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2010 Round 6 WHO Worthing - 27/6/10

As we had discussed at a meal the night before the race, what really makes EAHORC work is the people. A really diverse bunch drawn together by one common theme and very little in the way of angst or ego. It is the human interest angle that makes the racing so interesting. Roy Masters was a good example of this, despite still feeling the after-effects of a three week illness he dragged himself the not inconsiderable distance to Worthing because he wanted some fun, and had a job to do in Nascar. EAHORC could be the best thing since sliced bread but would not amount to a hill of beans without such dedication.

Racing started with F1 on the dot of 10am, Roy turning up too late to be added to the spreadsheet by name and so had to race as 'spare'. After some good natured ribbing about that the racing got under way with Martin Hill, John Chell, Dave Rouse and newcomer Andrew Rose on track for the first pair of heats. As we have come to expect, Martin was once again the man to beat as the heats rolled along, but he was not having it all his own way, Andy Whorton besting him in yellow and an impressive Craig Homewood matching him in blue lane. He still took pole, from Andy, with the star of qualifying being David Hannington making his first A final by right. This meant that yet again 2 Megas and two Tycos would contest the top final.

Finals started with the 'F', contested by locals Ashley Seymour, his friend Daniel Healey, WHO Junior medal winner George Barrow and Andrew's daughter Hannah. She drove very steadily and calmly with various degrees of 'moments' going on around her, to beat Ashley by 0.15 laps and progress to the 'E' final. This was won by Andy Player, just ahead of fellow WHO organiser Robin Cornwall, Ashley's Dad Rick and Hannah. Andy would then take second in the next final, but had to give second best to Paul Homewood, although ahead of Clive Harland and John. The C final would see the highest placed of the rookie locals in action, Andrew qualifying an impressive 9th. The final was won by Deane Walpole after a long scrap with Roy. An eventual finishing position of 8th overall for Roy was impressive considering he was far from 100% health-wise. The B final started out with an almighty scrap between Deane, a back on form Dave , and John Ferrigno, but none of them could live with Craig, who therefore got himself into a F1 A final for the first time.

As has become very common when he is in the zone, Martin was able to find extra pace for the final. Andy Whorton had been struggling in the early heats until he found a Tyco to his liking, and come the final he produced a score that would have been enough to win it, but by them Martin had moved the best score on to 21.20 to win comfortably. Craig continued to thrill onlookers, beating David by 8/10ths of a lap to take third place. David had still been impressive, and with Craig joined the long list of Main Grade drivers able to get into the high finals and mix it up. The finals duly dispatched, everyone scattered for lunch, either to chase down some food, or catch a bit of sun or maybe watch the first part of the Grand Prix streamed on Andy Whorton's laptop. With all that done close wheel racing commenced.

The big question about to be answered was would Roy be able to get the job finished? Struggling a little due to his illness he found himself in the B final and facing a pretty stark scenario: If he did not win it and Andy Player was to win the 'A' final he would lose the crown despite the effort he had made to come. If these facts had given him any nerves typically it did not show and he led John Ferrigno over the line to win by a lap, Paul making his life a little easier having dropped out very early on. Roy duly took the title to go with the one he won in 2008, and could relax as he stepped up to a very intense A final. Both Deane and Andy Player had been flying in the heats, with Andy taking pole, having grabbed best score in Yellow and Red (and choosing Yellow for the final). Deane had blitzed everyone in blue and had that lane for the showdown. David has been under the radar somewhat, taking no best scores of fastest laps but quietly qualifying only 1.65 laps off pole.

In much the same way Martin finds another gear, David took an early lead in the final and pushed himself on to new heights as both Andy and Deane furiously hunted him down to no avail. He found an extra 2.4 laps over his heat score in the same lane (Red) and took 3/10ths of a second off his best laptime. Deane and Andy also lowered their best laptime, but the truth was David was driving beautifully and seemed to have them covered. Roy was 4th, but was the only Nascar driver to lap under 8 seconds and also took the best heat score in blue to remind everyone he was still a force, plus of course he had taken 'the big one'.

With Marc Townsend unable to attend and Robin stepping back to Mod having realised his newly fettled WHP chassis still needed the right kit in the tyre/wheel department, there was once again only three Pro-Mod chassis. Martin took pole quite comfortably, although only a lap up on Clive in three of the lane, a stoking score in Blue did the damage. Andy Whorton was even more laps back from Clive on the way to qualifying third than Clive was form Andy and so it was no surprise to find their final not being a particularly close one! They were joined by Craig, who had taken an awesome hatrick of round wins with his Marchon, and was this time persuaded upon the step-up to use an 'proper' Pro-Mod. Despite having to learn the car as he went, and from Yellow lane he was on the pace and finished less than a lap behind Andy to confirm his talent yet again. The real star though was Martin, taking six wins from six this season.

Dave had duly taken runner-up spot in Modified, although this time he did run Craig closer in the final. The problem for the other Mod competitors is Craig is very cool and invariably produces scores right on his potential without the need for headline laptimes. His efficiency in the final, on a fastest lap time of 7.47 was a stonking 98.3% for example , and this was the backbone of a win by 1.35 laps. Robin took 6th in the combined Mod/Pro class, 3rd in Mod, ahead of John Chell (who had decided to one last run in the class ahead of a full on Nascar campaign next season), Andrew with his wonderful Micro RC car conversions and daughter Hannah with a similar vehicle. We don't do concourse awards, but if we did...

With the finals wrapped all the remained was to give out the trophies for the day and of course for the season. This time around the winners got small 'keeper' trophies to go with the ones they will (hopefully) hand back a year from now. To remind you the winners were: Martin Hill (F1, Pro-Modified and the EAHORC Cup), Roy Masters (Nascar) and Dave Rouse (Modified). This winners took the glory in what I think has been easily the best season so far in terms of Vibe, attendance and close racing. Thanks go to all the participants who have made that possible. Have a great summer! DW

2010 Round 5 Pinewood Wokingham- 16/5/10

Sometimes you set up an event to be something big and fate conspires against you. At the second time of asking, the second HO Grand Prix did not fall foul of that possibility. In many ways, avoiding such ignominy was made easier but once again being back at the superb Pinewood venue and once again building an HO track on top of their impressive 1/24th scale raceway. Helped by the fact that some more of the stunning BSTS pieces arrived a few days before, including some straights, and the purchase of a really nice slew of trophies discounted by the event sponsor, all we needed was a field with some depth and strength in depth, and as the room filled up as 10am approached it became clear all the boxes were going to be ticked.

Racing started a few minutes after the appointed hour. The vast majority seemed to be enjoying the large track, with the new sections giving us options we did not have in 2008. Following the track underneath did involve some trial and error to get the right amount of flow and challenging switchbacks, with allowing for good entry speed onto the two long straights an priority. Next time we might have 22.5 degree corners, which should enable the track to be an even better one. Watching the F1s was fascinating, the Mega-Gs having a slight edge out of the twisties and on the second half of straights and the Tyco striking back in the gutter lanes.

Martin Hill was on a mission to put his Purton woes behind him, and make sure he left at the end of the day still the only person the win the HOGP. Purton F1 winner Marc Townsend and local superstar Simon Scott kept him honest during qualifying, but he was not to be denied pole. Simon carried the main hopes for the Tyco, but not far behind in the heats was legend Tony Baldock making his first race appearance since January. With ten trophies on offer, the target for all was to qualify for the top three finals or at the very least a decent lane in the D final. As has become the norm now, there was lots of very close racing with everyone pushing hard to get into those positions.

Finals started with the G, Dave Rouse besting newcomer Mike Tolley from the Molesey club. Mike had done well in the heats, on a very steep learning curve, but F1 is a fierce class and somebody has to end up with the wooden spoon. Much better was to follow. Next up was the F, won by Paul Homewood using a Mega but unhappy with his performance overall. The E final was won by Roy Masters, who had shocked Andy Player and Deane Walpole but rolling up unexpectedly, thus taking the Nascar racing that would follow that afternoon to a whole 'nother level. Roy beat Julian Allard, who in turn beat an improving David Hannington by just 2 hundredths of a lap. Now things would get interesting as those trophies loomed large!

The D final line-up consisted of Roy, Tony Stacey, who hated the track but had performed solidly, John Chell, another doing the maximum in a tough field, and John Ferrigno from Worthing. The winner would be guaranteed a trophy of some kind. The two John's put on a great show, with the former showing how far he has come since he started by taking a very popular win and pumping in a fastest lap 4 tenths of a second of the other three (who were evenly matched). As things moved toward the sharp end, everyone now racing would get some kind of gong, but nobody was settling and the racing would continue to be close. Andy P took the C win, putting in a score that showed what he could do if not having to play it tactically, whilst Clive Harland and Deane has a momentous scrap behind and only a lap ahead of Mr Chell.

The B final next, and the battle to see who would join Martin, Marc and Simon for the big one. Andy Whorton had endured a nightmare time a Purton on his return after the birth of his second child, and was already happy to be back in the top six. He put together a solid race, running within what he could do, and leaving Tony Baldock, local Paul Charlton and Andy Player to put on a monster display as they battled behind him. Andy P was last, but only a tenth of a lap behind Paul and a fine effort in a lane most people endured far more than enjoyed. Tony B was only another 0.17 laps up the road, as EAHORC once again revelled in putting on no-quarter-asked-for-or-given F1 racing.

The HO Grand Prix A final itself was not a classic. However watching the race with a timing monitor in view showed four guys pushing like crazy even though the risks where immense, especially Simon. He got the gap down to one second on two occasions but Martin was driving as his very best too and was soaking up the pressure despite the  lead never going above 6 seconds at any point. Marc was also pushing hard, and was only just over 3 tenths of a lap behind Simon at the finish, despite picking the wrong lane for the final, erroneously thinking it had already gone. So the second HOGP wrapped with another good bunch of races, the handing out of the trophies and then into a quick lunch with the Monaco F1 race being streamed for those interested.

2010 HO Grand Prix results:

For the Afternoon, Tony B departed on an errand and we also lost Marc, who headed off the see Oxford win at Wembley. His departure meant there would only be three Pro Modifieds, with a further four picking Mod and another bumper Nascar field, including the top three in that championship after Roy's change of heart. He would not take pole, but in the closest qualifying battle in EAHORC's history, was only 2 hundredths behind John Chell, who had made a class switch and was driving beautifully. Insanely, Paul Charlton was only another 13/100ths of a lap back in third, with the 3 B finalists 1.02, 1.11 and 1.2 laps off pole itself (and very close to each other). The A final was an absolute classic. Roy, John and Paul were joined by Mike, who produced one of the drives of the day to beat Deane Walpole and Andy P in the B final, despite both those drivers pushing like mad in a desperate bid to prevent Roy from putting the title beyond doubt.

With Mike having to contend with yellow, it was left to the other three to put on a barn burner. Roy started off in his usual measured way, a master of coming on strong later in races, and it was Paul that held sway for most of the race. He made a late error, with much sympathy to be heard around the room, after an otherwise controlled and impressive run. As Roy swept through, JC was right with him, both then survived a late off thanks to the best bit of marshalling of the day by Craig Homewood, and it was he who overturned the formbook to take the win by just 14 hundredths of a lap. Paul recovered well,  and was only 9 hundredths of a lap behind at the death. Another lap, and who knows?

The other two finals could not live with that, Martin brushing Andy W and Clive aside in Pro, and Craig taking an impressive win in Mod, showing if anything even more poise and guile than at Purton. Dave Rouse was again second, this time with a bright yellow F40 copying the Walpole screw idea used on Craig's Marchon. Julian was third ahead of a very out of sorts Tony Stacey. Dave clinched the title, but behind him there is much to play for.

Thanks to all who helped make the meeting one of the best, if not the best, EAHORC has ever put on. Congrats to Martin Hill for winning three more championships, truly a pleasure to watch somebody so on top of their game set records that will probably stand for ever. Lots of contenders below him, but who will step up?

Afternoon results:

If you would like excel versions of these results click here.

2010 Round 4 FLBT Purton- 18/4/10

Round four of the 2010 season turned out to be a meeting where almost all of the efforts to build a high attendance worked at the same time, with the result 26 racers rolled up on a sunny day that clashed with an F1 race. The organiser had had to press the EAHORC extenders into action for the first time in ages, and ad-hoc tables had been brought along on race day by the returning Andy Whorton, such was the need for extra pit space. The resulting meeting was one of the best ever, as EAHORC celebrated it's 8th birthday in style. It was Marc Townsend, using an A.F.X Mega-G fettled by fellow premier-grade drive Clive Harland, who led the way as F1 started proceedings. Martin Hill, looking for his fourth win from four starts this season was by contrast struggling to master the large and technical track and would qualify only 5th.

A scrappy B final would mean he did not progress to the A final either, with Marc the only premier grade driver to make the top final. He would face John Ferrigno (who did take the B step-up) and Tony Molloy, both building on the promise shown on their debuts to make the blue riband final at only their second attempt. Andy Player completed the A final line-up nudging closer to Premier status with every meeting.

Before that we had to complete no less than 8 finals to follow the 26 heats, with lunch taking place at 1340! The H final saw local lad Rowan Ripley, at first reluctant to take part at all for fear of showing himself up, take the win just ahead of another local lad Evan Webster. Dave Hannington found himself racing former Main Grade Champion Dave Rouse and BSCRA Chairman Rob Lees in the G final, but came through to win by a lap and a half from Rob, with Dave struggling and only a lap ahead of Rowan. Andy, back after a three race bout of paternity leave, was another one really struggling, two retirements in his first pair of heats leaving him mired in the F final. He won that but would progress no further, and must be hoping to get back to his former status for Pinewood.

Robin Cornwall would take the next win, in the E, putting not only Andy but another struggling premier grade driver, Roy Masters, to the sword. Julian Allard, another driver finding improved form would win the D final, 1.04 laps ahead of John Molloy who had also taken a step up since his last race (his debut). Things started to really heat up as the C final got underway, Craig Homewood driving with real panache to edge out Kevin Gee, making his EAHORC debut and first time racing HO since the 2009 AFX 6 hours. Craig's dad Paul had been in the hunt too and was only a lap and a bit behind Kevin at the finish.

Most expected Martin to take the B final step up from blue lane, but he had a very uncharacteristic off on the first lap and struggled to get back into the game, not least because up front John and Clive were setting a furious pace and with Craig in touch too. John swept through in the end to deny yet another pair of premier graders access to the A final, just 0.15 laps ahead of Clive.

This left Marc to defend the supposed elite's honour, which he duly did having dug deep from a yellow lane in which only he seemed comfortable. None of the Main graders were able to take the instant promotion on offer therefore, but all drove out of their skins. John took second, sneaking the place ahead of Andy P on the last lap, with Tony M only one lap back. Marc was, perhaps understandably, more relieved than anything, as the standard of competition in EAHORC F1 continues to climb from already high levels.

For the afternoon, six drivers picked Pro Modified as their class, and 8 Modified with the rest in a bumper Nascar field. Impressively, just as in the morning, nobody needed to use club cars. Roy was the class of Nascar once again during the heats, and Martin was as imperious as ever in Pro as he decided to put his F1 woes behind him

. Craig and Dave R were neck and neck in Mod, the youngster revelling in a Martin Hill prepared car passed onto him by his Dad after he decided to stick with the stock cars. In the end stonking scores in Blue and White lanes saw Craig take pole by a big margin, and Dave's perfect season was under threat. Julian Allard continued his massive battle with Tony Stacey, just edging him in the heats this time around. And so to the finals.

Pro Modified went first. Andy W was somewhat fortunate to win through the B final without having to push to much due to mechanical issues for Rob and a DNS for Robin. He would then beat Marc in the A final, the F1 winner's car seeming to be down on performance after a big off. Martin was untouchable, although Clive was giving it his all before settling for second place. In Nascars Roy led as expected, but not by as much as expected. in fact he probably would have had his hands even more full if Andy P and Deane had not been involved in a huge scrap, Deane twice coming onto Andy's tail and taking runner up spot by a single hundredth of a lap at the death. Both scored more in their respective lanes than they had in the heats, whilst Roy scored less but used his well-known coolness to edge it.

Modified really saw Craig come of age. Following advice given prior to his final, he held back whilst Julian and Dave R led initially, with Tony Stacey (having taken the B step up with a very strong drive) in close company. He then got into a rhythm, moved to the front and edged away from Dave. Never far enough ahead to relax he drove with few errors as the clock wound down to take the most popular win of the day. What odds Paul takes back the F40 for Pinewood? LOL. So, all in all a truly fabulous day. A venue bursting at the seams, a great buzz in the air, shocks aplenty and some trademark awesome races. Roll on the next round.

If you would like excel versions of these results click here.

2010 Round 3 MBR HO Kings Lynn- 21/3/10

A slightly surreal meeting to start with, as host Martin Hill and Dave Rouse turned out to be the only locals present. The much vaunted EAHORC 'vibe' was further tested by electrical problems in blue lane, and yet I think the Association came through with flying colours. In all 13 racers pitched up for F1, and it quickly became apparent that behind a flying Martin everything was to play for so competitive was everyone's scores. With Clive Harland's brilliant new spreadsheets being used for the first time it was once again possible to sort the scores mid way through the heats, and this really showed everyone's fortunes changing heat by heat.

In the end Clive was best of the rest behind Martin (the only two to use Mega-Gs), with Andy Player making his first A final by right and second since starting out in HO last October. The step up was taken by Roy Masters with a comfortable win in the B, leaving mate John Chell (with a career best 5th overall to show for his morning), Julian Allard and impressive newcomer John Ferrigno in his wake. John had qualified well given the tight margins between scores, and then took some major scalps on the way to a popular win in the C final, namely Dave Rouse, Paul Homewood and Tony Stacey. Tony had something of a wild day, pushing too hard on a track he could not master, but a stonking 20.55 in the unfavoured yellow lane, beaten by nobody and 1.7 better than Martin, showed raw pace was still there.

Dave meanwhile has recovered from a woeful qualifying by his usual standards to win the D final, but had nearly been undone by Craig Homewood (who had driven really well in the heats but had lost out in the closeness of it all, as well as a fourth score tiebreaker), and then moved up a couple more spots to take 8th overall. Robin Cornwall and Deane Walpole were left to fight out last place, with Deane victor but unable to finish higher than 12th.

Below for the first time is a lap chart generated by trackmate lap times, with the raw data converted to positions with excel and then made into an image file doctored in photobucket. If it sounds quite a bit of work, it is!

 For the Afternoon 6 drivers chose to be merged with the Pro Modified runners, down to three due to the absence of Marc Townsend, with four choosing Nascar, including Paul making his first foray into closed wheel racing. Martin was once again untouchable, not massively faster than Clive in any one area, but enough on all lanes and with so few mistakes the margins just built and built. Robin was a fair way back, awaiting new parts to get his Storm on par with the competition. Andy seemed to be struggling to live with Roy in Nascar, this championship really shaping up to be one to watch, with Deane showing more pace but making far more errors. Roy and Andy would actually run quite close come the final, with Deane in the mix early on, but one always felt Roy (a wily EAHORC campaigner by now) had plenty in hand and so it proved.

Similarly Dave Rouse was to take yet another win in Modified, leaving John Chell and Craig (also making his closed wheel debut) behind him and Tony struggling once more but very fast when he could stay on. This made it three win from three, with fellow MBR HO member Martin taking 6 wins from 6 and still on maximum points in the EAHORC cup. As a result that club have built up what could be a decisive lead in the club championship but the battle behind is intense with three clubs practically level at half distance.

If you would like excel versions of these results click here.

Click here to download AM results as a spreadsheet and here for PM results.

2010 Round 2 LHORC Edmonton- 21/2/10

Despite the second round of the EAHORC championship being on the same weekend as many other slot car events, 19 people came along to Edmonton, making it the most successful meeting there to date. Formula one racing started a few minutes after 10am, with Martin Hill in probably his most imperious form ever, which is saying something. Once again the field behind him was ridiculously competitive, with Tony Stacey the driver to punch above his weight this time, taking the 3rd automatic place in the A final. Paul Homewood, the driver to watch last time out, proved that was no fluke by qualify a solid 5th, one place behind the ever improving Andy Player.

By contrast, the hero of the December round, Roy Masters, was struggling for consistency down in 16th place! Three newcomers from the prospective Kent-based HO club made their EAHORC debut. Tony Molloy would eventually finish 13th but put in good fastest laps in all his heats, so will be another one in the mix once he find some consistency. His son John and David Hannington also enjoyed their day, and plans are afoot for a return visit to pick up where they started. With the heats finished and lunch looming, the spreadsheet was quickly sorted and the finals got under way, starting with 'Edmo's' first ever F final, won by an unwell but still quick Craig Homewood. Dave Rouse, another driver struggling despite some quick laps times, won the E final, vanquishing Daniel Stacey and his father Steve as well as Roy.

For the D final Deane Walpole had managed to turn his form around a little and was somewhat closer to where a premier grade should be. With the competitiveness of the class the way it is now, he found himself up against the impressive Tony Molloy, Julian Allard on pole and of course Dave, capable of anything even from white lane. In the end Deane did win, but the race was a classic. The Red Bull Mega-G lead throughout, with first Julian and then Dave applying mighty pressure. Their scrap for second probably left Deane just the breathing space he needed to win by just 2/10ths of a lap, with Dave a mere 5 hundredths of a lap ahead of Julian! Tony trailed home behind all this but again fired in fastest lap of the race by way of warning shot for the future.

The C final was almost as good a race, Robin Cornwall having to find the right balance of speed and caution to keep back John Chell and win by just .35 laps. The B final kept up this amazing run, the whole field covered by less than two laps, with Andy Player just about beating John Ovens as the latter took sizable chunks out of his lead in a no holds barred attempt to win. Would the cat and mouse racing continue on into the A final? The line-up was Martin as hot favourite, Clive Harland in Blue having secured his promotion to premier grade by making the final, Tony Stacey as  the underdog and Andy following his step-up.

In the end Martin crushed them all, with Andy taking a surprise second after taking a clever approach to the race, waiting for others to over-do it. Clive took third on his Prem grade debut, with Tony last but very happy to make the final and beat 15 other hard charging drivers. Lunch was trimmed to 30 minutes following this final, the two rooms layout at Edmo again making it slower than idea assembling each race, with 4 drivers choosing Pro for the first time, 7 Nascars and the rest in in Modified.

Martin was untouchable in Pro, but with three others in that class he knew that the pressure was on nonetheless. Any off track excursion with these cars is always likely to be a biggie, so his approach was to run all four heats at the absolute limit so as to be in that mindset come the final, and then build a big enough lead that a crash would not wreak the gameplan. It all worked out perfectly, but everyone was taking big risks at some point, the big, 1-3 lap losing, de-slot just waiting to pounce. Toward the end, Robin had a sniff at third and snuck past Clive with Marc Townsend the closest to giving Mart real pressure, finishing runner up. Despite winning by a big margin Martin's relief at the finish was palpable, as he knows how easy it is to throw it away. For those spectating, these cars continue to be the prefect way to finish the day, especially if you are not marshalling!

Nascar saw Andy continue to have a stonking day, beating Roy despite the Leighton Buzzard resident producing some quick lap times and scores, a 6.18s in red particularly standing out, on the way to class pole. Steve Stacey took a superb third, beating round one winner Deane who was in damage control mode after a torrid set of heats and yet more mechanical woe. Tony M was sixth, but yet again the lap times suggest more is to come so as those three battle away he could be in there making things difficult. Daniel was 5th, with John M 7th but showing flashes of real pace.

With four Pro-Mods entered for the first time, Modified ran as a separate class. Dave Rouse was the star here, although John Ovens, Julian and Tony S all produced the goods at some point during the heats. Qualifying behind Dave had been incredibly close, but it was Julian who took the fight to him in the end, beating John O narrowly in the B final and then being less than half a lap behind in the big one as Dave stuttered. Tony Stacey was third, but produced fastest lap to show what might have been. David stuck with his un-sorted short Mega-G in this class, but I suspect he will have headed off after a fun day plotting what to do next.

I believe EAHORC is in the best state ever right now, huge camaraderie as the video for this month shows, but some very intense racing and it is so competitive in all classes. Who finds the most race-craft to go with their speed keeps shifting with every meeting and you never now how it is going to shake out, all you can do is bring your A game to every race and to every heat - and hope that is enough. DW

If you would like excel versions of these results click here

Click here to download AM results as a spreadsheet and here for PM results.

2010 Round 1 SCHORC yelling- 24/1/10

Back to Yelling for the commencement of the short 2010 season. With the snow threatening the event earlier in the month it was a relief to see it fade away and 15 racers able to get to the village without problems. Tony Baldock came along with dad Peter to compete in his first EAHORC meeting since January 2007, and with friend Ian Grinham also in tow and making his first appearance since 2003! The racing kicked off with F1, with Martin Hill not suffering his usual January wobbles (they were to come later) to qualify on pole in part thanks to an untouchable score in what was to become the popular white lane. Tony was, as expected, up the sharp end with his Tyco, with Marc Townsend at last unlocking speed from his Mega-G to make the A final.

They were joined by local Paul Homewood, who led the vast majority of a very intense B final which required him to soak up pressure from all the other three as they battled hard. The E final had seen son Craig take the step up to the D, which was won by Dave Rouse but with Craig pushing him all the way and beating Julian Allard and Tony Stacey. These two finished 1/100th of a lap apart. The C final was won by Roy, the hero from last month struggling to match those heights, but now driving sweetly in the finals to beat Peter, Dave and Clive Harland and have a real shout in the B final.

This race was a classic, all four drivers in with a serious chance of making the A final at some point. Just when Paul thought he could relax as one rival crashed, another would pop up 2-3 seconds behind him. Late on Roy was showing the most pace and moved up to 3rd and  then 2nd in rapid succession, and got the gap to the leader under 2 seconds before a crash dropped him back. Ian now found himself in second, and only a third of a lap behind, but Paul held on a drove with much aplomb as he had throughout and to make his first A final. After that the A itself was a bit of an anti-climax with the field spread out by half distance. Martin duly took a win with his Mega-G with Tony B second, Marc third and Paul a still stunning 4th considering the quality of the field.

For the afternoon, Marc and Clive duly entered Pro-Mod as expected and quickly got to grips with their new Slottechs. The pace of these cars now they are on lexan bodies is such they a crash is likely to be big and result in the loss of a lap, possibly two, so the stakes are very high. Martin produced fastest laps in all four lanes, but it was Clive pumping in the big scores as he wisely held a little in reserve compared to Martin and Marc. John Chell had also entered Pro, but was having a torrid time with his body clip and never figured. Clive took pole by five laps, with Martin behind Marc by a whopping eight, but still getting white lane for the final. Deane Walpole had found some form, using Martin's Nascar to take pole in a fierce battle with Tony B, and Dave had proved to be the fastest of the three Mod racers.

Finals commenced with Mod, Dave finding himself first under pressure from Tony S and then unexpectedly from Julian who had been having a torrid time in the heats with motor clip problems but came good when it mattered. In the end Dave won by 0.8 of a lap, with Julian just under two ahead of Tony. Nascar next and Peter initially looked the most likely to take the step up until an off saw his body clip scupper his chances, leaving Roy to again come on strong in the finals but not before having to see off a charging Ian, who had improved his score in yellow by 2 laps but could not quite get by. The A final saw everyone except Roy get off to a terrible start, but he then made what has now become uncharacteristic mistakes to squander  the advantage and fall behind Deane and Tony as they headed into a private battle of their own.

Tony initially held sway, but Deane was closing in and encouraging race control to call the gaps. An off from the multiple champion just as Deane had got to within a few inches back saw the lead change hands, and trouble with his clip would see Tony eventually finishes last. Deane therefore took his first A final win since mid way through 2008, with Andy second but not much ahead of Roy. The day wrapped with the Pro final, Martin switching to a BSRT chassis. He was on a mission to put his heat woes behind him, and leading from the off.  As the clock wound down, one mistake would have been fatal to his chances, so the race was tense as all three pushed to the maximum. Martin came through with an amazing 42.92 laps, with Clive second on 41.33 and Marc fast but trying too hard on 38.41 but well ahead of a still struggling John. A set of good finals then, with the F1 B being the best and the highlight Paul's resulting 4th place. Well done to him and to all who attended for making it a great day.

DW

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2009 Round 10 MBR HO Kings Lynn- 13/12/09

Another ace meeting, this one having something not even Yelling last month had, a win in the F1 A final that was so popular it warranted several rounds of applause! Roy Masters has produced some good races over the years, and indeed raised his game noticeably on the way to winning the Nascar title in 2008. His win under pressure at Pinewood was a good example, but this time around he managed to trump that by some margin. Right from the beginning of F1 qualifying he was running well, always within a lap or two of the very quickest during the early heats. A 27.20 in blue was to be matched by nobody, and elevated Roy to second place in qualifying and up against three Premier grade drivers! He was just over 2 laps behind Martin Hill on pole with Marc Townsend (back using a Tyco) 3rd. Clive Harland displayed the kind of pace here and there that showed he would have been a factor had he not been having to be mindful of the tactics needed to win Main grade.

The first final was between Dave Rouse, back down to earth with a bump, Deane Walpole (struggling again), HO newbie Greig Nairn from the NSR Scalextric club and Julian Allard. Greig had shown good pace from the off, and came through after an incredibly close battle with Julian (both recording 24.85 laps). Deane and Dave had been battling on and off for last place, with Deane again taking the unwanted honour. Greig move up to green in the C final, with his friend Dan Ellis (another HO newcomer) waiting in blue lane. Clive and John Chell had too much for them, the former taking the win, but they acquitted themselves well and it will be interesting to see how the go in September when the 2010/11 season kicks off at their club.

Clive too the step up, and then had to go back to playing things tactically, the otherwise to be desired promotion to Premier Grade something to be avoided at this late stage. The B final win was taken by Andy Whorton, in his last race meet for a while as he is now on 'paternity leave' from slot racing, but he was pushed very hard by a rejuvenated Tony Stacey, who ended up with as Main grade winner on the day once later events unfolded. Clive was third, with Andy Player fourth after qualify a suburb 5th overall. This just left the A final and an amazing drive by Roy. Martin had not had a good start, and an early off saw him very much out of sorts. Roy had taken the early lead, and a indication of how things would play came after a minute or so. Two cars had collided in front of Roy, but he managed to drive through the tangle, and add to his lead, where on other occasions he would have had poor luck and lost out.

Andy began to close the gap and was well clear of Marc, but the reductions were not big enough unless Roy made a mistake. At this stage Roy was taking it easy, aware that many finals are won and lost in such circumstances. Andy got within 1.5 seconds, which meant any mistakes by his rival and he would have been away, but then the gap stabilised and Roy ran down the clock to a huge round of applause considering there were only 13 people in the room. Roy thus became the second driver to get promoted the Premier grade status the quick-but-hard way, winning a National A final. Even a drained Andy was grinning from ear to ear. Clive duly took the Main Grade title for 2009 with his 6th place.

For the afternoon session, the visitors from NSR departed, leaving 11 racers to press on with racing awaiting a late lunch. This duly came at 1330 with most of the heats at that point completed. Martin and Clive had decided to forgo afternoon E-cup points to give Wizzard class  one last go (it merges with Pro-Mod next season) and were joined by Julian using the club cars, having sold his Nascar to one of the NSR guys!. Martin took the win comfortably, although Clive's score had been close in the heats, and he had scored more in blue lane. Four racers lined up for Modified, and this produced another popular win after a strong drive, John Chell besting Marc and former Champion Dave, on merit, with Tony last but in the hunt and equalling Marc for fastest lap time in class.

The championship racing concluded with the four Nascar drivers, with Roy going for the double. In the end the intense battle was between the two Andys, but when Mr Player went for broke and came unstuck, Roy swept through for second and Deane for third (happy not to be last yet again) AP had put on a strong showing all day and should be a force in 2010. Roy and Andy W ended up joint winners of the EAHORC cup points with 290 apiece. The day concluded with winner-stays-on fun races for Magnatractions, won by Clive and Deane, and for 'Brassjets', won by Clive. The perfect relaxed end to a great day and I would say EAHORC's best season to date.

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2009 Round 9 SCHORC Yelling - 15/11/09

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A cracking meeting, which washed away the blues from round 7 and the slight disappointment at the turn-out for round eight. SCHORC had put together a really great track, enhanced further by some last minute marshal-friendly changes on race day, with more BSTS being used than last month, and the minor niggles all ironed out. F1 racing was fast and furious, the Mega-G again in the ascendancy, but with Dave Rouse gamely sticking with the Tyco and keeping the users of the new chassis on their toes. Peter Baldock and Nigel Sykes attended a race for the first time in a while, also used Tycos and added to the very eclectic mix of people present.

There were lots of highlights. John Chell taking 5th place in Nascar for example, out of a strong field of eleven drivers. This class was won by Martin Hill, racing Nascar for the first time since he won that championship, and meant he scored another maximum in the EAHORC cup, as he also won F1. He therefore clinched the cup for the third time in as many years. Outstanding! Chris Souter made his HO debut, Deane Walpole's persistence finally paying off, getting him to give it a go. He acquitted himself well, had good pace in F1, and when he found the Nascars more of a struggle switched to a steady pace and picked off others as they crashed. Everyone hopes he will be back for more.

Andy Whorton finally won a Championship, delivering on the promise and obvious talent he has shown ever since coming back to National HO racing. He won the Modified class on the day, to clinch the championship with one round still to go. In the process, he beat Dave Rouse, pace setter in qualifying and who had stepped back to Mod after running in Pro for most of 2009. As people start to think about 2010, expect this hopping to continue next month.

Clive Harland is very close to winning the F1 main grade title, but has to keep on eye on tactics at the final round. He must avoid winning the A final in F1, or qualifying in the top 3, as either achievement would see him move up to Premier grade and hand the championship to Dave. Dave is also close to making the higher grade, so if both move up at the final round a host of drivers could win the lower title! The tightest championship of all is the Club championship, where reigning champions MBR, who will have home advantage, need 4 more points than HOSS to take the Championship once dropped scores are factored in.

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2009 Round 8 HOSS Wokingham - 18/10/09

The strange latter part of EAHORC's season continued as it returned to the renowned Pinewood club in Berkshire. After last months events, turnout was almost exactly half, as no less than 7 people dropped out between race day and the previous Friday night. Those unable to make it had almost to a man been affected by real-life-gets-in-way issues rather than just a touch of apathy, and I was beginning to think I had stumbled into an episode of the Twilight Zone. So, 13 people took part, and what was lacking in terms of numbers was more than made up for in some cracking racing and the return of the normal EAHORC buzz and relaxed atmosphere within the confines of a building steeped in racing excellence.

The Mega-G Champcars and Bowman Sectional Track System both made their debut. The champcars blended in flawlessly, on the pace but not miles in front, and the wing and axle modifications worked as intended. The track system worked well, just a minor issue with one or two after-market guide pins, looked amazing and was a joy to drive on. Everyone is looking forward to more pieces being purchased.

Racing wise, Martin Hill was on a mission, and came away from the meeting as the most successful EAHORC racer of all time, as it clocked up it's first 50 meetings. Hill had taken pole in F1, but not by a huge margin and a scruffy start to the A final left him with plenty to do as Paul Charlton led initially in the tricky yellow lane. He gradually fell back, with Hill sweeping through for the win (and the F1 Championship) followed by fellow Premier grade driver Andy Whorton and another Pinewood legend, Simon 'rubber band' Scott. Paul had made a late switch to a Mega-G and took the B final step up with it, other finals wins falling to Robin Cornwall and newcomer Andy Player, who drove with great aplomb on his debut to put reigning main grade champ Dave Rouse to the sword.

For the afternoon, everyone was left astonished by the performance of Martin's Pro Modified car. Dave, so mighty at Derby, tried his best but his fellow Norfolk resident was untouchable, and by some margin. The Pro Mod championship was thus wrapped up with imperious ease and Martin needs just 100 more EAHORC cup points to take three titles in a year FOR THE THIRD YEAR RUNNING. Outstanding stuff. Andy Whorton won Modified to put one hand on that title, and Clive Harland and Marc Townsend both took handsome wins in Wizzard and Nascar respectively to wrap up those titles.

Racing returns to Yelling next month, with the F1 main grade title still up for grabs (and can only be decided in December), plus all of the minors. The Club championship is too close to call, HOSS having a cracking home round and moving ahead of MBR HO for the first time once dropped scores are factored in.

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2009 Round 7 DHORC Derby - 20/9/09

Not a race report in the normal way as the fact I had a bad cold means that I had my head down running race control. I do recall Martin Hill scooped yet another F1 win, but was made to work very hard by Cliff Roythorne (who is a local now) as we got the classic F1 final we had all been expecting for some long while. Dave Rouse produced his best drive since last season to prevent Martin from taking another win in Pro Mod, having finally found a controller and settings to tame his armature.

Marc Townsend was again untouchable in Nascar. A large local contingent using DHORC-spec cars witnessed Nick Sismey win in open wheel, and the on-fire Lee Pateman win in closed wheel. The overall attendance record was not so much broken as smashed, and yet the usual EAHORC vibe was somehow absent.

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2009 Round 6 LHORC Edmonton - 28/6/09

The second of the back-to-back race at ''Edmo'' looked set fair to at least equal EAHORC's highest attendance record, but the hot weather and a couple of illnesses put paid to that. Nonetheless, 15 people attended (still a good figure for a summer race) including most of the racers from the May fixture. F1 was as brutally close as ever in the midfield, but on paper the 'A' final looked like it could be a close affair too. Martin Hill had pole, but had only beaten Marc Townsend to that by 0.3 laps. Of the eight available highest heat scores and fastest laps, Martin had ''only'' taken 3 with Andy Whorton also taking 3 on his way to qualifying third, with Marc and fourth placed qualifier Robin Cornwall taking one apiece.

The 'E' Final was won by Steve Stacey, followed by wins for Roy Masters (D) and Clive Harland (C). Clive produced a good score on his step up, but could not keep with John Ovens and Robin from the tricky white lane, as both his rivals posted 25 lap scores for the first time. John led most of the way but Robin kept pressing on and in the end lost by just 0.05 laps! John then drove a stonking 'A' final from white, as both Marc and Andy struggled to find the pace they needed. Martin in any case, as he had done many times before, raised his game for the win and the close race we all hoped for never materialised. John took second, with Andy third and part-way to ending the day with the most EAHORC cup points.

For the afternoon, 12 drivers remained. With only 3 in Pro/Mod, those drivers would not be adding to their EAHORC cup tally. Martin duly took another easy win, his smooth driving and stable of awesome cars too much for anybody. John retired toward the end of the final, but still took second as Dave Rouse (his G3 now fitted with a 3-ohm arm, and a match for Martin when he could tame it) retired with mechanical woes on lap 8.

Nascar was the most popular class, with Andy making a tactical switch as his club (HOSS) home in on their first Club championship. He and club-mate Marc duly took the one-two, with Andy victor by three clear laps despite Marc starting on pole. Deane Walpole never produced the pace hinted at during the final last month but had just enough to beat reigning Nascar champ Roy Masters, who in turn had beaten John Chell in the afternoon's only 'B' final.

For Wizzard, Clive produced one of the drives of the day. Once again he took pole, but once again he knew he would have somebody on his tail, in this instance Robin Cornwall (his car now fitted with the correct magnets!). Having finished second by small or tiny margins to three different people in the last 3 rounds, he could be forgiven for performing 'headology' (look it up) on himself and believing another win could not come. To his credit, after an early off was cancelled out by a later one for Robin, he drove with just enough aggression to stretch a lead of first 2 seconds and then three. When Robin began to push harder, well clear of Steve and his son Daniel, admirably going for broke, more errors crept in and Clive was able to take the win by a couple of laps to the biggest cheer of the day.

EAHORC now begins the summer break, with racing resuming in 84 days, at DHORC. Have a good summer everyone, see you at Derby if not at the AFX six hour on Sunday...

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2009 Round 5 LHORC Edmonton- 17/5/09

Another round, another different venue with the first of two back-to-back rounds at Edmonton (''Edmo''). Star of the day for me was Tony Ryder, who started his day badly by trying to find the venue via Chiswick, at one point had a car disappear into thin air at the south end of the track, but only because it was in fact at the north end, and yet still managed to secure 290 EAHORC cup points and an A final win after a series of towering drives. He was bettered only be Martin Hill, who at the moment seems to have re-discovered the ability to take double wins after by his standards a wobbly start to 2009.

Martin had been pushed hard in F1 by Andy Whorton, the pair taking half each of the available fastest laps and highest scores, with Martin on pole by just under 3 laps. Andy was aware that his rival has been beaten from that position, but as a result maybe put himself under too much pressure. An early off led to frustration and further problem saw Andy withdraw after 8 laps. In the end Tony took second exactly two laps in arrears, with Marc Townsend taking third after stepping up from the B final.

The lower finals had in fact provided most of the entertainment, Robin Cornwall (5th) scrapping hard with Marc in the B, and Clive Harland, Tony Stacey (9th)  and Dave Rouse  (8th) dicing in the C with many changes for the lead before Clive took the spoils (and eventually 6th overall). Scant consolation for Andy was taking fastest lap during the A final, with a 5.60s lap.

For the afternoon Marc and Deane Walpole lined up for another Nascar scrap, joined by Julian Allard returning after last racing at MBR HO in March. Martin and Dave would be joined by Tony Stacey, Andy and John Ovens in Mod/Pro Mod, with the rest running in Wizzard. After the heats Marc had once again taken pole in Nascar, and followed this with a fairly straightforward win. However there was some interest as it became apparent Deane was producing fast laps having initially struggled to get used to a borrowed car, and Marc raised his game to take FTD in that class back by a tenth. Edmo II will be interesting for this pair!

Modified ended up pretty easy for Martin, but he did have John pushing very hard with an SRT fitted with a K&J magnet in the early laps. Tony Stacey, having beaten Andy (having a torrid time, and possibly still down after the F1 racing) in the B final, then beat Dave in the A, in a real to-and-fro battle, by the smallest of margins after a strong drive of the David and Goliath variety. The day wrapped up with the Wizzard class. Jack Homewood produced a great drive to win the B final (and would eventually place 3rd, beating brother Craig to cap a great day) ahead of Dad Paul and Robin, who it turned out was only running with ceramic magnets unbeknownst to him.

Clive had once again taken pole, but as he is becoming used to faced a rival who had produced plenty of fastest lap (and in Tony's case a monster score in red lane) on the way to the A final. Tony it was who took an early lead, and soaked up the pressure (never really far enough ahead to relax at any point) to take a popular win by 1.1 laps. Clive had the consolation of bagging more solid points and looks set to be champion, and I am sure will win a round of this class soon.

We return to Edmonton next month, hope to see you there.

The winners of round 5 were:

Martin Hill F1 Premier Grade and Pro Modified

Tony Ryder F1 Main Grade and Wizzard

Marc Townsend Nascar

Tony Stacey Modified

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2009 Round 4 HOSS Wokingham- (Pinewood Short track) 26/4/09

For the fourth round the Championship moved on to Pinewood in Wokingham, our first visit since the inaugural HO Grand Prix at the end of last summer. That event was won by Martin Hill, who came back under some pressure having not won an F1 round so far this year. There was no one reason for this, and he soon set about putting things right as 18 people lined up for the open wheel heats. As we have become used to the King's Lynn resident was in awesome form during those heats, top scoring in all but red lane to take pole for the finals by four laps from Marc Townsend and local Simon Scott (in top form as he was for the HOGP). They would be joined in the A final by Andy Whorton once he had taken the step up from the B final.

Before that Tony Stacey had beaten his two nephews, Scott and Daniel, to win the F final. He stepped up to the E final, which was a very close affair with a (at that point) struggling Dave Rouse beating Steve Stacey by 0.2 laps and the whole field covered by less than a lap. Dave would then go on to win the D final as well, a race which started with a ding-dong battle between Andrew Carrick and Deane Walpole, and ended with a titanic one between Dave and Deane. Both crashed in the last 5 seconds, with Dave just emerging 0.05 laps ahead. This time around the field was covered by 0.6 laps!

The C final was won by Toby Pawson, he of the awesome Nascar performance back in August, ahead of returnee Robin Cornwall and FLBT racer Robin Clark (trying HO on a big track ahead of this summer's 6hr enduro). Behind Andy in the B final was Paul Charlton (5th), Clive Harland (6th) and Toby classed 7th. One final therefore remained, would Martin be able to get that win? Andy had produced a big score in the B final and now had red lane, Marc lined up in blue, with Martin choosing the lane he had blitzed everyone in during the heats, white. So it was all to play for.

In the end it was not a classic final, no big side by side action, and only Marc improving (slightly) on his heat score, but Martin was in control and got the job done by 1.3 laps. Marc took P2, quite comfortably, ahead of Andy and Simon in the end, these two running about half a lap apart as the time counted down. Handing out of the winner's trophy was followed by the lunch break and another chance to ogle the 1/24th track next door on which the October race will take place.

For the afternoon, Martin was in his usual crushing form in Pro Modified, well clear of anybody and everybody. Andy would take second place in the A final once again, but his Life-Like was not as quick as it had been in the past, and even he was swept aside. 3rd went to John Chell, a strong performance in the heats seeing him out qualify Andy, with Tony 4th after a face of with Dave Rouse for the wooden spoon. The Wizzard and Nascar finals produced the drama, for very different reasons. In Nascar, Marc had taken pole by some margin from Deane, but the later built a lead as Marc got off the a scrappy start. Both pulled away from the two Robins, with only Marc setting new fastest laps and Deane desperately trying to limit the damage. Marc continued to have the odd scrappy moment but took the lead in the late stages and won by only 0.45 laps to maintain his record of taking at least one 160 at every round contested this year.

A totally absorbing and enjoyable day ended with Wizzard. Paul Charlton had beaten three Staceys in the B final, and would line up alongside Simon (Blue), Toby (white) and pole man Clive (red). Clive's car had been ailing during the later heats and he lined up with new brushes but unsure if they were sufficiently run in. As it turned out they were not and from just past half distance he was able to lap the whole track flat out. Simon, having already won F1 main grade in the morning of course, therefore led, clear of Toby and Paul. Clive though was still lapping quickly and unable to crash, Simon seemingly unaware of the danger. Once he woke up to it there was not much time left, and the threat was very real. Clive would pull ahead either side and through the hairpin, but lose out on the first third of the lap. In the end it came down to would Simon be able to negotiate the ''thruppenny bit'' banking at 9.5/10ths against a car that took it flat? In the end he did, and won by 0.05 laps to give a cracking day the perfect ending.

The winners of round 4 were:

Martin Hill F1 Premier Grade and Pro Modified

Simon Scott F1 Main Grade and Wizzard

Marc Townsend Nascar

Andy Whorton Modified

 

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2009 Round 3 MBR HO King's Lynn- 8/3/09

Round three moved to Kings Lynn, and a very polished track from Martin Hill and Dave Rouse in their second meeting 'under new management'. Remarkably the former still has not won in F1 this year, a crushing display in qualifying let down by an erratic A final, including at one point pulling his controller out to retire, before hastily changing his mind. By his own admission the reigning champions' head let him down. Better was to follow. It was left to Jim Kelly, a wily veteran now, to take a hugely popular win (his second of the year) in the unfavoured green lane and having got there via the step up from the B final. Neither Marc Townsend or Andy Whorton, the other two A finalists were able to perform at their heats level either, whereas Jim performed well above his. He now trails Martin in the F1 Premier Grade table by just 50 points with a zero score to drop. Game on!

Tony Stacey raised his game in F1 Main grade, to finish 6th overall and Main grade winner, a big score in blue being the foundation of that success. 2nd in Main grade was the returning Ryan Betts (not quite able to match his stellar F1 performance from his last event) ahead of Roy Masters, Dave Rouse, Clive Harland, John Chell and Kevin Golloghly. The Main grade title is now wide open and Tony is now in that mix. Again, game on!

For the afternoon, Martin was in no mood to mess about, utterly untouchable in Pro/Mod in both the heats and the finals. One or two comments were passed on the car being that star, and there is no doubt his stable of cars is top notch. However, his fastest lap was half a second better than the field, and the same margin existed in F1 as well, so his driving is awesome too (when his head is on right!). Behind Martin, Dave Rouse wisely switched back to his G3R and had a huge scrap with Andy's amazingly rapid Life-Like with Countach body, losing out on second place by a few millimetres! As a Pinewood when he won Mod, Dave drove beautifully under pressure, but Andy (who usually is fault free once he gets past the opening laps) soaked it up well too. Wooden spoon in the A went to Tony, after he took an impressive B win in another mega-scrap of a race with John Chell, both ahead of an out-of-sorts Jim.

Nascar was a very straightforward affair for Marc Townsend, comfortably top qualifier and able to vanquish Deane Walpole after some early wobbles. Marc has now won at least one A final at both of his race meets and is looking set fair to put together a brilliant season. 3rd place fell to reigning champion Roy, ahead of Kevin and newcomer Julian Allard from Ipswich. The best race of the day came in the Wizzard class, despite only being contested by Clive and Ryan. Ryan had bagged a lot of fastest laps in the heats, but Clive the bigger scores (and therefore Pole), so he knew he would have to up his game. This he duly did, bouncing back from an early off, to catch up and pull ahead at half distance. A further off left the two running side by side, before Ryan pulled a little ahead. Clive was not done though, and began to eek back as the clock ticked down and Ryan tightened up. In the end a relieved Ryan prevailed by just one tenth of a lap.

All in all a great day of racing, and we now enter a mini-break before racing resumes on our fourth different venue in as many months, Pinewood, on April 26th.

 

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2009 Round 2 SCHORC Yelling- 8/2/09

The January HO National at one of the oldest clubs was followed by the February one at the newest, and things got of to a great start. 15 people rocked up, in the slush and bitter cold, to the South Cambridgeshire village of Yelling. The location was very convenient for a large proportion of the attendees, only the Wiltshire contingent facing a 'mega' journey. They probably decided it was well worth it as one of them, Marc Townsend, produced one of the most impressive drives in EAHORC's history in only his second HO meeting and first for over a year.

Having automatically qualified for the F1 A final by placing third in the heats, Marc ended up with Yellow lane. He had already bagged the best score for that lane in the heats, with a 22.75, but raised his game in the final. Under immense pressure from reigning champion and pole sitter Martin Hill, for half the race, and Peter Baldock as well at the death, he produced a best F1 score of 24.40 to win the final and join the ranks of Premier grade HO drivers, and from a lane that nobody considered an optimum one, with Peter one lap back and a mere 0.05 laps ahead of Martin. Martin nonetheless took the championship lead, his conqueror from round one, Jim Kelly, being absent. Few would bet against Martin winning on home turf next time out though.

Nigel Sykes finished 5th, top main grade driver, ahead of Clive Harland, Roy Masters (who now leads the main grade championship) and reigning main grade champion Dave Rouse. Local resident Paul Homewood brought along his two boys, having previously popped along to SCHORC's demo at Elms Garage in Great Shelford. They appeared to enjoy the experience and will hopefully be part of the scene once SCHORC's Wednesday night meetings commence. Eldest son Craig managed to beat Dad as well as John Chell and host Tony Stacey.

For the afternoon, drivers divided into 5 doing Nascar and 7 doing Mod/Pro Mod. Martin's Slottech T1 was easily the quickest car out there, and he was able to dabble with other cars from his stable in later Pro Mod heats. Peter was very much top dog in Nascar, his SG+ looking smooth and planted, but Marc would put in fastest race lap in every lane except red. He would miss out on qualifying 2nd by just 0.15 laps, and posted the fastest Nascar race lap time of the day in the final, with a 6.22s. In the end Peter and Nigel's vast experience showed through, but I have a feeling Marc will be back for more! Unbelievably, Peter's win was his first ever EAHORC 'A' final victory. Coupled with his P2 in F1 he also garnered the most EAHORC cup points with 290.

Andy Whorton again struggled somewhat in F1, not quite at his best but still 4th, but he bagged the Mod win with P2 in the combined class with his Life-Like, and was the only finalist to vaguely keep Martin honest, after Deane Walpole's (Storm Extreme) early challenge faded. Dave took 4th place, having defeated Clive, John Chell and Tony in the B final. Alan Bullock finished 4th in Nascar after an extraordinary B final against reigning Champion Roy, who had lead from the start but had an off at the death. Roy's car needed attention an Alan snuck through as the race ended to win by a 10th of a lap.

The winners of round 2 were:

Marc Townsend F1 Premier Grade

Martin Hill Pro Modified

Nigel Sykes F1 Main Grade

Peter Baldock Nascar

Andy Whorton Modified

 

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2009 Round 1 DHORC Derby- 18/1/09

Just as with the corresponding fixture 12 months previously, the 2009 season kicked off at the UK's largest HO club, DHORC, and with the highest attendance yet seen at the opening round. With Jamie Sismey coming along at lunch time, to join those already enjoying the awesome 'best of Monza' layout, there were 20 people racing in total. Considering there was a 1/32nd meeting the same day in Birmingham, which pulled away 2 other probables when the venue changed to there from Blackpool, this was an awesome way to get things rolling.

Better yet, EAHORC hall of fame luminary Jim Kelly was back on top from. From pole position he was able to win F1 from fellow premier grade driver Martin Hill, putting in a monster effort in yellow after a below par set of heats. This was Jim's first F1 win since round 2 in 2006, and for the neutrals we can all hope he makes good on his 'threat' to do all the races this year. Quite how Martin feels has not been ascertained yet! The reigning champion still posted some best lap times during the heats though, took the B final step up, and then maxed out the tricky yellow lane for P2. He will no doubt be gunning for revenge at the next round.

Jim topped a good day by also placing third (Tomy SRT), and therefore top Modified, in the ProMod/Mod category, behind Martin (Slottech T1 Poly) and Deane Walpole (WHP StormE), with Andy Whorton (LifeLike T), another top driver struggling, in fourth place and second in Modified. Kevin Lye, from Mansfield, was top rookie of the day, having been recruited to the HO ranks via the superb Slotforum site. He was sixth in F1 and won Wizzard class, racing against his friend Glyn Williams and their kids, who had a ball. The locals elected mostly to run their clubs cars, which gave the National contingent their first glimpse of the BSRT cars with Lexan bodies that they use. For F1 Roy Masters elected to stay with his EAHORC car as did friend John Chell after some wavering. Roy was to place 5th (winning main grade) and John 7th. Martin Allsopp had taken pole in the Derby-spec F1 class, but was narrowly beaten by Nick Sismey come the A final. 3rd place fell to Phil Rees, 4th place Alan Bullock ahead of daughter Claire.

The nature of the track, a cross between one of the better Monza road courses and large parts of the old banked track, meant that initially scores in the afternoon were not much higher than the morning. Over time this changed, and the F1 score were eventually blown away. Martin won the Pro-Modified A final with a 24.35 and Jamie Sismey 25.05 in Derby-Spec lexan closed wheel. The cars from these classes were especially impressive through the banking, and the three kinks. Everyone agreed it was nice to run a National with banking once again, and that the track flowed superbly without being too easy, especially during those heats with the low sun streaming through the windows.

So, a cracking start to another EAHORC season with everybody having a good time as part of a very eclectic bunch and some stand-out performances. Over the coming months we will begin to see where everybody is at, but it already looks as if some of the championship battles will be closer than in 2008.

The winners of round 1 were:

Jim Kelly F1 Premier Grade & Modified

Roy Masters F1 Main Grade

Martin Hill Pro Modified

Kevin Lye Wizzard

Nick Sismey Derby Spec AM

Jamie Sismey Derby Spec PM

 

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To see race reports from the 2008 season go here

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To see race reports from the 2006 season go here

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