Green & Pryke win at BRCA 1/10th Nats Rd5
Over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd June, Round 5 of the BRCA 1/10th IC National series took place at the Cotswold club. The track had been nicely prepared for our arrival with a new pit lane fence being one of the noticeable improvements. The weather forecast for the weekend was not looking great, with gloomy weather conditions and rain predicted for the weekend. There were 26 entries in the 200mm class which is the greatest of the season so far, 17 entries competed in the Sports GT class. On the Saturday practice session, defending champion Mark Green, Alex Thurston and Joe Kerry were all looking quick in the 200mm class. In Sports GT it was again Glyn Beal who was setting the pace early on with his Serpent team mates Adam Crossland and Richard Boult also fast, David Gerard was also mixing it with them.
On Sunday morning, drivers arrived to the surprise of a dry track. Since the Saturday practice was also dry, it was looking promising. Drivers briefing was called for 8:30 am with the first heat on the line at 9:00 am. Heat 1 was won by last year’s Sports GT champion Peter Hastings in a time of 16 laps in 315.91 seconds, a whole 3 laps ahead of 2nd placed Nigel Philpott with Mark Hepworth taking 3rd. Heat 2 was won by Devendra Mahatme after early pace setter and series returnee Lee Chapman stripped a gear on his Xray NT1. 2nd for the heat was Phil Edwards with Steve Woodhams bringing it home in 3rd.
Heat 3 was won by Scott Hellawell in a time of 16 laps in 306.79 seconds, topping the heat from Neil Wallace 3 seconds behind and Tobie Manser a further 10 seconds behind. The result meaning the Scott moved to the top of the time sheets for the time being. Heat 4 was won by series leader Glyn Beal with a time of 18 laps in 305.75 seconds. Adam Crossland finished 12 seconds adrift to complete only the 2nd 18 lap run. Ryk Pryke’s Xray NT1 rounded out the top 3 on a fast 17 lap run.
Top 10 Sports GT after Round 1:
1. Glyn Beal – 18L 305.75
2. Adam Crossland – 18L 317.39
3. Ryk Pryke – 17L 300.44
4. Richard Boult – 17L 301.01
5. Jason Thompson – 17L 308.87
6. David Gerard – 17L 310.39
7. Devendra Mahatme – 16L 306.26
8. Phil Edwards – 15L 302.26
9. Peter Hellawell – 15L 309.92
10.Steve Woodhams – 15L 311.14
Heat 5 was won by Mark Green who posted the only 19 lap run after Joe Kerry failed to finish. Mark posted his run in 312.45 seconds and Joe ran an 18 lap run in 299.02 seconds. Andrew Hastings posted the 3rd fastest time just 4 seconds behind Joe.
Top 10 200mm after Round 1:
1. Mark Green – 19L 312.45
2. Joe Kerry – 18L 299.02
3. Andrew Hastings – 18L 303.23
4. Alex Thurston – 18L 304.72
5. James Conolly – 18L 307.22
6. Ross Walker – 17L 300.14
7. Dominic Carter – 16L 303.97
8. Scott Hellawell – 16L 306.79
9. Neil Wallace – 16L 309.70
10.Peter Hastings – 16L 315.91
Straight into Round 2 to avoid the incoming rain and Heat 1 was won by Bob Harley. Bob Finished in a time of 15 laps in 314.47 seconds with Charlie Nash about 6 seconds behind and Mark Hepworth a further 3 seconds behind. Both Charlie and Mark posted 14 lap runs. Heat 2 was won by Jim Beesley ahead of Martin trice and Phil Edwards. Jim and Martin posted 16 lap runs with Phil running a 15 lap run. Lee Chapman’s luck did not better with him failing to make the start this time around.
Heat 3 was won by Neil Wallace who bettered his previous time by a massive 20 seconds to post a 17 lap run in 306.10 seconds. Peter Spratley came is 2nd with Devendra Mahatme 3rd. Both Peter and Devendra posted 16 lap runs. Heat 4 was again won by Glyn Beal who came ever so close to posting a 19 lap run, missing out by just .90 of a second. 2nd went Adam Crossland with Richard Boult finishing 3rd.
Top 10 Sports GT after Round 2:
1. Glyn Beal – 18L 300.90
2. Adam Crossland – 18L 309.22
3. Richard Boult – 18L 312.79
4. David Gerard – 18L 319.74
5. Ryk Pryke – 17L 300.44
6. Ben Lungley – 17L 306.57
7. Jason Thompson – 17L 308.87
8. Devendra Mahatme – 16L 306.26
9. Jim Bessley – 16L 310.22
10.Martin Trice – 16L 310.60
Heat 5 was again won by Mark Green who just failed to better his previous TQ time by .05 seconds. 2nd went to Alex Thurston who posted a 19 lap run in 315.65 seconds and 3rd would be Simon Wood on an 18 lap run.
Top 10 200mm after Round 2:
1. Mark Green – 19L 312.45
2. Alex Thurston – 19L 315.65
3. Joe Kerry – 18L 299.02
4. Simon Wood – 18L 302.51
5. Andrew Hastings – 18L 303.23
6. Dominic Carter – 18L 303.51
7. James Conolly – 18L 307.22
8. John Zottl – 18L 307.92
9. Ross Walker – 18L 315.45
10.Neil Wallace – 17L 306.10
With the rain still holding back, Round 3 got underway. Heat 1 was again won by Peter Hastings who bettered his time by almost 2 laps. 2nd went to Ian Coates with Charlie Nash finishing 3rd, both Ian and Charlie posted their fastest runs. Heat 2 was won by Lee Chapman who finally managed to kindle together some good luck and post a time of 18 laps in 315.85 seconds. Devendra Mahatme and Jim Bessley finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Heat 3 was won by Neil Wallace from Matthew Williams and Peter Spratley. Neil and Peter failed to improve but Matthew posted his first representative run. Heat 4 was won by David Gerard who posted a run of 18 laps in 304.74 seconds to better his previous time by 14 seconds. 2nd was Glyn Beal and 3rd Richard Boult, Glyn led for the majority of the run but dropped back around Lap 13.
Top 10 Sports GT After Round 3:
1. Glyn Beal – 18L 300.90
2. David Gerard – 18L 304.74
3. Richard Boult – 18L 309.16
4. Adam Crossland – 18L 309.22
5. Jason Thompson – 18L 311.81
6. Lee Chapman – 18L 315.85
7. Ryk Pryke – 17L 300.44
8. Ben Lungley – 17L 304.68
9. Devendra Mahatme – 17L 314.10
10.Peter Hellawell – 17L 320.06
Heat 5 saw a blistering run from Joe Kerry allowing him to top the round ahead of Dominic Carter and Alex Thurston. Joe posted a new TQ of 19 laps in 309.03 seconds with Dominic 5 seconds behind and Alex a further 2 seconds adrift. Mark Green missed the start of the heat.
Top 10 200mm after round 3:
1. Joe Kerry – 19L 309.03
2. Mark Green – 19L 312.45
3. Dominic Carter – 19L 314.40
4. Alex Thurston – 19L 315.65
5. John Zottl – 18L 301.06
6. James Conolly – 18L 301.84
7. Simon Wood – 18L 302.51
8. Andrew Hastings – 18L 303.23
9. Matthew Cook – 18L 314.80
10.Ross Walker – 18L 315.45
Into the last round of qualifying and the clouds above were becoming thicker. Heat 1 was won by Peter Hastings ahead of Mark Hepworth and Ian Coates. Mark would line up 1st in the C Final with Ian 10th in the B Final. Peter qualified 11th but decided not to run in the finals. Heat 2 was again won by Lee Chapman from Steve Woodhams and Jim Beesley. Lee improved to line up 6th in the A Final, Steve would start 9th in the A Final and Jim 2nd in the B Final.
Peter Spratley took the win in Heat 3 ahead of Neil Wallace and Scott Hellawell. The trio would line up 1st, 2nd & 3rd in the B Final repectively, setting the stage for quite a close final. Heat 4 and Glyn Beal again returned to the top of the time sheets with a new best time that was .39 seconds faster than his previous. David Gerard and Ben Lungley finished 2nd and 3rd. Glyn would start from pole in the A Final, David would line up just behind Glyn in 2nd in the A Final and Ben would start from 7th in the A Final.
Top 10 sports GT after Round 4:
1. Glyn Beal – 18L 300.51 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
2. David Gerard – 18L 304.74 (Xray/RB Murnan/Matrix)
3. Richard Boult – 18L 309.16 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
4. Adam Crossland – 18L 309.22 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
5. Jason Thompson – 18L 311.81 (Serpent/Sirio/Xceed)
6. Lee Chapman – 18L 314.57 (Xray/LRP/Matrix)
7. Ben Lungley – 17L 300.16 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
8. Ryk Pryke – 17L 300.44 (Xray/RB Murnan/Matrix)
9. Steve Woodhams – 17L 313.89 (Xray/Novarossi/Xceed)
10.Devendra Mahatme – 17L 314.10 (Shepherd/Sirio/Matrix)
Heat 5 was again won by Joe Kerry who managed to set a new lap record of 15.9 seconds in doing so. His team mates Mark Green and Alex Thurston took 2nd and 3rd. Joe just failed to improve on his previous time but still managed to secure the TQ for the A Final. Mark also failed to improve but would line up in 2nd behind Joe with Alex lining up 4th after not being able to finish his final qualifier. Congratulations to Dominic Carter on qualifying in 3rd for the A Final.
Top 10 200mm after Round 4:
1. Joe Kerry – 19L 309.03 (Serpent/OS/Xceed)
2. Mark Green – 19L 312.45 (Serpent/Novarossi/Xceed)
3. Dominic Carter – 19L 314.40 (Serpent/Novarossi/Contact)
4. Alex Thurston – 19L 315.65 (Serpent/IDM/Contact)
5. John Zottl – 18L 301.06 (Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd)
6. James Conolly – 18L 301.84 (Serpent/Novarossi/Xceed)
7. Simon Wood – 18L 302.51 (Xray/Reds/Matrix)
8. Andrew Hastings – 18L 303.23 (Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd)
9. Matthew Cook – 18L 307.34 (Hot Bodies/OS/Contact)
10.Ross Walker – 18L 315.45 (Xray/Novarossi/Contact)
After a shorter than usual lunch break the finals were scheduled to get started with the 200mm C Final first up. Mark Hepworth sat on pole position with Charlie Nash and Bob Harley behind. Mark led the field away but by the end of the first lap, he’d lost out to Charlie who took over the position. Lap 2 and Nigel Philpott made a pass on Charlie to move to the front. Nigel continued to lead whilst Barry Whitehead moved into the number 2 spot. Charlie then retaliated by moving back into 2nd and handed the position over to Mark. On Lap 32 Charlie moved back passed Mark and then into the lead as Nigel dropped back. On Lap 50 Barry passed Mark for 2nd position and finished in that order. Charlie Nash took the win with his Xray NT1 followed by the Serpent 733 of Barry Whitehead and Mark Hepworth’s Shepherd V10. Matthieu Dambrine took 4th with his Serpent 733 at only his 2nd ever national with Nigel Philpott recovering to take 5th with his Xray NT1.
The Sports GT B Final was next up with Peter Hellawell sitting on pole from Jim Bessley and Martin Trice. At the start Jim and Martin managed to get passed Peter to push him down to 3rd. Peter then found his way back passed Martin to chase after Jim but both Jim and Peter made a mistake at the end of the straight handing the lead to Martin with Phil Edwards and Ian Hartill moving into 2nd and 3rd. Peter found his way past Phil for 2nd on Lap 7 and moved into the lead a few laps later until he was called for fuel allowing Martin back to the lead. After the first fuel stops had panned out Phil was leading from Graham Hurley and Martin. On Lap 21 Peter got past Martin for 3rd and then moved into the lead on the next lap. Graham stayed in 2nd until around Lap 34 when Martin got through into 2nd and Jim Beesley into 3rd. The race finished with Peter Hellawell taking the win with his Serpent 747 ahead of the Serpent 720 of Martin Trice and the Serpent 733 of Jim Beesley. 4th place went to the Edam Spirit of Graham Hurley and Ian Hartill brought his Serpent 747 home in 5th.
In the warm up before the 200mm B Final the rain began. Seen as though it was not wet enough for damp tyres, the majority of drivers started on their normal dry tyres. Peter Spratley sat on pole position with Neil Wallace and Scott Hellawell behind. The start was incredibly slippery and it was Scott who made the most of this to move into the lead followed by Neil and Peter. Scott dropped back allowing Tobie Manser into the lead who then let Neil through. Tobie retook the lead and led until he decided to stop for damp tyres. Mark Fagan then took over the lead due to him not stopping for damp tyres. Ian Coates resumed behind him on the same strategy and Peter Spratlrey rejoined in 3rd after switching to rubber tyres. Peter managed to bring down Mark’s lead and moved into the no.1 spot on Lap 24. Paul Bellinger on damp foams held 2nd place and Neil also on rubber tyres held 3rd. On Lap 32 Scott managed to pass both Neil and Paul to move into 2nd and chase down Peter. In the end Peter Spratley took the win with his Xray NT1 ahead of the Serpent 747 of Scott Hellawell and Paul Bellinger’s Serpent 747. Neil Wallace brought his Kyosho V-One RRR home in 4th just 1 second behind Paul and Mark Fagan finished in 5th after completing the whole race on dry tyres with his Serpent 747.
The first of the A finals was to be the Sports GT A Final which was declared a wet race due to the rain not stopping. Glyn Beal crawled away from pole followed by Richard Boult and Adam Crossland after David Gerard made a mistake on the opening lap. On Lap 7 Adam got past Richard for 2nd position and on the next lap the recovering David got past Richard pushing him back to 4th. On Lap 10 Adam moved to the front only to have Glyn take it back on the next lap and Ben Lungley moved into 3rd position. Richard then found his way back into 2nd ahead of Adam, David and Ben. Around Lap 30, David got past Richard for 2nd position at which point Richard dropped back and decided to change his tyres to Kisslings as he thought the rain was too much for damp tyres. In the next few laps Adam found a way into 2nd and the hard charging Ryk Pryke, who started from 8th on the grid, made his way into 3rd position. On Lap 40 Ryk dived past Adam for 2nd position and set off for Glyn. 7 laps later, Ryk got out in front and pulled away from Glyn and Adam. On Lap 54 the recovering Richard got past Adam for the final podium position. Ryk Pryke took the win with his Xray NT1 3 laps up on 2nd placed Glyn Beal with his Serpent 747 with the similar machines of Richard Boult, Adam Crossland and Ben Lungley taking 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively.
Sports GT A Final results:
1. Ryk Pryke – 69L 1809.97 (Xray/RB Murnan/Matrix)
2. Glyn Beal – 66L 1827.53 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
3. Richard Boult – 62L 1803.75 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
4. Adam Crossland – 58L 1824.57 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
5. Ben Lungley – 57L 1631.79 (Serpent/Xceed/Xceed)
6. Steve Woodhams – 54L 1744.33 (Xray/Novarossi/Xceed)
7. Jason Thompson – 50L 1530.05 (Serpent/Sirio/Xceed)
8. Devendra Mahatme – 48L 1800.60 (Shepherd/Sirio/Matrix)
9. David Gerard – 44L 1401.66 (Xray/RB Murnan/Matrix)
10.Lee Chapman – 14L 533.49 (Xray/LRP/Matrix)
The win means that Glyn Beal does not extend his gap to 2nd place at the top of the championship. Glyn leads with 503 points ahead of Ryk Pryke with 491 points and Richard Boult with 475 points.
With the Sports GT settled for the weekend the attentions were turned to the 200mm A Final. Joe Kerry led the field away the start followed by Mark Green and Alex Thurston with all three drivers running on rubber tyres. On Lap 5 Mark got into the lead followed by Joe Kerry and James Conolly. Unfortunately for James, he was to retire just 7 laps in with suspected water in his receiver. This allowed Alex through to 3rd from where he would move to 2nd and then 1st lap by lap. By Lap 9 Alex was leading with John Zottl and Joe chasing him down. Alex led despite a slight bobble on Lap 13 with Mark, John and Joe all switching places behind him. By Lap 17 the top 3 were looking pretty stable with Alex leading from Mark and John. Joe moved back into 3rd position on Lap 22 pushing John out of the top 3. Then Mark began to challenge Alex for the lead. Mark eventually got past on Lap 34 and led to the finish. Mark Green took the win ahead of Alex Thurson and Joe Kerry all using Serpent 747s. John Zottl brought his Shepherd V10 home in 4th ahead of the Xray NT1 of Ross Walker.
200mm A Final results:
1. Mark Green – 68L 1834.99 (Serpent/Novarossi/Xceed)
2. Alex Thurston – 67L 1801.80 (Serpent/IDM/Contact)
3. Joe Kerry – 66L 1806.20 (Serpent/OS/Xceed)
4. John Zottl – 66L 1807.00 (Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd)
5. Ross Walker – 58L 1823.40 (Xray/Novarossi/Contact)
6. Dominic Carter – 57L 1807.42 (Serpent/Novarossi/Contact)
7. Andrew Hastings – 28L 1818.34 (Shepherd/Sonic/Shepherd)
8. Simon Wood – 24L 920.28 (Xray/Reds/Matrix)
9. James Conolly – 8L 219.07 (Serpent/Novarossi/Xceed)
10.Matthew Cook – 1L 32.22 (Hot Bodies/OS/Contact)
This result means that Mark increases his lead by one point in the championship fight ahead of Joe Kerry. Mark has 502 points with Joe on 494 points and Alex Thurston in 3rd with 488 points. I would like to say a big thanks to the Cotswold club, Grant for sitting in race control all day and to John Russell and David Hastings for fixing the timing loop. The championship next moves onto the Mendip circuit over the weekend of 13th and 14th of July.
Thanks to Peter Hellawell for the report.
