Herts Round 1 race report

[madonrc]

Sunday 7th April 2013 and the BRCA Truggy and E8 community descends upon Herts Nitro Model Club for round one of the UK championship. After weeks of snow and bad weather the UK has had over the past months the Herts team did a great job of preparing the track for there first national event. The championship this year is being held over 6 rounds with your best 4 to count towards the championship. 3 rounds will be Dirt tracks and the other 3 will be astro.

Due to computer technical problems the start of the meeting was delayed but the sun was out and it gave most people to catch up on mates and gossip. The meeting started with the mandatory driving brief.





First off for their qualifying was the E8 Buggies. Looking at the amount of people, not just watching the qualifying but also the entry numbers, it was evident that the E8 class had grown from last year. Also looking at the entry list, it was littered with top drivers which was pleasing to see. The rules had been changed slightly this year to try and bring it into line with what happens over the pond and more importantly to try to help reduce the set up cost. Qualifying was 3x5 min rounds with the best 2 to count. The start of the qualifying rounds was to be a staggered start.



After the first qualifying run Elliot Boots had laid down the gauntlet with himself and Chris Doughty being the only 2 to complete their runs in 8 laps. The next 16 places were only split by 17 seconds. At the end of the 3 qualifying runs the top 9 drivers out of the 45 had improved to the 8 lap runs.

The top 10 were as follows
1 Elliot Boots
2 Karl Jackson
3 Simon Willetts
4 Chris Doughty
5 Craig Drescher
6 Richard Barton
7 Tony Truman
8 Graham Alsop
9 Paul Robinson
10 Richard Taylor

The Truggy qualifying runs were 3x5 min runs and again the top 2 runs to count. The Truggy heats consisted of 49 drivers again with some top drivers battling it out for the championship. At the conclusion of the first qualifying run most drivers were scratching their heads and wondering what they could do to catch Darren Bloomfield. Young Jack Embling and Oliver Currie gave it a good go. Darren TQed the Truggy Section at the end of the 3 runs with his best run being an impressive 7 seconds faster than anyone else. The remaining positions were as follows

1 Darren Bloomfield
2 Jack Embling
3 Jon Hazelwood
4 Tommy Chung
5 Michael Lewis
6 Oliver Currie
7 Jon Howells
8 Richard Cousins
9 Mathew Ball
10 James Tatlow



It was then onto the Finals. The finals for the Electric class were held in a multiple leg format all lasting 10 min. The A final was run over 3 legs with the best 2 positions being used to determine the winner. B Finals and lower were run over 2 legs with both runs counting. The Truggy finals were the normal format for the nitro class with all finals being 18 min in duration and the A final being 30 minutes long. The top 4 from each final were to bump up to the next final.

First up was the C final E Buggy. After the 2 runs the top 3 were
1 Dave Griffiths
2 Darren Farley
3 Stan Gill

B Final
1 Mike Cradock
2 John Holmes
3 Josh Adams

The A final after the 3 legs was as follows
1 Elliot Boots
2 Karl Jackson
3 Simon Willetts
4 Craig Dresscher
5 Richard Barton
6 Tony Truman
7 Graham Alsop
8 Chris Doughty
9 Richard Taylor
10 Paul Robinson



Truggy finals were as follows

E Final
1 Tony Scott
2 Lee Warren
3 Kayleigh Blackwood

D Final
1 Peter Hedley
2 Ian Williamson
3 James Morl

C Final
1 Lloyd Pitt
2 Josh Johnson
3 Neil Sivins

B Final
1 Lewis Beach
2 Tom Saggers
3 Darren Warburton

The A final started off with Darren Bloomfield continuing with his qualifying domination until lap 10 when he pulled off. This resulted in a close battle at the front and some impressive driving on the demanding Herts track from Jon Hazlewood and Jack Embling close on his heels. Michael Lewis was having a strong run until the last 2 min when he had to pull out. The Top 10 were as follows

1 Jon Hazlewood
2 Jack Embling
3 Tommy Chung
4 Oliver Currie
5 Jon Howells
6 Michael Lewis
7 Tom Saggers
8 Darren Warburton
9 Matthew Ball
10 Richard Cousins



The Day was long. This was due to the late start and the fact that the electric race format was different and it took a while to understand it. The weather did help as it was bright and sunny, although later on it did turn cold. The Racing was good throughout the Qualifying and finals, with some impressive driving from the top drivers. hopefully you all, at the end of the day, enjoyed the racing regardless of your personal results and you all support the championship and attend round 2 at NNRC on the 12th May.

Lastly a big thanks to Jim, Pete, flag man, Roger Cosgrove, Ross for doing the photos and you the drivers.