September 17, 2014

BRCA 1/8 Circuit National Championship Rd7 – Report

BRCA 1/8 Circuit National Championship Rd7 – Report

With the season into its closing stages, it was back to Mendip at Weston Super Mare for round 7 of 9. With the last two Mendip visits being subjected to rain in the finals, it was third time lucky for a completely dry qualification and finals. With a strong entry of 40 plus drivers, the competition was set to be very strong. With current championship leader Tim Wood absent due to holiday commitments allowed the chasing pack to take full advantage and possibly take over the championship lead at the end of the day. In Saturday practice it was Green who showed good pace early on followed closely by Hastings, Gouveia, Carr and Bancroft.


At lunch time, the committee decided to have a meeting with the drivers prior to the AGM to see what can be done to spice up the racing and try to bring in new faces. The first suggestion was round by round qualification with 3 out of 5 to count, or even bump up finals. This was received with mixed views with a lot of drivers in favour of not changing the format, however it was voted to trial bump up finals on Sunday with the top 7 direct qualifying and 3 to bump up from each final with a break of 15 minutes to aid with preparation of tires and charging batteries.

Sunday arrived with clear sky and good track conditions with no overnight rain affecting grip levels. In round 1, heat 5, it was Daniel Bancroft who recorded the fastest time of 19 Laps 306 seconds ahead of Ashley Gouveia’s Shepherd separated by 0.4 seconds. Into heat 6 and Mark Green set the first 20 Lapper of the day to more than likely cement TQ at this early stage, with Andy Hastings back in second on 19 laps 303 seconds followed by King and Frost.

Into round 2 and it was Bancroft again who won the heat by 1 second from Gouveia with Capricorn’s Chris ODonoghue coming home third. Round 6 and it was Green with another 20 lap result ahead of King and Hastings with most of the drivers improving their times

Round 3 and Bancroft again won the heat with a full lap advantage and also record a quick 19 lapper to move him up to second overall. In heat 6, it was Green recording a faster 20 lap result with Hastings back in second. The main improvement was Hicklin who bumped up into the top ten but just short of the top 7 bump up places.

Round 4 and it was Bancroft who was showing good form to record a clean sweep of heat wins and best time of the today with another quicker 19 lap result and so would end up being the closest rival to Green. In heat 6, it was Green yet again recording a 20 lapper to win all his heats with TQ times. Special mention to Wayne Briggs who finished 9th overall on his return season after a 10 year break which would put him in a good position to bump up to the main final.

Qualifying top10:
1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi– 20 laps 310.00 secs
2. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/CBR – 19 Laps 301 secs
3. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic  – 19 laps 302 secs
4. Neil King – Capricorn/XRD – 19 Laps 304 secs
5. Ashley Gouveia – Shepherd/Sonic – 19 Laps 306 secs
6. Jason Frost – Serpent/Sirio – 19 Laps 306 secs
7. John Carr – Serpent/OS Speed – 19 Laps 309 secs
8. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Sirio – 19 Laps 309 secs
9. Wayne Briggs – Serpent/RB – 19 Laps 31 secs
10.Andy North – Mugen/Sirio – 19 Laps 313 secs

The bump up finals started and the first winner was current section chairman Andy Mollett who then went on to win the F, E, D and was second in the C finals to bump up to the B final. The B final started with a clean start in grid formation and soon Andy North was past Briggs and started to chase down Hicklin. After the first round of stops, North had moved into the lead which he retained until the finish with Hicklin in second and Briggs in third after a stop and go penalty. All these drivers bumped up to the main final.

The final started with no issues with Green pulling out an half the lap lead over Bancroft who was in a strong second position all race followed by Hastings, Carr and Frost. North was starting to move up the order and after the first pit stop he was up to fourth and chasing hard for third. The first retirement was Ashley Gouveia with mechanical issues. Upfront it was Green from Bancroft with North now up to third on lap 58 and this remained the order until the final stages when North ran out of front tires which caused understeer and a difficult car to drive. This then allowed Hastings to move back into third with Frost fourth. North then retired with front upright damage after contact with the concrete kerb due to no steering. Green maintained his smooth driving to save tires and make it to the finish ahead of Bancroft and Hastings.

Final result:
1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 111 laps
2. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/CBR – 110 Laps
3. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic – 108 laps
4. Jason Frost – Serpent/Sirio – 108 Laps
5. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Sirio – 108 Laps
6. Andy North – Mugen/Sirio – 104 Laps
7. Wayne Briggs – Serpent/RB – 99 Laps
8. Neil King – Capricorn/XRD – 84 Laps
9. John Carr – Serpent/OS Speed – 29 Laps
10.Ashley Gouveia – Shepherd/Sonic – 3 Laps

The next round will be at the Adur Track this coming weekend.

Thanks to Andy North for sending the report.



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