LSOR National Series
22/05/12

Round 3 of the LSOR National Series took place last weekend at the Westcoast Raceway.

West Coast Raceway in Scotland and May bank holiday weekend was the time and place for round 3 of the Large Scale Off Road national series. Whilst attendance was limited (possibly due to the thought of a long journey), CML drivers Steve Haynes and Darren Johnson had a trouble free journey, arriving in good time allowing for a good practice session.



Both drivers are running FTX Punishers originating from the CML distributed RTR version with a select few upgrades. Alloy Clutch Bell mount (FTX7904), Alloy Engine mounts (FTX7903), Alloy Front ‘C’ Hubs (FTX7901), Brass Brake Pads (FTX7885), High Down force rear Wing (FTX7889) and have modified their cars to accept twin steering servo’s.

Westcoast raceway is a venue offering a great track for Large Scale racing. The track is flowing, allowing for some great racing with plenty of opportunities to overtake. It also has a good technical element allowing for mistakes to be made in the heat of the battle!

During Practice, the tyre of choice was the new narrow pre-glued Punisher tyres fitted as standard on the Punisher Plus (FTX7850B), these have proved to be a good all round tyre for the LSOR national series, working well on Astroturf which covers all of the series tracks.

Due to uncertainties in the Great British weather, the format chosen for the event was Round by Round Qualifying. And for this meeting, the Short Course class was running with the 4wd class cars. As you would expect, Final positions were awarded based on the separate classes.

Round 1 gave all the cars a good shakedown, with 4 drivers retiring early due to breakages. This track can bite when you make a mistake!

Round 2 needed to produce good results for the racers who had retired early in round 1, the results required were delivered.

Round 3 proved to be yet another good round for Steve and Darren, giving the confidence that the Punishers were able to deliver a good result in the final.

Final: - Steve Haynes took 1st place in the 4wd class, whilst Darren took second. Throughout the race it was not without problems! Having run on the FTX tyres most of the day, in the final both Steve and Darren were to see a tyre partially come away from the rim. Darren’s exhaust was also damaged by a back markers car which failed to brake for a corner. Whilst initially becoming noisier, it didn’t get any worse and was deemed to remain at an acceptable level by race control. With tyres unglued, and an exhaust which couldn’t be damaged further, Steve and Darren had to ensure they completed clean and faultless laps to ensure they maintained position.

The final results for the 4wd class were: - 1st, Steve Haynes (FTX Punisher) 2nd, Darren Johnson (FTX Punisher), 3rd Les Derby (MCD)

Full meeting report can be found here.