The Worthing HO Racing website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (except where otherwise noted) 2012-24

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We had 29 racers in eight teams for our post-Easter Micro Scalextric endurance race. After eighteen months and six races, this was also the conclusion of our second Micro Scalextric championship, so there was a whole table full of prizes on offer for the race winners and the champions.

First we had to pick the teams. Each of the teams was captained by a junior racer and they got to pick one of the top eight grown-ups in the Micro championship. We then brought Alan's hat into play and the captains drew two of the remaining names - there were three blank pieces of paper which meant we had five teams of four and three teams of three.

Mia picked her uncle Simon and they were joined in Mia's Marauders by Richard and first-time WHO racer Tony F. The Ricciardos was another Aussie-lead team with Tom joined by Tony M, plus Lee and James both making their WHO debuts.

Jonah captained Fast & Furious, picking Duncan, Neil and Sandy, who was also racing at WHO for the first time. Aaron was joined by Mike Mc and WHO newcomer Christopher. They needed some help with a team name and ended up with Easter Bunny Boilers...

The Ramsay Street Racers saw Tyler team up with his uncle Mark, plus John and Hayley. Clumsy Wheels were Corey, Ash, Deborah and Jamie. Road Blockers were Alex, Alan and Andy - the three As. And Hop Up Mad - a clever Easter / slot car play on words - were Stephen, Keith and Scalextric World Championship racer Harrison.

With eight teams, the race was going to be insanely competitive and unpredictable. But there was also the sub-plot of the championship - Ash needed to beat Andy by at least 67 points to claim his first WHO title. A win for Clumsy Wheels, with Road Blockers fourth would do it.

Stint One

Road Blockers got off to an absolute flyer in the second group, setting a top score of 180 laps in white lane. Only one other team - the Easter Bunny Boilers - got over 170 laps. Most teams were getting to know each other and get in the groove of running 3 minute 45 second stints for the teams of four and 5 minute stints for the teams of three.

Stint Two

Mia's Marauders won the second stint with 175 laps in white lane. That score launched them from fifth place to second, ten laps adrift of the Ramsay Street Racers. Those Erinsborough hoodlums had put in identical scores in both yellow and white and looked odds-on for a good finish.

The Ricciardos recovered from a horrible first stint in blue lane with an impressive 15 minutes in red. That put them back in the field, which was separated top to bottom by not much more than fifty laps.

Stint Three

Ash had one hand on the championship trophy after an awesome quarter of an hour for Clumsy Wheels on white lane. A massive 187 laps put them in the lead, the only team over 500 laps. Road Blockers had slipped back a little after their strong start and languished 30 laps behind in fourth. Ash had the 70 point lead he needed.

Fast & Furious put themselves in contention with a 174 lap run in red, fourteen laps ahead of the Ramsey Street Racers in third - they'd had a bit of a 'mare in blue. And they weren't the only ones - Mia's Marauders, the Bunny Boiler and the Road Blockers all failed to trouble 150 laps in this third stint. Both groups of teams were finding blue and yellow lanes more than a little tricky - especially through the Esses.

Stint Four

Fast & Furious, Clumsy Wheels, Mia's Marauders and Ramsay Street Racers were first to finish their hour on track. This group contained the top three teams, but it was anyone's guess who'd come out top. Clumsy Wheels had the opportunity to deliver the win and the championship for Ash, but they had a really tough time on yellow lane - it was painful to watch.

That left Fast & Furious in pole position and on the popular white lane. They had a decent lead of fourteen laps over the Ramsay Street Racers. It turned out to be an epic race to the chequered flag. Tyler's team made the red lane work like no-one else had all night. Supported by John, Mark and Hayley, it looked like Tyler was going to pip his older brother's team at the line.

As the clock ran down, it looked like the Ramsay Street Racers had just done enough. Their 191 laps was the best score of the night. Fast & Furious were fourteen laps back with 177 laps. But when the parts of the lap were called and added to spreadsheet, Fast & Furious had finished ahead by one tenth of a lap - about four feet after and hour of racing. Incredible!

Now it was down to the second group. Could the Road Blockers get 200 laps on red lane and win the race? They'd need 67 laps every five minutes. When Andy clocked just 65 laps in the first five minutes, the task looked impossible. Alan and Alex brought the team home with 168 laps - 642 laps overall and just six tenths of a lap behind Clumsy Wheels in third. Another amazingly close finish.

And that was that... In fifth came Mia's Marauders, followed by Hop Up Mad, Easter Bunny Boilers and The Ricciardos.

Huge congratulations to Jonah, Duncan, Neil and Sandy on a great performance to take the win. Duncan managed a clean-sweep of all three team races this season and jumped ahead of John to take third place in the championship. But for a missed round and a zero score, he could have been contending for the title.

Ash was hugely disappointed too. Without a nightmare sprint race in February, he would have been leading going into this final race and a first WHO title could have been his. However, a sprint race win, a team race win and second place in the championship is pretty darn impressive. That title will come...

Well done to Andy - Mr Consistent - and Stephen for their championship wins. Corey leap-frogged Alex to be the second best junior, but both picked up prizes.

What a great way to finish the championship - a really good night of racing - and thanks to everyone for taking part, helping set up and pack away. Special thanks goes to Duncan and Simon who ran race control so faultlessly and efficiently.

This is the end of our second Micro Scalextric championship and the last with official Scalextric backing. We'd like to thank everyone at Scalextric for their support over the past three years. We'd particularly like to thank Adrian Norman who came up with the idea, which has worked so well at the Barn.

We'll continue with a third Micro Scalextric championship starting in August. There'll be a few tweaks to the format and the cars, but hopefully we'll keep the same fun and close finishes!

- Andy P