Round 1 of the BRCA Rally X National and we arrived at Herts Nitro Model Car Club. The technical layout of the circuit made for an interesting season opener, with 126
drivers ready to start their campaign for the National Championship. Qualifying was tight at the top, with the fastest qualifying times increasing as the day progressed with Jonathan Skidmore, William Skidmore, and Elliott Boots all contesting individual round TQ’s. Overall TQ was clinched by Xray’s Jonathan Skidmore at the end of Day 1, with Elliott just taking 2nd from William in the final round 5 on Sunday morning!
Top 3 drivers after qualifying were: TQ Jonathan Skidmore (Xray), 2 nd Elliott Boots (Sworkz) and 3 rd William Skidmore (Xray).
The lower finals saw some fantastic racing and exciting battles for the “bump up” positions. A special mention to Andrew Rennick who made four finals!!
Drivers moving up were:
1/64 B
1st Andrew Rennick (Mayako)
2nd Will Turlin (Sworkz)
3rd James Boulton (HB Racing)
4th Lewis Turlin (Sworkz)
1/64A
1st Thomas Russell (Xray)
2nd Adam Reavey (Mayako)
3rd Alan Paver (Agama)
4th Nick Millett
1/32 B
1st Henry Tomkinson (Mugen)
2nd Dave Williams (Agama)
3rd Sam Cobley (Sworkz)
4th Andrew Rennick (Mayako)
1/32 A
1st Jay Westwood (Tekno)
2nd Ian Gillespie (Agama)
3rd Kev Jones (Agama)
4th Jordan Young (Associated)
1/16 B
1st Wayne Buckhorn (WIRC)
2nd Josh Bougourd (Sworkz)
3rd Jonanthan Wolfe (Agama)
4th Andrew Rennick (Mayako)
1/16 A
1st Peter Van Tonder (Associated)
2nd Jay Westwood (Tekno)
3rd Jason Ferguson (Mayako)
4th Barry Abbott (Mugen)
1/8 B
1st Ashlee Owen (Agama)
2nd Gary Gregory (Kyosho)
3rd Jon Spencer (HB Racing)
4th Daniel Andrews (HB Racing)
1/8 A
1st David Gibson (CPX)
2nd Ricky Cooper (WIRC)
3rd Darren Warburton (Associated)
4th Tehannah Cradock (Kyosho)
1/4 B
1st Max McDonnell (Associated)
2nd Darren Hayden Ball (Sworkz)
3rd Ashlee Owen (Agama)
4th Adam Hall (HB Racing)
1/4 A
1st Joshua Graham (Xray)
2nd Maxim Cook (WIRC)
3rd Joseph Howson (WIRC)
4th Cayden Stenhouse (Mugen)
Semi B saw Boots starting from pole with HB Racing’s Graham Alsop and WIRC’s junior Billy Grindley rounding out the top 3. The top 3 finished in their starting order a lap ahead of the rest as the buzzer went after 20 mins. Elliott had managed to pull an impressive 27.8 second gap over second place! The top 7 was rounded off by Mayako’s Michael Lewis in 4 th place, Associated’s Ben Simpson in 5 th place, Sworks’ Simon Reeves in 6 th place, and the last bump-up spot filled by Xray’s Paul Crompton. A notable mention to Erik Lykke who in the first 10 minutes was battling mid-pack and showing some great pace, but unfortunately had an engine cut after a mistake, knocking him out of bump up contention.
Semi A was led by Xrays Jonathan Skidmore followed by his brother, fellow Xray driver William Skidmore with a 10-second gap between the two after the 20-minute buzzer. WIRC’s Lewis Jones followed closely behind 2 seconds back, which made it an exciting final to watch! Agamas Kevin Brunsden finished in 4 th place, followed by teammate Lee Martin in 5 th place, Associated’s Neil Cragg in 6th place, and Sworks-powered James Le Pavoux in 7 th .
The final….given how intense the racing was for both sides of the Semi-finals, the main final did not disappoint! Early on mistakes by Jones and Boots would enable Jonny to extend his gap to almost half a lap over 2 nd place by the 15-minute mark of the race. Boots slowly picked his way back up the pack, with an incredible mid-race stint, setting one of the fastest lap times of the whole weekend with a 41.40. William had brilliant battles with both Jones and Boots for the remainder of the podium positions throughout the 45 minute main.
Fuel stops saw the three change running order many times, and in the final 10 minutes Boots made a final charge to catch Johnny, however, was unable to secure the position, finishing just 1.06 seconds behind after 45 minutes!! A great race, and an impressive performance from Jonny to secure the win and kick off the 2024 season. The top 5 was rounded off by Associated’s Neil Cragg in 4 th place, followed by Lewis Jones in 5 th .
Plaques were supplied by J5 Racing to commemorate our friend and fellow racer, Karl Jackson:
National Championship:
1st Place Finish - Jonathan Skidmore (Xray)
2nd Place Finish - Elliott Boots (Sworkz)
3rd Place Finish - William Skidmore (Xray)
Junior Championship:
1st Place Finish - Ben Simpson (Associated)
2nd Place Finish - Billy Grindley (WIRC)
3rd Place Finish - Maxim Cook (WIRC)
40+:
1st Place Finish - Neil Cragg (Associated)
2nd Place Finish - Kevin Brunsden (AGAMA)
3rd Place Finish - Simon Reeves (Sworkz)
Clubman Championship:
1st Place Finish - Kyle Boon (Kyosho)
2nd Place Finish - Joe Howson (WIRC)
3rd Place Finish - Adam Hall (HB)
Thanks again to the BRCA team, HNMC and to all the racers and supporters in attendance over the weekend.
We look forward to seeing you at the East Shrewsbury Club for round 2 of the British Championships!
