Blunt.

It was NSR F1’s penultimate race of 2022 this week, and anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the cars were in a rush to reach the end of the year, because the race finished with Molesey’s fastest ever F1 podium, nobody having ever finished in 3rd place with a faster overall time.

The race had started ominously for Graham, his car horribly noisy with a gearing problem that he unwisely allowed Simon to attempt to diagnose and fix. Simon’s diagnosis was that the motor shaft needed shortening, so he rummaged around in his tool box and produced what must be the world’s slowest and bluntest rotary cutting tool. While everyone else looked on incredulously, he spent what seemed like an eternity hacking away. It was a masterclass in how not to do it, but Simon’s not a quitter and do it he eventually did, so racing was finally able to resume.

Lee had won Heat 1, David took the overall lead in Heat 2 and at half-distance was 1.66 seconds ahead of Lee, with Simon third. All three were driving well, David marginally the slower of the three but benefiting from being the most consistent. Lee closed the gap in Heats 4 and 5 to leave David with a lead of 1.02 seconds going into the final heat. Could David hold on for an unexpected win? Almost, but not quite. Driving on the ragged edge and barely more than a car’s length ahead of Simon, he crashed with just a couple of laps to go, losing three seconds and the race win.

It had been a great race, finishing with the third-fastest podium of any category raced at Molesey, only beaten by two Molesey GT races. Let’s hope for more of the same next week.