. The finals commenced with the G, with Callum Norris beating Alex Ferrigno. The F final would fall to newcomer Karl Eisenhauer, a local who had come along with Gareth Winslade, ahead of WHO regular Helen Johnson, Andy's son Josh and Callum. Thus Karl would move up to the unloved yellow lane on the compact but flowing layout, facing Helen's son Ash in red as well as Jim Sanders (Blue) and Dave Peters (White), the two battling hard for the rookie title. Dave would retire early, and a win for Jim swung things his way, but both had more points to put on the board come the afternoon, and Dave still had a small advantage. Ash took the runner up spot in this final to take 14th overall, and top junior. Jim meanwhile would face Alan twiddy, Simon Coombes and another local national rookie, Duncan Skelt in the D final. Simon took the win from white lane, to ensure he would end the day as top Tyco user, but Jim had done well to come second and close the rookie gap yet further, finishing just 2/10ths up on Alan. Simon would this join Dave Hannington and Gareth (these two confirmed at the drivers moving up to Premier Grade next season), and John Ferrigno (heading in the other direction) in the C final. John would take the win, ensuring that yet another local national rookie, Paul Yates, would win Main Grade on the day, Paul had done a remarkable job, especially given that he has only raced at WHO twice, his heat score in yellow being especially impressive, beaten only by Andy Player as it was. Come the B final he was a big factor too, battling all race long with Deane Walpole and at one point keeping Mike out of the A final (which would of had huge consequences later on). In the end he was bested by both, Mike winning, but it was still impressive stuff.
By the time the A final got underway Mike's nerves were shredded! He had survived a tense B final, as well as checking how the E-cup was looking with race control and not liking what he initially saw (it turned out he was looking at Andy Player's stats!). Yet he somehow put in a strong run in yellow, looking for an opening should the two Andys or Clive falter. By contrasts his rival was flying out front, lowering the fastest lap for the class by nearly three tenths, and managing a decent gap to Mr Player, who had looked up for it in the early laps. The other Andy was not able to match their pace, but did have enough to handle Mike. Thus Clive celebrated his title win in some style, and kept the E-cup battle alive. |
PM reportOver lunch there was some interesting stuff going on. The late pull out from the event of Marc Townsend meant his FLBT club-mate, trying to pull off a remarkable double, was now on the backfoot, with his usual PM class not running. Nascar would mean facing reguals Dave and Deane, as well as Andy P (who would be doing his damdest to help Mike), LMP1 would mean the gamble of facing Mike head-on in the class he was familiar in and now sure to be champion in, as well as facing Andy Whorton (another multiple LMP1 winner).
In the end Clive chose CW, absolutley the right tactic and one that put the pressure back on Mike, whose final would be first. Clive even had a cheeky attempt to get Mike to forgo his own comfort zone and join him in CW, but the Angmering resident was resolute. He had also decided not to look at the showdown table at race control, which was also the right tactic. All this before a wheel had turned! Lunch also saw four locals depart, so 16 would battle out for some closed-wheel glory, with half choosing Nascar. With five running in CW and only 3 in LMP1 Mike would be the first of the honour hunters in action. Having made his decision to run in LMP1 and not look at that table, he seemed to relax and was in devestating form, taking pole by a country mile and scoring more than the CW runners in blue lane! However, we had seen both Mike and Andy W overturn qualifying in the finals more than once, so it was by no means a done deal. On race control it had been worked out that a win for Mike would mean he was going to be to far ahead of Clive to lose the E-cup, but second place would mean it was still on. The decision was made not to relay this to the drivers, as Mike pulverized both his biggest heat score and fastest heat lap to win comfortably. Alan, struggling to cope with an extremely nailed car, was several laps back from Andy.
CW next, with Race Control again electing not to tell the drivers too much about the title battle. Dave Peters had won the B final to take back the initiative in the rookie battle and would step up to yellow to face Clive (Blue), Gareth (Red) and Karl (white). Gareth had taken pole, but he had seen enough in the heats to regret advising Clive to join him in CW. Clive for his part had found the knife-edge handling of the Life-Like chassis to be offset by racing in a class much slower than what he was used to, so it was all to play for. In the end Clive took the win, meaning he would be the only person to score more than 300 points all season. Under considerable pressure he had driven out of his sin all day. Achingly, he would finish behind Mike in the EAHORC cup by 22 points, or less than the swing between winner and runner-up in any of their many battles. But Mike had been under huge pressure too, and had done slightly the better job. Rarely would any one else get a look in, such was the amount both had stepped up to the plate. Racing for the season finished with three Nascar finals. Jim lost the C final to Josh, and with it any slim hope of taking the rookie title. Whorton Jnr would then mightily impress by taking the B final ahead of Paul and the Johnsons, and he was not done yet. He would so rattle Deane in the A final despite being in yellow, that his much more experienced rival would withdraw rather than get in the way of the rapidly circulating Andy P and Dave. Those two, using a Tomy Super G Plus, and Life-Like T respectively, qualified only a tenth of a lap apart, but in the end multiple champion Dave would take the final win of the season, to end what has been the best season ever in terms of on-track action. |
ROUND NINE, LONDON
June 8th 2013
round eight, norwich
May 19th 2013
open wheel reportHaving lost the original date for this meeting to the snow, the new date was placed in the only suitable gap, but the new date did no more or less to raise attendance numbers. This was a real worry given the nature of placing an HO track on top of NSR's routed large-scale one meant the number of marshals could not be reduced. In the end we had enough people, just.
The lower turnout did mean that a very chilled atmosphere was in place almost from the get-go. The WHO 'bus' was running late and nobody minded starting 10 minutes late as a result, for example. There was also some really good racing on display. Despite the later start the Open Wheel finals got under way before noon, with the only local present, Ken Mason, facing Jim Sanders, Dave Peters and Al Wood. Ken had actually put up a really good effort, racing a bone-stock car and having not touched an HO car in 16 months he nonetheless outqualified three others. In the D final he would drop to 12th, in a race won by Al.
Al then faced Gareth Winslade, Deane Walpole and Craig Homewood, The later was not flying as we have become used to, and the whole race was a on-track and smack talk battle between Gareth and Deane. The former took an early lead and kept it throughout. He would join Jim Easton and the ever-improving of late Dave Hannington (pretty much now guaranteed to be promoted to Premier Grade next season). The fourth name in the B final was a shock; Mike Dadson. Examination of the heats showed that Mike had been kept out of the A final by Lee Taylor by the slimmest possible margin without a tie breaker (0.05 laps, or less than 7'), Mike's only saving graces being he had 'pole' in the B final and that his rival Clive Harland had not taken pole in the big one (that honour had fallen, as expected, to Andy Player, who always goes well at NSR). Mike duly too the B win, from Jim, Dave and Gareth, and so lined up in blue against Andy (green), Clive (Red) and Lee (yellow). It was not a classic final, and once again the curse of OW pole struck. Andy led initially, but Clive was pushing hard without many errors and was into the lead when the Brighton resident faltered. He would not be headed again. Mike did a good salvage job to take third, but the pressure is now ramping up with every lap. Lee still took Main grade with his fourth place, and the unusual honour of being top finisher from his club. |
PM reportAfter a relaxed and longer than usual lunch, with food provided by Lynn from NSR out of what Al dubbed the cupboard of tastiness as soon as he arrived, the mixed afternoon classes got underway. Mike was able to take a big step towards the LMP1 title before any racing had taken place, the class running with the minimum required trio and arch rival Andy Whorton absent.
Deane had moved into that class, and with Andy's brother also absent and Jim S choosing to try CW, Nascar did not run for the first time in a long time. This pushed Dave H into CW and meant that class, normally stuck on 3/4 participants, had a bumper field of seven racers. Pro-Mod was down to a trio as well, with Marc Townsend having to withdraw from racing at the last minute. The heats had only thrown up one surprise, Craig not in pole for CW, and the finals got under way with LMP1. This was going to be interesting, with both Gareth and Deane running Dadson cars and both having shown flashes of pace in the heats as they got used to 'decked' MG17s. Two-thirds of the way around the opening lap Mike and Gareth took each other out, forgetting perhaps the LMP1s don't play nice in tight turns, and Deane led the opening few laps. He was soon back to third, but not out of it and Gareth now found himself with a somewhat unexpected lead. The clock wound down with a clearly agitated, and then ecstatic Gareth hanging on by 0.05 laps with Deane only a third of a lap back. Gareth thus became the 50th person to win an EAHORC A final.
We soon had a 51st, Lee holding a tense half lap gap to Al for much of their A final in CW, with Dave H back in third, and champion Craig only 4th after car trouble. Dave H had taken the only step-up of the afternoon, comfortably beating Dave P, Jim S and Ken in the B final. Dave and Jim had a good scrap behind him, and together with Alan Twiddy from FLBT are now in a great fight for the John Brown trophy.
The day wrapped with a routine win for Andy Player in Pro, and barring some surreal events coming to pass at Edmo next month is now champion in that class. Jim E had a torrid final to go with his torrid heats, and Clive could not get close to Andy's consistency despite being in the ball park on ultimate lap time. Next stop London. Clive is missing that race, which means the biggest two titles will go down to the wire. |
round seven, kesgrave
April 21st 2013
Round six, Marlborough
March 24th 2013
Round five, chatham (honk)
February 24th 2013
OPen wheel report2nd/3rd placed cars in the HOGP
After a break longer than the planned summer ones, due to the January snow 'storms', racing resumed at HONK for the fifth running of the HO Grand Prix. You could tell the regular competitors were champing at the bit to get back to racing!
The theme of pressure resumed, with Mike Dadson being the one to deal with it the best, but ironically leaves HONK facing the most! Race Control put themselves under pressure, using Race Coordinator timing software in an extreme way. It came through with flying colours, the only problem all day being getting the back-up sheets to print in the morning. More cool RC stuff is planned... Racing therefore started at 10:12am instead of 10am, and the RC leaderboard was quickly showing that Andy Whorton was in a league of his own during the heats. The board really came into it's own during the later heats and first Mike Dadson and then Clive Harland (with 15s of the very last heat to go) leapfrogged Marc Townsend, Deane Walpole and Andy Player. The finals commenced with the E final, as usual at HONK the top two stepping up. Gareth Winslade was making one of his occasional visits to a national, and this time had persuaded one his brothers, Tim, to give HO a try. Tim took the E final win ahead of Carol Norris, consigning newcomer Alan Twiddy, all the way from Chipping Sodbury near Bristol, and her son Callum to the bottom of the results sheet. Tim would then keep his nose clean to impressively take another win in the D final, joined on the way up this time by John Molloy. The C final was an extremely close affair, the field refusing to get stung out as often happens. In the end Al Wood and Jim Sanders took the step-ups, with Dave Hannington missing out by inches. The B final was a more straightforward affair, despite the pressure of getting into the HOGP proper, with Deane and Andy P controlling things from the front. Jim Easton made a valiant attempt to get past at least one of those two, but fell just short. For the GP Race Coordinator was re-set to 4 minutes instead of the usual three. Andy W would be on pole in red, with Mike getting his beat heat lane (blue). Clive lined up in white (his best lane), Marc in Yellow and the two step-ups on the inner lanes. Mike led early on, with the smallest of breathing spaces thanks to Clive and Marc battling each other fiercely.
Andy had yet to make his mark, and an off resulting in an arm-pop meant he would dropped to fifth. Although he got past Deane in short order he was not able to close on his FLBT mates quickly enough, such was there pace as their battle raged on. Mike meanwhile pulled clear. Andy dipped heavily into the 13s, but this was still not enough and the reigning GP winner knew 4th was all he was going to get this time. Up front Mike was now in a position of being safe as long as he did not blow it, but you could see the nerves were beginning to be felt. On track the car looked fine though, and in the end interest switched to Marc and Clive. Fittingly, they would finish a couple of inches apart. (see picture at top of report). Congrats to Mike, and to all the GP participants. Each received a trophy. 21 months until the 6th HOGP, will that see another new winner? |
PM reportAfter a short lunch, the 'support races' got underway. Thanks to Deane's custom rotation files a way was found to use Race Coordinator and still have the Pro-Mods qualifying on their own. The rest would take their chances mixed together, all classes bar Nascar (which would have a B final) racing 'merely' for lane choice.
Nascar would see the winner from July 2012, Paul Whorton, take on no less than 8 locals, with CW consisting of Al Wood and the Winslade brothers. LMP1 would see Mike and Andy W have yet another head-to-head, with Alan and Callum for company. Pro was down to 'the usual four' following Deane's withdrawal from the class. All four classes would see one driver dominate the heats. In CW this was Al, who was comfortably able to convert pole in blue lane to a win, his fourth career win. In the battle of the brothers Tim would beat his more experienced sibling, but Gareth still headed home happy, the early work on his Life-Like project showing the amount of promise he had hoped for. Andy Whorton had dominated LMP1, and also converted to a straightforward win. Mike and Andy now share the lead in that class, with two wins and two runner-up spots to date. The conversions continued with Andy Player, having taken pole by over 5 laps sealing a win in a class he has pretty much made his own. Jim Easton was able beat Clive and Marc, to show the G3 may not be totally done yet, but in truth Andy was never sweating compared to some of early wins in class.
Nascar too went to form, and the subsequent HONK club night four days later showed what a shame it was Andrew Rose had to work, as he may of been able to live with Dave (in better form since switching to a difalco controller) based on his club form. As it was Dave had Deane running him close early on, but was soon up the road. a late off for Deane saw Jim Sanders get very close to him, but the Orpington resident had to settle for the bronze position. 3rd was still a strong result, from 5th on the grid and in a gutter Jim had gotten ahead of Dave Peters and John Molloy. Louis Keith, another local junior, was 6th in class having stepped up from the B final, keeping Paul from doing so himself. The trophies were quickly presented, with minds on getting home and getting fed, and Race Coordinator was given a round of applause for being the star of the day (with Mike, it has to be said).
Next stop FLBT. Can Mike keep things running smoothly in the FIVE titles he is up for? will Andy take his first OW win of the season, will home soil help there? Can anyone stop Andy Player in PM class? Can't wait to find out! |
Round four, King's lynn (MBRHO)
December 2nd 2012
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ROUND THREE, CHATHAM (HONK)
October 28th 2012
OPen wheel reportAnother HONK race about to start.
The season swung back into Kent for round three, with more racers taking part across the two sessions than in the previous two rounds combined. The record attendance of 29 was in danger at one point, but ultimately the numbers were one short.
16 adults and 8 juniors lined up for Open wheel, including several locals from the recently started Thursday night club, which was good to see. More would turn up for the afternoon session. The OW field consisted of 23 Mega-Gs and Marc Townsend with his ongoing Tyco project. Andy Whorton took pole, but not by the expected large margin, with his championhip rival Clive Harland. There was then a gap back to the next two on the 'grid', Craig Homewood and Mike Dadson, then the next two (Andy Player and Deane Walpole). After that it was mostly very close. After three and a bit hours of heats, the finals got underway with rookies Hanna Crockett and Callum Norris facing brothers Sam and Josh Norris (no relation!). Hanna beat Josh by a tiny margin and these two stepped up to the E final to face Paul Whorton, Callum Davidson, HONK regular Dave Peters, and Hanna's brother Cam. Dave and Callum finished 2/100ths apart to take the next step-up. The D final was equally close, with Rob lees beating Nigel sykes by 2/100ths.Callum Norris
This was Nigel first race for three years, the old school racer who goes back to the early days of HO here unfamiliar to many. Guess the draw of the track was too much for him to stay away! He would next line up against Rob and HONK runner Dave Hannington, Darren McHarg, John Molloy and Paul Homewood in the C final. Darren and Dave would progress, but Nigel, Rob and Paul finished with only 8/100ths of a lap splitting them.
Next up, the B final. Deane and Andy were joined by the two step-ups and with Gareth Winslade (racing in his first national for some time), and Marc rounding out the field, Marc's Tyco proving even on the ultimate Mega-G track his 440X2 can hang. Deane would lead off the line and never lose it, but both Andy and that 440X2 were always close enough to make it tense. The A final quickly spread into three battles. Clive and Andy out front, Deane trying to hassle Craig, and Mike in a lonely third place but pushing hard to join the top two. Craig had just enough to win his battle, Mike held on to the bottom step of the podium, but the main interest was out front. Those assuming that Clive is just keeping Andy's throne warm because he missed round one were shocked/delighted to see Clive take the win, and by half a lap to boot. He looks the real deal now and hopefully the battle between him and Andy will last all season, and only build in intensity. |
PM reportWith the Open Wheel racing finished Nigel and Matt N & 'crew' departed. HONK locals Jim Sanders, Carol Norris (Callum's Mum) and Keith Harman had been on site for some time at this point, and would be taking part in the PM session.
All three chose Nascar (a HONK class this year) as part of a bumper field that included champion Dave and in-form Andrew Rose, and 6 others. LMP1 and CW had three runners, and Pro-Mod five, including Rob Lees making his season debut and setting out on a modest build program that will ramp up next year I hear. Andrew, using a SG+, took pole in Nascar from Paul W (LL) by less than a lap, with Dave H only a few 100ths back.Thus we were in for another of their scraps on the epic track now being used twice a month for club racing. Mike,perhaps swayed by his recent class win was a little disapoited to qualify fourth. Joining those four would be the step-ups from the afternoon's only B final, John and Callum D. LMP1 was very straightforward for Andy W. He had a couple of heat wobbles, but when he was quick he was well clear of Darren and Deane, and pole and the win followed without much fuss. Darren was runner-up. Craig had had a torrid time in his heats but got the car back on song for the final, and able to overturn Lee (Blue) and Gareth (Green) despite Lee in particular giving it his all. Pro-MOD saw the outright lap record Fall, asThe three LMP1 908s ready for battle
expected, as well as the most laps scored overall increased. Andy P had found the sweat spot for this truly one-off track, and left his fellow WHP users and Paul H (using Craig's G3) in his wake. His A final run was not perfect, but good enough for the win as the fastest class devoured the extra voltage and amperage available since the last race at HONK.
Andrew duly took the much-predicted Nascar win but he was made to work for it by Dave H and Paul W (separated as in quali by a tiny margin), with John completing a excellent afternoon by pushing Mike down to 5th (ahead of Callum). All in all a crack day of racing that broke many records. Next stop King's Lynn for the annual 'Christmas' thrash. |
Round TWO, KESGRAVE (ECHo)
September 30th 2012
Open Wheel ReportTypical OW 'grid'
The pattern established at round 1 continued at the EAHORC season rolled back into Suffolk, a puzzlingly low turnout but some great racing. Two late dropouts the night before reduced the field to just 14, but ECHO’s Julian Allard had already foreseen the possibility and designed another very even track that was this time light on marshal requirements
Finals commenced with Andy’s brother Paul facing off against Lee Henderson, with Lee comfortably going through to the D final. Here he would meet the first Tyco of the finals, peddled by Dave Hannington, and the Mega-Gs of Lee Taylor and Julian. The key to the race was that Lee H had been ‘gifted’wite lane, the even track dividing opinion on what was the worst lane, with as many people chosing white and getting it because others had avoided it.
Lee was happy with white and took a second step-up (a rare event nowadays) with a 22-dead, a much bigger score than he had done in any heats. Dave was next up with the other two dead-heating on 20.55 with Julian just ahead. ECHO racer Lee would therefore face the two Homewoods and Deane, making his debut after his dental dramas finally saw him miss a race for the first time out of 79 meets. The EAHORC founder had not been particularly stellar in the heats, Craig therefore choosing his best lane rather than play tactical, leaving Deane to take a one lap win in white by hooking up with the lane way better than he had in the heats. Craig had been in the running early on though, as had Lee, clearly happier mixing with cars wheel-to-wheel than in the sometimes discipline-demanding qualifiers. The B final ended up having two starts, which worked out badly for some (as these things tend do, the mental trick of brushing off having to start again catching some out). The original track call was tardily dealt with and then two cars were placed on the dead strip, so lining up again was the only option. Andy Player was the big loser, choosing to walk away well before half distance after his car became stranded. Marc Townsend retired on lap 17, leaving a surprised Deane to play cat-and-mouse with Mike successfully enough to a second step-up as well. Despite doing the business in the heats Andy W once again put himself on the back foot with an early off, and on this occasion could do nothing about a flying Jim Easton. Jim, another making his season debut, was one of the drivers to be promoted to Premier grade and the end of last season, and had put together a rock-steady set of heats a little under the rader to qualify second. Given a shot to go one better in the big race he did not falter, adding more than half a lap to his biggest score to beat multiple-champ Andy by 0.35 laps. Clive was third to keep his championship bid very much on track. Deane pulled out on lap 10 rather than get in the other’s way. |
PM report
For the afternoon it was always likely one of the four classes would not go ahead, given the low numbers. For a while it looked as if CW might be the culled class, with Lee H contemplating a late switch to LMP1.In the end he stayed in Nascar, and with Paul Homewood and the other Lee choosing not to stick with the class they had entered at Yelling, it was the LeMans class that got the chop for the first time since it's inception. CW still had the smallest field, with Nascar having five and Pro-Mod making it's season debut and leading the way with six entries. After the heats Andy Player had taken what is very much expected of him nowadays, a Pro-Mod pole by a huge margin (this time 10 laps). He was not flustered by Deane having a car which took fastest lap, as this cooked itself, again, nor Marc and Clive now using the same base platform to render the class a BSRT vs WHP one. Jim continued his strong day qualifying 2nd, Julian rounding out the field with a much more stock Storm. Nascar had seen defending champion Dave have an even more torrid time than at the last round of 2011/12, having got his defence off to the perfect start earlier in the month at Yelling. He only qualified ahead of Andy W, struggling to get his SG+ on the pace as he contemplates a full tilt at the title, with Mike and Lee H the pace setters. Lee had looked on course for pole for much of the heats, and was crushed to be pipped by Mike by 0.05 laps, the smallest possible margin. Worthing winner Paul W lined up third. Finals commenced with the CW trio. Craig was comfortably on pole but perhaps somewhat rashly pulled out after double crash on lap 8, despite pleas to continue from both his rivals. Dad was this left to keep family honours intact, duly taking the win by 2 laps from club-mate Lee. Nascar was next, with the first B final of the afternoon, and Dave making more uncharacteristic mistakes as he lost to Andy W. For the A final the older Whorton was able to overturn the unusual sight of being behind his brother, to finish the day third. Mike and Lee H were very quickly some way up the road from the siblings though, and for much of it Lee was in the lead. An off eventually allowed Mike to take the win, and to leave us wondering if he too will take on the class all season, but for Lee it was his best national performance to date by some margin. With the day winding down and the time barely past 1430 the B finals Pro-Mods came out to play. Both Marc and Deane had borrowed cars, and both finished ahead of Julian. Marc had found six laps, which would seem to suggest he should of borrowed the car a lot sooner, qualifying second being a realistic outcome if he had! For the A final Andy P stomped his authority on proceeding early doors, a foot or so ahead of three chasing cars running together. Andy seemed calm, and we waited for the 'bangs' to signify his rivals had found barriers. Amazingly, nobody did until the one minute mark, so for 60 seconds we had the amazing sight of four cars doing speeds seen nowhere else on a road course in Europe all grouped together. Those 'bangs' eventually translated into a 1.25 lap win for Andy ahead of Jim, himself 1.35 laps ahead of Clive and Marc taking 4th. If Andy had had a crash in that first minute before the others, one has to wonder what might have been. Despite the furious pace none of the four A finalists got near the fastest lap, so the class could be about to get even more interesting. Next stop HONK….. |
Round one, YELLING (SCHORC)
September 2nd 2012
Open Wheel report
The opening round of the 2012-12 Eahorc season was a break from convention. The story is as much about what happened before the race as during it. Just 48 hours before the racing was due to start, Eahorc supremo Deane Walpole was struck down with excruciating dental pain. There was no way he would play any part in the meeting – his first absence in the ten years of Eahorc history. Deane is so fundamental to the organisation of each and every Eahorc race, that this one was suddenly seriously in doubt. Some frantic conversations on the Eahorc forum, texting and phone calls allowed locals Paul Homewood and Lee Taylor to start putting the pieces together. The event would run with SCHORC equipment - including Al Wood’s mbed lap timing system – and race control manned by SCHORC members. On Saturday and Sunday, the SCHORC guys put together a great show, which had all the hallmarks of the best Eahorc meetings. They did Deane proud. And the racing was pretty awesome too. Open Wheel saw eleven drivers on the grid. The track design allowed for some close, side-by-side racing which was breathtaking from start to finish. It was difficult to see who had new cars for the new season, most of the bodies were familiar. One car that did stand out was Marc Townsend’s Tyco – whether it was the track that suited, I don’t know, but Marc put in some massive scores to qualify in third position, just behind Clive and Andy. With just four finals, Lee Henderson and rookie Nick Lamplough fought it out mano-a-mano for a place in the C final. Both guys raised their games in the final, but it was Nick who won with an impressive score of 35.5 laps. Nick joined three Eahorc champions as he stepped up to the C final. It was Paul Homewood who won, just ahead of his son Craig and Dave Hannington. It had been a close scrap and Nick was never far away. Less than four laps covered all four drivers. The B final was arguably the race of the day. Paul Rose had a very fast but fragile car. Nonetheless, he posed a serious threat to Mike Dadson who had qualified fourth and nabbed the favoured red lane. A combination of full-on driving from Paul and occasional scrappiness from Mike left Mr Rose ahead with about 30 seconds to go. Mike then slipped through and it looked like he had the race closed out. Maybe Mike was conscious of his earlier slip ups, but as he coasted in to the finish, Paul attacked like a man possessed. Neck and neck going down the straight for the last time, the race ended with Paul no more than a couple of inches ahead. Unbelievably close. Paul Homewood, having stepped up, finished third and Lee Taylor came in fourth, having not enjoyed his three minutes in yellow lane. So that left us with the A final. Without reigning Eahorc champion Andy Whorton, it was a chance for Clive Harland and Paul Rose to pick up a first Open Wheel win, or for Marc Townsend and Andy Player to add to their tallies. The first part of the race was tight, with all four cars running in close formation, some dropping back and then catching up again. It was questionable how much Clive was pushing, but there was no doubt the other three were racing full tilt. The inevitable errors crept in as Clive inched away. First Paul, then Andy and eventually Marc had ‘difficult’ phases of the race. By the end it was Marc and Andy who were scrapping for the runner-up spot. It looked like Andy had it, but a late off let Marc’s Tyco through for a momentous second place. Out front, Clive took the win with a score just 0.3 of a lap off his best heat total – so he hadn’t been holding back much after all. A superb and long-overdue Open Wheel win for Clive – and certainly not the last. |
PM report
A leisurely lunch break left plenty of time for more racers to join us for the afternoon, but we started the PM heats with exactly the same eleven who had raced in the morning. LMP1, Closed Wheel (the class formerly known as Mod) and Nascar all ran, with Pro-Mod on ice until later in the month. In the absence of the lexan rockets, those new Closed Wheel class cars were the quick ones. And they were exceedingly rapid. Many a Nascar or LMP1 racer threw away a decent heat score by trying to race them. Craig – top tip for this year’s Junior championship – seems to have a worthy adversary for the CW trophy in Paul Rose. If Paul’s MR-1 hadn’t experienced major shoe problems, Craig would have been run even closer in the heats and final. Nick has run the MR-1 in Mod at SCHORC and used that experience to impressively snap at the heels of the two hotshots ahead of him. He managed some big scores in the heats and improved his score in white lane in the final. Pro-Mod regular Marc, running a Life Like in CW, watched the others disappear into the distance. I suspect he wished he’d chosen Nascar. Reigning champ Dave and young pretender Lee Henderson were joined in Nascar by the other two Pro-Mod regulars Andy and Clive. It all looked pretty tight in the heats until Dave pulled out a massive score in red to take pole. Clive managed the top score of the day in white and looked the one to worry Dave. The final saw Dave drive with the supreme coolness and consistency we have become accustomed to. By the time he had a wobble near the end, no-one was close enough to take advantage. It was Andy – recovering from a woeful first 60 seconds – who took second with his Super-G, Clive third, with a fast but frustrated Lee in fourth. Paul Homewood, Lee Taylor and Mike have all committed to a run at the LMP1 championship this year. From today’s race, it’s going to be a right old scrap. Mike and Lee looked quietly confident and a change of tyres transformed Paul’s car into a good ‘un. The heats left the three of them covered by exactly one lap, with Mike having first choice of lanes. In the end, that choice was probably decisive, but it was a cracking final. It didn’t have the ending of the OW B final, but the ebb and flow kept everyone’s attention. All three were covered by just over one lap after three minutes – Mike winning, followed by Paul and then Lee. The afternoon was wrapped up a bit earlier than usual with the customary trophy presentation. It was Paul Homewood who did the honours and Craig who immediately collected back the on-loan family silver before anyone made off with it. The proper 2012-13 Eahorc trophies are waiting to be dished out next time. Overall, a strange Eahorc meeting without Deane, but one the SCHORC guys pulled off brilliantly. Also of note was the Eahorc debut for Al’s timing system, which ran faultlessly. And although there was the facility for track calls, not one was made all day. Most strange. to see older race reports visit our extensive archive |