BRCA 1/8th on-road nationals Rd4 – Report

The 4th round of the 2014 BRCA 1/8th Circuit National Championship was held at the Adur circuit to the South of London. This track this the smallest on the current calendar and in relation to Formula One, this is like being at Monaco since the true potential of a current 1/8th scale car is never realised to its maximum. With all the championship contenders present except for Bancroft who was preparing for the ENS, the competition up front would be close. Mark Green was present and alongside him was Joaquin Desota from the USA who is in England on business. Desota is well known since his father operates Serpent America and is a regular top finalist in his country so he comes with a big reputation and should challenge the current drivers but he would have to start in heat 1 due to having no ranking points.

In round 1 heat 5, the pace increased significantly with Green recording 22 laps with King, Wood, North and Hicklin all recording 21 laps to more or less guarantee a place in the main  final even at this early stage in proceedings. In round 2 it was Green again recording 22 laps with King second on a slightly quicker 21 lap with Andy Hastings coming in third with a significant improvement. All the drivers in this heat recorded 21 laps apart from Hicklin who suffered a DNF. In heat 5, round 3 it was Green who improved on his previous time by 2 seconds with King, Hastings and North the finishing order with slight time improvements.

So into the final round, it was Green who became the fourth undefeated heat driver of the day with 22 laps again which put him in a convincing position heading into the finals. Behind was his nearest rival King, Wood and North.

Qualifying top 10:
1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 22 Laps 311 secs
2. Neal King – Capricorn/XRD – 21 Laps 302 secs
3. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic – 21 Laps 303 secs
4. Tim Wood – Serpent/OS – 21 Laps 305 secs
5. Andy North – Mugen/Sirio – 21 Laps 306 secs
6. Joaquin Desota – Serpent/Novarossi – 21 Laps 307 secs
7. John Carr – Serpent/OS – 21 Laps 307 secs
8. Jason Frost – Serpent/Sirio – 21 Laps 310 secs
9. Richard Waters – Shepherd/Sonic – 21 Laps 314 secs
10.Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Sirio – 21 Laps 316 secs

The main final blasted away in grid order with the first casualty being North but after a few laps he was back up to speed and on for a podium finish. Up front it was Green who was steadily extending his lead over King with Hastings in touching distance. Behind these 3 where Desota and North who changed positions through pit stops but then after 15 minutes, Desota pulled away and started to put pressure on Hastings who was almost a full lap clear. In the closing stages, Hastings had an accident and lost time which allowed Desota to jump into third place. Up front it was a faultless drive from Green and a very good second place for King to gain him so crucial championship points.

Final result:
1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 123 Laps 1801 secs
2. Neal King – Capricorn/XRD – 122 Laps 1805 secs
3. Joaquin Desota – Serpent/Novarossi – 120 Laps 1802 secs
4. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/Sonic – 119 Laps 1803 secs
5. Andy North – Mugen/Sirio – 118 Laps 1808 secs
6. John Carr – Serpent/OS – 93 Laps 1813 secs
7. Richard Waters – Shepherd/Sonic – 68 Laps 1463 secs
8. Richard Hicklin – Serpent/Sirio – 57 Laps 919secs
9. Tim Wood – Serpent/OS – 11 Laps 174 secs
10.Jason Frost – Serpent/Sirio – 3 Laps 57 secs

Thanks to Andrew North for sending the report.