1/10th Offroad Scottish Regionals RD 6 Race Report – Falkirk (Hosted at NORA)
The final round of the 2023 BRCA 10th Offroad regionals (Scottish Off Road Series) ran on the 17th September, cutting it fine for some dry Scottish weather, some would say, and they’d be right…. The outcome of the final round would decide the Championship, as there were multiple people who could still win overall in both 2 and 4wd classes.
The Falkirk guys, along with some much-appreciated help from the local NORA track team, laid a different track compared to usual at NORA. The time-honoured tradition of Falkirk tracks running anti-clockwise was continued here. Anti-clockwise had never been run at NORA before and no one knew what to expect or how it would drive. Adding to this novelty, the track remained damp if not wet for the full meeting.
Once everyone found their bearings on the track after practice and round 1 of heats, the consensus was that the track flowed really well and was very enjoyable to drive.
After Round 1 was done, Daniel Pole topped the timesheets in both classes, embarrassingly a full lap ahead of anyone else…. However, this came as no surprise as Dan’s driving has been tip top the past year with a fantastic showing at National level. Dan was followed by Allan O Brien, Euan McLeod, and David Scott in both classes.
Round 2 ended in much the same manner but with Allan O Brien matching Daniel’s lap count and Martin Wallace sneaking in between Euan and David Scott in 2wd overall. Martin Inglis joined the party with a 15 lapper in 4wd.
Round 3 didn’t see any changes to the overalls in either class so, could anyone change things up in Round 4?
The rain got gradually worse during Round 4, which allowed for the guys in the earlier heats to get a good run to count in the round by round scores, this made all the difference at the tail end of the 2wd A final positions, with Jamie McCaffery able to get a 9th in round pushing Dave Smith down to BQ in 2wd. Fraser McLeod managing a great run with 5th in round in 4wd, which was enough to squeeze him into the A final.
The 2wd A final ended with Daniel and Allan on 15 laps, Dan nearly 7 seconds ahead, and then the next 3 positions all within 5 seconds of each other, with the order being Euan, Martin and David Scott rounding out the top 5.
The 4wd was a similar story up front with Dan managing through for 16 laps, to finish a lap clear from Allan on 15, who was followed closely behind by Euan McLeod. Martin Inglis and James Bisset completed the top 5 with 14 laps.
So, the 2023 Series is done and dusted, with Daniel Pole taking most of the honours, 2wd/4wd Championships, 2wd/4wd Junior Championships and the days meeting wins as well. An impressive year for sure. Luckily for us oldies, we’ve a while before he can challenge in the Vets Championships…. lol.
Well done Dan.
[Article by Kenneth Rogers]
[Published by Nikita Finnigan]
