The weekend of the 11th and 12th of August 2018 was Oval Track Legends annual pilgrimage to the Lochgelly Raceway in Scotland, the furthest most drivers have to travel and, unfortunately this year, quite a few decided not to. Having never been myself however I was keen to go, and Damian, being committed to the formula, was definately never not going to go, the only question was how?
This year a plan was arrived at whereby #161 Dan Holden would take his race truck (converted horse box!) with his and Damian’s car on-board (as it can hold 2 cars) and a 3rd car would be towed in a box trailer in case either Dan or Damian suffered catastrophic damage to their cars and needed a spare (450 miles is a long way to go to then have problems and not be able to race).
I was invited to tag along, and with some trepidation arrived at Dan’s home early Friday morning for the anticipated 8 hour drive up to Scotland (which turned out to be nearer 10!). Along for the ride also were Damian’s partner Emma and Dan’s friend Jake.
After a long drive, and a night in a decent-ish hotel, we rocked up at Lochgelly on Saturday 11th August 2018 for the European Championship, although, as has been mentioned elsewhere, calling it a European Championship with 1 Scottish and 10 English drivers is arguably stretching it a bit. The conditions were great for racing however, not as hot as it has been lately but a dry track and Lochgelly itself is a very nice venue. By Oval Track standards it gives Foxhall a run for it’s money, very good facilities, clean toilets, and a large and enthusiastic crowd.
What’s more, the day couldn’t have got off to a better start, with the grids being drawn out of a hat, Damian was on pole, and converted it to a win with not too much trouble, Dan finishing 4th after starting almost at the back.
In the 2nd heat the grids were reversed, and Dan and Damian quite literally swapped places, Dan winning the heat and Damian in 4th. Here they are with their identical trophies for their identical heat wins.
This left a conundrum for the Final, identical placements meant both qualified for pole position, but of course only one could take it. The rulebook was consulted and it was determined that as Damian had won 1st he got pole, but this seemed rather arbitrary and both agreed a coin toss would be more appropriate. A coin was duly tossed, and Dan called it, so Dan on pole for the Final and Damian next to him.
The problem is, the outside of the track is no-where in Oval racing, and from the start the 3rd placed man, #178 Mark Dews, was right on Dan’s bumper with no room for Damian to move into the racing line and slot in, either behind or in front of Dan. So the majority of the race was Dan in the lead, #178 hard up his posterior, and Damian down in 4th after #64 Tim Hudson got the drop on him as well.
Then some controversy. The starter showed #64 a Black Flag, meaning he was out of the race, when in fact he should’ve shown him a Black Cross, meaning an incident was under investigation. Damian therefore didn’t challenge #64 for 3rd believing he would pull off the track soon. He didn’t, as the Black Flag wasn’t confirmed over the ear-pieces the drivers all wear to receive instructions from race control. Unfortunately that let #395 Tom Sutton catch him as well, and with #161 taking the win, #178 finishing 2nd, #64 correctly in 3rd, Damian finished 5th and Dan was crowned European Champion 2018, just as he was last year!
On to Sunday and things couldn’t have been more different. The heavens opened and we were treated to a day of Scottish rain, the sort that falls sideways and for some reason makes you wetter than if you’d gone for a swim!
Out came the cars, on went the full wet tyres, and collective breath was held that we’d manage to get through the day unscathed. Furthermore, this was the first test for the weatherproofing on my new camera, would it survive the day?
Sunday’s race was the Open Scottish Championship, and, apparently, being a minor championship grids weren’t out of a hat for this one, so the drivers lined up according to grade, therefore Dan at the back and Damian just in front. Dan, being the Michael Schumacher of Oval Track Legends, schooled the rest of the field in how to drive in the wet and stormed through to take the first heat, although Damian also proved his wet weather credentials by taking the fastest lap, and then went on to top that with a win, and another fastest lap, in the 2nd heat. On this occasion however there was to be no repeat of Saturday, Damian finished 6th in heat #1 and Dan finished 2nd in heat #2, so Dan was on pole and favourite for his second championship of weekend.
And that’s just how it transpired, with Dan and Damian proving masters of difficult conditions, Dan taking the win and Damian in 2nd.
With pretty much all the silverware from Lochgelly coming home in Dan’s truck, this can only be considered a phenomenally successful weekend for teams #114 and #161. I certainly thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to doing it all again next year!
A video of the European Championship Final is here, but I had serious focusing issues, possibly due to the dense safety fence, so it’s far from the best :-
