Name: James Helliwell Team Nickname: Ralph Age: 32 Years racing experience: 89-97, end of 07-present. Home Track: Blyth Favourite Tyre: Yellow mini spike Favourite Track: Worksop indoors, and Robin Hood Raceway outdoors. Best Racing result: 60m egg & spoon race 1992 - 2nd place, Talywaom was alright - Talywain national 09 qualified 2nd in the B, finished 3rd. Occupation: Farmer. Cake or Biscuit? Biscuits. Gravy or custard? Gravy Favourite take away: Indian, chicken dupiaza from the Tulsi in Retford Favourite cheese (not wensleydale): 5 counties. Where do you see yourself in 2 years time?: Farmer of the year in farmers weekly. Favourite method of transport? Combine Harvester. All time favourite R/C car? schumacher Cat SX Left or Right Handed (Handwriting): Right handed. Who would you like in the team: Neil Cragg - he's right proper ace. Who would you like out of the team: Nathan Waters, just kidding. How would you improve the car if you could have any changes: The addition of Mixed vegetables. What is your favourite British product besides the CAT SX: Chocolate buttons, Cadburys. What is your favourite breed of feline cat? (?Manx,Siamese,Tom,Tiger,Leopart,Pussy-Cat-Doll?) The ones with the big eyes (when you squeeze them).

Round two of the 2009 BRCA 1/10th off road national series came back to the excellent Oswestry facility in the mid west of England, just next to the Wales border. This is the fourth year in succession that the Oswestry club have hosted a round of the National Championship and like previous years the track is a mix of flat grass track and several carpet covered jumps.

Drivers briefing was more standard that at Tally, in that PW gave us his maximum-best performance from on the rostrum, we liked it. A new addition to the his speil was talk of the new referee arrangements, Damo is organising several drivers to do short stints on the-job, so no one person has to stand up there delivering the goods all day.

PW is still trying to get to the bottom of the Li-Po stuff about some chargers sending the packs over voltage, he mentioned one charger manufacturer who may have gome questionable calibration - wow. Jeff Stanton is Race Director today - he has a beard.

Atomic Carbon CR2
Andy Griffiths was running the latest development from Atomic Carbon - the CR2. The car is based off the Losi XXXCR 2WD buggy but has a lot in common with a car seen a few years ago developed by a couple of the-Losi drivers. Whilst that car needed a lot of custom work to acheive a finished car - this Atomic Carbon car is designed to assemble with the minimum of fuss / hand finishing.

Under the chassis	Extra bracing around the front

The main chasssis is a flat plate of carbon fibre, with small carbon 'ribs' bolted down either side to give strength and stiffness. The front end uses the XXXNT nose piece to replicate the front of the XXXCR.

Unusual twin shock towers on the front.	Andy flies to 11th in round one! Amazing.

Jonathan at Atomic Carbon is looking at possibly releasing this as a upgrade kit for the XXXCR, but not until it's been thoroughly tested and final design changes made.

The track started to cut up a little by round two and lap times were consequently dropping off - no one was able to manage 13 laps this time around. Ellis Stafford got close but couldn't quite make it stick - putting in 12 laps in 301.27 to take the round. Previous round winner and team mate of Ellis, Phil Sleigh, was going well but had a mistake and dropped to 16th in round.
Things were super-tight in the top 10, with four drivers on 12/306!

	Round 2 Qualifying
	position name result 1 Ellis Stafford 12/ 301.27 2 Paul Bradby 12/ 304.30 3 Simon Moss 12/ 305.15 4 Mark Stanley 12/ 305.33 5 Neil Cragg 12/ 306.18 6 Danny McGee 12/ 306.71 7 Tom Yardy 12/ 306.76 8 Nathan Waters 12/ 306.80 9 Richard Lowe 12/ 307.70 10 Grant Williams 12/ 310.31

Times dropped further in round three of qualifying and the top guys got even further from acheiving 13 lap pace. Ellis Stafford was once again top of the heap, with Danny McGee second and Paul Bradby third. Tom Yardy and Phil Sleigh were both very close behind in 4th and 5th respectively.

	Round 3 Qualifying
	position name result 1 Ellis Stafford 12/ 304.45 2 Danny McGee 12/ 307.28 3 Paul Bradby 12/ 307.47 4 Tom Yardy 12/ 307.49 5 Phil Sleigh 12/ 307.65 6 Simon Moss 12/ 309.81 7 Richard Lowe 12/ 310.07 8 Matt Benfield 12/ 311.78 9 Nathan Waters 12/ 311.97 10 Neil Cragg 12/ 313.77

Schumacher have their new superduper pitting tent - it's huge!

The racing line by round four of qualifying - getting a little bit worn.

Simon Moss took the final round of qualifying, just beating Tom Yardy to the win, Lee Martin was third but it was too little too late and he'd have to settle with a place in the B final. With two wins, Ellis Stafford was going to be TQ for the A final.

Round 4 Qualifying

Overall Qualifying

A final leg One

The drivers got a clean start and Ellis immediately put the hammer down - starting to pull out a lead from the chasing pack from the start and extending it through the next few laps. Ellis looked untouchable but coming over the big tabletop he took the corner too tight and had to be marshalled. He retained the lead but now Simon Moss was right on his tail and pushing hard.

A finalists line up for the first leg	Ellis leads them round turn one

	Ellis stretched out a lead early

Neil Cragg was down in fourth chasing Phil Sleigh and this was the battle to watch as Ellis again pulled away from Moss at the front.

Whether Ellis had let off the throttle a little or not it wasn't clear but Simon Moss began catching into the final minute - images of TQing and finishing a misserable 9th at the previous round must have been playing in his head at some point during the day after all. Simon put in a heroic final push and the pair came into the first corner after the loop side by side - Simon had the inside line but turned in too quickly, getting stuck in the pipe and allowing Ellis a reprieve.

Moss looks for a way past Bradby early in the race	Moss was all over Ellis but a mistake meant he had to settle for 2nd

Ellis went on to win, Simon just managing to hold onto 2nd by the slimmest of margains over Neil Cragg who'd managed to squeeze past Phil Sleigh during the chaos.

A final leg one

A Final Leg Two
Leg two was an action packed final with Ellis making an early mistake the corner before the large table top on lap one which allowed Simon Moss alongside. The pair went over the tabletop side-by-side but collided mid-air. It was a no-fault racing incident but Ellis came off worst as Simon managed to recover and carry on into the lead at the start of lap two.

Moss and Ellis collide - ellis came off worst though	Moss lead from Bradby and Sleigh

Ellis was still tumbling and rejoining the track and as he crossed the loop to start lap two he was in dead last!

Simon lead from Bradby and Phil Sleigh round lap two but coming back over the large table top (hey, this was sorting the men from the boys) he got a little sideways on the landing allowing Bradby to gain rapidly. Whether by choice or accident Simon turned his wheels early and left Bradby with nowhere to go - resulting in a crash and Simon left stranded, dropping down to 5th.

Moss and Bradby collided at the start of lap 3	Phil Sleigh took up the lead whilst Bradby retained 2nd

Ellis was on a mission from the back of the pack...	.....and forced his way thru like only Ellis can.

Phil Sleigh now took up the lead with Bradby and Yardy 2nd and 3rd respectively. Yardy made an error which allowed Cragg through for third while Sleigh built a lead over Bradby up front. As the race went on Bradby closed and for the final few laps it was all about this front pair - Bradby looked desperately for a way past but couldn't find a way. Bradby had the choice to go nuts over the tabletop leading up to the finish line but it was a risk he didn't take - Sleigh took the leg, Bradby second and Yardy was back past Cragg for third.

Bradby and Sleigh battled like R/C gladiators as they vied for the lead but Phil Sleigh held on for the win.

	A final leg Two
	position qualified name result 1 4 Phil Sleigh 13/ 322.90 2 3 Paul Bradby 13/ 323.36 3 5 Tom Yardy 12/ 301.11 4 6 Neil Cragg 12/ 301.21 5 1 Ellis Stafford 12/ 301.72 6 8 Danny Mcgee 12/ 307.19 7 7 Mark Stanley 12/ 309.30 8 9 Richard Lowe 12/ 310.99 9 10 Nathan Waters 12/ 311.15 10 2 Simon Moss 12/ 314.70

A Final Leg Three
Everyone got away cleanly round lap one in grid order but at the start of lap two Bradby turned in too tight just like Moss had in leg one - dropping down the order and allowing Phil Sleigh through for third. It was now Stafford, Moss, Sleigh.

Moss made a mistake and Sleigh was up to second with Stafford out front - XFactory chasing XFactory at the sharp end! Both drivers already had a win and either could take the meeting. Sleigh spent the next 4 minutes trying to close the gap on team mate Ellis, but it just wasn't happening despite his best efforts and reigning 2WD champion Ellis Stafford took his first National of the season.

Sleigh couldn't catch Ellis	Ellis squares up for the table top for the last time

	A final leg Three
	position qualified name result 1 1 Ellis Stafford 13/ 317.44 2 4 Phil Sleigh 13/ 318.95 3 3 Paul Bradby 13/ 320.18 4 2 Simon Moss 13/ 324.72 5 7 Mark Stanley 12/ 300.67 6 10 Nathan Waters 12/ 303.38 7 8 Danny Mcgee 12/ 308.67 8 9 Richard Lowe 12/ 309.32 9 5 Tom Yardy 12/ 312.58 10 6 Neil Cragg 6/ 154.46

	Overall results - A Final
	position qual name result car 1 1 Ellis Stafford 2 [ 1 5 1] XFactory X6sq 2 4 Phil Sleigh 3 [ 4 1 2] XFactory X6sq 3 3 Paul Bradby 5 [ 7 2 3] Associated B4 4 2 Simon Moss 6 [ 2 10 4] Associated B4 5 6 Neil Cragg 7 [ 3 4 10] Associated B4 6 5 Tom Yardy 8 [ 5 3 9] Associated B4 7 7 Mark Stanley 11 [ 6 7 5] XFactory X6sq 8 8 Danny Mcgee 13 [ 10 6 7] Losi XXXCR 9 10 Nathan Waters 14 [ 8 9 6] XFactory X6sq 10 9 Richard Lowe 16 [ 9 8 8] Associated B4

XFactory took their second 2WD National on the trot after Phil Sleigh took round one at Talywain - a fantastic result for such a small company.

Sunday May 31st 2009 - 4wd
Sunday saw the start of the 4WD event and it was another scorching hot day from the start. The track was pretty much the same layout as the previous day but was now being run reverse direction. The racing line was already well worn but the 4WD cars didn't seem to have too many problems.

Drivers limber up at the briefing.

Moody was rather sweaty - so much that he left a pool of his juice on the floor.

	4wd entry numbers at Oswestry Schumacher CAT - 30 AE B44 - 30 Losi XX4 - 19 Xtreme Predator x11 - 12 Yokomo 9 XFactory X5 - 9 Hot Bodies D4 - 3 JConcepts BJ4 - 3 Atomic S4 - 2 Tamiya - 2 kyosho - 1

Like an 8th scale nitro powered MONSTER, Neil Cragg went out like a true maniac, grabbing handfuls of dry worn grass on every corner to haul himself around and take a super-storming win in round one. Danny McGee was NO WHERE NEAR, a full 4 seconds back in second, with Schumacher hero Grant Williams bringing home the bacon sandwich in third.

Round 1 Qualifying

Round one winner Neil Cragg had some boasting lined up but had to swallow it down when an orange and white missile harpooned him at the start of his heat. Another harpooning incident later sealed the deal and Craggy was out of it. Ellis Stafford got close to Neils awesome round one time but couldn't quite match it - still, it was good enough to take the win just ahead of Simon Moss who'd added an anti-roll bar to the rear of his car and was looking mighty fine.

Danny McGee would have been on a great run but a couple of errors meant he had to settle for 4th.

Round 2 Qualifying

Lee Martin eats up some grass on his way to taking round three with a new fastest time

Round 3 Qualifying

Lee Martin, the reigning 4WD National Champion was back at his best and put in another near-identical time to his round-three winner to take his second round on the trot and overall TQ. Paul Bradby and Neil Cragg made it a 1-2-3 for the Associated B44 just over a second behind Lee.

Round 4 Qualifying

Overall Qualifying

A Final Leg One
Lee Martin, Neil Cragg and Paul Bradby made it a 1-2-3 for the first few laps - maintaining their start order and pulling a little gap over Danny McGee who was chasing in 4th. Coming up to finish lap four Cragg in 2nd went a little wide and lost it - shooting across the path of Bradby who was coming alongside for the pass and causing him to spin. Positions didn't change but McGee was now right behind Bradby.

1st corner	Ellis goes a bit nuts

McGee out-powers Bradby in a drag race down the straight	Ellis having a bit of a mare.

McGee made a move down the straight like he'd dont to Tom Yardy at Talywain - he somehow got a boost from nowhere and sailed past for third as they came off the straight. Craggs car still looked unsettled and the rear end stepped out a couple of times which allowed McGee to get close - coming onto the straight Cragg lost it and there was chaos. Lee Martin stretched out more than the length of the straight lead as the positions behind swapped rapidly.

	Lee Martins B44

Tom Yardy now in 3rd was all over the back of McGee in 2nd and the pressure told as McGee rolled and the positions changed. Lee wasn't going to be caught without a big mistake - and he didn't make one, simple as that.

A final leg One

Andy Griffiths

A Final Leg Two
A clean start from Lee Martin, followed by Neil Cragg and Paul Bradby. Lee pulled a gap down the straight whilst Bradby was looking for a way around Cragg, all three B44's moved away from the rest of the field.
With three minutes left to race Ellis Stafford closed in on Cragg and Bradby, whilst Tom Yardy made a mistake allowing Danny McGee back into 5th place. Ellis piled the pressure onto Bradby, looking for a way through, taking wide lines around corners he misjudged the tabletop jump, allowing Bradders some breathing space to try and catch Neil Cragg.

With two minutes to go, Lee Martin remained in the lead, holding a gap of just 1.05 seconds from 2nd place Neil. A sausage roll from Bradders coming around the hairpin at the end of the straight saw Ellis make his move into 3rd place, and in the excitement of this new challege from the rear, Lee Martin clipped the corner as he entered the tabletop jump, and was swiftly overtaken by the ever patient Cragg. Lee however wasn't going to give up without a battle, and kept his nose up Craggs rear-end down the straight and through the hair grips. Crossing the loop almost attached, the gap between the two cars was 0.3 seconds - impressive much.

In a breathtaking moment Cragg clipped the track marker, sending him almost off balance, Lee looked to seize the opportunity to move past, but Neil is on the ball and straight back onto the racing line, but with Lee already sniffing around the outside, the two cars come on each other, and watch aghast as Ellis slipped into 1st place and Bradders followed through, for second.

Ellis Stafford (blurry one) chases Bradby	Neil gets it a little sideways as Lee looks to pass

The leading pair tangle	Ellis sneaks through for the lead

Lee tumbles like a young gymnast In all the excitement and under pressure to fight for the number one spot for AE, Neil and Lee thrashed it down the straight, and once again the two cars intermingled at the end of the straight, seeing Lees orange missile cartwheel over the hairpin. Meanwhile Ellis held a firm grip on the lead, and Cragg in superstar style managed to hold second place, followed by Bradders. The long time leader Lee managed to slip his machine into 4th place despite the two errors (and a warning) on one lap. With 30 seconds to go, 1 second seperated Ellis and Craggs cars, not wanting the race to end without another mention, on the final lap Danny McGee decided to push for 4th place, after happily sitting in 5th for the majority of the race, Lee wasn't having any of it though, and kept his backdoor closed. As the tone signalled the end of the race, Cragg started really hammering Ellis, pushing for the top spot but in all the excitement clipped a pipe and gave Ellis the required breathing space to take the race.

A final leg Two

A Final Leg Three
Lee Martin made a clean start for the final leg of the 4wd a final, making a small mistake coming around the corner towards the tabletop jump, but kept the car on its wheels. The top five were all racing closely around the field, with Neil Cragg desperately sniffing at Lees rear end, looking for a way through. Bradders, Ellis and Yardy in 3rd, 4th and 5th remained very close, all looking for a way through to the top spot.

Lee leads them round, but not for too long

With just over three minutes to go, Lee Martin in 1st place brushed up against the pipe, flipped the car but landed on his wheels, slipping it straight back into third place as Cragg and Bradders had slipped theirs in to 1st and 2nd respectively. Cragg held the first place with Bradders hot on his tail, and the two cars moved away from the rest of their peers - Lee in 3rd and Yardy in 4th place. With one minute left on the clock, Cragg hit the track marker as he entered the tabletop, slamming his nose into the side and allowing team mate Bradders into 1st place. With maximum best enthusiasm, XFactory superstar and Talywain 2wd national winner Phil Sleigh (marshalling) leapt to Craggs rescue, only to slip on the dry grass(!), resulting in him marshalling European Champ Neil Cragg from under the jump. Drama. Meanwhile short-time leader Bradders misjudged the corner before the straight, and despite some quick marshalling he wasn't back on the racing line before Lee Martin took control of the race again - amazing action packed stuff.
With more drama approaching the finishing line, in his excitement to try and catch up to Lee, Bradders nosed the track marker again, and Yardy who was hot on his tail ended up ploughing through the side of Bradders' car, flipping the vehicle back onto its wheels. A disillusioned Bradders managed to manoevure his car into 4th place, having lost the 2nd spot to Grant Williams whilst entangled with Yardy.

Lee took the leg and overall victory.

Yardy muscles past Lee with the Yokomo	Lee battled back to the front in an action packed final

A final leg Three

Overall results - A Final

Lee's win meant both reigning champions had taken wins in their respective specialist classes at Oswestry.

Lee used the RudeBits gear in his car

Speedpassion 5.5R - in lee's colours? interesting.

Thanks to the organisers for putting on an awesome event and to our sponsors for helping us cover it.

2WD Photos

4WD Photos

Video by James Helliwell - TEAM SCHUMACHER super star.