The 3rd round of the BRCA series was the annual 2 day race held over the Bank Holiday weekend.This year was the first time that the event has been held at a permanent venue and it was the Ware track that played host. Fantastic weather prevailed over the 2 days and some great racing was to be had. The big Ware track certainly provided a challenge with its high and low speed sections, coupled with the inconsistent surface which was there to catch out the unwary.

The qualifying sessions saw a 3 way battle for pole position between Neil Cragg (AE/Reedy/Proline/Byron), Darren Bloomfield (Proline) and Elliott Boots (RB/Savox).

In round 1 it was Elliott who drew first blood, using his local knowledge and great car control to good advantage to take the round win from Darren and Neil. Round 2 and it was Darren who took top honours by a second from Neil, who was starting to learn the track more, having only raced here once before. Round 3 and Neil showed his ability to learn tracks quickly by taking the round win from team mate Richard Barton who put a great run together to take 2nd with his RB powered RC8FT.

Neil was now happy to try a few things as he had 3 good scores to ensure a high grid slot in a semi final and he switched from his Proline Caliber tyres to the Revolver. He was to TQ round 4 using the Revolver but felt that although they offered better traction on the clean line, the Caliber was more forgiving when you strayed from the ultimate racing line which was all too easy to do on this track.

This TQ gave Neil a very strong position to take overall TQ as Darren would have to TQ round 5 and Neil finish lower than 23rd which was Darren’s worst score. Darren did go on to TQ round 5, also using the Revolver tyres but Neil managed a 5th despite having what for him was a bad run, thus giving him overall TQ and direct passage to the main final without having to take the route of the semi’s. The scores were really close and Neil and Darren were tied over the first 4 scores and it was only the 5th score that was the tie-breaker.

The day of the main finals was also bright and sunny and by the time the semi finals came around the track was starting to look a little worse for wear in places, most notably the end of the main straight, which had become very badly potholed and was to cause some problems at the beginning of the finals.

The first semi was a comfortable victory for Elliott Boots which ultimately would see him line up 2nd for the main final. The other drivers taking the transfer positions from this semi were Kevin Brunsden, Reece Sawyer, Graham Alsop, Adrian Svensson and Mike Cradock.

The second semi final was a bit closer near the front, with Darren eventually taking the win despite early an early challenge from Richard Taylor with his Reedy powered car. Darren’s time wasn’t quick enough to beat Elliott’s so he would be grid 3 for the main final. Following Darren out of this final were Lee Martin, David Crompton, Richard Taylor, Craig Drescher and Stewart Wilcox. Paul Bradby would also bump up as the fastest 7th place with his Reedy powered RC8FT.

The main final saw Neil get a terrible start and be on the back foot from the first corner, this allowed Elliott, Darren and Lee to take up the running and fight it out. Elliott was the first to make a significant advantage and was looking good for the win until an engine cut out on track took him out of the fight. This left Darren out in front with Lee Martin stalking him. Lee had been gradually upping his pace during the weekend and was now running at the fast pace of the quickest guys and looking good.

Over the next 10 minutes Darren made a couple of errors and allowed Lee to take the lead with 5 minutes to go. Despite going after Lee very hard Darren wasn’t really able to make any impression and every little bit he gained he would lose with a small error. With a couple of laps to go Lee had a roll back onto his wheels which brought Darren close up on his heels.

Going into the last lap there was only a second in it, but coming down the main straight Darren hit a rock which put his car on its lid and allowed Lee to cruise round the final lap to take his first 1/8th National win. Darren came through to take second with Neil recovering to 3rd.

Source: CML [cmldistribution.co.uk]

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Lee Martin wins BRCA 1/8th Off-Road Rd3

Årsunda, a village in the middle of Sweden, played host to the 2nd round of the Swedish national series. The track is very technical and a bit bumpy, so its demanding for both the car and the setup. Following practice, which was disturbed by rain Saturday saw four rounds of qualifying with the first three taking place in good weather and the last round unfortunately rained out. Qualifying went the way of Serpent driver Per Ola Hard, setting a new lap record on his way to TQ, some 7 seconds clear of 2nd placed Edwin Sunesson, with Markus Hellquist in 3rd. In the 1/8th scale class the TQ was taken by Magnus Bengtsson running a Mugen. The finals on Sunday say Peo get a a clean start and was able to work up a good lead and despite some errors in the middle of the race, was able to win by 2 laps ahead of young Markus Hellquist in 2nd and Thomas Livbom in 3rd. In the 1/8th scale class Stefan Andersson won the final driving his Serpent 966.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

Hard & Andersson win Rd2 in Sweden

The opening round of the RCCAOI Irish National 1:8 Off Road Championships took place over the weekend at the well presented Navan Nitro Nuts Astroturf track where superb sunny conditions greeted the 40+ strong entry. In Qualifying it was Alan Bickerstaff, better known for his electric touring car exploits, that secured pole after TQ’ing 3 of the four rounds of qualifying with his Associated RC8. Second on the grid went to Team Xray’s Barkley Abernethy, who TQ’d the opening qualifier. Next up was Losi team driver Michael Todd followed by defending Champion Mark Harron and his Hot Bodies with Crono’s David Curtis and Kyosho’s Gary Baird completing the top 6 on the grid.

After a rather chaotic start to the final it was Abernethy who led the way but the 2008 Championship Runner-Up was to suffer an engine cut as he left the pit lane after his first fuel stop. A number of drivers miscalculated their run time including poleman Bickerstaff which resulted in him dropping to 9th. In the end it was Todd who repeated his 2008 result to win the opening round of the championship with a one lap advantage over Abernethy and Bickerstaff who put in a great recovery drive recording the fastest lap of the final. Derek Mc Cluskey made a strong return to 1:8 off road racing to claim fourth ahead of Harron, who also ran out of fuel, with Cathal Taffe completing the Top 6. In the Truggy class it was defending Champion Bradley Baird who took his Xray to victory over Christopher McCauley and Oisin O’Briain who crossed the line seperated by just 2 seconds. Round 2 of the 4 round Irish Nationals will take competitors to the large BADMCC track in Northern Ireland on June 28th.

1:8 Buggy Result
1 (3) Michael Todd – Losi – 56/ 2717.98
2 (2) Barkley Abernethy – Xray – 55/ 2713.23
3 (1) Alan Bickerstaff – Associated – 55/ 2737.43
4 (8) Derek Mc Cluskey – Hong Nor – 54/ 2728.94
5 (4) Mark Harron – Hot Bodies – 53/ 2702.90
6 (7) Cathal Taffe – Crono – 51/ 2700.39
7 (5) David Curtis – Xray – 50/ 2722.39
8 (10)Darren Hill – Kyosho – 49/ 2736.31
9 (9) Richard Quigley – Losi – 48/ 2710.21
10(6) Gary Baird – Kyosho – 40/ 2664.51

Truggy Result (Top 3)
1. (3) Bradley Baird – Xray – 36/ 1809.14
2. (1) Christopher McCauley – Losi – 34/ 1815.30
3. (2) Oisin O Briain – GS Racing – 34/ 1817.42

Source: Hobbies Ireland [hobbiesireland.ie]

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Todd & Baird take Rd1 honours in Ireland

Serpent have announced that top international electric racer Jilles Groskamp from the Netherlands, has made an agreement to test and race the company’s gas powered cars. Not a stranger to gas racing, the Tamiya Factory driver TQd last years 1/10th scale 200mm World Championships in Portugal and has competed at numerous other gas events, most recently the Dutch EFRA GP where he was a direct qualifier for the main final. As we already reported, he has tested the production prototype of the new Serpent 200mm gas car and, that along with DJ Apolaro, will run the car at the Turkish GP in Bursa next week. After that there will be a lot more test work and preparation to get ready for the European Championships for 1/10th scale that takes place in Gubbio, Italy in July. Jilles will be racing the Serpent 7XX with Max Power engines and continues to be sponsored by Xceed for tools a deal which will now include fuel and bodies.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]

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Jilles Groskamp to race gas for Serpent

Novarossi have announced that they have 2 new off road manifolds available which have been made with a tighter bend. By doing so, the drivers who have the latest Mugen buggy can now use Novarossi manifolds without problems. The 2 new manifolds feature a similar length as their currenly available 41020 and 41021 manifolds but due to the tighter curve they are more compact. Available in short and long versions.

Source: Novarossi [novarossi.com]

Credit:
Novarossi Compact Buggy manifolds

The 2009 running of the International Köngener Offroad Masters was held in Köngen near Stuttgart last weekend. In the 4WD class it was Team Yokomo driver Jörn Neumann that took the TQ spot and he went on to finish in 1st place in the finals ahead of team mate Florian Baatz, with Markus Greter taking 3rd spot.

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Neumann wins 2009 Köngener Offroad Masters