Excuses and a Clown.

Sideways GT3 returned for its final race of 2023 this week and put on a great show. Not at the front, where Lee won easily, but lower down the order, where it was one of the best races we’ve had for a long time.

The race was enlivened by Joss winning a heat for the first time, David moaning about his tyres, and Chris and Terry spending most of the evening complaining about the alleged unpredictability of their cars while conveniently forgetting that “unpredictability” is usually down to an erratic trigger finger. As ever at Molesey, The Racing Drivers’ Book of Excuses got a thorough workout.

The Tomster volunteered to be the half-time entertainment and had choreographed an unintentionally amusing clown show in which he attempted the very simple task of sitting in David’s wheelchair and making it move. Simple? You’d think so, but not for the Tomster, who instead managed only to tip over backwards into a heap on the floor, not once, but three times. Ten out of ten for persistence, Tom, but zero for achievement. And to think, someone will soon give the Tomster a licence to drive real cars. God help us all!

Whilst the race at the top wasn’t a classic – Josh was a distant second to Lee with Simon a further lap behind in third – elsewhere there were a huge twenty-eight changes of positions, the Tomster and Joss sharing the prize for the most place changes at six each. Heat after heat, Group 1 (Neil, Mario, the Tomster, Joss and Chris) finished separated by fractions of a second, Neil eventually taking group honours and sixth pace overall.

After his dismal showing at wheelchair proficiency, the Tomster salvaged some pride by taking the point for fastest lap in Group 1, and Mario, who’s steadily plugged away week after week and never given up, was rewarded by finishing second in his group.

So that’s it for GT3 in 2023. It’s given us some great racing and returns unchanged in 2024, where hopefully it’ll continue to do the same.