Following several people dropping out at the last minute, the final round of the SCHORC season saw just 4 members taking to the grid.

Micro Scalextric Club Class

With just 4 people in attendance, it was considered too difficult to run adequately marshaled finals and it was decided that the result of the heats would decide the finishing order. With the highest score in each lane, Paul Rose took the win by over seven laps from his Championship rival Tony. Roy finished third ahead of Al who took some consolation from bagging the fastest lap of the night with the micros.

Super F1

Roy’s new SRT continued to look like the class of the Super F1 field. Several times during the heats it looked like other cars could keep with him, but then Roy dropped the hammer and effortlessly zipped off, pulling away at a rate of several tenths per lap. Roy duly took his second Super F1 of the season along with the fastest lap of the night. At the half way point in quali Paul Rose had two tenths of a lap on his rival Tony, but difficult heats in white and blue for Paul allowed Tony to take second place, and left Paul third. After damaging his Mega G during free practice, Al ran his SRT instead which proved to be someway off the pace leaving him a distant fourth.

Despite Tony’s best efforts, Paul Rose retained the Micro Scalextric Club Class, Super F1 and Micro Scalextric Club Class and Super F1 Combined Championships Trophies. Congratulations Paul!

The final F1 and Mod round of the season drew 9 racers to Yelling. Paul Homewood had already bagged the F1 trophy and had one hand on the Combined Championship but the Mod trophy was still up for grabs…

The Track

F1

Qualifying

Bruce narrowly took pole by just 0.3 laps from Nick. Newly crowned champion Paul Homewood was nearly three laps further back in third. Jim was 0.6 laps behind him and 0.2 laps ahead of Al in fifth. Roy, Paul Rose, Steve and Tony completed the order. Tony had struggled with car setup for much of qualifying only getting his setup nailed towards then end of the session and allowing him to bag the fastest F1 lap of the night.

C Final

Early offs for Paul Rose in red and Steve in white handed Tony in blue the early lead. After a couple of offs for Tony both Paul and Steve closed up the gap, but after a nail biting three minutes Tony took the win by half a lap from Paul with Steve just over half a lap further behind.

B Final

Tony took the hop up to the yellow lane and again found himself in the lead following offs for Roy in blue, Al in red and Jim in white. After a single off Tony settled into the groove and held the lead from Roy to take the win by just over a lap and half. A late off for Roy allowed Jim to pip him to second and Al rolled in fourth after being generally unhappy with his Tyco for the duration of the session.

A Final

Tony again hopped up to yellow, to take on Bruce in red, Paul Homewood in white and Nick in blue. Pole sitter Bruce ran into mechanical issues early in the race but did at least finish. An early off for Nick left him in third behind Paul and Tony who were left dueling for the lead. Paul was the first to leave the track but they both had a number of offs leading to some nail biting moments until against the odds Tony took his first F1 win of the season after starting from the very back of the grid!

Mod

With Al leading the championship, Paul Rose knew his best chance to take the trophy was if he could take the win and fastest lap with Al finishing no higher than third…

Qualifying

After taking 3 scores in the fifties Al thought he had probably done enough and so retired from his final lane. Paul Rose did much the same but because he realised he hadn’t done enough to out qualify Al. His suspicions were correct and Al took pole from Paul by just over five laps. Nick was third just under two laps further back and 0.7 laps ahead of Paul Homewood in fourth. Roy, Tony, Steve and Bruce completed the order with Bruce dropping out of several heats with more mechanical issues.

C Final

Bruce in blue gave Steve in white a good race for the first 30 seconds before a series of offs left Steve to cruise on to take the win by 2.5 laps.

B Final

Paul Homewood took the early lead in white with Tony in blue and Roy in red behind him. Tony pushed Paul hard for much of the race before a few offs dropped him back and left him racing Roy for second. At the end of the three minutes Tony finished just a few inches ahead of Roy on the track. Paul took the win by a comfortable three laps and Steve finished fourth after struggling to keep pace with everyone else from the the yellow lane.

A Final

For the first 20 seconds there was very little between everyone in the A final. Paul Homewood was the first to leave the track from the yellow lane followed 15 seconds later by Paul Rose from white. Paul Rose and Paul Homewood then had a good dice, with Paul Homewood eventually edging his way ahead to take third.

Al and Nick continued to race for the lead just a few inches apart for the duration of the race. The lead changed hands several times but neither of them could pull out a gap of more than a foot or two. Although Al knew he had now sealed the Modified championship he was very keen to take the last win of the season and in the final seconds of the race with Nick just ahead of him he pushed just a bit too hard and binned his car. Nick continued on to take the highest score of the night and his maiden Mod win in fine style. He finished half a lap ahead of Al after one of the closest flat out Mod races the club has ever witnessed.

With Al finishing ahead of Paul Rose he extended his championship lead and took the Modified title for the third year in a row.

After taking the F1 trophy last month another strong combined finish ensured that Paul Homewood also took the Combined F1 and Modified trophy.

Congratulations to all the champions and winners in 2013 and thanks to all who attended!

The Track

To accommodate the expected lower than normal attendance, Tony had constructed a track that could be marshaled by just two people. Despite being a relatively simple track, it proved fun to drive and produced some exciting racing over the course of the evening.

Also making its first appearance courtesy of Jim, was a very fine looking 32″ monitor for displaying the live race timing.

Micro Scalextric Club Class

Qualifying

As usual the prepared micro cars (that had recently had some attention from Tony) produced some very close qualifying with the top four qualifying positions separated by less than a lap. Al took pole position from Bruce by just a single tenth of a lap. Jim was just four tenths behind Bruce and two tenths ahead of Paul Rose in fourth. Tony and Roy lined up fifth and sixth.

B Final

With the blue car clearly the class of the field, Paul Rose took a fairly straight forward victory from Tony in red and Roy in white. Paul gradually extended his lead throughout the race until he had sufficient margin to start aggressively going after the fastest lap, which he duly claimed for the fourth MSCC round in a row.

A Final

In his hop up yellow lane Paul managed to stay in touch with the rest of the pack for the first minute before he dropped back to finish fourth. Up front Al was happily cruising round in the blue car, leaving Jim in white and Bruce in red to fight over second. A big off for Al in the final minute left him only a lap up on Bruce who was pushing hard to close up still further. It wasn’t to be for Bruce though and Al took his first MSSC win by just under two laps from Bruce, with Jim taking the final step on the podium.

Super F1

Qualifying

The short fast circuit proved very entertaining when the faster Super F1 cars took to the track. With lap times getting down towards the two second barrier, there was certainly no time to relax!

Roy’s new SRT had looked good during the previous week’s Mod class, but under an F1 body it was a different beast. Roy produced one of the most dominant qualifying displays in recent memory, monstering his way to pole by a massive 24 laps from his nearest rival Tony. Despite the huge gap to Roy, Tony was no doubt pleased to find himself 2.5 laps ahead of his championship rival Paul Rose. Jim, Al and Bruce finished off the grid.

B Final

The B final produced an unusually spectacular race, with Al in red and Jim in blue going absolutely toe to toe for the seconds before their cars came together in the fast sweepers of the first sector. Keen to continue the battle on fair terms they both waited until both their cars had been marshaled back on to the track before recommencing the battle. Bruce in white had been fractionally ahead of them until an early off sent him back to third so he swept past both of them while they were off the track to retake the lead. Al and Jim were soon back on him though and the battle for the lead became a three way fight. A series of offs for all three drivers in the next couple of minutes kept things very interesting. Al pulled out a small lead but his final off handed the lead to Jim. In the closing stages of the race a small off for Jim sent him back to second before finally a bigger off left him third. Al went on to take the win by just over a lap from Bruce.

A Final

Tony in red did a very creditable job of taking the fight to Roy in blue by holding the lead for the first 30 seconds of the A final. Tony was driving the wheels off his car to keep ahead of Roy so it wasn’t massively surprising when Tony came off and Roy took the lead and disappeared off up the track. Al in yellow and Paul in white had a good fight over third place, but ahead Roy rocketed home to victory and took the win by 7 laps from Tony. Tony was no doubt pleased to close the championship gap on Paul, and Paul was probably relieved to finish third at least minimising the number of points Tony had closed in on him in this tightly fought championship.

With both the Micro Scalextric Club Class and Super F1 Championships to be decided at the final round next month it should be an exciting meet.

Thanks to all who attended.

A dark and miserable November night saw 6 members of SCHORC gather for the penultimate round of the 2013 season.

The Track

Tony had built a short, fast track that was well balanced across the four lanes.

F1

Qualifying

Tony and Nick traded fastest laps for much of quali, but it was Craig who claimed pole position by just under a lap and half from Al. Paul Homewood was just 0.2 laps back in third and Nick was just half a lap further behind in fourth. Roy lined up fifth ahead of Tony who had to content himself with the fastest lap of qualifying.

B Final

Tony emerged as the early leader in the white lane, with Roy hot on his heels in blue. A few early offs from the red lane left Nick in third. Roy pushed Tony hard but couldn’t quite catch him, eventually finishing just three tenths of a lap behind him. After failing to convert his ballistic one lap pace in to any big scores in qualifying, Tony set the highest F1 score of the night as well as the fastest lap.

A Final

After hopping up to the more tricky yellow lane, Tony was unable to do better than fourth. Craig in white stayed with the leaders for the first 30 seconds before dropping back and having to settle for third ahead of Tony. Up front Al in red was doing his best to hang onto Paul Homewood in blue. For the first half of the race the gap was just a few inches before Al lost it in the flowing section leading to the main straight. After coming off, Al pushed hard and closed the gap to Paul slightly over the remainder of the race but Paul took the win by 0.3 laps.

Paul’s win secured him the 2013 F1 Championship in fine style and with one round still remaining.

Mod

Qualifying

Al had built himself a new Marchon and it flew to pole by a margin of nearly 14 laps, taking the fastest lap of the evening in the process. Nick took the second spot just over a lap ahead of Tony in third. Craig and Paul Homewood managed to get exactly the same score across their best three lanes but Craig’s total was higher so he took the fourth spot. Roy lined up at the back of the grid but his new SRT was showing promising pace and getting nicely in the mix with the Marchons.

B Final

Paul Homewood took a pretty straight forward victory from the red lane. Roy was really getting to grips with his new SRT in white and held off a struggling Craig in blue to take second place.

A Final

With just two people marshaling, the Mod A final was always destined to be quite frantic. Paul Homewood in yellow quickly dropped back from the lead pack where Tony in white and Nick in blue were battling for the lead with Al in red. Offs for first Tony and then Nick jiggled the order up nicely until it was Paul who found himself ahead of Tony and Nick. Nick seemed to suffer worst from the lack of marshals and had to marshal his own car at least once which resulted in Al hitting his abandoned controller. While this diminished Al’s lead slightly, he still went on to take a comfortable win by three laps from Paul. Tony was four laps further back and just ahead of Nick who had been closing in on him in the latter part of the race.

Thanks to all who attended.

With the nights really starting to draw in, 8 racers gathered in Yelling of Round 10 of the main club championship.

The Track

Track set up fell to Lee and Al this month. Lee had just started an interesting diverging section of track when Al arrived. Jumping keenly on-board with Lee’s concept Al suggest a pair of bridges and 360 degree corners and so Spaghetti Junction was re-imagined in HO scale…

Once complete, the start finish straight ended with a heavy braking event into the pair of opposite chicanes which led into the Spaghetti complex that formed the first sector. The two pairs of track routes then re-converged for the long back straight. This led into a fast sweeping complex followed by a switch back leading on to the start finish straight.

Lee and Al had no idea how it would race but it certainly looked a bit different…

F1

Free practice was certainly entertaining as people got to grips with trying to follow their cars around the Spaghetti complex.

Qualifying

Following strong scores in every lane Craig unsurprisingly took pole. His Dad Paul was 1.4 laps back in second place just a single tenth of a lap ahead of Paul Rose. Al took the fourth grid spot just under 2 laps further back. Bruce had looked like a strong contender for pole after his first pair of heats in the white and blue lanes. He didn’t get on so well in the red and yellow lanes though and had to settle for fifth. Lee found himself sixth ahead of Nick and Roy.

C Final

After a close start a couple of offs for Roy at the tricky turn 1 chicane left him trailing Nick. Roy kept pushing to close the gap but after a few more offs, Nick had the race in the bag and cruised on to victory.

B Final

Lee retired early from the B final after a few early offs one of which was caused by another car that had crashed on to his white lane. The first 40 seconds were a close battle for the lead between Al in red, Nick in yellow and Bruce in blue. A couple of offs for Bruce dropped him down to third, and an off for Nick left Al with small lead. Bruce pushed hard closing the gap to both Nick and Al. An off for Nick handed Bruce second by a small margin. Al finished 1.4 laps ahead of Bruce and with Nick half a lap further back again.

A Final

Early offs for Al in yellow and Craig in Blue consigned them to third and fourth place and left the two Pauls to battle for the lead. An off for Paul Homewood in red gave Paul Rose in white the upper hand and he was able to hold the lead till the end, winning by a lap and half and setting the highest F1 score of the evening.

Mod

There was some concern that the Mods might destroy the Spaghetti complex but surprisingly only a couple of track calls were required over the course of the racing to sure up that section of track. There was also something remarkably satisfying about winding your car up through the 360 bends and out through the widening radius bends onto the long back straight. Watching cars split up through that section wizz around it separately before meeting back up on the main straight was also somehow very pleasing!

Qualifying

Another consistent delivery by Craig saw him take his 2nd pole of the evening. This time though it was from Al who was 1.5 laps behind him. Lee put in two big scores in blue in red but failed to top 40 laps in either white or yellow leaving him third. After struggling to get his recently refurbished mod to perform early in the heats Nick snatched fourth place from Paul Homewood by just 3 tenths. Bruce and Roy took sixth and seventh ahead of Paul Rose whose usually ballistic MR1 wasn’t delivering consistent handling in the turn 1 chicane. Writing off Quali he seemed happy to fight his way back up through the field in the finals.

C Final

Roy running his SRT in the red lane did well to hold on to Paul Rose and his MR1 in blue. For the first 30 seconds of the race the gap was minimal until a series of offs saw Roy drop back. Paul had apparently shrugged off his issues from qualifying and went on to set the second highest score of the evening. He also put in the fastest lap of the night thus far with a 3.565.

B Final

After some initial chaos Paul Homewood in the red lane emerged as the leader and eventual winner of the B final. An early excursion to the floor for Nick lost him a pickup and by the time it was refitted, he was well out of contention. To his credit he kept racing and clawed back some distance on Paul Rose in yellow and Bruce in white who were scrapping for second place. In the end Paul Rose had the better of Bruce and finished a lap ahead of him.

A Final

Paul Homewood struggled for pace in the yellow lane and retired pretty early from the A final. A massive off for Al from the red lane in the opening laps left him a fair way behind Lee in white and Craig in blue. A smaller off for Lee gave Craig the lead which he held until lap 12 when his first off dropped him back behind Lee. After running close behind Lee for 7 laps, a subsequent off dropped Craig back behind Al. For the remainder of the race Al pushed hard to catch Lee but failed to really reel him in. Al set the fastest lap of the night trying though and his 3.559s out paced Paul Rose’s earlier lap by just 0.006s. Out front Lee wasn’t clear if Al or Craig was his nearest rival, taking no chances he kept the hammer down and went on to put in the biggest score of the night with a mighty 46 laps to take his third straight mod win.

Thanks to all who attended!

A bright September evening in Yelling saw 10 of the SCHORC faithful gather for Round 9 of the club championship.

The Track

Tony’s latest track was a bit of a devil as the first sector featured a lot of bends. The marshalls at that end of the track were certainly kept on their toes, while those at the other end of the room had a fair bit less to do with the faster more sweeping nature of the final sector.

F1

Qualifying

Bruce’s car was running very sweetly in F1 and he duly claimed pole position by just under a lap from Craig. Al pipped Lee to the final guaranteed slot in the A final by just a single tenth of a lap. The current championship leader Paul Homewood lined up 5th ahead of Paul Rose, Nick, Steve, Tony and Roy.

C Final

Following a difficult qualifying session, Tony decided to try some urethane tyres for the C final. He initially ran well on them and turned in the fastest lap of the C final from the white lane. They proved ultimately unwilling to stay on his hubs though and after watching his tyres overtake his car a couple of times Tony decided to retire. This left Nick in red and Steve in blue to battle for the win. Roy was off his usual pace in yellow and had to settle for third. Nick and Steve exchanged the lead several times over the course of the race with Nick eventually coming out on top to take the win.

B Final

A strong start for Paul Homewood in the red lane saw him hold the lead of the B final for duration of the race. Lee in the blue lane came closest to taking the lead from Paul, but was ultimately pipped to second place by Paul Rose in the white lane. Nick finished fourth in the tricky yellow lane.

A Final

The first minute of the A final was pretty close with Craig in red holding a narrow lead over Al in white and Bruce in blue. Over the course of the race Craig’s consistency allowed him to pull away to comfortably take the win, and leave Al and Bruce to fight for second place. The battle for second came right down to the wire following a late off for Al that led to him completing the last few seconds of the race virtually neck and neck with Bruce. When the race finished Al was just a matter of inches ahead narrowly taking second. Paul Homewood rolled in fourth unable to make the podium from the yellow lane. Despite going from pole to third Bruce can take some consolation from claiming the fastest F1 lap of the night for the second time this season.

Mod

Qualifying

Paul Rose stormed to pole in Mod and was the only driver to dip below a 4 second lap during qualifying. Another consistent rather than stand out drive by Al put him 2 laps back in second place and just under two laps ahead of Lee in third. Tony’s mod was looking pretty racey and aided by a strong 40.2 laps in blue he qualified fourth. Paul and Craig Homewood were both still slightly off their usual pace and lined up fifth and sixth ahead of Bruce, Nick, Roy and Steve.

C Final

Bruce delivered a stellar drive with his Super G+ in the blue lane to the win the C final. Nick in white kept him honest throughout, closing him right down several times but always coming off before he could pass him. Roy took a comfortable third in red ahead of Steve in yellow.

B Final

Tony delivered a solid drive from the blue lane holding the early lead from Paul Homewood in red. Paul pulled out all the stops to try and catch him but just couldn’t seem to reel him in. A slight wobble from Tony towards the end of the race allowed Paul to close the gap but Tony still took the win with almost a lap in hand. Craig in white seemed to be struggling with Team Homewood’s “B” car and only just held third place from Bruce in yellow.

A Final

The first 30 seconds of the A final were pretty nip and tuck between Lee in red, Al in white and Paul Rose in blue. Tony in yellow couldn’t match their pace and retired just shy of half way through the race. Offs in the first minute for Al and Paul gave Lee the breathing space to cruise on to the win and left them to fight over second place. The gap between them remained tight until the final phase of the race when Paul made the switch to fastest lap mode. Deciding to settle for third place he engaged maximum attack and after probing the limits of the track with a series of off track excursions, he pinched the fastest lap of the night from Paul Homewood by 2 thousandths of a second.

Thanks to all who attended and see you in October for the start of the final quarter of the 2013 championships!

The EAHORC circus rolled into Yelling on Sunday for Round 1 of the new season.

All the results are below, for more details see

Open Wheel

Qualifying

D Final

C Final

B Final

A Final

Closed Wheel

Qualifying

C Final

B Final

A Final

Pro-Mod

Qualifying

A Final

A cloudy summer evening in Yelling provided the backdrop to round 8 of the Tyco F1 and Mod Championships. As well as a selection of the SCHORC faithful, Roy brought along Rosie and David his niece and nephew.

Club tech took a step forward following Paul Homewood’s kind donation of a second monitor to be positioned closer to the driver’s station.

The Track

Lee and Al set up this month’s track with Al trying his hand at club track design for the first time. The track was fast but with some interesting multi-radius bends. Some of the corners also had minimal run off that punished anyone making mistakes there.

F1

Qualifying

Lee stormed to pole position 1.5 laps clear of Paul Homewood. Al was just over a lap behind Paul taking the last guaranteed spot in the A final. Nick was a couple of laps behind Al in fourth and just over a lap ahead of Paul Rose in fifth. Roy was sixth with Bruce, Rosie and David completing the order.

C Final

Bruce cruised to victory in the C final beating his previous best score of the evening by over 2 laps. David and Rosie had a good tussle behind him for second place. Both set some excellent laptimes, particularly David’s 4.515 which ended up being the second fastest laptime in F1. With a bit more practice to build up their consistency they could easily take after their Uncle!

B Final

The opening phase of the B final saw Paul Rose pull out a small lead in the white lane to Roy in red and Nick in blue. Bruce had the misfortune to hop-up to the tricky yellow lane and while he managed to stick with the pack initially he found himself a fair way back by the end of the race. Bruce should at least take comfort from setting the fastest lap in the trickiest lane.

Just shy of the halfway point an off for Paul, put Roy and Nick back at the pointy end of the action and the three of them battled hard for the lead for the next 25 seconds. Offs for first Nick and then Roy allowed Paul to pull out a small lead again and he finished the race just under a lap ahead of Roy.

A Final

Lee and Paul Homewood rocketed off in the white and blue lanes, with Al in red just hanging on behind them for the first 30 seconds. After an off Al realised he didn’t have the pace to catch the leaders so he concentrated on consolidating the bottom step of the podium. Despite a good start in yellow, Paul Rose couldn’t match the pace of the A final from the trickiest lane and he had to content himself with fourth. Up front Lee was really flying and gradually as the race progressed, inch by inch he extended his lead over Paul Homewood eventually finishing nine tenths of a lap ahead and taking his second F1 win of the season.

Mod

Qualifying

After his formidable showing in F1, Lee looked to be a good bet for Mod based on his free practice pace. Despite that Paul Rose blasted his way onto pole by a margin of nearly 5 laps. It was Al who lined up behind him too, leaving Lee on the back foot in third and only narrowly ahead of Paul Homewood in fourth. Nick took the fifth grid slot ahead of Bruce, Roy, David and Rosie.

C Final

A good start for David in red saw him gain a good lead in the early phase of the C Final. A shaky start for Roy in blue saw him briefly back to third behind Rosie in white. After settling into his groove Roy caught and past both Rosie and David to take the lead. Behind him David was putting in some good lap times but his sister was more consistent and was gradually reeling him in. As Roy took the win, a final off for David allowed Rosie to sneak past him into second pipping him but just a couple of inches.

B Final

From the tricky yellow hop up lane Roy couldn’t really get involved in the B final. Ahead of him a typically consistent and controlled drive from Paul Homewood in white saw him gradually pulling away from Bruce in red and Nick in blue. A great early drive from Bruce saw his Super G+ looking well in the mix before a couple of offs allowed Nick to take second place.

A Final

Paul Homewood stayed with the pack for the first four laps before dropping back and having to content himself with fourth. Ahead of him Paul Rose in white was narrowly leading Al in blue and Lee in Red. On lap 10 and off for Lee dropped him back from the leaders. With just over a minute gone an off for Paul Rose handed the lead to Al. With just over half the race remaining Al got a bit greedy and spun at turn 4. This left Paul back in the lead but with Al and Lee right behind him. As the race entered the closing stages a couple more offs for Al dropped him back to third and an off for Paul Rose dropped him back to second and handed Lee his first double win.

Thanks to all who attended!

The Track

Lee had built a really fast track for July meeting utilising all of the club’s new 18″ bends. To keep things interesting he had also sprinkled a few 6″ bends around to create a fast but challenging circuit.

F1

Qualifying

Paul Homewood, narrowly took pole position from his son Craig by just over half a lap. Al was third just over a lap further back from Craig after finding the fast circuit seemed to suit his usually troublesome Tyco. Lee took the fourth spot on the grid missing out on an automatic spot in the A final by less than a lap. Nick was fifth ahead of Bruce who could have qualified much higher. After struggling in his first two heats Bruce really hooked things up in his final two, setting the highest score in the white lane and the fastest lap of quali.

Roy was running somewhat off his recent pace and could only manage to line up seventh ahead of Paul Rose who was also didn’t seem to be on his usual form. Tony lined up behind them after another difficult session.

C Final

Paul Rose got off to a strong start in white and quickly found himself with a small lead over Roy in blue and Tony in red. Tony and Roy had a few close dices but Roy ended up ahead and went on to take second place just under a lap behind Paul.

introduction

B Final

Lee held the early lead in the B final from the blue lane, with Nick in red and Bruce in white both hot on his heels. Paul Rose quickly dropped back from the pack in the tricky yellow hop up lane and retired on lap 10. Up front, an off for Lee on the third lap left Bruce with a narrow lead over Nick that he consolidated when Nick came off on lap 8. Nick’s off also handed Lee second place which he held until the closing stages of the race when a late off handed second place back to Nick. Ahead of them Bruce took the win, fastest F1 lap of the night and the step up to his first SCHORC A final.

A Final

For the first two laps there was very little separating Paul in blue, Al in red and Craig in white. Bruce had a tough start in yellow and quickly dropped back. Craig and Paul were then caught up in incident on lap two that Al narrowly avoided. Craig dropped right back and a series of inconsistent laps that followed but him right back into Bruce’s sights several times before he was able to pull away and take third. Paul had not lost as much time to Al as Craig had and set about gradually reeling Al in. It took almost half the race but lap after lap Paul closed the gap past Al to take the lead on lap 16. Al did his best to stay with him but Paul drew out a small lead and only a late off for Paul almost handed the win to Al. As the race finished, Paul took his third F1 win of the season by just a single tenth of a lap.

Mod

With Lee heading off for an early night, the grid was down to 8 racers for Mod.

Qualifying

After his disappointing showing in F1 Paul Rose looked much more comfortable driving his Mod and snatched Pole from Al by just over half a lap. Al was pleased to be far closer to pace than he had been in recent months even if he was aided by a bit of luck avoiding some of the more chaotic qualifying moments. Nick took a solid third ahead of Tony in fourth and Bruce in fifth. Paul Homewood’s car had no shortage of one lap pace, claiming the fastest lap of the night. However he failed to put in any of his typically big qualifying scores and found himself sixth.

Early in the session Craig put in the highest score in the white lane but lost a pickup in his blue heat which cost him a lot of track time. Following a first lap incident in his third heat Craig decided to retire from qualifying and start at the back of the grid behind Roy in seventh.

C Final

Craig lined up in white with an SRT GT40 for a change and beside him was Roy in blue. Roy matched Craig’s early pace and kept him honest for the majority of the race but in the end it was Craig who took the step up to the B final.

B Final

Paul Homewood took the early lead from the red lane ahead of Tony in blue. They both quickly left Craig in yellow and Bruce in white behind to dice for third. However a big off for Paul on lap 8 sent him all the way back to fourth and left Tony with the lead. Paul wasn’t beaten though and seriously put the hammer down. It wasn’t long until he made his way back through the field to second and was right behind Tony again. Had Paul kept pushing he probably could have taken the win but believing he already had the lead in hand he matched Tony’s pace to the end of the race finishing just over half a lap behind him at the end of the race. Behind a disappointed Paul, Bruce took third a couple of laps ahead of Craig.

A Final

The yellow hop up lane didn’t agree very much with Tony and he retired from the A final before the first minute was out. Ahead of him Nick in white, Al in red and Paul in Blue were all still hammering round together. Based on qualifying lap times Paul probably had a bit of pace in the bag. Indeed it was Al and Nick who both came off on lap 12. This left Paul in the lead with Nick in second and Al in third. Over the next minute Al closed the gap to Nick and passed him on lap 24 as Nick came off. Al then promptly through his car off the track leaving them both right next to each other to fight until the end of the race. Ahead of them Paul had been off the track a few times and the race finished with Paul just two tenths ahead of Al and Nick just a further three tenths back in third.

Thanks to all who attended!

The Track

Lee had laid out a fast and well balanced track for the evening’s racing. It featured some interesting corners and the first use of the clubs newly purchased 18″ bends.

F1

Qualifying

After dominating last year’s F1 season, reigning champion Craig’s 2012 season had been a touch lacklustre in comparison. Craig was back on his usual form though taking big scores in all lanes and securing pole position by over three laps from Paul Rose who was just half a lap ahead of Paul Homewood in third. Lee’s big score in red helped him to the fourth grid spot ahead of Al. Al managed to set the same score in white, blue and red and beat John by just two tenths of a lap. Jim, Nick, Tony and Steve completed the order with Tony setting the fastest F1 lap of the evening in the blue lane.

C Final

Tony had the early lead of the C final from the white lane. Jim in Blue and Nick in Red were close on his heels though. Steve in Yellow dropped back to a distant fourth after some early offs. An off on lap four for Tony handed Jim the lead and Nick second place. Tony had some staggering pace though and quickly passed Nick and closed Jim down before another off left him with it all to do again. He closed in on Jim several times and retook the lead for a time before a series of offs in the latter phase of the race allowed Jim to pull out a comfortable lead and Nick to take second place.

B Final

The B final proved could have been an exhibition race it was so closely contested. John Chell lead a large chunk of the race from the white lane, but with Lee in red either right behind or ahead of him. Jim in yellow and Al in blue were also in the mix for the majority of the race and all four racers were on the same lap for all of the three minutes except for a brief period were Al was a lap down following an off on lap 21. All finishing within eight tenths of a lap, Lee too the win by a few inches from John with Jim just two tenths behind in third.

A Final

Team Homewood had the early lead in the A final with Craig in blue and Paul in red. Paul Rose in white didn’t have the best start and Lee in yellow also suffered from an early off leaving them both chasing the charging Homewoods. The racing between the two Homewoods was very close with their fastest laps seperated by just 2 thousandths of a second in Paul’s favour. By lap 15 Paul had pulled out a narrow lead from Craig but a series of incidents sent him gradually back down the field until he found himself running in fourth and decided to retire from the race. Craig went on to comfortably take his first F1 win of the 2013 season with Lee in second and Paul Rose on the final step of the podium.

Mod

Qualifying

A consistently high score across each lane saw Paul Rose secure pole position in Mod by just over three laps from Lee. Paul also one of only two drivers to dip into sub four second laps. The Homewood’s Marchon was looking a bit off colour running a recently replaced rear axle, but Craig hustled himself to a comfortable third place a lap and half ahead of Al in fourth. Nick secure fifth place ahead of Tony in sixth. Paul Homewood took the fastest lap of the night but couldn’t seem to turn that pace into his usual big scores and he found himself seventh. Behind him Steve, Jim and John completed the grid. John may have qualified last but he appeared to be having a wonderful time driving a series of classic muscle cars on a Tyco chassis.

C Final

Jim in white took the early lead but with Steve in red hot on his heels for the duration of the race. Following a good start Paul had mechanical issues and found himself fourth in the blue lane with John and his Tyco several laps ahead in yellow. Paul quickly reeled in and past John but couldn’t close down the leaders leaving Jim to take the win by just over a lap from Steve.

B Final

From the start it was Nick in Blue and Al in red fighting for the lead of the B final. Nick held the narrowest of leads of just a few inches for the first minute until Al slowed briefly allowing Nick to pull out a couple of feet. Shortly after Nick had a big off and found himself third behind Tony in the white lane. Nick and Tony battled for second place until the latter part of the race when another big off Nick but him back battling with Jim in yellow for fourth. In the end Nick held Jim off finishing two tenths ahead, with Tony in second and Al taking a comfortable win.

A Final

After a typically close set of opening laps pole sitter Paul was the first to leave the track from the red lane. Offs for Craig in white and Al in yellow helped him make his way back into contention and soon he was fighting with Lee in blue for the lead. Having slightly more pace he extended a narrow lead from Lee which he held to take the win. Craig seemed to be struggling in white and dropped a fair way back. He was gifted third place in the closing stages of the race though after Al’s car mysteriously stopped on track. The marshalls checked it for mechanical and electrical issues before spotting a track break as the cause of the issue.

Thanks to all who attended!