Mark Green wins BRCA 1/8th Rd4
Round 4 of the BRCA championship was held at the Mendip circuit, just outside the seaside resort of Weston Super Mare. The weather was dry both days with overcast sky’s and a lot of drivers arrived early Saturday morning to start testing to find the perfect setup. Many drivers use the first couple of hours to run-in and set up engines which then allows the track to rubber in, making chassis setup work that little easier in the afternoon. The early indication was that Mark Green would again be the man to beat due to his consistent driving style every lap. Once the grip was good and black line started to form, it was apparent that Mark was struggling for a setup with his quickest lap time being 15.5 secs, but this was consistent. The other Championship contenders were soon starting to push this time hard and with fine tuning of chassis setup’s, Neil Diver (Velox) and Pete Hastings (Serpent) produced lap times of 15.3 and 15.2 respectively and now needed to work on consistency to have any chance to beating Mark Green in qualification. Andy North was testing geometry changes to the rear of his Mugen in the quest to find more steering and corner speed. This was beginning to work well and with lap times of 15.4 secs seemed to suggest that we are heading in the right direction.
Qualification on Sunday was going to be very tight at the top with Mark Green’s usual pace advantage being less noticeable. However, in Round 1, Mark provided a good time to TQ by 2 seconds. His time was then improved in Heat 2, closely followed by Neil Diver and Pete Hastings who managed to put his disappointment of disqualification from round 1 behind him due to being 4 grams under the minimum weight. Andy North was however having problems with a understeering car, contributed by running 35 shore front tires by mistake and engine stopping out on the track, but after a engine change, he recorded a quick time to ensure a place in the main final. The Current Championship leader, Tim Wood was having a bad day compounded by not being able to do 5 minutes run time. This would eventually result in him qualifying 13th and out of the main final.
The top 10 qualification was as follows:
1. Mark Green (Serpent/Novarossi) – 20 Laps 308
2. Neil Diver (Volex/IDM) – 20 Laps 311
3. Pete Hastings (Serpent/IDM) – 19 Laps 301
4. Andrew Hastings (Serpent/IDM) – 19 Laps 301
5. Andy North (Mugen/Sirio) – 19 Laps 301
6. Richard Hicklin (Serpent) – 19 Laps 302
7. Chris Heath (Mugen/Sirio) – 19 Laps 304
8. Jason Frost (Mugen/Mega) – 19 Laps 305
9. John Carr (Serpent/Mega) – 19 Laps 306
10. Ashley Gouveia (Serpent/Mega) – 19 Laps 309
The Main final started and the first casualty was Andy North who flipped his car at the first corner, looking for a gap that just was not there. This resulted in a trip to the pits to refit the front shock. Up front, Mark Green was closely followed by Neil Diver who admitted to not pushing it too hard which then allowed Mark to pull away. A battle then emerged between Pete Hastings and Richard Hicklin which eventually resulted in Richard finishing in 3rd position. In the end, Mark finished 1st with Neil Diver in 2nd.
The results are as follows:
1. Mark Green (Serpent/Novarossi) – 114 Laps
2. Neil Diver (Volex/IDM) – 111 Laps
3. Richard Hicklin (Serpent) – 110 Laps
4. Jason Frost (Mugen/Mega) – 110 Laps
5. Andrew Hastings (Serpent/IDM) – 109 Laps
6. Pete Hastings (Serpent/IDM) – 108 Laps
7. John Carr (Serpent/Mega) – 106 Laps
8. Andy North (Mugen/Sirio) – 98 Laps
9. Ashley Gouveia (Serpent/Mega) – 75 Laps
10. Chris Heath (Mugen/Sirio) – 64 Laps
The next round of the Championship is at the new Adur track near Brighton. The new Monoco of 1/8th IC circuit.
Thanks to Andy North for the report and pictures.
