Chris Grainger Maintains BRCA Championship Lead
The third round of the BRCA championship took the drivers to the most northern circuit on the calendar, Halifax.
The high-speed circuit had been ravaged by floods earlier in the year, and so it was fantastic to see the work that the club had put in to get it back ready to national-level spec.
The practice rounds were dogged by on-and-off rain, leaving most drivers heading into Qualifying with next to no dry running on the track. The Associated Team got off to a solid start, with current BRCA Championship leader Chris Grainger setting the third best time, ahead of his team mates Matthew White (5th) and Zak Smith (6th). The second round saw drivers requiring their ‘wet’ cars, as rain returned to the circuit. Alan Bickerstaff put in a superb run to take second in the round, one place in front of his Team Associated team leader, Chris Grainger. Sunday’s qualifying saw continued performances from the team, until rain again in the final round set the grid with Chris third overall, Alan sixth, Matthew 10th and Zak an unlucky 12th.
Probably the most notable success of the weekend in the CML/Team Associated camp was in the Pro Stock class. Mark ‘Waldo’ Wallace did a great job to battle tricky track conditions to line his Reedy powered Associated TC7 fourth overall, with Chris Clark also placing his Associated seventh in the A Final. But it was young Michael Bolt who took the headlines, setting two top-6 times during qualifying and securing his first BRCA A-Final placing in tenth overall.
The A Finals produced some close racing, with tyre strategies also coming into play. A DNF for Chris Grainger in the first leg left him a little on the back foot, but an emphatic win in leg two, combined with a second in leg three (which experienced a final rain shower half way through!) was enough to give him second overall. Alan Bickerstaff scored a third and two fourth places to finish fifth overall, with Matthew White right behind in sixth.
The result means Chris maintains his lead in the Championship, and extends his advantage over the field to two points. Next up for some of the drivers will be the ETS Finals in Slovakia, where they will race alongside the European and American teams, whilst on the domestic circuit, the classic Mendip track hosts the next round of the BRCA championship.
