A dark and cold January evening saw the opening round of the 2015 SCHORC season. Five SCHORC members extended a warm welcome to Ozgur who had come along to try out some SCHORC style HO racing.
The Track
For the first meeting of the 2015 season, Al had laid out the same track that Worthing club WHO Racing were using that night for their Mod round. Since their mod rules are a bit different to SCHORC’s, Al thought it might be interesting to compare scores…
The track was big (it just fitted within Yelling Village Hall!) and fast but with some tricky sections that made for some interesting racing.
F1
Qualifying
Ray’s Tyco was looking like the one to beat throughout Quali and sure enough he took the first pole position of the season 0.6 laps ahead of the freshly crowned F1 champ Paul Rose. Al took the third grid slot just over 5 laps from pole. Nick took fourth a couple laps behind Al, with Tony fifth and Ozgur sixth. Ozgur seemed to be getting to grips nicely with the club Tycos setting some respectable laptimes and scores.
B Final
The B final suffered an aborted start due to power issue on the red lane and then a second as the “Grosjean” rule was applied following all three competitors crashing together at the hairpin. On the third try everyone got away cleanly with Nick in red leading Ozgur in white and Tony in blue. Tony took a while to find his rhythm in the blue lane and a succession of offs left him a distant third. An off on the second lap for Nick handed Ozgur the lead which he held for the next 9 laps until an off allowed Nick back into the lead. The race remained close until the end with Ozgur finishing just under a lap behind Nick. Behind them Tony had got into his groove but had lost too much ground early on and had to settle for third.
A Final
The first minute of the A final could have been an exhibition race with all three compitors seperated by no more than a foot or so and all dicing for the lead. Ray in red was first to crack coming off just before the first minute was over. Paul in white and Al in blue then both came off just a handful of seconds later putting all three drivers on a more or less equal pegging again. After another minute punctuated by a series of offs for each driver, it was Al who emerged with a narrow lead that he managed to hold on to until the end of the race. Ray was just 0.7 laps behind him with Paul a couple of laps back in third.
Mod
Qualifying
Reigning Mod Champion Al continued his formidable 2014 form, taking pole by just over 7 laps from Nick. Paul’s MR1 was struggling for straightline speed and able to take the majority of the track flat, so he was surprised to still find himself third. Ozgur looked to be enjoying driving Nick’s second MR1 chassis and took the fourth spot ahead of Tony and Ray.
B Final
Ozgur was clearly quite comfortable with his borrowed Marchon by the time the B final started. From the red lane, he was right on Tony’s tail for the first 7 laps before he came off and left Tony with some breathing space. Behind them Ray was struggling in white with a car that didn’t really have the speed or grip to be competitive. With two minutes gone, Tony had extended his lead and was looking comfortable until a trip to the floor left his car with a popped body and axle. By the time he was going again the lead was gone and Ozgur duly took the win.
A Final
Paul made a good start in white and despite his car, managed to match the early pace of Nick in red and Al in blue. As Nick and Al started to wind up their pace, Paul dropped back and a few offs then left him a fair way back. Meanwhile Nick and Al were engaged in a titanic battle running neck and neck for the first two minutes of the race. At the two minute mark Nick lost it and left Al with a small cushion. A couple of laps later after easing off slightly Al came off too and found Nick right on his tail again. With the race drawing to a close, Nick had another off and despite Al throwing it off the track again in the final few seconds, Al took the win by just 0.2 laps.
Thanks to all who attended! Join us on the 4th of February for Round 1 of Micro Scalextric Club Class and Super F1 Championships.