—– News from RedRC —–
The second round of this years BRCA 1/8th circuit national championship was located at the famous Wombwell circuit, which is part of a large Karting complex. This track is loved by all the drivers since it contains a combination of slow and fast flowing corners which is a joy to drive when driven on the edge. The weather forecast did not look too good for Sunday, but thankfully it was a dry weekend. With time restrictions in place due to the noise levels, the Committee decided to run open practice with a lunch break. This made the track at times very congested with a lot of fast cars easily catching up the slower cars and damage was inevitable.
The main issue happened mid afternoon when Richard Boult accidentally tripped and fell onto the main straight whilst marshaling a team mates car and was hit on the leg by defending champion Tim Wood which total destroyed his car. The result was an immediate halt to the practice session while first aiders attended to his leg and an ambulance was called. The outcome was a bad gash to his leg and he was driven home later that night for rest. This however could have been a lot worse, but the committee first aid representatives have to be commended for a job well done while the ambulance arrived.
The Drivers in attendance was again higher than expected and it was good to welcome a small minority of 10th IC drivers who have decided to try the Formula One section of this hobby. The drivers were all poised for setting a banker time in the first round since rain was a strong possibility at this stage. In Heat 4, it was the returning Mike Walton with his Mugen MRX4 / Sirio chassis who at this stage topped the time sheets prior to the last heat. With a host of top drivers setting banker times, the first round ended yet again with Mark Green on TQ with Mike Walton an impressive second from Richard Hicklin and Andy North.
In the next couple of rounds, the order at the top started to take a familiar look with Tim Wood and Andy North establishing themselves as the main rivals to take victory from the ever dominant Mark Green. The fight for the remaining A final places was a tight affair with anybody from the 4th heat in with a chance with a late charge but fortunately Richard Hicklin and Neil Diver had just done enough in previous rounds to gain a final position 9th and 10th respectively.
The top 10 after qualification are as follows.
1. Mark Green – Serpent – Novarossi – Merlin Fuel 18 Laps 311 secs
2. Tim Wood – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 300 secs
3. Andy North – Mugen – Reds – 17 Laps 302 secs
4. John Carr – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 306 secs
5. Michael Walton – Mugen – Sirio – 17 Laps 308 secs
6. Jason Frost – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 309 secs
7. Andy Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 17 Laps 309 secs
8. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica – Max – 17 Laps 310 secs
9. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega – 17 Laps 311 secs
10.Neil Diver – Shepherd – IDM – 17 Laps 312 secs
The final was a procession up front with the top 3 slowly pulling out comfortable leads over each other and an even bigger gap to fourth position after an initial threat from John Carr until he made an error on lap 3. The main battle was for second position with Andy North maintaining a consistent gap to Tim with the possibility of Tim making an extra fuel stop towards the end. However, Tim just had enough of a lead and when Andy was forced to make a splash and dash at the end gifted Tim second place. Out front, Mark Green drove a steady and consistent race and on this current form, it is looking inevitable that he will regain the title at the end of the season.
The final results are as follows:
1. Mark Green – Serpent – Novarossi – Merlin Fuel 101 Laps
2. Tim Wood – Serpent – Mega – 99 Laps
3. Andy North – Mugen – Reds – 98 Laps
4. Jason Frost – Serpent – Mega – 96 Laps
5. John Carr – Serpent – Mega – 93 Laps
6. Neil Diver – Shepherd – IDM – 75 Laps
7. Andy Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 73 Laps
8. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica – Max – 51 Laps
9. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega – 47 Laps
10.Michael Walton – Mugen – Sirio – 33 Laps
News from REDRC –> LINK TO FULL REPORT