Reedy dominates at first 12th national.
West Kent Radio Car Club in Tonbridge were the hosts for round 1 of the BRCA 1/12th national series and as usual there was some cracking racing.
The track layout was testing and a bit more open than some have become accustomed to and was a real challenge for the drivers with some very fast sections countered with tighter chicanes. Grip level was good from the off with this being a regular 12th venue during the year.
On Saturday it was CML/Associated/Reedy driver Keith Robertson that took the pole position in the 13.5 class whilst in the Reedy driver Olly Jefferies took the top spot in 10.5.
A very close finish in the 13.5 A final saw Leigh Dibble pip Keith after errors by both drivers. The winning margin was less than two tenths of a second with Damien Holmes coming in third a few seconds behind. The 10.5 A final saw Olly never headed on his way to the win with Yokomo/Reedy driver Mark Stiles nipping past David Spashett near the end to steal second place away from the former World Champ.
Sunday dawned and with the rain coming down we were all glad it was back to indoor racing. The Sportsman class was a battle all day between Reedy powered drivers Jim Spencer and Keith Robertson, and it was Keith that took the pole in the final heat of qualifying thanks to some tyre prep from team-mate Mark Jewitt. In the Open class again it was Olly Jefferies leading the way comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.
The Sportsman final was another classic as Keith and Jim broke clear and battled nose to tail. A misunderstanding with a back marker was costly for Jim as Keith kept a cool head and drove to the win. Jim made second with Mark Jewitt in third – making it a Reedy podium lock out. Along with Reedy power Keith was driving the Team Associated RC12R5.2 with Protoform shells, Jaco tyres, Savox servo and the Viper VTX1 ESC.
The Open final was just starting to show some potential with Olly at the front looking controlled but with David not too far behind, until an unfortunate incident resulted in the carpet coming up at the end of the straight. A quick fix wasn’t enough and the race had to be called on the positions so far with Olly remaining undefeated in first, David second and Mark finishing off another good weekend in third.
All results and information can be found on the BRCA website.
