BRCA LMP Nationals Rd4 – Report

Last weekend saw the running of round four of the BRCA LMP12 nationals. The meeting took place at a new venue for the series, Dorset Model Car Club. The club is based on the south coast of England in the harbour town of Poole. The track laid out was a beautifully flat and technical track and used the GT style carpet. Over the past years the ETS style carpet has become common in Britain, but the GT carpet is still a real favourite with racers. In the 13.5T class David Spashett had a chance to seal the championship two rounds early if he won the meeting, and in Modified Alexander Hagberg was back to see if he could claim win number two of the season.

The 13.5T class saw all the racers competing together on Saturday. The first round saw young gun Ollie Payne having a clear advantage over the field, but as the grip built and the track evolved it was the super-smooth style of David Spashett that came to the front. The final qualifier of the day saw a real surprise as the Schumacher duo of Ben Vincent and Andy Murray both found the pace to take the fight to the Roches of Spashett and Payne. For the first 7 minutes of round four it was Ben Vincent who was heading for pole, with a car that looked almost perfect on the track. The last minute saw Ben’s car fade slightly, and once again it was the master of LMP, David Spashett, who kept his nerve to claim pole position from Andy, Ollie and Ben.

The A-final saw a real masterclass from David Spashett, who after a messy first lap from Andy and Ollie simply went into cruise mode. David pulled a half lap gap and then maintained this advantage to the finish. David’s fourth win of the season saw him claim the 2017/8 BRCA 13.5 National Championship for Zen-Racing and Roche. In the end it was Andy Murray who took his best result of the year in second from a recovering Ollie Payne in third.

13.5T final results:
1. David Spashett – Roche/Motiv
2. Andy Murray – Schumacher/Fantom
3. Ollie Payne – Roche/Motiv
4. Ben Vincent – Schumacher/Fantom
5. Adam Catchpole – Schumacher/Fantom
6. Mark Stiles – Associated/Reedy
7. Matt Rice – Associated/Reedy
8. Mick Farrell – CRC/Trinity
9. Mark Jewitt – Schumacher/Fantom
10.Matthew White – Associated/Reedy

The 6.5T Modified class saw all the drivers with their eyes on Alexander Hagberg. At the last round Alex was simply untouchable, but the Xray driver looked a little closer in pace to the rest of the field at the Poole national. In the first round it was Ollie Payne who sat at the top of the pile from Alex. In the second and third rounds Alex held a narrow advantage from Ollie. The final round saw the track slow slightly, and in the reduced grip it was the Schumacher of Andy Murray who took the round win, but with a time only good enough for third on the grid.

Alex and his Xray looked rock solid in the A-final, and a perfect opening lap saw him open a two metre gap to Ollie Payne. This opening lap pace saw Ollie pushing really hard to close in on Alex, which led to a mistake. This allowed Andy to take the fight to Alex, whilst Ollie fell back to mid-pack. Over the first half of the race Andy stayed close, but small barrier taps saw him drop half a lap to Alex by the finish. Alex took a comfortable second win of the season, and with it maintains his chance of a first British National title. Andy finished second for the second day in a row from David Spashett, who picked up third after Ollie Payne stripped a spur gear late in the race.

6.5T Modified final results:
1. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Hobbywing
2. Andy Murray – Schumacher/Fantom
3. David Spashett – Roche/Trinity
4. Chris Kerswell – Associated/Reedy
5. Mark Stiles – Associated/Reedy
6. Louis Parker – Schumacher/Fantom
7. Chris Grainger – Associated/Reedy
8. Ollie Payne – Roche/Trinity
9. Matthew White – Associated/Reedy
10.Adam Catchpole – Schumacher/Fantom

The Sports class saw an incredibly close field, except for Ben Vincent and his Schumacher. Ben was the only driver to claim a 45 lapper in qualifying and was 3/4’s of a lap in front of the second placed driver. Poole was Ben’s third TQ, and after losing the last two finals he was hoping that it was third time lucky for the win! Behind Ben on the grid were Matt Rice, Mick Farrell and Jim Spencer, who along with every other driver who made the A (and most of those in the B) had exactly the same lap pace.

Ben Vincent made no mistakes from pole position this time and simply used his pace to clear off for his first ever national win. Ben was a hugely deserving winner, and both his car and driving were superb all weekend. Mick Farrell made the most of small mistakes from Matt Rice to claim second, with Matt taking his fourth podium of the year in third.

Sports final results:
1. Ben Vincent – Schumacher/Fantom
2. Mick Farrell – CRC/Trinity
3. Matt Rice – Associated/Reedy
4. Jim Spencer – Roche/Motiv
5. Mark Jewitt – Schumacher/Fantom
6. Luke Burley – Roche/Motiv
7. Michael Bolt – Roche/Motiv
8. Graham Raistrick – Xray/Fantom
9. Neil Diver – Roche/Motiv
10.Scott Morton -Schumacher/Fantom

The BRCA National series has two rounds to go, with the next event taking place at the Newbury track in February. Both the Modified and Sports championships are still up for grabs but the smart money must surely be on Hagberg and Vincent to take these if their form continues.

Source: BRCA [brca.org]