Tim Wood & Kyle Branson make it 3 in a row

The 9th round of the BRCA 1/8th scale on road Nationals took place at the Cotswold circuit, which is now becoming a regular season finale to the BRCA Championship. The circuit is located within the Kemble Airfield complex, on the outskirts of Cirencester and is very technical with elevation changes and corners which are taken in second gear. The requirement of mid range engine power is essential at a circuit with these characteristics since it will allow you to use the power to help steer the car from the rear. The championship title was also to be decided with Tim Wood having a slender 3 point lead over Pete Hastings with John Carr in a strong third position. The weather forecast was for a dry weekend which was a surprise since October normally brings rain. With plenty of action on the track during Saturday practice, the grip steadily increased throughout the day and from looking at the relative pace of cars, Mark Green and Kyle Branson again looked by far the quickest. The pace of the championship challengers was very close which would make for an interesting race day.

Sunday was a dry day with clear blue sky, so the championship battle would be decided on equal terms. After the first round, it was Mark Green who was the fastest by a comfortable margin from team mate Kyle Branson and Tim Wood who all registered 20 Laps. The chasing pack had registered quick 19 lap runs and aimed to push that little harder to see if the 20 lap bracket was achievable.

In the third round, Mark Green again showed his complete dominance with another 20 lapper which was 4 seconds quicker than his previous run which would surely secure the TQ spot. Down the field, the places for the remaining A final spots were still unknown. Pete Hasting managed to secure a position which jumped him up to fourth overall, splitting the Serpents of Tim Wood and Richard Hicklin. On the other hand, Neil Diver was having a bad day at the office and after a driving incident in the first round, and mechanical failures after which required him to change to an unused engine, meant that he would not line up in the A Final.

The qualifying positions were as follows:
1. Mark Green –  Serpent – Novarossi – 20 Laps 302 secs
2. Kyle Branson – Serpent – Sirio – 20 laps 309 secs
3. Tim Wood – Serpent – Mega – 20 laps 313 secs
4. Pete Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 19 laps 201 secs
5. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega – 19 laps 301 secs
6. Andrew North – Mugen – IDM – 19 laps 301 secs
7. John Carr – Serpent – Mega – 19 Laps 306 secs
8. Jason Frost – Serpent – Mega – 19 Laps
9. Dan Ghibaldan – Motonica – Sirio – 19 Laps 304 secs
10.Andrew Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 19 Laps 307 secs

All the cars made it around to the grid for the start of the A final, but the first casualty was Andy Hastings who’s engine cut on the line. Just after the initial get away, Mark Green’s car came to a sudden halt on the racing line which was due to loosing radio, possibly caused by fuel in the receiver. After negotiating the start, the remaining drivers got steadily up to speed with Kyle Branson breaking away from the pack. In second was Tim Wood followed by Richard Hicklin and Pete Hastings. The race then became a procession up front but fuel strategies may have bunched the pack up mid race but this was not the case and the top 4 remained the same.

The final results are as follows:
1. Kyle Branson – Serpent – Sirio – 113 laps
2. Tim Wood – Serpent – Mega – 111 laps
3. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega – 110 laps
4. Pete Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 108 laps
5. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 107 Laps
6. Jason Frost – Serpent – Mega – 107 Laps
7. John Carr – Serpent – Mega – 101 Laps 306
8. Dan Ghibaldan – Motonica – Sirio – 101 Laps
9. Andrew North – Mugen – IDM – 70 laps
10.Mark Green –  Serpent – Novarossi – 40 Laps

So the 2010 season comes to a close with Tim Wood successfully retaining his title and making it 3 in a row which is no easy task with the level of competition this year. As for the winner of this meeting, Kyle Branson also makes it 3 successive wins after only driving 1/8th for the second half of the season.

Thanks to Andy North for the report.