Bolwextric Slot Car Racing Club, Racing at MFR with Bolwextric supplied cars picked on the night. Options

[Wambulance]

For round 1 we welcomed a new racer to the club in the shape of Chris, he has done some slot racing in the past and has now returned to the fray.

With some on holiday and Honey moon (congratulations to Kate and Wez) we started the series with just 5 racers, we used 4 lanes and all got to choose twice which gave us some varied racing including some sets that only contain 4 cars and don't often get used. Round 1 Bolwextric Racing results

We also finalised some changes to the promotion from Clubmans qualifications see this post.

[Mr.M]

Class 5 was the Ninco Ascaris, Will.

[Wambulance]

Thanks Jim.

[Wambulance]

All of a sudden we are up to round 4, with all lanes running and in reverse direction I was looking forward to net me a good scoring night, but it was not to be.
We started with Tony's pick, Pro Trucks, but it was Jim who took an early lead on 30, from Tony on 26 and a surprise and surprised Chris on 25. I found myself nearly last with Wez, Richard and Keith all clustered around 16 points.
Wez went for the NSXs', as always these served up some good races. Tony made up a bit of ground on Jim and Chris hung on to 3rd slot. Keith's "bad night" continued with 2 last places and he stayed just a point ahead of Richard.
Richard chose Ferrari 575 and caught the curse badly scoring just 9, elsewhere it was more of the same, only Keith showed any change as he improved with 2 wins.
After the break we had Clio NC1s' chosen by Reuben, they didn't do much for him and with two wins apiece from Wez, Chris and Keith, Reuben ended up with his 4th slot under attack. Neither Jim or Tony did well by their standards, but Jim held onto a slender advantage.
I picked the Scalextric modern F1s' for no particular reason and was rewarded with a not very good round though my penultimate race did generate me a 2nd place this was more to do with others falling off than my pace. Jim clocked a round of 34 to seal the evening with Tony 11 behind in 2nd. Chris had a win and 2 seconds to guarantee him 3rd place for the night, well done Chris. Reuben ended 4th well clear of Keith and Wez. I was almost last as Richard was not far behind me.

In the Championship, Jim is getting a handy lead from Tony his only real challenger. But the big mover is Chris who is looking set to take the Clubmans and maybe even a podium spot in the main Championship.

Bolwextric Racing results

[Wambulance]

Wow, we are up to round 6 already. Just 7 racers so we threw out the black lane and went for an extra class.
Richard started us off with Skylines and caught a huge dose of pickers curse to get a miserly 9 points. Jim only dropped 3 possible marks to start his evening as he was to go on - out in front, Ruben got a healthy 18 followed by Wez on 16.
I went for the Scalee F1s', these tail happy bunch can be a bit of a handful but we brazened it out on normal power setting and what with running in reverse direction as well - cars went off all over the place. Meanwhile Jim quietly netted the only full house of 25 of the night just to make sure he would not be caught. Chris somehow sneaked in with a 21 to grab second slot which he kept for the evening. He picked Ascaris for the next class which he won, with Jim, Keith and myself all on 18 for second place, and if that sounds close - it was though Jim slipped up when he committed an auto-rubberneck Chng, he came off while looking at a pileup at the other end of the track. Ruben clocked a terrible 9.
Keith picked Mk2 Escorts, these were great fun especially as they were Wez's undoing as he crashed out with the nights lowest class score of SIX, yes folks that was 6, sorry mate however I write it - it looks bad! He was never to recover, even a handy 16 in the Megans, picked by Jim could not help Wez. With one round left I was surprised to find myself drawn level with Ruben and I was in a fight.
Wez picked Accords but it did him no good, Ruben started with a win while I came in last, and as I struggle to make up the marks everything went wrong till the last race when everyone fell off in the first lap but somehow I had got the furthest and was gifted the win and enough points to beat Ruben. Chris had another brilliant reverse direction evening and was the only person to get near Jim with 111 to Jim's 130, next was Keith 97, then Will 83, Ruben 81, Wez 75 and Richard on 53.
With 2 rounds to go Jim is effectively 20 points clear and the championship is his to lose. In the clubmans' 3 wins in a row for Chris means he is got a useful lead from Will - STILL, "Anything can happen." (Charlie Chng, 2011)

Bolwextric Racing results

[Wambulance]

Just one round to go, so it was a pleasant surprise to see two old friends return, Matt and Robin, this gave us 10 racers for the evening.
Jim chose Golfs for the first class, this was a bit of a luck in for me as I had been practising with them in readiness for the new NNR series. Not only that but I was started in yellow with the yellow car the exact combo I had been practising with. So in the first race Tony was pretty shocked to see me giving him a hard time for the lead. I started on a high - trouble was this meant I could only go one way - DOWN , and I did. Class ended with Tony on 33 then Keith 31 and Jim 29.
Richard went for 2CV's, he clearly had never tried to drive this truculent and variable bunch of garlic swingers. A full set of 5s' gave Chris a surprise chance to sport the winners berét for this class, this means he can add the whiff of garlic, stale Gauloises and rank wine to his growing list of good natured attributes in the clubmans class. While all the attention was on Chris it was Jim who sneaked enough points to bring him level in the lead with Tony and Keith, all on 58.
Rubens sought out the Ninco 911s', I can't remember using these before, but I found them a good natured and fast looking class that I hope to revisit. And the results showed a close spread, Jim only needed just 30 for a clear win while the lowest score was a highish 12.
After the break it was Chris's choice of Hornby F1, they did him proud and got him runner up in class to Jim - yes folks by this time it was Jim who was on his way to another - RUNAWAY WIN for the evening. At the tail end Matt had his best class to level Richard with a 14.
As so often happens after getting comfortably in front of me Wez found himself in danger as I pulled myself up to just 3 behind him, so he let out an agonised scream when Robin picked Accords for the final class. It is true that I have done good work with these in the past but the entire class of cars had been given a much needed makeover with new brades and blades all round. I found my first two cars rather flat and could only manage 3s', then the ole' Accord magic returned and I whipped up a string of 5s' to stick one on Wez - YES, that's what I am talking about! Meanwhile, back with the real world Keith had managed to lead the class home with a very slender 29.
So Jim continues his way to take the series we only have one more chance to stop him getting a full sheet of wins. Keith was a strong runner up on the night with Tony a way further behind. In the Clubman's Chris had it all his way and is pretty well sure of taking his first Clubman's Championship. Robin had a a difficult return to action but managed to keep his head as all his controllers played up one after the other. Richard kept off the bottom yet again. Matt was last but his scores showed up something interesting, he had a 4 in every class, if you got a 4 in every race on this night you would come 3rd overall, which goes to show if you are off the pace there is a lot to be said for Wambulance mode.

Bolwextric Racing results updated

[Wambulance]

Last round tonight, what's on the agenda?
Jim can't be beat, but can anyone stop him netting the full 98 marks?
"anyone" means, you have the best recent form Keith, no pressure mate!

Chris has the Clubmans in the bag so he has his sights set higher - a podium finish overall. If Tony is a no show then Chris only needs 4th place (by my back of a brain cell reckoning), and that is a possibility because tonight is a reverse direction night and Chris is a reverse direction specialist! Bring it on guys.

Wez has little to gain or lose in either class so will he use tonight to sharpen his already considerable black art skills? Chang on tight everyone!

[Keef921]

No pressure felt mate, but unless there is a severe amount of team changing I fear Jim will complete a clean sweep tonight - it's a bit Man U playing in the Conference.

The real pressure is on you to stay ahead of Rubens for 5th place.

[Wambulance]

Yeh well, series has finished and it was as predicted: yet another Moy's Massacre. Well done Jim. Runner up in the final round was Tony and this coupled with Keith having an "off" night secured Mr T the runner up spot with Keith a close third.
Even though Chris had a poor reverse direction night by his standards and Wez had a brilliant night Chris still cruised to his first Clubmans win, well done Chris. He was followed onto the Clubmans podium by an undeserved ME and then Wez.

Round 8 saw a new racer, Ruben's friend, James. Welcome to the Club James.
Reverse direction action started with Chris's pick of Pro Trucks and these served him well as he took 3rd in class close behind Tony and Jim. Richard surprised us with and almost full set of 5s', the start of his strongest night so far.
And Rich did even better with his pick for the next round, NC1 Clio's, in which he got a famous win and a runner up finish. Jim took this class from Wez who was also having a brilliant evening. The rest of us except James finished the round clustered closely around 22.
Rubens picked Ninco F1s', he started with a win but it wasn't a brilliant class for him. Again it was a cluster of scores this time in the mid 20s', with Wez getting class honours on 26.
After the break it was Skylines, this pick of Tony served him well, his unremarkable 31 gave him a clear lead over everyone else's average scores.
Jim spent some time shuffling a set of Ninco Subarus that had been lurking unloved in the end cupboard, he nearly succeeded getting a full set working but in the end we had a rouge car in the mix, I think it was a Ninco Citroen. The winner of all Jim hard work was Wez who took the class with 29 and sealed his 3rd place for the night. Another decent class for Richard who had his best night ever finishing with 104 enough to give him 3rd place in the clubmans - Well done Rich.

Results for the series and the Championship are on the web site. The big tables at the bottom show the scores before the missed round adjustment, the final Championship outcomes are on the tables on the side.

The Winter Championship starts on Nov 28th, but please note that the following round will skip a night, that would make round 2 on Dec 26th, that may need confirmation?

[Wambulance]

PLEASE NOTE the next round will not be until January 9th.

An interesting start to this Championship, which we are (that means I am) calling 2012 Spring. A round where I just missed out on coming 3rd overall and beat an ex champion, but I suppose the biggest upset had to be Tony coming next to last. Yes, a pretty topsy turvy round, but it almost goes without saying there was someone who never seemed to go that quick but "behind our backs" clocked up at least 3 wins in each class to take top honours by a margin of 26 marks clear of a very well earned 121 by Chris - actually I really don't need to write down the name as you all know who!

Cars wise it was a bit of a Ninco night, with Cobra, Porsche and Indy making up the majority of the classes, with Hornby F1 and Austin Healey (they may also have been Ninco, but I wouldn't know about that).

On the way to a good result by my standards I obviously had loads of fun and also some good racing, I think I found myself head to head against everyone at some stage. In the open wheelers I really tried to keep out of trouble, staying back at the start and then trying to pick off one at a time, this worked, between the 2 classes I only came last once and got 5 second places. In the other classes I tried my best to get a good start (especially if I knew I had a "good" car) and then let the aces slip past rather than trying to hang to the lead - all very boring but effective.

One incident that tickled us all was when I had been battling the entire race with young Rich, it could have gone either way and I just could not get clear of the little bu___er, with one lap to go I fell off and Richard let out a heart felt chuckle which we all heard.

Over the Christmas have a thought for Chris who is having an operation on his knee and may miss a few rounds as he will be unable to drive for a while. So all the best Chris and everyone have a great Christmas. I will be going to Valencia, I say it is to visit my sister but really I will be doing some winter testing ready for next year.

Bolwextric Racing results

[Wambulance]

So after a huge Christmas and New Year holiday we finally made it to round 2. The long gap meant that Chris was back from his operation without missing a round - great to see you back Chris but us Clubman racers saw an opportunity denied as this was a reverse direction night - a Chris speciality. So while Chris limped around the unit his cars certainly didn't as he stamped his presence on the series with a comfortable 3rd place overall just behind Tony, can't remember who won (only kidding).

A night with some great racing, but only average class scores, Tony managed a couple of 32s', while Rich, Wez, Keith and myself posted 11 as our lowest scores. We started with Richard's pick, Pajaros, he started with a 3rd place, he best score of the night. Ruben went for the DTMs', the green one was not as dominant as usual (see Escorts later), though Wez took it to a fine win and got his best class on 26. Jim started with a 1 but still went on to take the class with 30. We were all amused when Chris chose Pro Trucks, which he then used to take us all to pieces and win the class with 30, so at break time Jim had Chris not far behind him with Mr T in 3rd spot. With only 51 from 3 classes Keith was having a terrible time.

Keith got us going again with the enjoyable Escorts (now if this wasn't a slot car racing report that phrase could have meant something else much more interesting). I started with the Red Hot Escort (calm down Will, that's enough!), and after a shaky start I was soon challenging for the lead - I was really flying and should have won but over excitedly threw it away on the last lap. I and several others put my uncharacteristic pace down to the car, one of Tony's Purple Spot Specials, but Tony smelt a rat and it was soon discovered that the red lane had been set slightly over voltage all evening. In the final class Jim cursed himself with the SCX GTs', Tony had a great round and managed to squeeze past Chris who had a rare "one" that certainly cost him runner up for the evening.

Great fun all round, and there is room for others to join in, come along to the next round, you don't even need your own cars, it's on January 23rd. Bolwextric Racing scores.

[Mr.M]

3.31AM Will??

Are you nocturnal?

Come to think of it has anybody ever seen Will in daylight?

[Wambulance]

More a sad person with a cracked tooth situation - actually not painful, but I am dentist phobic, so couldn't sleep. Decided a spell in the office sorting the results and report would induce tiredness, much in the same way that readers of my reports experience.

I have just returned from the dentist, who is most understanding, he does his best to put me at ease. One strategy he uses is translating all those long Latin words he uses when talking to his assistant. One of my back teeth had lost an inside rear quarter, until recently the classic treatment would involve extensive civil engineering, including liberal use of "The drill", or even just taking the remains out altogether. Thankfully Japanese technology has come to the aid of wimps like me, with a material that bonds tenaciously to teeth and filling, and sets in a few moments. A blast of air is the only preparation needed and it was job done in a couple of minutes. It seems that the traditional drill n' fill methods are avoided if possible, as each time you drill you remove part of the tooth you are trying to preserve.

Oh dear I am now well off topic. I did get a bit nocturnal on my Spanish holiday, where people really go to town on New Year celebrations. For us these started at 7pm on the eve in the village restaurant. The first thing is to pay the bill, ours was 350 Euro for 8 of us. Then the food, water and drink start to flow in a slow but relentless way till just before midnight when we all get a party bag, hats, garlands, poppers ....... and 12 large grapes! The idea is you skoff back a grape as each of the twelve bells ring, and then the party really starts. It's dancing to the local band, they are well cheesy, lots of singing along to pre-recorded backing, the only instrumental action is of the 2 fingers and Kimbal style, I have to watch and laugh, everyone from youngsters to ancient great grandparents are having a ball. We leave at 4am, as we have our holiday video to make and a plane to catch, but some will be singing and dancing till 6.

And here is that video.

[Wambulance]

For round 3 we had the usual 8 suspects racing, plenty of room for more. If you fancy trying your hand at some racing with a motley crew of top class aces through to idiot also rans come along, remember for this series all the cars are supplied.

Chris had the 1st pick and he went straight for the belligerent 2CVs', this random bunch of garlic swingers need a cool head and a steady hand if you want to score points - which Chris does and did though Wez did manage best Clubmans on 21, a point ahead of Chris. Up at the top it was business as usual as Jim found his trigger finger skills straight out of the box with a winning 30.
Tony has a new set of cars made up of 3 each of Blue White BMW and Orange cars (can't remember or never noticed), these are SCX DTM. Ruben picked these and did well enough to end up at the top of a close bunch of also rans, Tony was tops with 33 and Jim did badly (his standards) with two 1s' he ended up 3rd.
Richard picked Austin Healeys', these are always good racing, Jim was on another planet with a 35 and so by the break he was well away in front, while the also runs were flushed together: Ruben 57, Chris 56, Wez 55 and me 54.
I went for Cortinas', time and action has turned them into a rickety bunch, in dire need of some new rubber they needed luck and a cool head, so that was good for Jim and Chris in their respective battles and not so good for Rich who did really badly - come on boy you know you are better than that!
F40s' were Tony's choice for the final round. And straight away there was a welcome surprise - Richard won the first race, though he was quick to say he thought his blue car had been in a class of it's own. It was, it had better tyres that the rest, and all of a sudden there was a new agenda, either make sure you won with the blue car or try and stop the blue car from winning. It was Ruben who was kicking himself as he came off while coasting to his blue win, and gave Keith that win. I was blue on the last race of the night, the class had been torrid for me with a total of 9 from 5 races. After a couple of laps I suddenly woke up to the fact I was last and I should have been winning, I needed to get a move on. It was easy to storm past the field apart from Mr T who engaged in some sharp race practice and nearly changed me, but I picked my place and cruised off to a win I didn't deserve.
Jim was the night's easy winner with Chris taking the Clubmans' honours again (and this is supposed to be his bad night?). Series points so far. Round 4 is on February 6th - bring it on.

[Wambulance]

Round 4, with Wez away I had high hopes to make a good showing in this Bolwextric Cars reverse direction round, Chris has a reputation as a reverse direction specialist and was starting to pull out a good lead in the clubman chanpionship. If I could have a good night, perhaps beating Chris I could turn the Clubmans' tables on their head.

Rich chose Focus, Jim won this class with a meagre 28 followed by Tony, sadly I shared the bottom of class with a surprising Keith, things weren't going my way.
I plumped for modern F1, I started with a 5 and then 4s but in the end I ended up last together with Rich, Ruben and Keith all with 17, up front Chris took the class together with Jim both on 30.
Ruben gave 911 a try, Chris scratched together 24 points but that was enough to win the class - my 17 put me last in class and last on the board - so it was looking like good night to my "good night".
With just 7 racers we decided to add an extra round and so fitted in Chris's Pro Trucks before the break. Ruben did well winning on 28, I seem to remember Ruben picking those so they may be his speciality.
After the break Keith went for Escorts and they gave him a much needed class winning 29, I often do well with Escorts but this time my slide continued with 11, by far the lowest round score of anyone all night. Oh heck.
Jim finished the night picking Golfs, and he won the night on 158, only Chris had kept in touch with him finishing with 147 - WHAT! Rich finished with 104 enough to put me in last place.

Although results wise this was disastrous for me, I have to say I still enjoyed it, I spent my time scrapping with Ruben, Chris and Rich and we had some good races. Congratulations to my rivals Chris who is now firmly in second place in the championship and to Rich who is now in third place in both his Clubmans championships. Bolwextric Racing results.


Next round in on the 20th, on that night everyone will let me win while I ply them with doughnuts and cake (hopefully not miced) - because it will be my birthday.