[Oliverwalker]

With both Andy & Gareth unable to attend, it fell to Oliver & Terry to complete the task of setting up the evening’s Mod track.  What could possibly go wrong?  Thankfully, Pete & Jerome were able to make a mercy dash and track set up was completed in good time, except… the track was running in the reverse direction!  After much head scratching and frantic messages to Andy it became clear that there were two options.  Either completely dismantle and re-assemble the track, or, leave as is and race the track in the reverse direction.  The latter option prevailed, and practice began.  

Even with our notable absentees, a nevertheless healthy attendance of 18 racers, including the welcome return of Oliver K, Maddison and Adam, settled down for an evening of intense and fast racing with both the Mod and Tuners championships to be decided.

   

The field consisted of nine Vipers, seven Bulldogs and two MG+, out of which five were running in Tuners. Four of the bulldogs were racing in Mod and looking very rapid! Could we see a Bulldog overall win for Mod?

Apart from an initial glitch with the dead strip placement, heats progressed without further incident and by the halfway stage Oliver W had established a 2 lap lead, ahead of Ollie B, Pete and John, with Matthew, Terry & Isaac close behind.  Although most couldn’t match the leader’s consistency over all of the lanes, there were a number of good individual scores, which promised good opportunities to make a step-up or two in the finals. 

   

Oliver K, Maddison and Adam were able to complete 3 of their 4 heats before having to bid farewell at 8pm.  Adam had kindly been lent a Viper to race by Matthew and was starting to show good form with a heat win and 19 lap haul in his third race.  With heats completed in quick time, and after a short interlude, the finals were ready to start.  First up was the Tuners final, featuring John, Chas and Kevin G. 

   


Tuners A final
   

   

John was on pole in red, Chas in blue and Kevin in yellow. John was quickest off the mark and needed to stay out of trouble for the championship!

Chas was driving his Bulldog well and keeping consistent pace throughout, Kevin tried to keep in touch, but a few offs resulted in a lack of grip and left him struggling to keep pace. John crossed the line first, with Chas continuing untroubled in 2nd and Kevin coming home in 3rd.  The question now was would the win be enough for John to claim the Tuners Championship?

   


That left 12 racers to compete in four Mod finals.

 D Final
   

   

The D final saw a line up of Stephen A, James and Jerome in one of the best track battles of the evening.  Stephen A had already given notice of his forthcoming success and for much of the race was proving true to his word.  James however had other ideas. The pace of this final was incredible, James established an early lead with the hard-chasing Stephen A in hot pursuit.  James’ rapid Bulldog set a blistering time of 4.741 on lap 2 opening the smallest of gaps over Stephen A but then on the next lap a costly off saw James drop to third.  Jerome was now on the pace and chasing down Stephen A.  At the halfway stage it couldn’t have been closer with all 3 drivers on 10 laps. The race continued apace until, with 12 seconds to go,  James finally edged back into what would be a decisive lead.  Stephen A had to settle for a creditable 2nd place with Jerome finishing 3rd.  What a race that was!

C Final

   

   

Isaac (red) was on pole with Rob (blue), Kev (white) and James (yellow). In this race we had the two vipers of Isaac and Rob followed by the two bulldogs of Kev and James. James had a first lap off, out front Rob and Kev battling for 1st. Isaac set a 4.99 on lap 2 but that was followed by another off on the next lap. James also had a big off, this time for a costly 30 seconds. Both Rob and Kev had an off on lap 9, leaving the race very much up for grabs.  At the halfway point both Rob and Isaac were on 10 laps and, with 30 seconds left it was still Rob, but Isaac was able to run consistent laps to the end allowing him to grab the win, followed by Rob in 2nd, Kev in 3rd and James in 4th.

B final
   

   

Isaac moved up to white following his win and alongside him would be Mike (yellow), Pete (blue) the best qualified Bulldog and Ollie (red) completing the grid on pole. Ollie led the race, closely followed by Pete and Isaac. Mike had an early crash but still had time on his side. Ollie was quickly into a rhythm, posting a series of consistent lap times, but with Pete staying on the pace the race was far from over.  Isaac was not far behind but completed the race with a few offs. By the end of the race Ollie had established a lap lead over Pete in second with Isaac in 3rd and Mike in 4th.  Interestingly,  the race order remained unchanged from the first to the last lap.

A final
   

   

Oliver W (red) was in his customary first choice lane, with Terry alongside in blue and the gutter lanes occupied by Matthew and Ollie B.  Quickest off the line, and neck and neck after the first lap were Oliver and Matthew, with Terry slow off the line in a somewhat distant third and Ollie B an even more distant fourth, having suffered an early off.  Matthew continued his battle with Oliver until a fourth lap excursion dropped him back to third and out of contention.  Ollie had a few more offs which left him at the back of the field.   By the halfway stage Oliver had established a useful lead over Terry who, unusually, had managed to keep his car on the track and not completely out of contention.  Oliver continued banging in consistently fast laps, but Terry was gradually clawing his way back into the race and, with the chequered flag just a couple of laps away, took advantage of a rare slip by Oliver to ease into the lead. There were now just seconds to go, but more drama was to follow.  Oliver continued to push hard for the win and with the leaders neck and neck the race ended. The margin of victory was a mere 5 hundredths of a lap, with Terry just pipping Oliver at the finish.  So, for Terry, a reversal of track direction brought a reversal of fortune! No one could have looked happier.  Except for Oliver, as moments later he lifted the Mod Championship trophy!

   


WHO Mod and Tuners winners

   

   


Championships

With the final round of Mod and Tuners completed it was time to carefully add up the all important points. The Mod championship was won by Oliver, 50 points ahead of Terry. Tuners on the other hand was not so straightforward. Both Andy and John had missed a round and had two wins and a second. Giving them both a grand total of 450 points. Maybe they'll have to share the trophy for 6 months each?

   


A massive thank you to the setup crew and tear down crew packing away in record time! Thank you to everyone for attending and racing. We still have two more championships to be decided with Nascar and the AGM on 4th November coming up first followed by the final race night in December for F1.