Andrew Hastings takes Rd8 of BRCA 1/8th Nats

Round 8 of the 1/8th onroad National championship saw drivers travel to the Wombwell circuit for the second time this year. For those arriving on the Saturday for practice we were treated to a great buffet, thanks to Nicola Wood and Claire Carr, in celebration of Kath and Phil Carrs’ 70th birthday, which also featured a cake in Team Carr colours. The previous week had seen some of the UK drivers competing in the Worlds in France and after speaking with Wayne Briggs it sounded like all of those involved really enjoyed the experience.

Around 45 drivers were competing across the two classes again and it was good to see a few drivers from the past making appearances. 1/8 Circuit is definitely a class that once you’ve had a go at it you will inevitably return to at some point because of the buzz the cars give you.

The weather for the weekend was mainly cloudy but the rain held off, apart from a couple of drops. In qualifying, the battle seemed to be between Tim Wood and Andy Hastings but David Spashett put in a great last round time to go second quickest behind Tim. Also making the A final were Richard Hicklin Serpent, Michael Walton BMT, Neal King, Jason Frost, Clive Connolly, John Carr and Andrew North took 10th . Franck Dambrine was competing in the nitro class for the first time this year and Giorgio Acanfora topped the B-final. It was good to see Baj Panasar also making an appearance after all the history he has racing in the class.

In the electric class, it was business as usual for Alex Thurston at the front in dominant fashion, not too far behind Pete Hasting qualified second, Craig Woods third and Dan Jones fourth. Serpent locked out 8 of the top ten places with only Pete Hastings (Shepherd) and Geraint Williams taking 10th (ARC) running other chassis. Phil Hague and James Ellice had good qualifying runs also to make the A-final and gave them the chance to mix it with the regular A-finalists.

Finals
Niall Cochran dominated the Nitro C-final from Patrice Ladeveze by three laps, with Robert Stevenson taking the final podium position. Sam Snell driving Mugen easily won the B-final with a number of drivers crashing out from the front grid positions. In the A-final an early incident dropped Andy Hastings to the back of the field but Andy was to make a great recovery. Michael Walton and Clive Connolly were out early on with mechanical issues with others following shortly after. The race began to become a race of attrition with Wood in control out front from Spashett. Wood seemed to have engine issues, allowing Spashett to gain and the recovering Hastings was also closing in. The last part of race witnessed a great battle between the top three and Hastings was able to pass both drivers with a clear pace advantage to take the win. Spashett took second and Wood third, meaning the title will be decided at the final round at Cotswold between Spashett and Wood.

In the electric class Simon Parish took the B-final win from Devandra Mahatme and pole sitter Vincent Menzies took third. It was great to see him back racing 1/8 Circuit. The A-final also was ran over two legs, Alex winning from Pete Hastings and Dan Jones moved up to third. Leg two saw the same result but with Pete much closer to Alex. Overall, Alex Thurston took the win from Pete Hastings and Dan Jones third. The final round of the championship is at Cotswold.

Nitro Results A-final
1. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd
2. David Spashett – ARC
3. Tim Wood – Serpent
4. Richard Hicklin – Serpent
5. Andrew North – ARC
6. Jason Frost – Capricorn
7. John Carr – Serpent
8. Neal King – Shepherd
9. Clive Connolly – ARC
10. Michael Walton – BMT

Electric Results A-final
1. Alex Thurston – Serpent
2. Pete Hastings – Shepherd
3. Dan Jones – Serpent
4. Craig Woods – Serpent
5. Jamie Paton – Serpent
6. Phil Hague – Serpent
7. James Ellice – Serpent
8. Geraint Williams – ARC
9. Paul Bellinger – Serpent
10. David Gerard – Serpent

Thanks to Michael Walton for the report.