RRCi series round 2: 11th June 2007

Originally the second round of the 2007 RRCi series was to be hosted by the Fast Tracks R/C club at their Tamworth track. However, a change of circumstances made this impossible so instead Carl and his team welcomed us to their temporary home for the day at the ever-popular BNRC Frankley venue. The track, laid out by the Fast Tracks crew, produced lap times over 50 sec for everyone ? this track was big, really BIG! To even things up the drivers were running in the opposite direction to normal, and not just on the astro-turfed areas either, with a few sections of grass thrown in to create a multi-surface feel. Just about every possible feature of this excellent track was used including several large jumps, a mammoth cross over table top and some great little ripples to catch out the impatient. Finding a rhythm was difficult at times but fortunately the FTD qualifying format allowed drivers a second (and third) chance to stake their claim for pole position. CML team mates Jon Howells and Andy Reynolds were looking forward to a strong performance today, both running their Picco P3-R powered Hyper 8 buggies. Andy was delighted to secure himself a spot direct onto the A final grid after three steady runs in qualifying. Jim Davis finished just ahead of Jon to steal the extra point for TQ. As usual the CML men both used Pro-Line M3 compound tyres for this meeting, Jon tried the Crimefighters on his Hyper 8 before settling on Bow Ties for the A final, while Andy preferred the Bow Tie all day. Despite a warm-up drama for Jon prior to the A final start, nothing was going to prevent Jon from securing his second victory from two rounds of this years series, winning the race by a convincing margin from Jim Davis and Greg Hill with Andy achieving a modest improvement on his qualifying position to finish in 10th place. Round three of the series on 24th June takes us down to mid-Devon and the Tiverton club?s Burlescombe track.