Tim Wood wins BRCA 1/8th Rd2
Last weekend witnessed round 2 of the 2011 1/8th scale British national series was hosted by the Wombwell circuit in South Yorkshire. The weather forecast was for showers at some point over the weekend. Saturday was however dry with high winds which seemed to affect the cars badly around the carousal corner. The grip was very low due to a lot of surface dust and required a lot of cars on track to form a clean racing line.
The top guys at this stage were all on a similar pace with nobody showing a clear advantage. Drivers swapped between the R909 and R15 Protoform bodyshells but it was a case of using which body suited individual driving styles. Sunday started with rainfall which disrupted every driver’s plans. All the drivers however used damp tires and decided not to rely on the assumption that the track will dry and so all posted times in an attempt to secure a top ten position come rain or shine.
After Round 1, it was Kyle Branson who posted the quickest time with Tim Wood and Mark Green deciding not to run until it became dryer. Second was Richard Hicklin and third was Andy Hastings who was recovering from a broken leg sustained from a mountain bike accident. The track started to dry out and times became quicker with Kyle Branson improving his time but now with Mark Green into second and Pete Hastings into third. Round 3 was time to use dry tires which would result in a new leader board since every driver would significantly improve on their best times to date. Mark Green and Tim Wood jumped to the top of the leader board with Kyle Branson dropping down the field due to making two driving mistakes. Round 4 provided all the drivers with a dry track to post their best times. In the final qualification heat, the first casualty was Pete Hastings who cut just after crossing the start line which would put him out of contention for a top ten spot. Mark Green and Kyle Branson battled it out for TQ but traffic hampered Kyle which gifted it to Mark.
The top ten after qualification was as follows:
1. Mark Green – Serpent / Novarossi, 18 Laps 310 secs
2. Kyle Branson – Serpent / Sirio, 18 Laps 310 secs
3. Tim Wood – Serpent / Exceed, 18 Laps 316 secs
4. Andy North – Mugen / IDM, 17 Laps 301 secs
5. Richard Hicklin – Serpent / Exceed, 17 Laps 301 secs
6. John Carr – Serpent / Mega, 17 Laps 302 secs
7. Neil Diver – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 17 Laps 303 secs
8. Richard Waters – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 17 Laps 316 secs
9. Andy Hastings – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 17 Laps 317 secs
10.Karl Dransfield – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 16 Laps 302 secs
In the final the drivers all blasted away with no problems in grid order, It was soon apparent that the top 3 had a quicker pace and pulled a little gap back to Andy North in fourth who was fighting hard with John Carr and Neil Diver. On a different pit strategy, Tim Wood moved into second place and started to chase down Mark, who was out front. After the next series of pit stops, Tim inherited the lead and eventually won by 3 seconds. Kyle suffered problems and decided to retire mid race. Andy North had the layshaft pulley come loose which lost 5 mins and any chance of a podium. John Carr started to show a very good and consistent pace, but while in third position he ran out of fuel dropping him down the order. Neil Diver then took over third place. Also congratulations to Richard Waters for making his first A final in this class of racing which will hopefully be the start of many more in the future.
Final results
1. Tim Wood – Serpent / Exceed DS4 / Exceed Tires, 99 Laps 1805 secs
2. Mark Green – Serpent / Novaross / Exceed Tires, 99 Laps 1808 secs
3. Neil Diver – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 96 laps
4. Richard Hicklin – Serpent / Exceed DS4 / Exceed Tires, 94 Laps
5. Andy Hastings – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 87 laps
6. John Carr – Serpent / Mega DS4 / Exceed Tires, 86 Laps
7. Andy North – Mugen / IDM / Contact RC, 79 Laps
8. Kyle Branson – Serpent / Sirio / Exceed Tires, 78 Laps
9. Richard Waters – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 73 Laps
10.Karl Dransfield – Shepherd / IDM / Shepherd Tires, 42 Laps
The next round is at the Mendip circuit in 2 weeks time.
Thanks to Andy North for the report.
