B.R.C.A. 1/10^th I.C. 200mm Foam National Round 3

Mendip Model Motor Racing Club 18th May 2008

The BRCA 1/10^th IC 200mm Scale Touring Championship round 3 moved on to the Mendip Club near Weston-super-Mare.

Aerial View of the Circuit

Yet again the weather forecast was not in our favour, rain Saturday but a drier but probably showery Sunday. Mendip is a very popular circuit on the BRCA 1/10th IC Calendar, and this weekend we had our highest entry so far in 2008.

Saturday

With overnight rain the track was wet but no standing water, it was 9:30am before we saw the first cars hit the track struggling for grip but by 10:00am the track was drying out and we had a full rostrum most of the morning. The hills around Mendip were full of rain and Taunton down the coast had thunder storms and heavy rain, but somehow we escaped any rain, and everyone had a good practice and was looking forward to Sunday.

Sunday

With a little cloud and the track dry everyone arrived early and were setting up in the pits, the forecast was mostly dry with a little sun shine.

Vice Chairman Wayne Lander called the customary drivers briefing just before 9:00am and reminded everybody about the rules and said there will be penalties for those who break them.

Malcolm Norwood was the race director and Kevin Kennedy (from the Mendip club) would be Time Keeper and flag man for the Finals. The first cars on the line for heat 1 at 9:15am.

Race Control Crew!

Round 1

Softer foam tyres were the popular choice to start the first round

Heat 1

Three new names to the series in this heat. Dave McCarthy set the pace with 14 laps in 301, Kevin Nash also on 14 laps in 310 and Jon Parsons on 14 laps in 316.

Heat 2

Young Alex Thurston put in a 16 laps in 306, Mark Owen very close behind with 16 laps in 307, and Ashley Bond also 16 laps in 309.

Heat 3

Matthew Oke was the first with a 17 laps in 317, Daniel Williams with 16 laps in 300 and Gary Macey also 16 laps in 301.

Heat 4

Neal King was quick with 17 laps in 302, very close behind was Kevin Taylor also 17 laps in 303, Kevin Brown with 17 laps in 305.

Heat 5

Stephen Brown was the first with 18 laps in 312, Mark Green also had 18 laps in 312, and one second behind was Chris Slater with 18 laps in 313.

FTD after Round 1 can be seen here.

Stripped spur gears seemed to be a popular failure in round 1 but with a few tweaks here and there we were ready for round 2.

Heat 1

The improvers here were Kevin Brown with 15 laps in 306, Jon Parsons 15 laps in 316, Steve Field on 14 laps in 310, Andy Hill improved with 14 laps in 315 along with Terry Leach on 12 laps in 271.

Heat 2

Alex Thurston found more grip doing 17 laps in 316 and Jon Withington moved up with 16 laps in 313.

Heat 3

Alex Brown bounced back with 17 laps in 310, Matthew Oke a slight improvement with 17 laps in 316, David Gerard did well with 16 laps in 303, and Peter Craig improved to 16 laps in 317.

Heat 4

Five improvers here. Simon Wood 17 laps in 302, Joe Kerry found more grip and got 17 laps in 308, Aaron Wearn with 17 laps in 315, and Fred Singleton moved up with 17 laps in 318.

Heat 5

Kyle Branson found the right setup and put in a blistering run with 18 laps in 310, so then Mark Green went and did the same yes 18 laps in 310 I think it’s going to be a tough final.

Robin Hammett goes quicker with 18 laps in 314, Mark Gilliland very close behind with18 laps in 315, Gareth Bell and Jonathan Dobney both with 17 laps in 301. Ben Cosgrove improved with 17 laps in 315. Where’s Darren Johnson I hear you say. Well Darren had a few problems with the front diff on his X-Ray NT1 nothing major but said “I will be there for the next round”.

(Note from Malcolm: Darren asked permission to change his chassis, this was granted and Darren changed it in time for round 3).

FTD after Round 2 can be seen here.

Round 3

By now the sun was shining, but some drivers were still struggling for grip down the back straight and into the right hand sweeper.

Heat 1

Improvers: Jon Parsons found another lap which put him on 17 laps in 318, Kevin Nash went up to 16 laps in 319, Dave McCarthy went up to 15 laps in 301, Les Mainwaring went to 15 laps in 315 Les was happy said “I have a good engine now it’s running well just got to get the driver sorted”.

Heat 2

Only two improvers Ashley Bond now 16 laps in 304 and Adrian Garlick with 16 laps in 312.

Heat 3

Eddy Crump improves with 17 laps in 309, Peter Craig moved up to 17 laps in 312, and Gary Macey 17 laps in 317.

Matthew Oke apparently he broke the back of his car in this qualifier.

Heat 4

Five improvers here all on 17 laps Simon Woods in 300, Kevin Taylor in 302, Pete Watt in 303, Aaron Wearn made 17 in 304, and John Zotti in 309.

Heat 5

Mark Gilliland and Chris Slater both on 18 laps in 314, Darren Johnson came back with a 17 laps in 300 and a small improvement by Ben Cosgrove with 17 laps in 308.

FTD after Round 3 can be seen here.

 Heat 1

Dave McCarthy put in a 16 lap run in 312, Kevin Nash slight improvement 16 laps in 316. Peter Spratley came from the back with 15 laps in 301, Terry Leach had a good improvement with15 laps in 313 and Andy Hill slight improver with 14 laps in 312.

Heat 2

Another improvement for Ashley Bond 16 laps in 300, a slight improvement for Jon Withington 16 laps in 316, and Peter Cornish with 15 laps in 314.

Heat 3

The only improver here is Daniel Williams with 17 laps in 318 and this was after a night out with his mates (Saturday). Neil Wallace was having problems he kept on stripping spur gears.

Heat 4

Adam Walker Catchpole improved with 17 laps in 305 and John Zotti with a small improvement of 17 laps in 306.

Heat 5

Darren Johnson the only improver here with 18 laps in 316.

Top Ten after Round 4:

Well with qualifying over the pits were alive with activity as everyone prepared their cars for the finals. The one problem was that the grip on the track was less good than had been experienced earlier in the day for some reason.

Finals

E Final (15 minutes)

All 6 cars got away safely. Terry Leach lost pole position by lap two when Steve Field took first place followed by Les Mainwaring. On lap 9 Terry Leach was fighting back and took second place. By lap 15 Terry was first, Les in second and young Hayley Baker in third place. Grip became a problem and by lap 36 Les lost third place to Hayley but all changed by lap 39 when Terry Leach dropped out and Hayley moved into first place. Les Mainwaring was still second and Andy Hill in third place and that’s how it finished.

E Final Trophy Winners

Andy Hill (3rd) Hayley Baker (1st) and Les Mainwaring (2nd)

Hayley at Aldershot earlier in the year.

New-comer Hayley Baker started racing 7 years ago with a Tamiya TL01. Hayley wishes she had started racing earlier, at this early stage she does not have a favourite track but does enjoy the diversity that each track offers. She would like to see more girls/ladies take up the sport but she is very pleased with her X-Ray NT1 and has already had a third place at Aldershot in an E Final and now a first in an E Final. She has also secured some sponsorship from Mirage Racing via Galaxy Models & Hobbies, Ipswich and Mum and Dad. Keep up the good work Hayley.

D Final (15 minutes)

Another good start for all with Mark Owen in first, Adrian Garlick second and Dave McCarthy in third place. By lap two Jon Withington had moved up to third place and Trevor Villa moved up a place to fourth on lap 3.

Adrian Garlick had problems during the day with broken belts and clutch shoes so he was doing well to keep hold of third place. On lap 18, as Jon Withington move up to 2^nd place, Jon Parsons and Pascal Zaire both retired. Dave McCarthy was next to retire on lap 25, so the running order was Mark Owen still in first then Jon Withington in second followed by Trevor Villa in third.

Adrian Garlick made a move up to third on lap 30 but he had problems with a thrust bearing, so finishing order was:

First, Mark Owen 2nd Jon Withington and 3rd Adrian Garlick.

D Final Trophy Winners

Adrian Garlick (3rd) Mark Owen (1st) and Jon Withington (2nd)

C Final Trophy Winners

Gary Macey (3rd) Alex Thurston (1st) and Fred Singleton (2nd)

C Final 15 minutes

Well not the best of starts for this one, but only a small bit of carnage on the first lap and David Gerard manage to put himself in fifth place from 10th on the grid.

Unfortunately Matthew Oak ran into the back of David because he had trouble getting the power down on the infield. David lost a rear shock in the accident and lost three laps having his shock put back on.

The first full retirement was Peter Craig on lap 11, then David Gerard followed suit, after his car veered left of the back straight and into the barrier on its roof with broken rear suspension, maybe from his earlier accident.

On lap 23 Neil Wallace retired with further problems, stripped spur gears and two speed, it just wasn’t his day. So the order was on lap 24 Alex Brown in first, Fred Singleton in second and Gary Macey in third place. That’s how it stayed until lap 31 when Alex Thurston passed first Gary and then Fred a couple of laps later to move into second spot. On lap 39 Alex Brown retired (reason not known) so this put young Alex Thurston in first place Fred Singleton in second place and Gary Macey in third, and this is how it finished.

B Final 20 minutes

All got away except for Kevin Taylor who was on pole, his car stalled this put him at the back of the pack, Neal King took the lead with Pete Watt in second and Adam Walker Catchpole in third.

John Zotti took third place on lap 6, then on lap 9 Pete Watt went in to first place and Neil dropped to second place.

Eddy Crump was the first to retire on lap 45 with a stripped first gear, next was Ben Cosgrove on lap 47 also with two speed problems then we lost young Joe Kerry on lap 51. Aaron Wearne also stripped first gear and retired on lap 63. By now Adam Walker Catchpole was up in first place, John Zotti in second place and Pete Watt in third, and this is how it finished. Adam had looked on for an A Final place at the start of the day, but car problems prevented him making the most of his pace. In this B Final he had problems over the first few laps, but then got it together and found some real pace to take him to the front of the pack, beating John Zottl by just a few yards.

The B Finalists were too keen to get out to Marshal the A Final, so missed having their picture taken!

The A Finalists On The Rostrum

A Final 30 minutes

The talk all day was that this final was going to be tight but no one expected to see so many names in the retirement list with the same problems, but hay, that’s model car racing for you.

The start was clean and faultless all cars lapping in grid order for the first lap then Darren Johnson had problems with his rear belt he lost three positions in the first two laps.

Chris Slater lost a wheel nut (always check your nuts Chris) but his pitman got him back out, but he was down the field in 9^th place.

Lap 18 saw the first signs of problems for Stephen Brown as he slipped down to 4^th place. Mark Gilliland took over 3^rd place until his second fuel stop when his car cut. This took time to restart only to find he had a stripped spur gear. His pitman replaced it and got him back out but at the rear of the field.

The running order was Kyle Branson in 1^st place, Mark Green in 2^nd and Stephen Brown on 3^rd place as the first fuel stops approached. Kyle pitted first, then Mark a couple of laps later, Mark Green came out just behind Kyle and then passed Kyle a couple of laps later. That was how it stayed until their next fuel stops, when Mark's was just a shade longer than Kyle who had stopped first. Kyle passed Mark as Mark exited the pit lane. But the gap was tiny, and these two swapped places repeatedly for the next 20 laps until the next round of stops.

Mark Green came in for fuel on lap 55 and his car cut. The usual problems getting a hot motor to re-start, but he was back out with some 2 to 3 laps lost. Mark's pit man was obviously under pressure, as at the next stop he was spotted filling Mark's car over the pit lane, instead of behind the board. Before Mark could take his 'stop and go' penalty, Mark's car passed Race Control on the 71st lap and went into a spin, obviously with no radio control.  A marshal stopped the car and Mark's race was over. Apparently the hasty fuel stop soaked Mark's radio in fuel.

Earlier on lap 22 Darren Johnson retired with a stripped rear belt on his X-Ray NT1, Johnathan Dobney retired on lap 49 with radio interference and Stephen Brown retired on lap 56, also with radio interference.

With Mark Green out of the race the running order was now Kyle in 1st place, Robin Hammett now in 2^nd and Gareth Bell up to 3^rd place. On lap 60 Simon Wood passed Gareth and took 3^rd place, but then a disastrous fuel stop on lap 71 dropped Simon back to 4th and Gareth was back in third. On lap 78 Mark Gilliland retired with yet another stripped spur gear. Chris Slater, who lost that wheel on lap 3, had been steadily making up ground and was now in 5th place, the last car running.

With only five cars left running that was how they finished. Kyle Branson in first place taking his first ever British National Championship A Final win. At 14-years of age the little ace took his Serpent 720 to a 2 lap winning margin over  Robin Hammett in 2^nd place,  Gareth Bell 3^rd, Simon Wood 4^th and Chris Slater 5^th. Well done Kyle, a well deserved win.

A Final Result:

Mark Gilliland's X Ray NT1

Darren's Car leaves the Circuit

Mark Green's Car after the 'Runaway'

Kyle Branson hunts down Mark Green

Post Mortem on another stripped spur for Mark Gilliland.

Many many thanks from the BRCA 1/10^TH IC Section to Mendip Club and Kevin Kennedy and our own Malcolm Norwood for a very smooth run meeting.

See you all Next Round 4 at Snetterton, where we will be running a 'bump-up format meeting.

Pictures and Text by Grant Williams (Section PRO)

Edited and prepared for the web by Malcolm Norwood (Section Sec and Webmaster)