Invicta Informant

The Southerner has uploaded some footage:

This weekend there is MotoGP from Sepang, Malaysia. There are two more rounds to go with Qatar on 19th November and Valencia on 26th November.

Week 9 NFL Results:

Tennessee Titans 16-20 Pittsburgh Steelers

Dallas Cowboys 23-28 Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants 6-30 Las Vegas Raiders

Indianapolis Colts 27-13 Carolina Panthers

Minnesota Vikings 31-28 Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears 17-24 New Orleans Saints

Washington Commanders 20-17 New England Patriots

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37-39 Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams 3-20 Green Bay Packers

Arizona Cardinals 0-27 Cleveland Browns

Seattle Seahawks 3-37 Baltimore Ravens

Miami Dolphins 14-21 Kansas City Chiefs

Buffalo Bills 18-24 Cincinnati Bengals

Los Angeles Chargers 27-6 New York Jets

Also the Texas Rangers won MLB's World Series; the first in the franchise's history.

Good news indeed. If only TfL did a U-turn on a certain something else that is unpopular and is negatively affecting people in Outer London and neighbouring counties.

32 minutes ago, 30368 said:

Thanks Invicta Informant for all the info this year - good job.

No problem. The WEC is in a more rosy shape when compared to other top levels of motorsport. I hope they learn from the past and try to stop it becoming expensive (look at what happened to Group C, the GT1 homologation specials of the 1990s, the Super Touring era of the BTCC, DTM (twice), WTCC, etc.). And also try their best to keep the balance-of-performance as fair as possible.

It would be good to have a round at Silverstone, especially with Aston Martin expected to join the series in 2025 in Hypercar.

46 minutes ago, 30368 said:

Kind regards and enjoy Camelot while it lasts...

It is a Monty Python reference (in lieu of my actual location). I have not even built Camelot yet. I have got a Metcalfe castle kit to build when I get the opportunity/right frame of mind.

The World Endurance Championship has concluded with the crew of the No.8 Toyota, Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryō Hirakawa, winning the final race of the season and the Drivers' Championship in the Hypercar category. In LMP2, the No. 41 WRT entry, which consisted of Rui Andrade, Louis Delétraz, and Robert Kubica, won their category in both the race and championship. The GTE championship was won by the No. 33 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating, and Nicolás Varrone, but the final race of the season was won by the all-female crew No. 85 Iron Dames entry of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting.

The LMP2 category has now been retired from the WEC, but they will still appear at the Le Mans 24 Hours and in the North American-based IMSA series. The GTE cars (formerly known as GT2) will be replaced by GT3 spec cars for next year, opening the door for more manufactures to run their cars in the series (McLaren and Mercedes being two of them). Hypercar will see BMW, Alpine, Lamborghini, and Isotta Fraschini join the series, but Glickenhaus will be withdrawing as they don't have the budget and other resources to develop their car unlike the other manufacturers. They can't even race in the IMSA, as being a small boutique manufacturer, they do not produce 2,500 cars a year.

The 2024 WEC calendar looks like this:

Qatar 1812 km (Losail) - 2nd March

6 Hours of Imola - 21st April

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - 11th May

24 Hours of Le Mans - 15th-16th June

6 Hours of São Paulo (Interlagos) - 14th July

Lone Star Le Mans (Circuit of the Americas) - 1st September

6 Hours of Fuji - 15th September

8 Hours of Bahrain - 2nd November

The draw for the Grand Slam of Darts has been made. The 32 player field features winners and runner-ups from the PDC's major tournaments from the past 12 months, plus winners from the European Tour and Players Championship events, the Order of Merit leaders from the PDC's secondary tours, a couple of international qualifiers, and 8 Tour Holders who came through the last qualifier.

The tournament features a group stage format, where everyone plays the other three players in their group once, and the top two from each group proceed to the last 16 where the tournament becomes a straight knock out. Michael Smith is the defending champion of this event. With how the draw bracket works out, two players who qualify from the same group can potentially meet in the quarter finals, which I don't think is right. The tournament starts on Saturday 11th.

The group draw bracket looks like this:

Group A
(1) Michael Smith (ENG)
James Wade (ENG)
Krzysztof Ratajski (POL)
Nathan Girvan (SCO)

Group B
(8) Jonny Clayton (WAL)
Chris Dobey (ENG)
Josh Rock (NIR)
Berry van Peer (NED)

Group C
(4) Luke Humphries (ENG)
Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED)
Gary Anderson (SCO)
Steve Lennon (IRE)

Group D
(5) Gerwyn Price (WAL)
Ryan Searle (ENG)
Gian van Veen (NED)
Nathan Rafferty (NIR)

Group E
(2) Peter Wright (SCO)
Dave Chisnall (ENG)
Stephen Bunting (ENG)
Stowe Buntz (USA)

Group F
(7) Danny Noppert (NED)
Andrew Gilding (ENG)
Brendan Dolan (NIR)
Haruki Muramatsu (JPN)

Group G
(3) Michael van Gerwen (NED)
Rob Cross (ENG)
Martijn Kleermaker (NED)
Fallon Sherrock (ENG)

Group H
(6) Nathan Aspinall (ENG)
Damon Heta (AUS)
Ricardo Pietreczko (GER)
Beau Greaves (ENG)

The Erith Model Railway Society's January Exhibition, one of South East England's largest shows, will return to The Longfield Academy for our 7th show there. The show will encompass over 30 layouts, extensive trade and society support, demonstrators, static exhibits and charity raffle (in aid of the Association of Bexley Charities '78), making about 100 stands in total.

Venue Address: The Longfield Academy, Main Road (B260), Longfield, Kent, DA3 7PH.

Opening Times: Saturday 27th January 2024 - 10:00am to 5:00pm & Sunday 28th January 2024 - 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Entry Prices: Adults - £9.00. Accompanied Children - £1.00.

Entry price includes free exhibition guide.

The venue can be reached by Longfield railway station (5-10 minute walk away), Arriva bus services 423 (from Dartford and Bluewater), 433 (from Bluewater, Sunday only) and 489 (from Gravesend), and Go-Coach bus services 474 and 475 (both from Bluewater). The buses stop within a 5-10 minute walk from the venue. Some services may stop at Longfield Academy itself, but ask the driver for the nearest stop to the venue. Please be aware that there are NO Sunday services for the 423, 474 and 475 routes.

There is a sizeable free on-site car park, full disabled access (including toilets), a large refreshment area (circa 200 seats) and an extensive range of hot and cold food and drinks at reasonable prices.

There is some off-site parking available at a day nursery in Brickfield Farm just up the road from the venue (5 minute walk away), should we run out (and we usually do) of on-site parking.

There will be a FREE Shuttle Bus service running between Longfield Railway Station and the Longfield Academy on BOTH days of the show.

So if you cannot get parked at the venue or the day nursery in Brickfield Farm, you can park at Longfield Railway Station Car Park (88 spaces, Pay-and-Display - £4.00 all day Saturday, £3.50 all day Sunday) and catch the shuttle bus to the venue.

List of Attendees (correct as of 14th December):

Layouts:

Ashenden Junction
Blindheim
Blitz 1940
Brooks Bridge
Cato Infero
Cedar Court Wagon Yard
Daisyfield Traincare
Depot de Camions
Downlands

Dublingham
Elbow Lane

Foldham

Hatch End
Jongreg
Keithley Valley
Kingsnorth
Kinlochewe
LB&L Line
Molehill Green
Newchapel Junction
N E Where
Plant City
Plugstreet
Plumstead Arches
Portwey – Wessex Trains
Quarry Falls
Queen Charlotte's Dock
Scarlington
Shillingstone
Southwark Bridge
St. Peter's Square

Staple & Ash
Tramlink
Two Bridges Up Sidings
Upton Lacey
Vine Street Riverside
Volks Electric Railway
Wandleford Junction
White Meadow Quarry
Other Exhibitors:

Bachmann Collectors Club
Charity Raffle
Double O Gauge Association
East Kent O Gauge Group
Gauge 1 Wagon Building Demonstration
Kitorama
Orchards (Junior) Scale Model Club Display
Weathering Demonstration
Trade Stands:

3mm Scale Model Railways
All Wheels
Andy Lynch Railways
Brooks Models Ltd
Cambrian Model Rail Limited
Carriage & Wagon Models
Coastal DCC
Colin Penn
David Wills
Dingo Servo Mounts
Dixon Upcott
Euroscale Models
Falconwood Transport & Military Bookshop
Flexxgenix Ltd
Harrison-Brown Models
Heritage In Motion
HobbyTools4U
Invicta Model Rail
JB Photocards
Joe Lock Model Railways
Keith Weblin
Kent Garden Railways
Kent Model Exchange
Layouts4U
MDNdesigns
Michael Land
Models U Drive
Online Models
On The Rails
Plus Daughters
Railway Memories
Roxley Models

Southern Scale Models
Sudbury Model Railways
Supercast
The Wagon Yard
Thunderbolt Models
Transport Collectables Ltd
Trainsporters
W.M. Collectables
Society Stands:

British 1:87 Scale Society
Charity Transport Models & Books
Class 47 Preservation Project
EMRS Information Desk
EMRS Members Sales Stand
EMRS – Scott Tregunno
EMRS – Steve Riley
EPB Preservation Group
Network SouthEast Society
N Gauge Society
Railfuture
South Eastern & Chatham Railway Society
Southern Electric Group
Spa Valley Railway

Please check our website for further details (directions etc.):

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/erithmrs/exhibit_january.html

There is also an Access Statement available to view or download on this thread.

Thank You.

Access Statement for the EMRS Longfield Show.docx

This weekend there are the final rounds of both NASCAR (from Phoenix) and the World Endurance Championship (from Bahrain).

Week 8 NFL Results:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18-24 Buffalo Bills

Baltimore Ravens 31-24 Arizona Cardinals

Kansas City Chiefs 9-24 Denver Broncos

Cincinnati Bengals 31-17 San Francisco 49ers

Cleveland Browns 20-24 Seattle Seahawks

Philadelphia Eagles 38-31 Washington Commanders

Atlanta Falcons 23-28 Tennessee Titans

Jacksonville Jaguars 20-10 Pittsburgh Steelers

New York Jets 13-10 New York Giants

New England Patriots 17-31 Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints 38-27 Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings 24-10 Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams 20-43 Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans 13-15 Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears 13-30 Los Angeles Chargers

Las Vegas Raiders 14-26 Detroit Lions

One to add is the 1964 'classic' Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Only because it appears on Wikipedia's article of 'List of films considered the worst'.

The European Championship was won by Peter Wright, won beat James Wade 11 legs to 6. The tournament's top seed, Dave Chisnall, and the defending champion, Ross Smith, were both eliminated in the first round. 21-year-old Dutchman Gian van Veen made an impressive debut reaching the semi-finals before losing out to Wade.

The next major is the Grand Slam of Darts starting on Saturday 11th November and concluding on Sunday 19th November at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton (UK coverage on Sky Sports). The 32-player field will be confirmed following the final two Players Championship events of the year and the Tour Card Holder Qualifier taking place 'behind-closed-doors' at Barnsley.

On 29/10/2023 at 16:45, LNERandBR said:

Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen have been confirmed as two time champions in the WRC despite there being 1 round left in Japan next month.

 

This being after they finished ahead of Elfyn Evans in the Central European Rally.

Also saw on Autosport's website that Roope Korhonen, who had already won the WRC3 category, was forced out of the rally when German police banned his car over the "validity of its registration plates". Almost reminds me of an incident years ago when competitors in the British round of the WRC got speeding fines.

This weekend there is NASCAR from Martinsville, Virginia, Australian Supercars from Surfers Paradise, Queensland, MotoGP from Buriram, Thailand, and the second-to-last round of the season for the WRC, the Central European Rally, with stages taking place in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Week 7 NFL Results:

Jacksonville Jaguars 31-24 New Orleans Saints

Green Bay Packers 17-19 Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Chargers 17-31 Kansas City Chiefs

Pittsburgh Steelers 24-17 Los Angeles Rams

Arizona Cardinals 10-20 Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders 7-14 New York Giants

Las Vegas Raiders 12-30 Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions 6-38 Baltimore Ravens

Atlanta Falcons 16-13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cleveland Browns 39-38 Indianapolis Colts

Buffalo Bills 25-29 New England Patriots

Miami Dolphins 17-31 Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers 17-22 Minnesota Vikings

Also, both the NBA and NHL seasons have started, while MLB's World Series will begin on 27th October, which will be contested between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Starting tomorrow (Thursday 26th) is the European Championship from Dortmund. UK coverage is on ITV4. The tournament consists of the top 32 players from the European Tour Order of Merit (i.e. prize money won across the 13 European Tour events this year), hence why the Dave Chisnall (who is 12th in the main Order of Merit) is the top seed for this tournament, while World No. 1 Michael Smith is seeded 8th. Ross Smith is the defending champion of this event.

The draw bracket looks like this:

(1) Dave Chisnall (ENG) Vs (32) Chris Dobey (ENG)
(16) Martin Schindler (GER) Vs (17) Stephen Bunting (ENG)
(8) Michael Smith (ENG) Vs (25) Raymond van Barneveld (NED)
(9) Peter Wright (SCO) Vs (24) Gabriel Clemens (GER)
(4) Gerwyn Price (WAL) Vs (29) Keane Barry (IRE)
(13) Nathan Aspinall (ENG) Vs (20) Ryan Searle (ENG)
(5) Rob Cross (ENG) Vs (28) Dimitri Van den Bergh (BEL)
(12) Danny Noppert (NED) Vs (21) Andrew Gilding (ENG)
(2) Luke Humphries (ENG) Vs (31) Brendan Dolan (NIR)
(15) Krzysztof Ratajski (POL) Vs (18) Joe Cullen (ENG)
(7) Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) Vs (26) James Wade (ENG)
(10) Jonny Clayton (WAL) Vs (23) Jose de Sousa (POR)
(3) Michael van Gerwen (NED) Vs (30) Madars Razma (LAT)
(14) Ricardo Pietreczko (GER) Vs (19) Ross Smith (ENG)
(6) Damon Heta (AUS) Vs (27) Gian van Veen (NED)
(11) Josh Rock (NIR) Vs (22) Daryl Gurney (NIR)

Really good show. Pretty good selection of layouts (Rossiter Rise was my favourite). The new venue is clean and airy, with plenty of natural light that is not overpowering. Worth the trip. Thank you to the Beckenham & West Wickham MRC for another good show.

This weekend there is NASCAR from Homestead, Florida, the final round of the season for DTM at Hockenheim, and MotoGP from Phillip Island, Australia.

Week 6 NFL Results:

Denver Broncos 8-19 Kansas City Chiefs

Arizona Cardinals 9-26 Los Angeles Rams

Philadelphia Eagles 14-20 New York Jets

Detroit Lions 20-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

New England Patriots 17-21 Las Vegas Raiders

Seattle Seahawks 13-17 Cincinnati Bengals

New Orleans Saints 13-20 Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts 20-37 Jacksonville Jaguars

Carolina Panthers 21-42 Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings 19-13 Chicago Bears

Washington Commanders 24-16 Atlanta Falcons

San Francisco 49ers 17-19 Cleveland Browns

Baltimore Ravens 24-16 Tennessee Titans

New York Giants 9-14 Buffalo Bills

Dallas Cowboys 20-17 Los Angeles Chargers

This weekend there is NASCAR from Las Vegas, the Petit Le Mans round of the IMSA from Road Atlanta (the final round of the season), MotoGP from the Mandalika International Street Circuit, Indonesia.

Week 5 NFL Results:

Chicago Bears 40-20 Washington Commanders

New York Jets 31-21 Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs 27-20 Minnesota Vikings

Philadelphia Eagles 23-14 Los Angeles Rams

Cincinnati Bengals 34-20 Arizona Cardinals

Tennessee Titans 16-23 Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants 16-31 Miami Dolphins

Carolina Panthers 24-42 Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints 34-0 New England Patriots

Baltimore Ravens 10-17 Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans 19-21 Atlanta Falcons

Jacksonville Jaguars 25-20 Buffalo Bills

Dallas Cowboys 10-42 San Francisco 49ers

Green Bay Packers 13-17 Las Vegas Raiders

Also, Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus has passed away aged 80.

We have a new Major winner in Luke Humphries, who beat Gerwyn Price 5 sets to 2 to win the World Grand Prix. Former World Youth Champion Humphries now moves up to 4th in the world rankings from 6th. The defending champion Michael van Gerwen was knocked out in the second round by Chris Dobey, while the top seed Michael Smith was knocked out by Price in the semi-finals.

The next Major is the European Championship in Dortmund taking place between 26th-29th October, broadcast on ITV4. Before then, there is the final European Tour event of the year in Hildesheim, and four one-day Players Championship events in Barnsley.

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

I would argue that that Phil Parker is not criminally underpaid, he can certainly afford to buy a fitness coach to keep his cake consumption impact in check.

 

Some of these American football college coaches are some of the highest paid employees in a number of US States. A successful football programme bring lots of prestige to the college.

Football officials need to learn how it is done in rugby, cricket and American football, and be made to be held accountable for their decisions.

This weekend there is NASCAR from Charlotte, North Carolina, BTCC from Brands Hatch (the final meeting of the season), and the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama, New South Wales.