2WD Photos

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Round 4 of the 2008 BRCA 1/10th scale offroad electric national series was hosted by Eden Park Raceway - EPR in Bromley, Kent. It's a club which dates way back to 1984 and which has recently undergone a very dramatic regeneration.

The club was founded by old-skool super star Kevin Moore and his Dad, who built a grass track on the area adjoining where the current track is located. The permenant track was built in 1992. Back in the heyday the club meetings would attract between 80-100 racers, and the regional events would be maxed out with an attendance of 120 drivers. The club was also involved in a 'South of Watford League', where all clubs South of Watford would compete against each other in a points series. Previous to this weekends event, the last national championship meeting held at Eden Park Raceway (formerly EPO - Eden Park Overlanders) was in 1998, after this the club continued to run club meetings until tbe year 2000, at which point they were forced to close down by the old management of the Langley Leisure Club, who felt that the race meetings were getting in the way of football.

Many months of hard work spread across many 'word days' went into revamping the Eden Park track - these photos from Matt Benfield of RACER magazine show a small portion of the work that was needed.

As management has changed over the years, the clubs commitee have spoken about re-opening the track, and finally in October 2006 Matt Benfield, Steve Brooke, and Alex Brayshaw made their decision and obtained permission from the leisure clubs' new management.

Work on the track commenced in January 2007, many members in the region were keen to get the track up and running, so for many weeks work parties of 28-30 people would meet to clear debris, clean astroturf, and paint the features. Some of the angles and curves were altered on the tracks surface due to complaints 'back in the day' that many breakages were occuring. Alex Brayshaw feels that this has improved since the re-opening of the track, and there have been much fewer breakages at this event. The track is comprised of approximately 85% astroturf (all original from the 1990's) and 15% tarmac/concrete, and has a variety of jumps, bumps, and angular sections. The club members are hoping to add even more features to the track next year.

The finished track - Eden Park reborn

After months of hard work and dedication, the track re-opened in June 2007, and has held a successful winter series, and hosts regional events monthly throughout summer for the South East of England, alongside clubs such as Faversham and Hildenborough.

Richard Barton loves oOple race reports
put your top on man

EPR have an awesome drivers stand

We couldn't help but notice the abundance of banners adorning the fences at this national event, the most that we have seen at any track all year, Alex tells me that he was able to obtain these simply by writing to companies and requesting their banners for the event, many of whom were clearly happy to oblige.

The venue is adequately kitted out with fixed toilets, and of course the mandatory portaloo is provided for overnight campers.

The leisure club bar is open throughout the day and well into the evening, providing us with much needed refreshments in this intense heat.

Huge thanks to Matt, Steve, Alex and all the people who have worked so hard to make this track raceable, and of course for all the hard work that goes into hosting a national championship event. With thanks to Alex Brayshaw for providing the information about this venue.

Tony Truman liked to use the 'alternate straight'

Jonathan Palmer - going quick or about to roll, who knows! - ON the edge for sure

The day got off to a good start with bright sunshine and only passing cloud with little threat of rain. Two rounds of practice ran from 08.00am with each driver having two 3-minute runs, followed promtly by drivers briefing.

Vicky reports on - DRIVERS BRIEFING:
Two rounds of practice ran from 08.00am with each driver having two 3-minute runs, followed promtly by drivers briefing. Various BRCA representatives are present on the rostrum for drivers briefing, including 1/10th electric offroad chairman and race steward Paul Worsely, timekeeper Jaquie Rowcliffe, section secretary Charlie Fraser, chief referee Stuart Whyman, drivers representative Tom Yardy, technical officer Phil Sleigh, and race director Alex Brayshaw.

Paul starts by introducing each of the representatives and welcoming drivers to the track. Competitors are shown where various points of the track are, including the 'pull off' area where all cars must stop at the end of the race, and where the 'stop go' box is for drivers receiving stop-go penalties. Participants are then reminded about some of the rules of the 2008 BRCA handbook, in particular Paul made reference to an omission in the handbook where penalties are specified for drivers who leave the rostrum during qualifying, but doesn't mention penalties for drivers leaving the rostrum during finals. Paul reitterated that no driver should leave the rostrum whilst any race, qualifying AND finals, are still running, and that anyone who does will incur a penalty. Drivers are also reminded during briefing that failure to marshal will incur a penalty.

Paul finished todays drivers briefing with a polite reminder to everyone present that we are well known throughout Europe as being a strong team who come racing to enjoy ourselves and usually do so without causing upset to other drivers. Paul expressed concern that in recent months there has been some negativity directed at fellow drivers, either about incidents on the track (which are increasingly being taken to the drivers representatives rather than discussing issues with each other), and also increased amounts of negative feedback to race organisers following regional events across the country. We were reminded that nationally there are at least 12 days of the year when we have national events held, and about 70 days of the year when regional events are being held, all of which involve a great amount of work from a small number of volunteers who offer their time to run meetings so that we can race. Continuous negative feedback can be demoralising for race organisers who have worked hard to prepare for and run a meeting.

Ellis Stafford got off to a good start, taking round one of qualifying with a 3 second lead from Grant Williams and Tom Yardy third. Ellis clearly started the day as he meant to go on, with another TQ in round two - taking the round with what would turn out to be the days only 14-lap time for qualifying. Danny McGee, Grant Williams, and Matt Benfield followed Ellis into the top 10, with just over 1 second between their times.
Defending 2WD Champion Darren Bloomfield wasn't having much luck on the track, his car overheated in the first round, broke in the second and a cell blew in the third - pretty much putting him out of the running to retain his title.

With two round wins, Ellis was looking good for over all TQ - but in round three he had to retire after only three laps and it was Lee Martin that took the round just 1 second ahead of local hero Matt "Racer" Benfield.

Round 2.
Ellis clearly started the day as he meant to go on, with another TQ in round two - taking the round with the days only 14-lap time. Danny McGee, Grant Williams, and Matt Benfield followed Ellis into the top 10, with just over 1 second between their times.

Taking the corners too tight isn't a good idea at EPR	Team Losi Team Manager - Brian Preddy - doing some strength tests as usual.

Round 3.

Ellis fell off the top 10 in round 3, Lee Martin TQ'd the round.

Kinwald!!! - not really, Andy Carter driving the RACER review hopped-up X6 HARD.

Round 4.

After a blip in round three - Ellis was back on top to secure the TQ. Lee Martin secured second and Neil Cragg third to secure his place in the A final after a poor start to the day.

Worlds - Japan, 2007. We liked this event - here's some misc not-seen-before photos from our adventure, for a laugh.

After 4 rounds of qualifying were complete the competition for 10th place on the grid was very close between Simon Moss and Paul Bradby with one point seperating the two, Paul made it into the A with a 7th and a 6th, leaving Simon Moss in BQ position with 6th and 8th.

Grid order for the A final was as follows:

Legends Race

In between qualifying and finals, a special guest event was held for non-national competitors. A total of 8 drivers took part in the fun event, which involved a reedy format start, where everyone left the start line at the same time, resulting in carnage along the straight. Mick Doughty was using superstar Chris Doughtys B44 (?), EPR founder Kevin Moore drove Ian Boulters RC10B4. Kevin is 4th overall on the BRCA winners list, having made 32 consecutive national A-Finals.

Tom Stacey, SE competitor, drove his vintage RC10B1 around, and Ryan Corall - Euros and National A-Finalist drove a XX4. Mark Knight from MK-Racing drove an Atomic Carbon B4, and SE regional rep & EPR commitee member Steve Brooke drove a B4. Commitee member and race director Alex Brayshaw took part, and last but not least, old-time Euros and National A-Finalist Mark Tatman participated. Mark hasn't raced for years, but having picked up the transmitter today he now plans to buy a kit and start racing again.

Needless to say - it was chaos from the start. I've no idea who 'won' but it brought a lot of laughter so who cares.

A Final Leg One
Ellis Stafford got away cleanly and held the lead till the end. Lee Martin was in second but a roll put him down the order, with Grant Williams taking up 2nd to lead the chase to catch Ellis. 

Great weather, fast racing, London = big crowds	Ellis leads them round for the win

Racers Matt Benfield	..........Benfield gets marshalled by Doughty

By lap 9 Lee Martin was back up to second but wasn't going to catch Ellis who went through for the extra lap to take the win.  Lee Martin finished second and Grant Williams a couple of seconds further back to take third.

We snook our oOple banners all over

Cold drinks were the order of the day! DC in Japan

Jon Bon would be proud

A Final Leg Two
Ellis Stafford was on a mission.  Lee Martin was in second but dropped to the back of the race by lap three.  Grant Williams took up second spot but couldn't close in on Ellis who held his composure to the line to take the leg and with it - the meeting.

Ellis Stafford - uncatchable	Lee Martin shows us his fancy underbelly in a bad run

A Final Leg Three
The pressure was off Ellis and it showed - Ellis making an early mistake which gave Lee Martin and Grant Williams some breathing space for a few laps, Lee and Grant battled for first place for a couple of laps.  Ellis meanwhile after dropping to fourth on lap one, was now on the heels of the two front runners - and by lap 5 was back in front and looking quicker than ever. Ellis made it a near-perfect day by taking the third leg.

Following Ellis' 2wd win and leading the way on the championship scoreboard, the national championship title could go to either Ellis, Neil Cragg, or Lee Martin over the final two events - Southport and Stotfold.

Sunday June 29th 2008
Eden Park Raceway - 4wd National Championship, round 4.
Early risers were once again greeted by bright sunshine and blue sky from around 7am, although by 9am with round 2 of practice underway the clouds appeared along with a slight chill in the air. Jaquie Rowcliffe greeted us over the microphone and called drivers to start booking in, and practice commenced at 8am in the same format as Saturday, although there had been rumours that todays practice would be 5 minute runs.

The mad thing about this is that this isn't fabricated for laughs - which makes it even madder. ACE

Early risers were once again greeted by bright sunshine and blue sky from around 7am, although by 9am with round 2 of practice underway the clouds appeared along with a slight chill in the air. Jaquie Rowcliffe greeted us over the microphone and called drivers to start booking in, and practice commenced at 8am in the same format as Saturday, although there had been rumours that todays practice would be 5 minute runs.

The track was run anti-clockwise - the opposite direction from the previous day.

Reigning 4WD national champion, Lee Martin, took the first round of qualifying with a time of 13 laps in 300.06 seconds - just missing out on the 14 laps. Danny McGee came in second 1.5 seconds down on Lee - with the previous days winner and local hero Ellis Stafford coming in third a further second back.

Danny McGee stepped up the pace in round two to get the first and only 14 lap run of the day up to that point - 14 laps in 321.63 seconds. Nathan Ralls surprised a few with the blistering pace with which he was nailing his Predator X11 around the track - taking second in the round and just missing out on 14 laps with a 13/300.55. Lee Martin came in third 1/100th of a second further back.

In round three Ellis Stafford started to show the pace he'd shown in 2WD and took the fastest time of the day so far with 14 laps in 318.50. Lee Martin came in second with Chris Doughty third. Piespeed.com driver Grant Williams finished fourth in round, a fraction of a second behind Chris.

A Final Leg One
Leg one was dominated start to finish by Ellis Stafford from pole on the grid. Ellis was chased by Lee Martin through the first few corners but a mistake from Lee saw him end up on his roof and drop down the order. Ellis quickly established a commanding lead with Chris Doughty chasing hard with the Atomised B44 car. After just two laps the gap between Ellis and Chris was more than the length of the main straight.

	Doughty hung on for second with only 3 tyres!

Neil Cragg was working his way up from 8th and was right up to third after the first lap - then up to second by lap 5.  A mistake from Neil meant Doughty was back up to second but despite a slow final lap from Ellis he wasn't going to be caught.

Doughty - Cragg - Bloomfield	Ellis Stafford took leg one

A Final Leg Two

Chris Doughty had a break before the start and had to borrow another car quickly. Ellis Stafford was chased by Lee Martin for the first couple of laps and coming round for lap three Ellis made a mistake over the large table top before the last corner - ending up on his roof and dropping down to third. Lee took over the lead with Danny McGee in second. Ellis was trying too hard to catch and made another mistake in the same place as before - this time ending his race early.

Doughty with some early problems before the start.	Ellis leading over the big tabletop - lap1

McGee and Lee Martin go thru as Ellis looks a little like he's going the wrong way! - he's actually going the right way but backwards so all is good.	Lee looks for a route past McGee - but can't do it.

More problems for Ellis as Simon Moss attempts to remove the marshalls leg.

Bloomfield (2nd) is chased hard by McGee who managed some cool jumping techniques - somehow making this jump stick and landing it smoothly.	....... Just kidding!

Reigning 4WD champion Lee Martin took the leg ahead of Bloomfield who'd put in a stonking run to move up from 10th on the grid to 4th by lap three - eventually passing Danny McGee who had to settle for third.

A Final Leg Three

Ellis lead them round for the first lap but coming over the large table top like he'd done in the race previously, he over jumped it for seemingly no reason and although it wasn't immediately obvious, the front right hand susepension arm was broken. Ellis soldiered on for another couple of laps, gradually falling down the order and with a couple of dramatic crashes at the end of the straight - Ellis tried to hold onto his position to back up his win in round one but eventually retired on lap 5.

Lee Martin goes thru and Doughty isn't far behind as Ellis runs on only three dampers	We still love you Ellis.
They all line up for a pop at the big guy.

Lee was up to first but on lap the order change again, with Chris Doughty this time taking up the lead, closely followed by Danny McGee. These two continued their battle all the way to the end, with Chris managing to hold on for the win and take overall victory - his first National A final win for 3 years he said.

Chris Doughty rounded out his 1/10th off road career with a long awaited National win before moving to the 8th Nitro buggies for 2009.

Bad luck for pole man Ellis - another double victory just wasn't to be. Darren Bloomfield wasn't on the same pace he'd shown at the previous round Talywain, where he took a tidy double victory.

Overall results:

2WD Photos	4WD Photos