[woodcote]

   

The fourth running of our WHO Birkett Relay (and third as a full six-hour race) takes place on Saturday 17 October, a week before the real thing.

The real-life Birkett Six Hour Relay is a quirky, but quite magnificent format that has run since 1951. Its current home is Silverstone and is organised by the 750 Motor Club.



The basic idea of the relay is that each team runs several cars during the event - a handicap system meaning a vast array of cars appear on the track at the same time and no-one quite knows who has won until after the chequered flag has fallen.

Our WHO version of the Birkett Relay simplifies things a bit. Over six hours, each team races cars from six different WHO classes - a mix that changes a little each year.

In 2026, we are sticking with these six WHO Digital favourites to make car preparation as easy as possible…

●    WHO BTCC
●    Euro Saloons
●    WHO GT Championship, including Carrera & SCX models
●    Pioneer Legends
●    Whitsun Trophy, plus 1967-69 sports prototypes
●    Slot.it Group C

Teams can run their cars in any order they want - as long as each car runs for the full hour. An important heads-up: the final hour will be run in twilight, with just the up-lighters on.

Each ‘hour’ will be a separate event in the RCS64 software, with a 57-minute race time and a two-minute turn-around when the new car replaces the previous one on the track - exactly where the previous one has stopped.

Birkett Relay Teams from 2025 had first dibs on places for 2026. These were: Gearzilla, Fuller-Beans, Écurie Escargot, Days of Blunder, Maximus Gastropodus and Brake ‘til Tyre. With Ned deciding to get married (congratulations!) next weekend, Mike's 'Maximus Gastropodus' will be replaced by Terry's 'Laps in Concentration'.

Teams have a looser line-up compared to our other team races. Although there are no restrictions on driver gradings, teams must have equal driving time across the six hours. 20-minute driving stints will apply, with double or triple stints allowed. The total of 18 stints must be shared equally between a team’s drivers.

There are two prizes up for grabs. The team with the most laps wins the Scratch Race. The team with the highest total after adjustments wins the Handicap Race. Teams get a +50 lap adjustment for each bronze driver +20 laps for each Silver driver +25 laps for each racer under 16 years old and +5 laps for over-65s. One team cannot win both prizes, so the Scratch Race winners are not eligible for the Handicap Race win.

Simon is working on a brand new track layout based on Snetterton, so this should be a rather excellent day of racing at the Barn!

[eToad]

Hi,

Can Brake 'til Tyre be ID 2 please as I have already programmed all the chips. Thanks!

[woodcote]

WHO Birkett Six-Hour Relay 2026 Race Report

Eighteen drivers joined us for the fourth running of the WHO Birkett Relay. Simon's Snetterton layout was built in good time...

   

That meant we could get everyone's cars programmed and offer a solid half-hour practice from 9.50am. Most teams had some idea of which six cars they'd race, but there was time to test them all on track and make some last minute decisions...

   

With drivers turning up from 9.30, we also had the teams sorted nice and early so everyone could get some practice and plan strategy. These were those teams...

• Fuller-Beans: Ollie (Silver), Rob (S) & Isaac (Bronze) +90 lap handicap
  
• Brake Til Tyre: Alex (Gold), Deane (G) & Daniel (B) + 50 laps
  
• Écurie Escargot: Andy (G), Jeremy (S) & Steve (B) +75 laps
  
• Gearzilla: Oliver (G), Ash (S) & Chas (B) + 75 laps
  
• Days of Blunder: Simon (S), John (B) & Stephen (B) +120 laps
  
• Laps in Concentration: Terry (G), Matthew (B) & Pete (B) +100 laps
  

A driver briefing followed at 10.30 and we started the race at 10.40.

Hour One - Legends! Legends! Legends!

   

The line-up for the first hour was dominated by the Pioneer Legends. Quick in a straight line, but a handful in the corners, four of the six teams decided to get these out of the way first thing. The exceptions were the Fuller-Beans (BTCC) and Écurie Escargot (Euro Saloons), with the BMW 330i starting on the front row...

   

The opening stages were led by the BMW and Escargot Rover as the others got to grips with their Legends. However the better fuel efficiency of the Pioneer cars meant less time in the pits and that evened out the race nicely...

   

Car and controller troubles for the BMW dropped the Fuller-Beans back, but it was nothing compared to the issues for Laps in Concentration. They were penalised 50 laps when then swapped Legends cars early on, rising to 100 laps when the replacement broke down! Terry, Pete and Matthew would spend the rest of the day trying to make up that lost ground.

   

In the end, the Bastos Rover finished a lap ahead of the Legends of Gearzilla and Days of Blunder, with the Fuller-Beans in fourth, but already twenty laps adrift...

   


Hour Two - Laps in Concentration bounce back (sort of)...

   

The second batch of cars were collected and checked-over during the opening hour. There was more of a mix this time - leaders Écurie Escargot played their Legends card, three teams ran BTCC, Days of Blunder their Euro Saloon (another Rover) and the Fuller-Beans a little Porsche 904 as their Whitsun+ car. This was a very close race, and would have been closer if the sole Legends car hadn't required a guide wire to be re-soldered - a rapid stop losing them 10-12 laps...

   

The Fuller-Beans had more issues. Their controller's batteries were changed (with the team compensated for the lost laps) and things were reported to be 'better, but not perfect'. Rob, Ollie and Isaac would persevere - their day was certainly a challenge, thankfully getting much better in the final two hours.

   

At the front, Laps in Concentration bounced back from their first hour nightmare, grabbing the win by a lap ahead of Days of Blunder and both Gearzilla and Brake Til Tyre finishing three laps off the winners. Chas - on his WHO Birkett Relay debut - raced the entire hour with his new Dadson-prepared BTCC BMW... Very useful preparation for our Tin Top Saturdays!

   

After two hours, Days of Blunder led Gearzilla by two laps, with Écurie Escargot 15 laps off the lead in third, still just about in touch after their soldering emergency.

[woodcote]

Hour Three: The Blunder boys stretch their lead

   

The speed differential between the classes was taken up a notch with the introduction of two Slot.it Group C cars - the Days of Blunder Nissan and Écurie Escargot Porsche. Thankfully Simon's track design was perfect for overtaking, but the drivers of the faster cars would need to take extra care and plan which lane they needed to be in as they approached slower traffic...

   

Also running this hour was Gearzilla's borrowed Porsche 906 Whitsun+ car, with Chas doing another triple stint before popping out for a flu jab. It was another excellent endurance run from the rookie driver. Two Euro Saloons had their own battle - Brake Til Tyre with a Jaguar XJS and Laps in Concentration with their Sierra RS500. The Fuller-Beans had waited to hour three to throw their Pioneer Legend into the mix - and it was another frustrating run, with the car needing repairs.

   

The gap between the two Group C cars had ebbed and flowed, but ended up at three laps in the Blunder boys advantage. That gave them an 18 lap advantage overall at halfway, with Écurie Escargot moving up to second, four laps ahead of Gearzilla in third. Brake Til Tyre were 37 laps further back in fourth...

   


Hour Four: Écurie Escargot set the pace...

   

The pace was certainly ramping up, with the two leading teams swapping their Slot.it Group C cars for rapid Whitsun+ machinery - a Slot.it Ford GT40 MkII for Days of Blunder and a Policar Ferrari 412P for Écurie Escargot, both fitted with a Pendle 18k motor and Scalextric ratio gearing (as per our Whitsun Trophy rules). Also right up there was the Gearzilla Mercedes GT3 car, with Oliver triple-stinting...

   

Those three battled hard, but in the end it was the Ferrari that eked out a seven lap gap over the Mercedes and nine over the GT40. A second run for the Porsche 906 (Simon loaned it to two teams) saw Laps in Concentration improved slightly on Chas' score in the same car during the previous hour. Brake Til Tyre had a frustrating run in Dean's rapid Mercedes GT3, as did the Fuller-Beans with Rob's stunning Jaguar XJS...

   

That great run by Écurie Escargot - the best of the race so far - squeezed the gap between the top three teams to a mere twenty laps...

     

With two hours to go, it would be down to which team could get the most out of their remaining two cars. Days of Blunder and Écurie Escargot both had a GT3 and BTCC car to run - Gearzilla had their Group C and a Scalextric Ford Escort for the Euro Saloons...

[woodcote]

Hour Five: Oliver launches Gearzilla into the lead!

   

Apart from a little drizzle during hour 3, weather conditions in RCS64 had remained dry. Hour 3 was when Days of Blunder and Écurie Escargot had run their Group C cars, arguably the weather impacting on their performance. Could Oliver take advantage of a perfectly dry track with his Slot.it Porsche? Also running a Group C this hour were Laps in Concentration. The Fuller-Beans and the Escargots had GT3 cars, Days of Blunder a BTCC Passat and Brake Til Tyre their 2026 WHO Whitsun Trophy winning Slot.it Ford GT40...

   

Not surprisingly, the Slot.it cars dominated. However, disaster struck the GT40 when a collision sheared the capacitor from the digital chip. That was race over, although Alex negotiated a swap to Simon's Ford and a 50 lap penalty. Oliver stretched his lead over the chasing pack, the others just trying to score as well as they could and not even attempting to keep up with the blue Porsche...

   

The Écurie Escargot Bentley GT3 managed a decent pace - just 2 laps off Oliver's Mercedes GT3 score in the previous hour. But the Days of Blunder Passat had lost significant ground in the battle for the race win - finishing 20 laps behind the Bentley and 38 behind the Gearzilla Porsche. At the end of the penultimate hour, Oliver's charge had leapfrogged Gearzilla over both Days of Blunder and Écurie Escargot...

   


Hour Six: A brilliant winning drive with a most unlikely car... 

   

The top three teams started the final hour with some of their least favoured machinery. In third place - and 18 laps behind the leaders - Days of Blunder had Simon's Mercedes AMG GT3. In second spot - seven laps behind - Écurie Escargot were racing Andy's MG6 BTCC car. And defending Gearzilla's lead, Ash would triple stint his Scalextric Escort Mk1. Looking at those three cars, Ash had a huge challenge ahead of him. If laps were tied at the end, the final standings would be decided by the finishing order in this last hour.

   

The Fuller-Beans had enjoyed the previous session with their Ford GTE and the afternoon ended on a high note with their Slot.it Group C Porsche. Although outclassed by Alex double-stinting his all-conquering Porsche 962, the Fuller-Beans set their best hour score of the day and finished second on the road. It was always very close battle for that second place, with the GT3 cars of Days of Blunder and Laps in Concentration pushing hard.

   

Meanwhile, the battle that really counted was at the back of the bunch - between the MG6 and the Escort. The MG was certainly quicker, but was losing any advantage in the pit stops - the Escort was burning far less fuel. At half-way, the gap was up to just over 4 laps, but then trimmed back to two at the next stop. Ash was driving the small, twitchy Escort magnificently. The strategy of triple-stinting Ash certainly paid off - the car wouldn't have suited Oliver's aggressive driving style and would have been very challenging for a relative novice like Chas. They most likely would have haemorrhaged laps to the MG. But in Ash's hands, the Écurie Escargot trio were kept at bay...

   

As the final minutes of the six-hour race ticked down, another round of pit stops shortened the MG's lead to just one lap. Ash had done it, successfully defending the lead created by Oliver with the Group C Porsche!

   

Of course, there was also the Handicap Race result to calculate - and that was a thumping win for the Silver-Bronze-Bronze trio Days of Blunder...

   

Huge congrats to Oliver, Ash & Chas and to Simon, John & Stephen! 

Here are all the teams in Scratch Race finishing order...

         

         

         

A very big thank you to everyone who took part. Our Birkett Relay is such a great format for a six-hour race - and this was the closest one yet. Special thanks goes to the set-up crew, race control team and to everyone who stayed behind to pack away. We were all done and away comfortably by 5.30pm.

The WHO Birkett Six-Hour Relay will return in 2027 on Saturday 16 October. The 2027 WHO Digital Guide will be available in the next few weeks.

[crofty1000]

It was definitely a great days racing, full of "thrills and spills" as they say! I think I'll renew the Legends car's wires - I can't believe that may have cost us the day!! ???

[woodcote]

It was a brilliant day - so exciting to be in the mix for the win again. I thought we drove very strongly as a team and it's important to me that each driver contributes at least one car to the cause.

Car issues are always going to be a problem in an endurance race - only Gearzilla and Days of Blunder didn't have significant time off track during the six hours. We did exceptionally well to get back in contention and that soldering repair was the quickest I've ever done (there have been a few with my Aston Martin GT3...).

Stephen has suggested a rule change for 2027...

I just wanted to hear people’s opinion on a slight rule change for the Birkett Relay that I think would make it more fair and fun for all. My thought is that depending on numbers either each driver has to have a go in each car or each rating of driver has to race a stint in each car. This would allow people that don’t race too much to enjoy trying different cars that they normally would never get to race, such as Slot it Group C.

I’m very happy to make that change if that’s what people want. The Birkett is primarily a fun day with a competitive edge. I agree, getting to drive all six cars should be part of the enjoyment and the challenge.

For teams of three, it works very easily. To help make that happen for all teams, we could split a team of four’s ‘hour’ into 3 x 14 minutes and one 15 minute stint. A pair’s ‘hour’ could split into 28 and 29 minute stints. Of course, if a driver can only do part of the day, there can be negotiations with race control to work around that...

Please let me know what you all think 

[eToad]

Thanks for the write up and for a great day.

I certainly believe that everyone should have a go with a variety of models and also feel like hour stints should have at least 2 drivers. 

However, I do believe mandating everyone in the team drives every model goes too far. A middle ground is usually best.

[BAracer]

So no triple stints next time then?

[crofty1000]

There may well be an argument that people driving the same car - especially if their own? - for a solid hour do gain an advantage? Not only through consistent driving but missing out on two pit stops for changeovers?
Although I'm not sure that would help with those crazy Legends cars!!