Daniel Bancroft wins BRCA 1/8th Nats Rd6

With the forecast for round 6 of the 1/8th Championship looking like rain, the entries for this meeting were provisionally low but as normal most people waited until the last minute to book in so come race day 37 drivers where booked in. Saturday as normal for the section was free practice. Early on, the track was busy but as the day wore on the track became silent which seemed very strange, this could of been due to the pending forecast, drivers lapping at speed were Andy North, Tim Wood, Neil King, Andy Hastings, John Carr and later on Danny Bancroft, these drivers seemed to be mostly testing engines and setups.

Come Sunday the Met Office forecast was right, those who arrived at the pit area were met with standing water and rain, walking through the pits it became apparent that no-one seemed to be getting ready to race, by 9.00am the committee decided to leave the decision to run the meeting until 11.00am to see if the forecast was correct. By 11am the weather had improved, so the heat list was compiled out of the 19 racers who had stayed.

At 11.30 the first heat started the meeting off, it was decided to run three heats over three round. By round 3, heat 3, the track had continued to improve and the heat win was taken by Tim, followed by Andy Hastings and Ashley Gouveia but sadly Tim was disqualified in scrutineering due to the new damp tires fitted for the last heat being two wide. With this last round complete, those who wanted to retire where given the chance and the final listings were posted.

The top ten was as follows:
1. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd / Sonic – 14 Laps 300 secs
2. Ashley Gouveia – Shepherd / Sonic – 14 Laps 310 secs
3. Chris Snell – Shepherd / Sonic – 13 Laps 306 secs
4. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica / CBR / Ulti – 13 Laps 310 secs
5. Marlon McKulsky – Capricorn – 13 Laps 314 secs
6. James Healey – Shepherd / RB – 13 Laps 318 secs
7. Ian Billett – Serpent / OS – 13 Laps 322 secs
8. Andrew Watson – Serpent / Mega – 12 Laps 300 secs
9. Rob Mckenna – Serpent – 12 laps 303 secs
10.Earl Mclean – Serpent / Novarossi – 12 Laps 304 secs

The B final started with Chris Simons on pole position dropping down to third place after Steve Smith getting the better start from fourth, by lap 6 Chris was back in front with Steve dropping to 5th with Mike Manning coming up to second place, lap 13 and Chris had a drive issue and retired with Mike also dropping out at this time. Dave Williams who started from 6th held the front for one lap who then gave this up to Steve for three laps then Vince Menzies taking the front until the flag dropped, behind Vince on lap 24 Steve passed John Russell and stayed in third place until the end . The finishing order being Vince, Dave and Steve for the podium.

1. Vincent Menzies – Capricorn – 57 Laps
2. Dave Williams – Serpent / IDM – 54 Laps
3. Steven Smith – Motonica / Reds – 50 Laps

The A final started in dry conditions with an unusual list. On pole was Andy Hastings, second, Ashley Gouveia, third Chris Snell, fourth Danny Bancroft, fifth Marlon Mckulsky, sixth James Healey, seventh Ian Billett, eighth Andrew Watson, ninth Rob McKenna and tenth Earl Mclean, so with this final listing those watching were in for an interesting final. From the start Andy Hastings lead from pole position, Danny moved from fourth to second and these two drivers raced together for the whole 30 mins, on lap seven Danny passed Andy and stayed in this position until lap 53 when Andy took the lead again behind these two, places were continually changing, Ian who had started seventh kept a steady pace and by lap 38 had made his seventh position third with Chris behind. Marlon who had started in 5th was having a nightmare drive, Marlon was the second to retire after Andy Watson who was struggling from the start. Back at the front in the lead was Danny closely followed by Andy with Ian in third and Chris fourth, behind these drivers Ashley was maintaining 5th position for seven laps but dropped out on lap 67. Ian and Chris were battering for third place and on lap 72 Ian managed to pull away from Chris who started to drop back. Andy managed to pass Danny on lap 75 and from this point onwards these two drivers changed positions three times over 34 laps, the last overtake being made by Danny after Andy went wide at the end of the straight ending up on the grass leaving Danny to pass into the lead, Danny holding this position with Andy less than a few seconds behind. The final positions being Danny, Andy and Ian.

Final Positions:
1. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica / CBR / Ulti – 109 Laps
2. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd / Sonic – 108 Laps
3. Ian Billett – Serpent / OS – 95 Laps
4. Chris Snell – Shepherd / Sonic – 90 Laps
5. James Healey – Shepherd / RB – 86 Laps
6. Rob Mckenna – Serpent – 79 laps
7. Earl Mclean – Serpent / Novarossi – 76 Laps
8. Ashley Gouveia – Shepherd / Sonic – 67 Laps
9. Marlon McKulsky – Capricorn – 47 Laps
10.Andrew Watson – Serpent / Mega – 40 Laps

Thanks to Andrew North for sending the report.