17/06/21: NSR Formula 86/89 – The Covid King is Toppled

The Covid King is Toppled.

Proving that the fastest don’t always win, Josh didn’t. Lapping faster than Julian in every heat, Josh should have dominated this week’s NSR F1 race, but speed’s worth nothing if you can’t keep it on the track, and Josh couldn’t. Too many crashes meant he was defeated for the first time since 20th February 2020, his reign as Covid-era king finally over.

The race quickly settled into three groups: Julian and Josh out front, Spencer and Terry squabbling over third, Neil and Graham fighting not to be last. Everything was pretty calm until each group’s last heat.

Josh, Terry and Spencer went first, Josh flying, literally, an over-ambitious attempt around the top bend seeing him vault the barrier, hit the wall opposite and crash to the floor. Instead of capitalising on Josh’s misfortune, both Terry and Spencer inexplicably ignored racing’s oldest maxim “all’s fair in love, war and racing” and stopped, their gentlemanly behaviour so confusing to the killer instincts of marshals Julian and Neil that each thought the other had hit the track-call button, resulting in the clock continuing to tick down for 20 or so seconds until their error was realised.

Group Two’s final heat saw a desperate last-ditch bid for glory by Graham, a perfectly executed balls-up ramming Julian’s car into Neil’s and taking all three of them off. Nothing gentlemanly there!

But it was all too little, too late. Julian’s lead was unassailable, Josh was vanquished. All hail the new king.