Branson wins BRCA 1/8th IC Nats Rd2

With the new season well and truly under way with a dramatic wet race at Mendip, it was now onto round 2 at the Halifax circuit in Yorkshire, the host on the 2013 European Championships. With the welcome return of Green and Branson from ENS duty, this would be a weekend which would eventually set the marker for the rest of the season. Saturday was a preparation/practice day which was well supported but with the weather being wet at the start of the day, allowed all the drivers to carefully prepare and setup their cars for a dry track in the afternoon. The pace was being set by Branson and Green with Tim Wood and King close behind with their OS and XRD engines respectively. North was struggling with gear box setup and mid corner understeer but this was soon resolved but reverting to an old 2 speed mechanism and using harder rear springs.

The remaining drivers showing regular consistent pace was Hicklin, Hastings, Carr, Bancroft and Frost. The engine types were mixed but the pace where very much similar which would mean no racer had a real advantage over the competition.

Sunday arrived with overcast weather but this soon cleared. It was decided to skip the round of practice in favour of starting the heats at 9am in order to get the 4 rounds of qualifying complete before the rain showers arrived in the afternoon.

In round 1, Heat 4 and the first of the fast guys of Carr, King and Bancroft were ready to fight for a top ten position. It was Bancroft who came out on top with 17 laps, with the track drying a t a fast rate. In heat 5, the track was almost fully dry and the top drivers exploited it to set the fastest times of the day so far. Upfront it was Branson from Green by 0.1 seconds with Hicklin in third a full 10 seconds behind. North and Hastings had to retire due to engine crank related issues but at least Pete finished to record a banker time.

Round 2, Heat 5 and improvements were made by all drivers unless reliability hit. Green produced a good drive to record the first 21 lapper of the day to beat Branson by 2 seconds. In third it was Hicklin who was showing consistent speed and good accurate driver.

Round 3, Heat 4 was a very closely fought race with Daniel Bancroft coming out on top with 20 laps 307 seconds with Neal King second on almost the identical time. Carr came in third, 3 seconds back but this was a good banker run all the same. Heat 5 and it was the turn of Branson to get the better of Green and retake TQ honours with a 21 lapper but again only 0.2 seconds between them, with Hicklin again third and Wood fourth. The top 7 on this heat all improved  and made the top ten going into the final round.

So into the final round and in Heat 4, it was Bancroft who came out top again with a slight improvement to guarantee a main final position. King was runner up after Carr failed to finish due to an incident on track and therefore would have to rely upon the top heat result to see if he had made the main final or not. In heat 5, it was again Green and Branson in their own battle up front with Andy Hastings taking third from Wood and North who also improved to make sure of a final position. The unlucky driver however was Pete Hastings who finished just 3 seconds behind Carr’s time and therefore had to settle for B Final TQ.

Qualification top 10
1. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 21 Laps 311 secs
2. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi/Exceed – 21 Laps 312 secs
3. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Sirio – 20 Laps 302 secs
4. Tim Wood – Serpent/OS – 20 Laps 302 secs
5. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic – 20 Laps 302 secs
6. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/Vox – 20 Laps 305 secs
7. Andy North – Mugen/Sirio – 20 Laps 306 secs
8. Jason Frost – Serpent/Sirio – 20 Laps 306 secs
9. Neal King – Capricorn/XRD – 20 Laps 307 secs
10.John Carr – Serpent/OS – 20 Laps 310 secs

The main final blasted away with Branson in the lead and after congestion at the second corner of which North damaged his front end, the race settled down with Branson ahead of Green upfront with Wood close behind. North managed to repair his car and started 6 minutes down and used the final as an extended test session. The pace upfront however was very good with the top 3 ending 3 laps clear of King in fourth. Branson used all his ability to stay in front of Green to give Capricorn and XRD engines its maiden UK victory.

Top 10 result
1. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 116 Laps 1802 secs
2. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 116 Laps 1805 secs
3. Tim Wood – Serpent/OS – 116 Laps 1815 secs
4. Neal King – Capricorn/XRD – 113 Laps 1807 secs
5. Jason Frost – Serpent/Sirio – 113 Laps 1808 secs
6. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Sirio – 113 Laps 1813 secs
7. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica/Vox – 110 Laps 1811 secs
8. John Carr – Serpent/OS – 106 Laps 1805 secs
9. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic – 102 Laps 1806 secs
10.Andy North – Mugen/Sirio – 83 Laps 306 secs

The next round will be at the very popular Wombwell Track on the 18th May 2014.

Thanks to Andrew North for sending the report.