Mystic Meg and the McSalesche 727-R98.
Molesey GT was back for its final outing this month, treating us to three firsts: the first time a heat had finished with every driver recording seven-second laps, the first time that five cars had occupied the podium’s three steps, plus the world’s first appearance of the mythical and much-hyped Sidearrow.it McSalesche 727-R98 driven by Mr Julian Edwards.
Even before racing commenced it was apparent that Mr Edwards was struggling, “What’s wrong with me?” being his frustrated lament to nobody in particular after various problems and crashes during practice.
Group 1’s Heat 1 (Josh, Julian, David, Simon and Terry) more closely resembled a game of snooker than it did a motor race, Terry neatly and skilfully punting both David and Josh into the scenery. Fortunately Neil, Molesey’s answer to Mystic Meg, was in charge of the track-call button. With an uncanny ability to foresee pile-ups long before they happen, and a lightening-fast finger, Mystic Neil cut the power before the errant cars had even finished careering towards the barrier, so nobody lost any significant time. Not only did nobody lose any time, the heat ended with everyone having recorded a seven-second lap, a Molesey first.
Group 2, Neil’s group, didn’t have the benefit of Mystic Meg in charge of the track-call button, so when in Heat 1 he crashed his Scaleauto Viper with sufficient force to render it dead, the race continued at pace, Neil losing a whopping 9 laps while Josh organised a replacement car for him from Team Bryant’s stable of Slot.it Porsche 911 GT1-98s. And boy, what a replacement car it was, Neil recording a blistering 7.803 lap in his next heat.
Your correspondent was too busy trying to avoid being taken out by Terry to notice what order Mr Edwards had driven the various parts of his impressive Sidearrow.it McSalesche 727-R98 in – the Arrow part went first, I think, followed by the .it bit with the Side running last – but whatever order it happened in, Julian’s frustration was obvious. Try as he might, he couldn’t stay with Josh.
The midfield, as so often recently, was where the best racing was, Group 1’s Heat 3 in particular being a corker, Julian, Simon, David and Terry covered by less than a second at the finish. The closest battle was between David and Simon who were fighting for third place overall. Simon was ahead by 0.28 after Heat 4, David ahead by 0.50 after Heat 5. For most of the final heat the pair raced neck and neck, but with just a few laps left the pressure got the better of Simon who crashed, losing three seconds and his chance of a podium spot.
Despite Mr Edwards’ travails with the McSalesche 727-R98, he was still quick enough to keep hold of second place, but this time the night was all about Josh, the overall winner.
