Brief report below from the final round. Big thank you to everyone who supported the series in it's first year. We aim to be back this/next year bigger and better
After a false start two weeks ago when the heavens opened and caused a flood, today saw the finale of the Mid East Winter Series at A1 raceway in rather more summer like conditions. The track was a good mix of fast sweeping corners, tight sections and a number of bumps and jumps to navigate but, most importantly, it was dry with grip the highest it had been all series.
In 2wd, a no show by Simon Flude meant that the championship was decided before a wheel was turned. However, Ant Potter would have some stiff competition on the day by the likes of Ben Smith, fresh off the back of clinching the WBMCC Buggy Blitz indoor championship and Schumacher teammate Andy Wesson. Rounds 1 and 2 went to Potter however as the others struggled to adapt from high grip carpet to low/medium grip astro. Smith’s cause hampered further by his mechanic’s reluctance to adjust his car to the conditions. Either Ben got his head down or Simon caved in on setup but the next two rounds went to Smith Jr and with a faster time than Potter managed in rounds 1 and 2, he took TQ. Behind them, there was a notable 4th for Will Sharman, qualifying ahead of 4wd champ Joey Cockill who was giving his new built Kyosho RB7 a run out.
In the A final, Smith, Potter and Wesson escaped and held positions to the finish. Behind them, Ken Rieth made his way up to 4th with Luke Eyre following him round to 5th. Mark Brownsword worked his way from the back of the grid to 6th, benefitting from Joey Cockill’s early exit with a broken servo horn and others dropping back. The B final was won by Lee Hankin from a close fought battle between the Thompson twins Harry and Jude.
4wd qualifying was dominated by Shaun Thompson and his ZX7 taking all four heats. Gareth Jaine was in a lonely 2nd ahead of a close battle between Paul Hicklin and Ian Wyatt and an even closer one between Tom Durham, Dwain Ashdown and Kamran Wells. The final became a race of attrition as, first, Kamran ripped off a front wheel, then Gareth Jaine broke a rear diff housing with a freak crash over the tabletop. At the front Shaun Thompson ran away to the win to round off a great day. Wyatt came out on top against Hicklin to take 2nd but 3rd was still a great result for the youngster.
Rally was a little short on numbers but Darren Wells and Andy Hicklin were ready for another titanic battle and being grouped in with the trucks would add extra spice. A breakage in round 1 for Hicklin gave Wells a comfortable win. This only served to inspire Hicklin and he took the next three rounds and, with it, TQ. In the final it ebbed and flowed between them until a couple of mistakes allowed Hicklin to escape to victory.
Trucks started with four but ended with three. Eugene Galley took his new Schokomo stadium truck to TQ and win from Mark Ashforth and young Adam Spendlove.
And so, after the trophies were awarded, this round concluded what has been a great inaugural series which will definitely be back later this year both bigger and better. A big thank you to the committees of A1 Raceway, Bingham Model Raceway and Broxtowe Model Car Club. Now onto the main summer series which starts in just three weeks with the 4wd regional at BMR on April 14th. See you there.