CML Winter Series
The Frankley Model Car club put on another great show for the final round of the CML Winter Series open to 1/8th Buggies and Truggies.
The final round of the exciting CML series took place last weekend. 98 drivers had booked in and due to overnight rain, and even more rain at 8.30 in the morning, some of the top drivers in the country decided that it was too wet and didn't want the get there socks dirty. This left 63 drivers brave enough to face the elements and ready to race.
By 9.00am the rain was nothing more than drizzle and by 9.15 drivers briefing was done in a cloud breaking sky and a warming temperature. Jon Howells and many of the club members and drivers took to the track with brooms and within 15 minutes the Meeting was up and running. Only very small amount of water was coming off the Astro Turf track and by the end of heat 1 cars were grip rolling on a dry track.
An overhead view of the FMCC track at Frankley just outside of Birmingham.
Round 1 was dominated by Simon Willett with a fantastic 7/311.06 and with Tony Truman and Jon Howells Hot on his tail. John Geaves took Round 1 in Truggies, with Neil Sivins and Arron Girling taking second and third.
By round 2 the sun was shining and the track was getting drier and more grippy. Simon took the leading hand with a 7/318.88 Milan Dragojlovic and Teddy Truman taking the second and third slot. In Truggies Sean Bailey dominated with Neil Sivins and Jon Geaves taking the second and third slot.
Round 3 of qualifying and with Simon already taking the TQ he went on to produce the fastest time of the day with a fantastic 7/309.96 with Jon Holmes and 'Comeback Kid' Anthony Conroy taking the second and third place. An even stronger young Arron Girling took pole for round 3 in Truggies with again Neil Sivins and Jon Geaves taking second and third.
Some juicy trophies were up for grabs.
The D Final saw Rob Cuss and Andy Walsham have a good old ding dong right from the start. Phil Turner proved he could drive and finished in the top 3 for the bump up but a very strong Jared nearly pipped Phil at the post but a small falter 2 bends from the finish gave Phil the well deserved bump up.
A good start to the C Final for Mark Kay who was running very strong for a good 11 laps. A small mistake in lap 4 put him into 3rd place but within 7 bends he had regained the top spot and at lap 11 disaster struck when an electrical issue meant a quick repair and he was back out but the top 3. This left Paul Gill, Rob Cuss, Luke Lee and Graham Howard to fight it out. By Lap 23 it was Luke in control going on to take the win with Rob Taking the 2nd and Paul the 3rd place slot.
The B Final had to good start with Mathew Ball flying off to a good pace with Nathan Powney hot on his heels. By lap 2 Nathan had the lead with Matt in 2nd and for 10 laps a game of cat and mouse was played. On lap 11 Matt took control and that was that right up to the finish line. Nathan had a small problem at lap 18 which gave Collin Brennan the chance he needed and he went on to take the 2nd place spot. With Ashley coming on strong, the battle for the final bump up was on between Ashley and Nathan, with Nathan taking the advantage and the 3rd spot 3 turns from the end. What a fantastic run!
The A Final turned out to be extra special. The series had already been won By Simon Willets and all that was needed to be done was a good result from the 2 Johns or a strong finish by Tony. Jon Howells seemed to struggle with the very dry track and came close to taking the 2nd place a few times but some poor marshalling put pay to that and he finished in a respectable 4th place. Tony took the lead at lap 8 and held on till lap 12 until a sweet move from Simon gave him the lead again. At lap 21 a mistake cost him 20 seconds and allowed John Holmes to take the lead. On lap 26 Simon came back strong and again was back in control with Tony in second and John Holmes in 3rd right up to the line.
The top podiums for buggies and truggies.
After a good supported series for Truggies this was the last final of the season, only 1 round had to be dropped meaning every round needed to count. Pole man Neil Sivins got off to a bad start leaving him down the pack allowing Keith Harris and Sean Bailey to take control. Steve Bellwood made a brief 3rd place at lap 5 only to drop back to 7th a lap after. Mandy Scott was disqualified after her car was seen being driven round by Kevin Davis who could not understand why she had been disqualified...if only he read the rule book! By lap 14 Arron was making a strong charge took the lead, pulling away and going on to lap everyone on the track to finish 1st on the podium with Neil Crawling back into 2nd and John Geaves third.
Silver Salvers were the trophies for this year's series with the top 10 buggy, top 5 truggies and top 7 juniors all walking away with an award. CML laid on the prizes for the juniors and a special thanks goes to Podium RC for the Top 3 junior trophies.
The buggy top 3 juniors Matt Lawrence, Elliot Taylor & Mitchell Booth and top truggy junior Arron Girling (left to right).
Finally a big thanks from CML goes out to everyone who took part and the whole team at Frankley Model Car Club who made sure the series was a roaring success.
An overhead view of the FMCC track at Frankley just outside of Birmingham.
Round 1 was dominated by Simon Willett with a fantastic 7/311.06 and with Tony Truman and Jon Howells Hot on his tail. John Geaves took Round 1 in Truggies, with Neil Sivins and Arron Girling taking second and third.
By round 2 the sun was shining and the track was getting drier and more grippy. Simon took the leading hand with a 7/318.88 Milan Dragojlovic and Teddy Truman taking the second and third slot. In Truggies Sean Bailey dominated with Neil Sivins and Jon Geaves taking the second and third slot.
Round 3 of qualifying and with Simon already taking the TQ he went on to produce the fastest time of the day with a fantastic 7/309.96 with Jon Holmes and 'Comeback Kid' Anthony Conroy taking the second and third place. An even stronger young Arron Girling took pole for round 3 in Truggies with again Neil Sivins and Jon Geaves taking second and third.
Some juicy trophies were up for grabs.
The D Final saw Rob Cuss and Andy Walsham have a good old ding dong right from the start. Phil Turner proved he could drive and finished in the top 3 for the bump up but a very strong Jared nearly pipped Phil at the post but a small falter 2 bends from the finish gave Phil the well deserved bump up.
A good start to the C Final for Mark Kay who was running very strong for a good 11 laps. A small mistake in lap 4 put him into 3rd place but within 7 bends he had regained the top spot and at lap 11 disaster struck when an electrical issue meant a quick repair and he was back out but the top 3. This left Paul Gill, Rob Cuss, Luke Lee and Graham Howard to fight it out. By Lap 23 it was Luke in control going on to take the win with Rob Taking the 2nd and Paul the 3rd place slot.
The B Final had to good start with Mathew Ball flying off to a good pace with Nathan Powney hot on his heels. By lap 2 Nathan had the lead with Matt in 2nd and for 10 laps a game of cat and mouse was played. On lap 11 Matt took control and that was that right up to the finish line. Nathan had a small problem at lap 18 which gave Collin Brennan the chance he needed and he went on to take the 2nd place spot. With Ashley coming on strong, the battle for the final bump up was on between Ashley and Nathan, with Nathan taking the advantage and the 3rd spot 3 turns from the end. What a fantastic run!
The A Final turned out to be extra special. The series had already been won By Simon Willets and all that was needed to be done was a good result from the 2 Johns or a strong finish by Tony. Jon Howells seemed to struggle with the very dry track and came close to taking the 2nd place a few times but some poor marshalling put pay to that and he finished in a respectable 4th place. Tony took the lead at lap 8 and held on till lap 12 until a sweet move from Simon gave him the lead again. At lap 21 a mistake cost him 20 seconds and allowed John Holmes to take the lead. On lap 26 Simon came back strong and again was back in control with Tony in second and John Holmes in 3rd right up to the line.
The top podiums for buggies and truggies.
After a good supported series for Truggies this was the last final of the season, only 1 round had to be dropped meaning every round needed to count. Pole man Neil Sivins got off to a bad start leaving him down the pack allowing Keith Harris and Sean Bailey to take control. Steve Bellwood made a brief 3rd place at lap 5 only to drop back to 7th a lap after. Mandy Scott was disqualified after her car was seen being driven round by Kevin Davis who could not understand why she had been disqualified...if only he read the rule book! By lap 14 Arron was making a strong charge took the lead, pulling away and going on to lap everyone on the track to finish 1st on the podium with Neil Crawling back into 2nd and John Geaves third.
Silver Salvers were the trophies for this year's series with the top 10 buggy, top 5 truggies and top 7 juniors all walking away with an award. CML laid on the prizes for the juniors and a special thanks goes to Podium RC for the Top 3 junior trophies.
The buggy top 3 juniors Matt Lawrence, Elliot Taylor & Mitchell Booth and top truggy junior Arron Girling (left to right).
Finally a big thanks from CML goes out to everyone who took part and the whole team at Frankley Model Car Club who made sure the series was a roaring success.
