Third Time Lucky.

The club’s RevoSlot Toyota Supra lane cars returned this week for their third race. Or, more accurately, what’s left of the cars returned, most of them now permanently disfigured and missing bits of bodywork after enduring the two previous rounds of organised destruction that masqueraded as slotcar races.

Still, this week and to the surprise of many, everyone was well behaved, there was a breakthrough in driving standards and the cars had a relatively easy time. Not easy enough to escape plenty of crashes, but sufficiently easy that the amount of new damage was minimal. Whether the breakthrough was a result of Neil’s “Calm down and stop wrecking the cars” pep talk at the last race, a genuine improvement in driving standards or merely a third-time-lucky fluke, only time will tell.

The racing itself seems to have settled into a pattern, with the yellow car/lane combo proving the undoing of many drivers’ races. Of the fourteen drivers contesting this week’s race, five of the top six drove their worst heat in yellow lane, and in the battle for the win between Lee and Julian it was decisive, Lee losing a comfortable seven-second lead during his yellow-lane heat, only for Julian to fall back to second place when his turn in yellow lane came.

Simon took third spot, David grabbed fourth from Alex in the final heat, and at the lower end of the race, Dexter, Vince, Chris and Mark enjoyed a race-long scrap for the final place in the top ten, Dexter eventually claiming the honour.

Club cars return on May 18th, when we’ll discover whether this week’s breakthrough is permanent or whether Neil will need to don his leather trousers and get all headmasterly again. Don’t get too excited by the prospect, boys…