BRCA National - Rnd 4
The 4th round of the BRCA National 1/8th Off Road series took place at the largely unused Junction 12 track, just off the M40.
The track first used in the national series last year provides a different challenge to the other dirt tracks, with its high speed chicanes and the way the traction changes throughout the day.
In practice the dust was unbelievable and at that stage it looked like the track would break up quite badly, especially as the ground was so dry. The track was swept to aid the cleaning of the line and then we were away for qualifying.
In the first round clean runs were hard to come by for the top guys and Darren Bloomfield made a few errors despite some very quick lap times. Neil Cragg was fighting a brake bias issue which kept him in the lower half of the top ten, which left Elliott Boots with a good opportunity in the last heat which he duly took to take the round win with his RB/Savox equipped car, with Simon Willetts in second.
Darren Bloomfield got it all together in round two with a fantastic drive that saw his Savox servoed car take an easy round win, with Simon Willetts again putting his car second in round and Elliott Boots third. Neil drove a steady round that saw him fifth despite a costly error that would have seen him go second.
The final round had Darren, Elliott and Simon all capable of taking TQ. Darren and Simon were the first to go in heat five, and Darren laid down a very tough target with another outstanding drive which beat Simon and left Elliott with a real job on. Elliott got very unlucky after a great first lap a stone got stuck in his wheel and in that moment cost him the chance to take overall TQ. This left the top three as Darren Bloomfield (Savox), Elliott Boots (RB/Savox) and Simon Willetts. Craig Drescher had driven a conservative last two rounds to place his RC8B eighth, one place in front of team mate Neil Cragg who was denied a final run due to an electrical failure.
It had been a tough day for our team where we didn't get off to a great start, and with the hectic nature of the one day races, were on the back foot from then on. Tony Truman and Dave Bailey were both in the B final, although Dave had good raw pace but had been blighted by some appalling driving by some back markers in qualifying.
On to the mains, and CML/Hobao driver John Howells dominated the C final to place his RB/Savox/Byron/Proline equipped Hyper 9 Pro UK into the B main.
In that B main John had a tough start and was never able to make up the difference to the leading drivers despite a very strong second half to the race. The bump up positions were only decided on the final lap with Dave Bailey (AE/RB/Byron/Savox/Proline) Tony Truman (AE/Reedy/Byron/Proline) and Reece Sawyer (Proline/Savox/Byron) scrapping it out for the final two spaces. Tony Truman was the unlucky man and his 2010 streak of A finals had come to an end.
The main final saw the Darren and Elliott both make a good start and build a lead of around 5 seconds or so over the chasing pack. At this stage Neil Cragg had fought his way through to fourth and was then in a battle with Simon Willets for third. Darren made and error that let Elliott into the lead and then, as they approached the end of the lap, Darren made a lunge and tapped Elliott upside down. Darren sportingly waited for his rival, which in turn brought Simon and Neil right up to the battle at the front. The incident though seemed to have affected Elliott who on the very next lap made three errors and dropped himself right out of contention for the lead. Over this period, Darren took advantage of the fight behind him to put in some quick laps and build a strong lead which he would maintain to the flag.
The interest of the race surrounded the fight for second and Simon, Neil and Elliott all took turns at it until Elliott dropped out of contention after a mistake in traffic left him upside down. With the marshall unable to get to him for a very long time his engine ran out of fuel! This left the battle between Neil and Simon, with Neil taking a small but decisive lead into the final laps which he maintained to the finish.
On reflection, Darren took a deserved victory as he had a pace and consistency that nobody else could match on the day. For Neil and the AE/CML team, his second place turned into a bit of a save after what had been a very tough day that looked like it would yield a poor result. I guess this shows the value of sticking at it in nitro racing as the long finals allow good results if you keep your head while those around you lose theirs.
The next national takes place at Clanfield near Portsmouth in around a months time, but in-between we will be attending the European Championships in Portugal and reporting back from the dust bowl that is!
Click here to view the full photo gallery of the event.
Darren Bloomfield got it all together in round two with a fantastic drive that saw his Savox servoed car take an easy round win, with Simon Willetts again putting his car second in round and Elliott Boots third. Neil drove a steady round that saw him fifth despite a costly error that would have seen him go second.
The final round had Darren, Elliott and Simon all capable of taking TQ. Darren and Simon were the first to go in heat five, and Darren laid down a very tough target with another outstanding drive which beat Simon and left Elliott with a real job on. Elliott got very unlucky after a great first lap a stone got stuck in his wheel and in that moment cost him the chance to take overall TQ. This left the top three as Darren Bloomfield (Savox), Elliott Boots (RB/Savox) and Simon Willetts. Craig Drescher had driven a conservative last two rounds to place his RC8B eighth, one place in front of team mate Neil Cragg who was denied a final run due to an electrical failure.
It had been a tough day for our team where we didn't get off to a great start, and with the hectic nature of the one day races, were on the back foot from then on. Tony Truman and Dave Bailey were both in the B final, although Dave had good raw pace but had been blighted by some appalling driving by some back markers in qualifying.
On to the mains, and CML/Hobao driver John Howells dominated the C final to place his RB/Savox/Byron/Proline equipped Hyper 9 Pro UK into the B main.
In that B main John had a tough start and was never able to make up the difference to the leading drivers despite a very strong second half to the race. The bump up positions were only decided on the final lap with Dave Bailey (AE/RB/Byron/Savox/Proline) Tony Truman (AE/Reedy/Byron/Proline) and Reece Sawyer (Proline/Savox/Byron) scrapping it out for the final two spaces. Tony Truman was the unlucky man and his 2010 streak of A finals had come to an end.
The main final saw the Darren and Elliott both make a good start and build a lead of around 5 seconds or so over the chasing pack. At this stage Neil Cragg had fought his way through to fourth and was then in a battle with Simon Willets for third. Darren made and error that let Elliott into the lead and then, as they approached the end of the lap, Darren made a lunge and tapped Elliott upside down. Darren sportingly waited for his rival, which in turn brought Simon and Neil right up to the battle at the front. The incident though seemed to have affected Elliott who on the very next lap made three errors and dropped himself right out of contention for the lead. Over this period, Darren took advantage of the fight behind him to put in some quick laps and build a strong lead which he would maintain to the flag.
The interest of the race surrounded the fight for second and Simon, Neil and Elliott all took turns at it until Elliott dropped out of contention after a mistake in traffic left him upside down. With the marshall unable to get to him for a very long time his engine ran out of fuel! This left the battle between Neil and Simon, with Neil taking a small but decisive lead into the final laps which he maintained to the finish.
On reflection, Darren took a deserved victory as he had a pace and consistency that nobody else could match on the day. For Neil and the AE/CML team, his second place turned into a bit of a save after what had been a very tough day that looked like it would yield a poor result. I guess this shows the value of sticking at it in nitro racing as the long finals allow good results if you keep your head while those around you lose theirs.
The next national takes place at Clanfield near Portsmouth in around a months time, but in-between we will be attending the European Championships in Portugal and reporting back from the dust bowl that is!
Click here to view the full photo gallery of the event.
