Results of 2009 meets

2009 Results and race reports

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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