Tom’s Nemesis.

Group 5 this week and once again cars partly or wholly built by Team Bryant were out in force: a Nissan Skyline for Josh, Schnitzer BMW M1s for Will and Tom, plus a Ferrari 512 BB LM test-mule for Terry.

Josh and Will took first and second, Terry’s Ferrari placed fourth behind David, Ed struggled with car problems and crashes to finish fifth, one place ahead of Neil, while the club’s junior driver, Tom, who’d been gifted the golden opportunity of a good result courtesy of driving a fast Team Bryant car, wasted it by crashing far too often.

Poor Tom. ‘Youthful exuberance’ is probably the kindest way to describe his over-ambitious cornering attempts that caused several multi-car pile-ups. Nonetheless, despite the crashes, he found himself in 4th place overall at the end of Heat 4, his best position so far this year.

Then came Heat 5 and green lane, Tom’s nemesis, where he fell to pieces, his driving slow, ragged and littered with crashes. It was a dreadful heat that dropped him to 7th place. Unable to gain any places back in his final heat, it was a night for him to forget, his disappointment plain for all to see.

Welcome to the highs and lows of competitive slot car racing, Tom. Now you know why some of the old guys are occasionally grumpy. Losing sucks!