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WHO Mod - 1 July 2015

Race Report

After a sweltering day on the south coast and a rather sweaty set-up, we welcomed nineteen racers to the WHO Mod grid for what promised to be a red hot evening of action on the track.

Simon served us up another radical layout with short straights, sweeping curves and our first HO fly-over at the Barn - it was easy on the eye but took plenty of skill and bravery to master.

The grid saw ten WHO Mod cars and nine Tuners, including the debut of Matthew and Richard's Mega-G+ cars, plus Callum's Life Like which was fresh from the club shop.

With temperatures still uncomfortably warm in the Barn, most people went easy in practice. But as the heats started the pace was scorching - the first group included three potential A finalists.

At half way, our top four were John, Mike, Ned and Tony. The top of the field didn't change much, Mike took pole and Tony jumped ahead of Ned, who'd battle Andy and Neil for the last spot in the A final. With impressive heats, Ned and Simon looked to have clinched the Junior and Tuners honours.

Further back, Mike took the two new Mega-G+ cars to his pit box at half way and worked his magic - adding around 30% more laps for Matthew and Richard in their second set of heats.

Finals

We had a full complement in the F final with Matthew and Richard P joined by Callum and Paul. In a spectacularly fast race, it was Callum who took the lead with his Interstate Batteries Life Like. Behind him there was an intense battle, but too many crashes. Matthew drove his blue Chevy well to beat Paul and Richard, but it was young Callum who kept his cool, stayed (mostly) on the track and got to do his victory dance.

Callum stepped up to red lane in the E final to face his grandad Bob, Richard S and Hayley. It was another all Tuners line-up with two Mega-Gs and two Life Likes. From the off, the battle for the win was between the two Mega-Gs of Richard and Hayley. Richard had the quicker car, but too many offs meant he'd catch Hayley, take the lead and then fall back. Again, it was the driver who kept their cool and stayed on the track who won the race - in this case Hayley. Behind Richard, Callum pipped Bob by a few tenths of a lap for third.

Hayley had won in yellow lane and was confident when she stepped up to yellow in the D final. However, the race pace leapt more than a few notches - lap times tumbling by over a second. Neal and Keith had the first Mod cars of the finals, with Duncan the second highest qualifying Tuner. Not surprisingly, Neal and Keith were in the battle for the win, but Duncan was right up there too. In what was the closest final of the night, Keith finally got his Turbo firing on all cylinders and took the win half a lap ahead of Neal and less than a lap ahead of Duncan. Neal finished as top rookie, Hayley runner-up.

With Duncan missing out on the step up, Simon was assured a third top Tuners finish - but he didn't rest on his laurels in the C final. Up against very quick opponents in Corey, Deborah and Keith, it was going to be an epic race. And it was - right up to about half way when an unlucky Corey stripped his pinion and Keith's Turbo hit the floor and fell apart. That left only Simon and Deborah. Simon had kept his cool and stayed on, but Deborah was eating into his lead as the chequered flag loomed. Sadly for Deborah the end of the race came a few seconds too soon - a gap of a few feet was all that separated them. The only consolation for Deborah was the fastest lap time of the finals so far. Keith finished third ahead of a disappointed Corey who would undoubtedly have been a contender for the win - if only...

It was Simon's turn for bad luck in the B final. His car failed to leave the line and that left us with a race between Ned, Andy and Neil. Andy lead away from the line and built up a small lead. However, two offs dropped him behind Ned. Andy's Mega-G was certainly faster and he closed back up, but a third off left him with too much to do and Ned kept his cool, stayed on and won. Neil came in third.

The A finalists' adrenaline was pumping, but track breaks served up two aborted starts. Everything was fine at the third time of asking and two minutes of extreme speed followed. Mike, Tony and John were on a very similar pace and could run side by side around the flowing track. Ned couldn't match their speed on yellow lane and hit cruise control. Up front, John and then Tony made things difficult for themselves with a few too many offs - John briefly dropping behind Ned. Tony kept the pressure on Mike, but it was our championship leader who kept his cool, stayed on the track and won by just under two laps. Keeping cool was the lesson of the night.

Huge congratulations to Mike, who is truly the man to beat in 2015. Ned drove brilliantly again to win the junior medal. Simon was top Tuner and Neal the top rookie of the night. With just one WHO Mod race left, the championship is very nicely poised with Mike just ten points ahead of Tony.

Well done to everyone for some great racing and thanks for making it such an enjoyable night at the Barn. Simon and Duncan did an awesome job on race control and a very big thank you to everyone who helped set up and pack away.

- Andy P

Heats

Finals

Race Results

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