1/8th Scale Off Road Nationals - Rnd 8
The final round of the 2010 series was held over the weekend and we were back to Westmill for our second visit of the season.
The overall championship was already decided with Darren Bloomfield (Savox) crowned champion at the penultimate round at Slough and Simon Willetts had also wrapped up 2nd overall with his consistent season. 3rd was up for grabs and it would be a fight between Elliott Boots (RB/Savox), Graham Alsop (RB) and Neil Cragg (AE/Reedy/Proline/Byron) to take the final step on the podium.
Round 1 of qualifying got underway and it was Darren Bloomfield who sneaked the TQ by 1/10th of a second from Neil Cragg and Elliott Boots 3rd.
In round 2 it was Elliott, who took top honours from Darren and Neil, then he also went on to take round 3 with a stunning time to take the overall meeting TQ. Darren would line up 2nd and Neil 3rd.
The day offered up some odd qualifying and we saw some notable drivers as far down as the C final. Tony Truman (AE/Reedy/Proline/Byron) bumped his way comfortably out of the C, despite a last lap crash that broke a turnbuckle and would go on to progress from the B also. Craig Drescher (AE/Reedy/Proline/Byron) also sneaked out of the B, just pipping team mate Dave Bailey (AE/RB/Proline/Byron) for the final bump up spot.
The main final got underway with Elliott and Darren battling up until the 1st round of pit stops. Although Elliott, with his hard charging driving style, was not able to make 10 minute stops, he knew he had to make the difference on track. At about 14 minutes Darren struck trouble in the first of a bizarre series of incidents. Coming onto the straight Darren flipped over on the astro turf which somehow popped his front driveshaft out of the drive cup leaving him without drive and out. This took the pressure of Elliott and he backed his pace off a notch now he had a big lead. However, about 2 minutes later Elliott came down the straight with it sounding sick and then cut. When the car was retrieved it was found that the exhaust pipe had come apart at the join and was leaking. This left the Willetts/Cragg/Alsop battle to become the fight for the lead but just as Willetts passed the pits to effectively take the lead from Elliott he had a problem with his rear shock absorber and could only limp back to the pits for repair. And then there were 2...
Cragg and Alsop battled it out over the last 10 minutes and swapped positions a few times but at the time it mattered it was Neil in front and he would go on to take his second win of a bad luck ridden season. His luck must all have come at once, as the set up changes made to his car before the final had made it far worse than before and with all the retirements in front he was able to take the win and 3rd overall in the series.
Another notable performance was from young Joe Adams (Hobao/RB/Proline/Byron/Savox), taking 2nd overall in the Junior category which was won by Elliott Taylor.
Another exciting season in the history books, and a worthy champion. So now we look forward to the worlds in Thailand in November to see who can survive the heat and humidity to become World Champion.
All pictures courtesy of Rob Cuss.
The main final got underway with Elliott and Darren battling up until the 1st round of pit stops. Although Elliott, with his hard charging driving style, was not able to make 10 minute stops, he knew he had to make the difference on track. At about 14 minutes Darren struck trouble in the first of a bizarre series of incidents. Coming onto the straight Darren flipped over on the astro turf which somehow popped his front driveshaft out of the drive cup leaving him without drive and out. This took the pressure of Elliott and he backed his pace off a notch now he had a big lead. However, about 2 minutes later Elliott came down the straight with it sounding sick and then cut. When the car was retrieved it was found that the exhaust pipe had come apart at the join and was leaking. This left the Willetts/Cragg/Alsop battle to become the fight for the lead but just as Willetts passed the pits to effectively take the lead from Elliott he had a problem with his rear shock absorber and could only limp back to the pits for repair. And then there were 2...
Cragg and Alsop battled it out over the last 10 minutes and swapped positions a few times but at the time it mattered it was Neil in front and he would go on to take his second win of a bad luck ridden season. His luck must all have come at once, as the set up changes made to his car before the final had made it far worse than before and with all the retirements in front he was able to take the win and 3rd overall in the series.
Another notable performance was from young Joe Adams (Hobao/RB/Proline/Byron/Savox), taking 2nd overall in the Junior category which was won by Elliott Taylor.
Another exciting season in the history books, and a worthy champion. So now we look forward to the worlds in Thailand in November to see who can survive the heat and humidity to become World Champion.
All pictures courtesy of Rob Cuss.
