BRCA 1/8th Truggy & Electric Rd4 – Report

The BRCA Truggy and Electric 1/8th national series descended on a new dirt track for the series which was the NRC track near Bromsgrove, Birmingham. The track looked in tip top condition when the pilots arrived. Due the temperature at 7 o’clock they even had the sprinklers on. The lay out comprised of some nice well thought technical sections. Normal situation started at 9 o’clock with the Electric buggies starting of the meeting for the first of their three qualifying runs. It was evident from the first runs that it would not be a walk in the park. The weather was going to be a challenge for all drivers and cars as well as the track. The track started off quite loose but the wider Truggy tyres helped to push the lose dirt to sides which made the racing line starting to blue groove.

After the first round Craig Drescher was in pole position starting off with a impressive time of 7/310.47. He was closely followed by David Crompton and Tony Truman. This did change at the end of round 2 as local driver Simon Willetts had sorted out his transponder issues and had the fastest time. The standings were to stay the same after the end of round 3.

E-Buggy qualifying top 10
1. Simon Willetts
2. Craig Drescher
3. David Crompton
4. Tony Truman
5. Graham Howard
6. Stuart Howard
7. Richard Taylor
8. Glen Howard
9. Paul Robinson
10.Matt Owen

At the end of round 1 of Truggy qualifying the top 11 places were all on 7 laps with Jack Embling being 1.97 seconds off a 8 lapper. Neil Simons was the last person to complete 7 laps. This was to be extended at the end of round 2 with Leon Goode trying his had with a loaned Truggy joining the 7 lap club with Michael Shorey. At he end of the qualifying run Jack had an impressive 3 runs having the fastest time in two out of the three runs. Michael Lewis was starting to get to grips with the track by completing 8 laps in 335.42 on his final run. The top 10 places were as follows

Truggy qualifying top 10
1. Jack Embling
2. Michael Lewis
3. Jon Howells
4. Tommy Chung
5. Lewis Beach
6. Mathew Ball
7. Oliver Currie
8. Leon Goode
9. Llyod Pitt
10.Robert Cork

With the meeting running to schedule it was onto the finals. The lower E8 finals were to have two 10 minute finals. Whilst the A final had three 10 minute finals with the best two to count. The B final, leg 1, was won by Pedro Oliveira, closely followed by Jim Boulton and Dave Griffiths. Jim moved up to the top step at the end of leg 2 and Ashley Coupland taking the 3rd spot. The A final in all three legs was won by Simon Willetts. Craig Drescher followed Simon in all three legs and Tony Truman, after a 10th position in leg 1 managed to finish 3rd in the next two legs. At the end of the three legs the best two were to count. So this left the overall standings as follows.

E-Buggy A final result
1. Simon Willetts
2. Craig Drescher
3. Tony Truman
4. David Crompton
5. Stuart Mahon
6. Paul Robinson
7. Graham Howard
8. Matt Owen
9. Ben Cosgrove
10.Glen Howard

The first Truggy final was the 18 minute C final. With the top 4 to bump up it was all to play for. The top 2 had a close race finishing just 13 sec apart. The top 4 to bump up were Jonathan Warbrton, Geoffrey Blackwood, Kayleigh Blackwood and Keith Bellamy. The B Final which was also a 18 minute race saw Robert Cockcroft swiftly off the line from his 6th position on the grid to take the win. He was followed by the following Robert Cockcroft, Michael Shorey, Peter Hedley and Dean Coupland  all of which bumped up to the A final. The 30 min A final started with all 14 cars ready and raring to go. The race started and straight away it was evident that it was going to be a close race. Jack led the way but Jon Howells was pushing him hard. Michael lewis was putting in some impressive laps but had to pull off in the 19th lap. The final places were as follows.

Truggy A final result
1. Jack Embling
2. Jon Howells
3. Tommy Chung
4. Matthew Ball
5. Lewis Beach
6. Leon Goode
7. Llyod Pitt
8. Oliver Currier
9. Michael Shorey
10.Robert Cockcroft

The next round will take place at Deerdale on the 11th August.

Thanks to Dean Coupland for sending the report. Images: Ross Whitelock