BRCA 1/8th Off Road - Rnd 2
Round 2 of the BRCA National series was held on the second of the two events held on Astroturf at the techincal Deerdale track.
The track was new to the BRCA series for 2010, and would provide a tough challenge for all drivers and especially those visiting for the first time. The weather forecast was for dry and cold weather which would mean the we would see the usual manic tyre trimming and grinding to get the best possible balance. The Astroturf at this venue is a different style to that at Frankley, which provide higher and more consistent traction. The track layout itself is very good, with both fast and slow sections and also some challenging jumps to get right.
Qualifying got underway and it was first round winner Neil Cragg who came out of the blocks fastest with the Associated/Reedy car that he took to victory at Frankley. Neil was backed up by team mate Dave Bailey in second whose RB powered RC8B was also looking fast and strong. Elliott Boots took third with his RB/Savox equipped car.
Into the second round and winner of the warm up race, Darren Bloomfield, laid down a marker by setting a really strong time with his Savox equipped car. Elliott Boots took second in front of the Associated drivers Dave Bailey and Neil Cragg.
Going into the third round all was to play for and Neil had a tough run which left him out of the fight for overall TQ. Darren put together another really strong race, beating Dave Bailey in the same heat, which laid down a tough task for Elliott who ran last of the quickest four guys. Elliott started out very strong and was on course to better Darren's time until a five second error in the middle of his run blunted his charge. He recovered to finish second in round leaving the overall top four as Darren Bloomfield, Elliott Boots, Neil Cragg and Dave Bailey.
Other notable performances from the CML stable were Tony Truman who placed his Reedy powered RC8B in sixth, and Craig Drescher in eighth after losing his first run putting all the pressure on his final two rounds.
The Hobao team had been having a tough day until round three, John Howells had been suffering a terrible migraine, Matt Perry had had a steady day but the track had bitten him a few times, while Joe Adams had been suffering from the fact he is at present seeded in the lower heats and is vulnerable to the errors of the less talented drivers. However, the final round saw John Howells get a top ten round score with his RB/Savox equipped Hyper 9 PRO UK and Joe Adams take fifteenth despite another random incident that cost him 4 seconds.
The finals started getting serious from the D final onwards and it was Hobao's Joe Adams who took a comfortable victory in the D making progress up to the C. Matt Perry looked all set to join him until a wheel nut fell off, something he has never experienced before. Joe's charge continued through C final and he took the final bump up position to make the B final, despite running a two stop strategy to most of the others one stop. Joe is fast proving himself a tough competitor despite his tender years. He also seems to get the support of all the other top drivers watching as they all like Joe and see what a great young talent he is.
The B final itself saw Associated driver Anthony Potter drive an excellent race to take a comfortable win and safe passage to the main, he was joined by Richard Barton, John Howells and Sam Taylor. A great result for John Howells after being in such a bad way early in the morning and nothing more than the dedicated driver from the Midlands deserves.
The main final became a bit of an anti climax early on as Darren got away and despite a small trip into the field in which David Spashett had to rescue him he was never really challenged, going on to take a well earned victory. Elliott Boots tried hard to make a late charge but the nature of the track meant that pushing hard was always going to be risky, and this proved to be the case with Elliott making a few errors that stopped him reeling Darren in. Neil had a disaster in that he received an early stop and go penalty for incorrect placement on the start line and then a rear shock lost all its oil putting him out.
So we move onto the dirt tracks from the next round onwards, which should bring some other drivers into the mix as the Astroturf races are very specific and some drivers really don't enjoy them. Ware is next with the annual two day national over the bank holiday weekend.
Qualifying got underway and it was first round winner Neil Cragg who came out of the blocks fastest with the Associated/Reedy car that he took to victory at Frankley. Neil was backed up by team mate Dave Bailey in second whose RB powered RC8B was also looking fast and strong. Elliott Boots took third with his RB/Savox equipped car.
Into the second round and winner of the warm up race, Darren Bloomfield, laid down a marker by setting a really strong time with his Savox equipped car. Elliott Boots took second in front of the Associated drivers Dave Bailey and Neil Cragg.
Going into the third round all was to play for and Neil had a tough run which left him out of the fight for overall TQ. Darren put together another really strong race, beating Dave Bailey in the same heat, which laid down a tough task for Elliott who ran last of the quickest four guys. Elliott started out very strong and was on course to better Darren's time until a five second error in the middle of his run blunted his charge. He recovered to finish second in round leaving the overall top four as Darren Bloomfield, Elliott Boots, Neil Cragg and Dave Bailey.
Other notable performances from the CML stable were Tony Truman who placed his Reedy powered RC8B in sixth, and Craig Drescher in eighth after losing his first run putting all the pressure on his final two rounds.
The Hobao team had been having a tough day until round three, John Howells had been suffering a terrible migraine, Matt Perry had had a steady day but the track had bitten him a few times, while Joe Adams had been suffering from the fact he is at present seeded in the lower heats and is vulnerable to the errors of the less talented drivers. However, the final round saw John Howells get a top ten round score with his RB/Savox equipped Hyper 9 PRO UK and Joe Adams take fifteenth despite another random incident that cost him 4 seconds.
The finals started getting serious from the D final onwards and it was Hobao's Joe Adams who took a comfortable victory in the D making progress up to the C. Matt Perry looked all set to join him until a wheel nut fell off, something he has never experienced before. Joe's charge continued through C final and he took the final bump up position to make the B final, despite running a two stop strategy to most of the others one stop. Joe is fast proving himself a tough competitor despite his tender years. He also seems to get the support of all the other top drivers watching as they all like Joe and see what a great young talent he is.
The B final itself saw Associated driver Anthony Potter drive an excellent race to take a comfortable win and safe passage to the main, he was joined by Richard Barton, John Howells and Sam Taylor. A great result for John Howells after being in such a bad way early in the morning and nothing more than the dedicated driver from the Midlands deserves.
The main final became a bit of an anti climax early on as Darren got away and despite a small trip into the field in which David Spashett had to rescue him he was never really challenged, going on to take a well earned victory. Elliott Boots tried hard to make a late charge but the nature of the track meant that pushing hard was always going to be risky, and this proved to be the case with Elliott making a few errors that stopped him reeling Darren in. Neil had a disaster in that he received an early stop and go penalty for incorrect placement on the start line and then a rear shock lost all its oil putting him out.
So we move onto the dirt tracks from the next round onwards, which should bring some other drivers into the mix as the Astroturf races are very specific and some drivers really don't enjoy them. Ware is next with the annual two day national over the bank holiday weekend.
