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Old 03-02-2019
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Dave Dodd Dave Dodd is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2009
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Default Darren's race report.

MEWS round 5 at BMR would be the most wintery round so far. The car temperature gauge said -4°C at one point on the way there and the racers were greeted to a frosty and frozen track. Surprisingly, the grip was relatively high as 24 hardy souls prepared to do battle. As it was getting towards the tail end of the series, there were championships to be settled. Mark Ashforth wrapped up the truck championship just by booking in. The category, sadly being under supported despite the promise in the summer when the series was conceived. 2wd and rally were still open though and could go down to the wire.
2wd was first up and a good result could seal the title for championship leader Ant Potter. However, Simon Flude would be out to keep his own championship aspirations alive and Schumacher team driver Eugene Galley had turned up for some outdoor practice so it certainly wasn’t going to be a one sided affair. Round 1 went to plan for Potter with Flude second and Galley working his way through the field to finish third. Simon Flude hit back in round 2 though aided by a failing spur on Potter’s car as it coasted over the line in third, Stuart Harlow split them with second. Harlow went one better with first in round 3, followed home by Flude who led at one point only to get tangled on a hose. Potter had a mini disaster with sixth which got even worse with seventh in round 4. With a sniff of taking the championship to the last round, Simon Flude drove a well measured round 4 to take another first and TQ for the meeting. Harlow followed him home to take second on the grid and Potter’s early good scores gave him third. In the final, Flude led away resisting a challenge from Harlow round the outside of the first corner but into the next, Potter attempted a lunge up the inside and the two came together. The rest of the field soon followed and amazingly it was Flude that came out of the melee back in the lead. Worst off was Potter who was shuffled down to the back of the pack. Harlow and Galley gave chase, but Simon got his head down, never made a mistake and took the win. Ant Potter came home seventh meaning that the title battle goes down to the last round.
In 4wd, recently crowned champion, Joe Cockill, was at home building his Kyoshos after his epiphany moment at Broxtowe. Tekno had sent Mid East regional champion, Iain Mellish and team driver Toby Stevenson. In fact, with five of the eight cars being Teknos, their motto of Tekno Takeover was coming true. Attention would turn to the tight battle for second place in the championship between Ian Wyatt and Dave Dodd. As the Teknos of Mellish and Stevenson took off at the front, Wyatt was able to distance himself from a titanic midfield battle between Rob Jaques, Dave Watson and Dave Dodd. The cold weather was taking its toll by making the plastics brittle. Both Jaques and Dodd ripped corners from their cars in round 2 leading to DNF’s. In round 3 it was Stevenson who suffered meaning Wyatt took a well-earned second place while Dodd got his best result with fifth. At the front, Mellish effortlessly took his fourth win in four rounds to wrap up TQ from Stevenson and Wyatt. In the final, Mellish got away from pole despite feeling there was an issue with the driveline of his car. Sure enough, he pulled off after just two laps, handing the lead to teammate Stevenson. Dave Dodd was trying to make up for a poor qualifying by attacking Wyatt for what was now second place. Dodd briefly got through going round the banking but both cars gave it too much beans over the double and formation cartwheeled towards the next corner. Dodd’s car finished on its roof but Wyatt’s stopped on its wheels and he was able to get away to hold second to the end. Dodd’s mistake meant that he fell back into the clutches of Dave Watson who was able to hold onto third to the finish.
Rally had become a two horse race between Andy Hicklin and Darren Wells. It was honours even at Hicklin’s home track last time out and Wells was hoping to capitalise on home advantage this time. It was also great to see that the bug had bitten the Broxtowe crew of Lance Walker, Neil Simpson and Ryan Hayden who were back for another go with tweaked cars. In round 1, Wells was able to escape from the front row to lead with Hicklin in close pursuit. Walker’s car looked at home on its new suspension to finish third ahead of Paul Dickens. In round 2 it was roles reversed as Wells chased down Hicklin who just beat the buzzer to claim a 10 lap run which could be crucial later on. Round 3 was a battle royal with four cars swapping paint in the first few laps before small mistakes allowed Wells to escape. The early battling meant he could only manage a nine lapper meaning that if Hicklin won round 4 it would be TQ on Wells’ turf. Although Hicklin got away well and was leading into the first corner, he was torpedoed from behind into the hairpin ending up near the back. Wells sensed an opportunity and got the hammer down to pull a gap. Hicklin worked his way back through to second but Wells had gone. His third win sewing up TQ. Hicklin knew he had to put the pressure on in the final and had identified a part of the track where he could make a move. Away from the line, both avoided getting sucked into the first corner pile up and pulled a small gap to the rest of the field. On lap, coming off the banking towards the double, Hicklin went for it. Wells slowed up to take them as two singles but Hicklin kept it planted and went straight over the top and into the lead like something from Dukes of Hazzard. Wells was down but not out as he picked up the pace and started nibbling at the back end of the Beta Montecarlo. This continued for a couple of laps before Hicklin went the wrong side of a track marker and handed the lead back. That mistake dragged him back into the chasing pack while Wells made good his escape. At the end Wells took it from Hicklin and Walker all on 11 laps. Behind them Dave Dodd just pipped Paul Dickens to fourth ahead of Neil Simpson and John Wells the last finisher after a problem took out Ryan Hayden.
Darren Wells didn’t know it at the time but his TQ and win had given him an unassailable lead in the championship, a shame for the neutral as a last round showdown looked on the cards. The only championship still to play for now is 2wd between Ant Potter and Simon Flude. Simon needs another perfect weekend with problems for Potter and who would’ve bet against that before today. The final round is on March 10th where the silverware will be dished out.
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