The 2024 BRCA 1/10th Offroad National Championship is a very competitive series. You could argue that it always has been, and you would be correct, but for the last decade or so all of that competitiveness has been centred around the top two drivers at the time – namely Messrs Cragg & Martin. These days the high-levelcompetition has extended to a group of 6 or 7 regular drivers and 5 or 6 “wild-card” drivers who go particularly well at certain tracks. The group is growing as we witnessed at Bury Metro with super performances from Thomas Phipps and Jonny Skidmore.
The fourth round of the 2024 Series was hosted by Bury Metro Radio Car Club on the weekend of June 29/30. The club which is headed up by Eddie Holt is a neat & tidy place with unusual old-style hockey type artificial grass which is very mossy in texture and has excellent drying properties. The grip level was medium to high over the weekend as there was mostly overcast skies with rain showers throughout the two days.
The 2wd Championship is working its way toward the pinch point. Going into Round 4 it starting to appear link a three horse race between Tommy Hall, Ben Smith and Neil Cragg with Lee Martin trailing but still a threat if things go well. Neil Cragg was first to show his pace going fastest in 2wd practice. Aaron Nash posting top of the table, but it was deemed an irregularity. There was constant drizzle throughout practice and drivers were shifting from dry to wet cars to try and find the right balance. Jamie and Tommy Hall were 2nd and 3rdrespectively with Ben Smith going 4th. Stuart Mahon was the fastest local going 6th just behind Ben Smith.
Attentions turned to the weather as practice concluded. The radar showed prolonged periods of light rain throughout the day being blown in my a south-westerly breeze. The track was performing very well and drying evenly with only one or two areas holding water. The rain paused for an hour several times during the day which meant some heats were going to be more rain affected than others.