Saturday July 9th 2011 - Oswestry 2wd National.
The sun was out to greet the drivers at the penultimate round of the 2011 national series despite forecasts of rain - though with plenty of clouds things could still get WET. The Oswestry track is the only grass track in the national calendar and whilst the club has a permenant astroturf track on site, it's not quite big enough to hold a national. So instead the organisers create a track on the gently sloping field with a makeshift rostrum.
After the usual allocated practice slots, timekeeper Stuart Whyman prepared to kick off qualifying for the day, however gremlins deep within the loop system caused a delay to the schedule for the first time in known history. Without too much time lost however the issue was rapidly resolved and round 1 was soon underway.
We managed to catch up with a disappointed Darren Bloomfield - 2WD IFMAR WORLD warmup CHAMPION - who had turned up in hopes of a bump-up from the reserve list to get a race place as he has at every round. Dedication didn't pay off for the World Championships in a weeks time however and Darren confessed things were not looking good for him to race at the IFMAR event despite winning the warmup a couple of months back against some serious competition. Darren obviously has a good chance so it's a shame he won't get a place to race.
Voyeur
Voyeur
Qualifying Round 1.
Ellis Stafford broke all recent records, managing to break two cars and put in just four laps during his first qualifying run. Breaking his own during warmup - borrowing Dan Greenwoods and managing to break that too. Awesome job!
Stuart Wood made his first Ansmann A-final at the previous round and with a 10th in round one here with the mid-motor Ansmann car, Stu had his sights on another Ansmann A.
Lee Martin took the win with his motor in the correct way round .
Round 1 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Lee Martin
13/308.59
2
Phil Sleigh
13/311.63
3
Tom Yardy
13/311.96
4
Neil Cragg
13/312.12
5
Richard Lowe
13/312.32
6
Simon Moss
13/314.56
7
Paul Bradby
13/314.61
8
Kevin Lee
13/315.80
9
Keith Robertson
13/315.86
10
Stuart Wood
13/317.21
Joel Maher - 'JM08' Shortened T6 alloy chassis for TLR 22
Joel Maher was running a new chassis on his TLR 22 - a shortened chassis that's all the rage it seems. The prototype created by his dad was 12mm shorter than standard but this - the production version, is just 10mm shorter which they found was a good compromise.
The shorter length comes from the front of the car, and the chassis looks similar to the original with angled sides and machined gearbox area. The front kickup is slightly taller than the stock 22 however wih 25degrees as opposed to around 22.5 according to the chaps. The test chassis' were made from a soft alloy but this production chassis is cut from T6 alloy and
Joel Maher's dad creates these chassis
T6 alloy chassis, anodised black.
The front kick up is slightly more angled
10mm shorter than standard
There's a small amount of dremel-action needed around the front of the stock side pods to clear the front bulkbead but it's fairly minimal. The guys say the short '22' packs which are designed for this car will fit in with the shorter length but Joel was running a different cell layout which involves more custom work to fit but moves the weight further back.
Hubs spaced forward
Little work required to clear the steering area
Underside of the chassis
Rossendale Models are the contact if you want to get hold of one of these chassis. www.rossmod.co.uk
Where's Whyman??
THERE HE IS!
Lee Martin abused his car a bit in round two and could only manage 4th in his heat and 7th overall in round after the front bumper ripped off and his hingepins hung out by an inch which almost ended his run.
Tom Cockerill had misfortune when be broke a front axle on his Schumacher Cougar SV after a big crash during the warmup for his heat.
Neil Cragg looked to repeat his form at the previous national where he took the win - setting a new fastest time in round two on his way to the round win 3 seconds up on Tom Yardy in second with Phil Sleigh and Paul Bradby tied for third to give the C4.1 buggy the top 4 positions
Round 2 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
13/308.08
2
Tom Yardy
13/311.57
3
Phil Sleigh
13/312.79
4
Paul Bradby
13/312.79
5
Richard Lowe
13/313.15
6
Simon Moss
13/313.21
7
Lee Martin
13/314.61
8
Danny McGee
13/315.94
9
Paul Penney
13/316.53
10
Craig Collinson
13/316.78
Alec Springer - Akula Racing SPEAR TOOTH
Alec Springer was racing the new 22 chassis from Akula Racing. Called the 'Spear Tooth', the new chassis is shorter than the original 22 chassis by 8mm and has been designed by Tom Reynolds from Akula Racing for all those drivers than think the standard car is far too long.
The chassis is a double-deck carbon fibre construction with a moulded front kick up to match the orignal chassis angle. The chassis is designed for both front and rear motor layouts and Dave Church will be trying the car in rear motor config at the World Championships in a weeks time.
Alec was running one of the FTW shells.
Alec with his TLR / Akula Spear Tooth buggy
Moulded kickup matches original.
TLR 22 / Akula shortened 22 in its full glory.
Round 3 Qualifying.
Throughout the day the grass track was noticably cutting up, with grass fragments finely distributed across the venue in beverages, food, eyes and lungs. This may have contributed towards the round 3 times slowing down significantly, on average by around 5 seconds. Neil Cragg took the rounds fastest time, with usual suspects Lee Martin and Phil Sleigh close behind.
Tom Cockerill had been having some really poor luck in qualifying and was sitting somewhere down in an estimated G final after 3 rounds - he'd be relying on some super-God powers to boost him back up to his usual situation.
Round 3 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
13/313.47
2
Lee Martin
13/315.56
3
Phil Sleigh
13/315.58
4
Simon Moss
13/318.60
5
Grant Williams
13/320.14
6
Nathan Waters
13/320.21
7
Keith Robertson
13/321.04
8
Ellis Stafford
13/322.87
9
Tom Yardy
13/323.60
10
Paul Penney
13/324.21
The end of the main straight was a bit of an accident zone. A 'kink' at the end of the straight before the corner saw some cars lose control completely at high speed - getting Terry Atkinsons car in the kidney wih no warning soon put a stop to photographing in this area however! :)
Lee Martin took the final round of qualifying with Richard Lowe just behind in second driving the C4.1 for the very first time this weekend. Simon Moss finished third with his Schumacher buggy.
Round 4 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Lee Martin
13/315.02
2
Richard Lowe
13/316.37
3
Simon Moss
13/318.32
4
Neil Cragg
13/321.32
5
Danny McGee
13/321.46
6
Stuart Wood
13/321.78
7
Lloyd Storey
13/322.62
8
Phil Sleigh
13/322.67
9
Kevin Lee
13/323.45
10
Tom Yardy
13/323.71
Atomic Carbon's Jonathan Clarke and CML / Associated's Craig Drescher talk Centro C4.1 details
The double jump design plus strong gusts of wind = !
Lee was on equal points with Neil Cragg for TQ but Neil took the TQ by virtue of his faster time than Lee - by 0.51 of a second. Close stuff between these two. Another whopper for The C4.1 with 6 cars in the A final - Jonathan will be happy.
Overall Qualifying
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
(4) 0 0 (4)
2
Lee Martin
0 (7) (2) 0
3
Tom Yardy
3 2 (9) (10)
4
Phil Sleigh
2 3 (3) (8)
5
Richard Lowe
5 (5) (109) 2
6
Simon Moss
(6) (6) (4) 3
7
Paul Bradby
7 3 (110) (12)
8
Danny McGee
(113) 8 (13) 5
9
Stuart Wood
10 (11) (14) 6
10
Keith Robertson
9 (14) 7 (86)
When qualifying had finished the team from Oswestry Radio Car Club posed for some photos - these guys work tirelessly in the run up to an event like this and throughout the weekend, and they always put on a good show. Sadly this year they won't be running the usual pub style RC quiz, however to add to the entertainment Mike 'Ice Mike' Elliott has chosen to have his back waxed - just for fun! Actually he's raising money for Breast Cancer research, so all donations will be very gratefully received.
Pictured - Chairman Jeff Stanton, Secretary Neil Oliver, Treasurer Ashley Williams, Mike-Wax-Me-Elliott, Matt Johnston, Morgan Rham, Phil Channon, Andy Jones, Lauren Harry, Gareth Stanton.
Interview with Tom Cockerill - Schumacher warrior, no longer poorper student.
How has your first couple of weeks working for Schumacher been?
Very busy - good busy. Lots of travelling due to lots of racing and testing. As well as RHR I’ve been testing at moto arena, and Belgium. We didn’t make it to Pau in the end due to time constraints.
How would you describe your job role, what is your job title?
Design, development and race engineer. I’m responsible for working on prototype vehicles and new ideas. I didn’t design the new body shell however. That was designed by an American company - ftw! (wtf!)
Which parts of your work do you enjoy the most, and what elements of the role would you delegate to a PA if someone was allocated to you?
It would be cool to have a PA to help with answering emails and dealing with team driver enquiries - it’s like looking after kids!
What do you feel you will most bring to the in house team at Schumacher?
Race track experience, dedication and enthusiasm for the hobby.
What do you miss most about being a student?
Spending Simon Moss’ taxes.
How would you like to see your career progress under the wing of Schumacher?
Wins, wins and more wins!
How do you feel about your performance here at the Belgian GP 2011?
Whilst I didn’t improve on last years score, I was still happy with my results.
The Kampenhout track layout had changed since you attended last years event, what changes do you like the most, and what would you have left the same? How would you rate the track overall?
I liked the new layout but I didn’t like the jumps section.
How would you rate the local talent in Belgium? Some names in the top 10 are different to the usual suspects at other international events such as the worlds, euros and oOple Invernational race - who have you felt was the greatest competition?
Jonah!
How do you rate the facilities at the venue in Belgium?
The facilities are awesome, great track and on-site party!
What is your favourite Belgian delicacy?
That’s got to be the sprout waffle, although I like mine with chocolate sauce.
Oh yeah - that was supposed to be used in the Belgian GP report I think. Never mind!
Interview with Amish / Tamiya Dave / Dave Gibson.
Mr. Dave, you are well known around the 1/10th offroad scene for your beardy features and love of all things Tamiya, what is your favourite pie?
Probably Tamiya pie - savoury with custard all the way - custard is for winners.
How long have you been racing 1/10th offroad and do you race in any other classes?
4 years - I have been known every now and again to dabble in the smellys (1/8th nitro offroad.)
What is your all time best racing result?
Here last year - the dizzy heights of a C final!
You were named after a model car manufacturer, do you have any siblings with similarly dedicated names?
Well there is Suzuki Carl, he is more into bikes - he’s older than me. We did tr to adopt someone called zanussi Tim, he was into fridges, the adoption ddn’t go through though as it went cold.
Which is your favourite ever car?
Tamiya Thundershot, that was my first ever car when I was a little baby.
What about big cars, what do you like to drive around in?
The last one I bought was a Nissan 350Z in Sunset Orange - I like it, I usually use a company car though.
Perhaps due to your ruggedy facial features, some members of the racing community have taken to calling you ‘Amish’ - how do you feel about this?
I believe it is due to the facial features, and I am fine with it but I’m not sure what my new friends over the pond would think to it. DC started off the name.
Rumour has it this will be your last national for a while, yet you have presented as being so dedicated to the hobby, is there any truth in the rumours?
This is likely to be my last national for a while, I am hoping to go and work in the states for a while but I need to pass interview at the embassy first. (Jimmy has unfavourable experience of this)
In your absence from the racing scene, what would you most like to be remembered for?
A bit random, but I think it would have to be the Wookie cake that Griff made me for my birthday.
Do you watch television and what is your favourite program?
I do watch television, favourite program is Dexter.
Will you be participating in any new hobbies as you move away from the 1/10th national scene?
I’m going to try and re-introduce the americans to the wonder of modified 1/10th scale racing rather than their stock warriors, although there’s a possibility I might just turn genuine Amish.
What is your fondest R/C memory?
Dave Belsten in the bar (evening meal) at the first night I was in Vienna for the Euros last year, we chatted up the waiter called Marcus, he was very taken by Belsten. Dave’s really quiet about it, but I think secretly their relationship has blossomed since we departed, especially via skype.
If I do go, then I will miss everyone, it’s been a great couple of years racing with you all. If I don’t go, I’ll just look like a dickhead.
We couldn't agree more Dave! - miss you! XOX
Stu Wood - Ansmann A final again
Stu Wood took his second national A final in a row with his Ansmann X2C after a great result in the final round saw him squeeze into 9th place on the grid. Stu has been campaigning the Ansmann cars for a while now and getting a lot of support from the team as their top driver in the UK.
Stu will be running a couple of Ansmann races in the future with a view to get more drivers interested in the brand and more team drivers racing and promoting the cars. Stu showed us around his entirely Ansmann pitting area with haulers, transmitter case, chargers, ESC's motors, tools and well pretty much everything in sight.
Woody with his TEAM shirt
Woody's Ansmann 2WD buggy.
New personalised Ansmann tools!
Complete set!
The new Ansmann tool set turned up just this past week and Stu's set came personalised - we're not sure if this wil be available to the end user but they're nice anyway!
Given the large number of products and seeming dedication to racing that Ansmann have it surely won't be long before they have a big share of the off road racing market.
A Final leg 1.
Dudes.
Simon Moss expectently awaiting the start of leg 1.
Nathan Waters didn't quite make the A final.
Leader!
All cars remained in their starting order throughout the first lap, Lee Martin in 2nd place closed in on Pole Man Neil Cragg, and the pair pulled a short gap back to third place Tom Yardy.The top two maintained around a 1 second gap between them throughout the race, whilst the lead back to Tom Yardy extended fairly rapidly throughout the 5 minutes, and by the end of the race a full 10 seconds separated 2nd place from 3rd place.Phil Sleigh had put up a good fight throughout most of the race, however unfortunately with less than 45 seconds until the finish tone, he lost power and had to fully withdraw.
Lee Martin chases Cragg
Cragg
Lee Martin noticeably hammered down on Cragg for the final lap, but pushed maybe too hard and wiggled slightly off the racing line once or twice, despite giving it every effort he couldn't quite pass the former World Champion, and had to settle for 2nd place in the first leg of 2wd a final.
Paul Bradby
A final Leg 1.
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
13/308.36
2
Lee Martin
13/309.42
3
Tom Yardy
13/319.08
4
Paul Bradby
13/321.47
5
Richard Lowe
13/325.29
6
Simon Moss
12/301.03
7
Keith Robertson
12/304.20
8
Danny McGee
12/304.85
9
Stuart Wood
12/307.18
10
Phil Sleigh
10/248.08
A final leg 2.
Neil Cragg made a clean start for the second leg, with Lee hot on his gearbox. As the cars drove around their first lap, an error from Danny McGee saw him land on the wrong side of the track marking, dropping down to last in the order. Simon Moss had powered his Schumacher Cougar up into 4th place and was holding off the rest of the pack. Yardy in 3rd place initially kept up to the pace of Neil and Lee, but after a few laps a gap had emered, and Yardy was receiving rear end pressure from Simon Moss.
Cragg leads them round the first corner / jump
Simon Moss chased by Wood and McGee
Lowe goes past a rolling Yardy - Centro action!
Back of the field and Wood monsters over Sleigh
Just short of two mintes into the race, Lee Martin roly-polied around a corner, landing on his wheels but dropping back from lead man Neil. After putting on a good show in 3rd place, a mistake from Yardy saw him drop into 5th place, whilst Lowe now moved up to 3rd.
Lee goes nuts but recovers.
Yardy chasing Lee
Following his previous roll, Lee Martin had pushed hard to catch up to Cragg, and was keeping pretty close until an error coming off the tabletop and trying to straight-line the chicane saw him drop right back, by which point Neil Cragg was definitely uncatchable, driving his last lap without pressure, winning the second leg and 2wd meeting.
Cragg mounts the pipe and Lee looks for a way past
Lee made a last lap push to pass Craggy but it didn't pay off.
Mick Cragg (Cragg-Dad) shows Neil some love.
After an intense Mid-VS-Rear motor battle - Lee and Neil show mutal respect.
A final Leg 2.
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
13/312.72
2
Lee Martin
13/314.66
3
Richard Lowe
13/320.30
4
Paul Bradby
13/321.36
5
Tom Yardy
13/322.47
6
Simon Moss
12/303.39
7
Danny McGee
12/304.75
8
Keith Robertson
12/305.21
9
Phil Sleigh
12/308.08
10
Stuart Wood
12/309.67
A final leg 3.
Following a very similar pattern to the previous two legs, the top three instantly pulled away from fellow competitors. Neil Cragg had already put on a great show winning the first two legs. Coming over the tabletop with pressure from Lee, Neil underjumped it and laned badly on the lip which saw him slide down the down-ramp on his roof. Lee Martin and Tom Yardy were straight through, whilst Cragg dropped down a few more places.
Neil Cragg lines up - but he's already won it!
Lee Martin dives in on the first corner - but backs off.
Phil Sleigh was under another car - AGAIN!
Neil and Lee jump together over the tabletop
Cragg slides down on his roof as Lee rails past for the lead.
In all the excitement, Lee too got carried away and made an error coming over the smaller jumps, it was now Tom Yardy who took the lead.Simon Moss in the Schumacher moved up very close behind Yardy and looked ready to pass, a gentle nudge offered all the hints he needed, but Yardy held onto the top spot. Yardy, Moss and Lee Martin raced at the top spots, and a short distance back Neil Cragg had climbed back up to 4th place. As Moss dropped back, Lee Martin was through into 2nd place to hassle Tom Yardy for the top spot. Continuing his climb Cragg was soon through into 3rd place ahead of Simon Moss.
Lee errors over the double and Yardy is through.
Yardy gets some pressure from Simon Moss for the lead - but holds him off.
Lee Martin performed another flip and dropped back down, Cragg was now in 2nd followed by Moss in 3rd. This definitely made more interesting viewing than the first two legs, despite the win already having been decided.
Tom Yardy took the leg and went 2nd overall
A final Leg 3.
position
name
result
1
Tom Yardy
13/320.06
2
Neil Cragg
13/321.62
3
Simon Moss
13/325.69
4
Lee Martin
13/326.76
5
Richard Lowe
12/306.23
6
Keith Robertson
12/309.30
7
Danny McGee
12/309.98
8
Stuart Wood
12/311.66
9
Phil Sleigh
12/317.52
10
Paul Bradby
12/327.70
Neil Cragg took the overall win and after a big error in the final leg showed some real class to come back to 2nd. Tom Yardy and Lee Martin finished on equal points but Yardy edged out Lee for the runner-up spot by virtue of his leg-win in A3. Lee held on well to take 3rd with the only rear-motor car at the event - 1 week from the Worlds and all these Centro drivers dropping the car for the traditional rear-motor layout, maybe it's just good practice for lee!?
Overall A Final Results
pos
name
Chassis
Leg1
Leg2
Leg3
Overall
1
Neil Cragg
CML C4.1
1
1
2
2
2
Tom Yardy
CML C4.1
3
5
1
4
3
Lee Martin
Tamiya TRF201X
2
2
4
4
4
Richard Lowe
CML C4.1
5
3
5
8
5
Paul Bradby
CML C4.1
4
4
10
8
6
Simon Moss
Schumacher Cougar SV
6
6
3
9
7
Keith Robertson
CML C4.1
7
8
6
13
8
Danny McGee
Schumacher Cougar SV
8
7
7
14
9
Stuart Wood
Ansmann XTC
9
10
8
17
10
Phil Sleigh
CML C4.1
10
9
9
18
2WD Series Standings After 5 Rounds.
pos
name
Score
Rd1
Rd2
Rd3
Rd4
Rd5
1
Neil Cragg
521
(125)
129
130
131
131
2
Paul Bradby
516
(111)
131
130
129
126
3
Tom Yardy
511
129
127
126
(79)
129
4
Tom Cockerill
508
131
128
123
126
(79)
5
Lee Martin
508
(126)
126
127
127
128
6
Danny McGee
495
127
122
(117)
123
123
7
Simon Moss
495
122
123
(111)
125
125
8
Craig Collinson
487
123
120
125
119
(114)
9
Phil Sleigh
476
109
(105)
128
118
121
10
Lloyd Storey
476
128
113
120
-
115
According to the current series results, the championship can only possibly be won by Neil Cragg or Paul Bradby. Bradby would need to TQ and win at Southport to match Neils current score, and even then would result in a TIE, meaning we'd boast two 2wd national champions simultaneously according to the officials. No pressure then!
Thanks to Schumacher for helping with our costs to attend the races and make some nice reports - please show your thanks by buying Schumacher products or emailing them to thank them for supporting off road in general.
Sunday 10/07/2011 - 4WD.
Early morning rain had moistened the track but only enough to help the 4WD cars rip up the remaining grass on the corners since the layout was identical to the previous day - only this time run in reverse.
The customary two rounds of practice were followed by the drivers briefing at the end of which there were some attempted japes when Paul Robbo Robinson tried to tape up the legs of Joe Cockill as he stood leant against the huge tabletop jumps. It failed of course but suddenly the chase was on as Joe galloped around the track chased by an army of tape-weidling nutters.
Joe was caught, wrestled to the ground and taped relentlessly into a man-pretzel looking creation. Someone shouted 'Paddling pool' and it was on - Joe was picked up like he was a feather and carried over to the mid-west paddling pool
After practice, Jimmy stuck a oneway into his TD DEX410 and found it was ACE - but was still ridiculed by the 'big lads' for running it and claiming it was ACE. But........ It was ACE.
Joe Cockill - Wrestled, Hogtied and Dunkedlike a man-biscuit!
Joe shrugs off a few attempts to take him down
But eventually the guys block him and he's floored!
Pinned down
JOY on the faces of the attackers
Ross Williams strokes Joes face to calm him
The result - well and truly taped up!
LOL - the to pool with yer
Dumped! - at this point it's hard not to vomit with laughter.
Paul Robinson's dad adds insult to injury as 100+ people watch on.... Drivers briefing is by now deserted.
Ellis Stafford tried the Kyosho and the Tamiya in practice - went with the Tamiya TRF511 and promptly TQ'd round one ahead of Tamiya-GOD and soon-to-be WC Lee Martin.
Round 1 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Ellis Stafford
13/302.07
2
Lee Martin
13/303.29
3
Danny McGee
13/303.89
4
Tom Cockerill
13/304.08
5
Paul Bradby
13/304.44
6
Neil Cragg
13/306.13
7=
Richard Lowe
13/306.62
7=
Grant Williams
13/306.62
9
Nathan Waters
13/308.07
10
John Spencer
13/309.72
At around 12:30, well into round 2 qualifying, a heavy cloud drifted overhead and dumped all of its moist gubbins upon the track and pits - just in time for the top heats playing out. Predictably times were affected significantly, and many drivers chose to drop this round score without even attempting to brave the soggy conditions. A number of credible fellas did give their best efforts though, and we got some photos to justify their efforts - afterall their round scores won't be counting.
Kev Lee soaked to the bone but still happy.
Heavy rain!
Tom Cockerill (we think!) was one of the few top drivers that went out in the mud! It made for a BAD, wasted run.
Round 2 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
13/303.64
2
Connor Cocker
13/316.55
3
Steven Pierce
13/317.70
4
Tony Vodka
13/317.92
5
Ashley Caunt
13/318.60
6
Neil Round
13/320.28
7
Damian Whittle
13/320.67
8
Richard Drury
13/320.84
9
Gareth Stanton
13/321.55
10
Matthew Owen
13/321.58
Neil Cragg just managed to scrape through to take TQ in round, ahead of young North-Westerner Connor Cocker. Just 5 seconds seperated the top 2-10 in round in what was some very tight racing before the rain descended.
Danny McGee with a very filthy CAT SX3
The rain started coming down heavily again just before heat 8 of round three. Neil Cragg was on Ballistic buggy spikes right away to dig into the moistness. The sun came out at the end of the round - the weather was somewhat changable.
Simon Moss put his Schumacher CAT SX3 into first in round over 3 seconds up on second place man Lee Martin. Cragg brought his B44.1 home in third with the next three drivers less than half a second back.
Round 3 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Simon Moss
12/302.23
2
Lee Martin
12/305.73
3
Neil Cragg
12/306.08
4
Richard Lowe
12/306.37
5
Ellis Stafford
12/306.56
6
Paul Bradby
12/306.50
7
Tom Cockerill
12/308.63
8
Colin May
12/311.21
9
Tom Yardy
12/311.77
10
Kevin Lee
12/311.86
Not-quite-crowned-yet 2011 4WD BRCA National Champ Lee Martin managed to snag a round win after an unusually quiet day for the 4WD specialist. Ellis Stafford finished just over a second behind Lee's time to go 2nd in round with Phil Sleigh dropping in 3rd. Times were back down since the prevous round and drivers were putting in times a lap quicker than previously as the conditions improved.
Round 4 Qualifying Times.
position
name
result
1
Lee Martin
13/306.83
2
Ellis Stafford
13/307.91
3
Phil Sleigh
13/311.31
4
Simon Moss
13/311.90
5
Grant Williams
13/312.02
6
Tom Cockerill
13/313.03
7
David Poulter
13/313.71
8
Danny McGee
13/313.81
9
Keith Robertson
13/314.67
10
Adam Skelding
13/315.65
Mike Elliot - WAXED!
Mike Elliot has a fluffy back. I mean - it's like a cat has somehow melted across his shoulders. Part man-bear Mike wanted rid of his fluff and in the process give some love to a good cause so a money-raising idea was born. Why - let's all pay to watch, indeed, partake in the de-fluffing of this half-chimp.
Mike was a bit of a good sport not to run at the first sign of severe pain - but he held on as long as he could. Fair enough he still had a little hair left and pretty much zero dignity - but lots of CASH was raised and this means Mike is a true hero.
Robbo has an interesting waxing method
PAIN! - This is what people paid to see!
Ashley Williams TQ'd the de-fluffing with his superior technique - he acheived the most blood and pain of anyone. For all his efforts, Paul Robinson was at the opposite end of the spectrum with more brute force than style and a grand total of 5 hairs removed. Anyway - watch the video to enjoy the PAIN.
Ellis lead the race from pole position. Lee Martin and Neil Cragg were close behind, but both cars made errors a couple of laps in, resulting in some spinning and twisting followed by some changing in positions. A further lap in and Lee Martin made the same error in the same place - turning in a tad early and ending up nose-in to the track marking. Despite some superman-inspired marshalling from local hero Tom Yardy, Lee Martin dropped right down the order to the back of the field.
Lee and Neil both made the same error - Tom Cock rails past
Lee gets stuck on the same pipe - drops down more
At around the two minute mark the race order was Ellis Stafford with a 4.2 second lead over Schumacher in-house superstar Tom Cockerill, Neil Cragg, Richard Lowe, Danny McGee, Paul Bradby, Phil Sleigh, Simon Moss, Grant Williams, Lee Martin.
Tom Cockerill in 2nd - Neil and Lee are all over each other trying to catch up
Whilst Ellis cruised off ahead, the battle was on between Cockerill, Cragg and Lowe fighting for second place, and further back Phil Sleigh had moved up to pressure Danny McGee for 5th place.
Neil Cragg was all over Tom Cockerill, looking quick enough to make a pass, but Tom kept his back door tightly shut and held onto 2nd. An incident between Cragg and a track marking soon relieved the pressure, and Richard Lowe moved up into 3rd place.
Ellis meanwhile continued to extend his lead, and no-one could get close to catching him as he merrily drifted around to take the leg 1 win.
A final Leg 1.
position
name
result
1
Ellis Stafford
13/304.66
2
Tom Cockerill
13/313.19
3
Richard Lowe
13/313.58
4
Neil Cragg
13/314.50
5
Danny McGee
13/319.23
6
Simon Moss
13/321.44
7
Lee Martin
13/322.07
8
Phil Sleigh
13/323.52
9
Paul Bradby
12/308.54
10
Grant Williams
06/155.65
Nuclear-RC glue is the only glue to use! - Dave Belsten brought a really big bottle of the stuff and fed off it.
Team Durango Team-boss Skeld doesn't like getting beaten by his underlings!
Team Durango - 14mm Hex Wheels
Team Durango had some interesting new bits on their cars at Oswestry. New wheels all round for the DEX410 are identical to the previous wheels but have a new drive method. A huge 14mm hex now runs inside the wheels which makes them a lot easier to fit and a lot less likely to strip out we're told.
A new alloy rear hinge pin hanger was also on Adams car which features plastic inserts to change pin height/angle rather than swapping the entire block. It also makes more & finer adjustments possible.
New rear-rear alloy hanger
Pin height is set by a plastic inserts.
The new alloy rear-rear hanger uses these inserts
The alloy 14mm hexes are the same front and rear.
The production version of the rear alloy gearbox support was on Adam Skelding's car and is in the hard anodised 'olive' colour rather than the blingy orange seen on previous versions.
New wheels have huge 14mm hex moulded in
The production version of the rear alloy gearbox locator
19 degree front castor blocks for smoother steering
Durango HD rod ends - in WHITE
4WD A final Leg 2.
This was good, damn good.
Ellis prepared to do what he did so well in leg one (win), but this time he just couldn’t shake off the chasing Lee Martin, who was closely followed by Neil Cragg. The racing was close and Lee looked ready to go for a pass, but tripped up over some grass coming down the straight and flew off into the shrubbery, but somehow he managed to get back onto the racing line and maintain his second place.
Team Schumacher were all chilling out together in the middle of the pack, with Simon Moss holding onto 4th place, followed by his smooth-haired idol Tom Cockerill in 5th, and less-hairy Danny MyGee in 6th.
The top three were separated by just half a second, when in the blink of an eye Lee Martin hammered down hard and throttled through into 1st place, Ellis tried everything to slam his door shut, but lost his grip on the greasy knob and the door flew wide, Lee was firmly in 1st.
Coming onto the straight - Lee goes inside
Lee, Ellis and Craggy were glued together
With one leg win though already in the bag, Ellis wasn’t going to let go of this one so easily, and hunted down his orange buddy. Perhaps pushing too hard though, Ellis cart wheeled down the straight, and lost 2nd place to the chasing Neil Cragg.
Ellis loses it and Cragg is up to 2nd
Cragg now presses Lee for 1st
Now it was Neils turn to challenge the leader, although clipping the track marking nearly set him back - a roll from Lee Martin though soon saw the two cars nose-to-tail again.
Really. With 45 seconds to go the two cars were racing so closely, and a long-jump from Neil Cragg nearly saw him take up the lead, but Cragg T-boned Lee and waited so then Ellis Stafford was back in the mix and moved through to re-take the lead as Lee got back underway and Craggy moved off behind back in 3rd.
Cragg side-swipes Lee as the pair come round to the straight
Lee spins round, Cragg is past but waits
Ellis is back into the lead - but Lee is quickly attacking
Ellis held the lead for the following lap, but turned in too soon at the end of the straight and whilst he kissed the track marker, Lee moved through into the lead.
Lee retakes the lead
Cragg jumps high over the tabletop - tries to overjump for the lead!
Ellis slipped in at his rear, and had Neil Cragg hot on his tail. This was some close racing! Neil Cragg made another long-jump attempt, but couldn’t quite pass his veteran rival.
Cragg bounces after his super-jump
Ellis tries to make his move over the double but loses it
Now things were frantic. 2nd place Ellis, eager to take the win on the second leg, throttled hard past Lee coming towards the double jumps. This nearly paid off , but then suddenly everything went all out of shape. Lee, Neil and Ellis raced to the finish ‘line’ down the straight, but some further mis-shapen-ness saw Lee and Neil in an incident, whilst Ellis hammered through, but got caught up on Lee as he pinballed around the track like a slot car off its rails and about to land in someones sandwich. Cragg crossed the line, Lee ended up in one fence whilst Ellis landed in another and never triggered the loop for the finish. What the hell just happened - it would take quite a while to find out.
Ellis has to single-single - Lee Jumps off the track
Coming onto the striaght for the WIN - all three are together
Neil punts Lee, Lee loses control, Ellis hits Lee. It was insane.
After the insanity of leg two things were all up in the air as far as results were concerned. Whilst Lee Martin, Ellis and Neil had all been charging down the straight and bouncing off each other - on the clock it was Neil taking the win followed by Simon Moss who'd been racing in 4th just behind the front runners. The results were under investigation for quite a while and before the B final started the officials decided to call a halt to the proceedings to make a judgement call after there were a couple of protests on the still-not-yet published A final leg two results.
In the end it was deemed that Ellis Stafford did indeed cross the line but off the track where he'd ended up after his dramatic roll down the straight - and that he didn't rejoin the track to cross the line because it would cause a big pileup. Either way, Ellis didn't count and they worked out his time from video evidence (oOple video!)
A final Leg 2.
position
name
result
1
Neil Cragg
13/311.62
2
Ellis Stafford
13/313.97 (manually counted)
3
Simon Moss
13/315.06
4
Lee Martin
13/315.49
5
Richard Lowe
13/316.99
6
Tom Cockerill
13/317.68
7
Paul Bradby
13/319.61
8
Grant Williams
13/321.34
9
Phil Sleigh
13/323.53
10
Danny McGee
13/332.12
DC interviews the three battlers
John Cockill, Paul Worsley and Stuart Whyman go over the results.
4WD A final Leg 3.
After a mind-blowing leg 2, the guys settled down for some respectably uneventful driving in the 3rd leg.
However following four rounds of qualifying which each had a different round winner, it would only be fair for the A finals to follow suit, so true to this form Lee Martin passed Ellis on the straight just 2 minutes into the race.
Lee has a look over Ellis' shoulder
Lee looks for a way past down the inside on the straight
Ellis is over
Cragg and Lee cascade over the double together
Slightly put out by this, Ellis rolled coming onto the straight one lap later, and Neil Cragg moved into 2nd place.
Neil pressured Lee hard coming down the straight and the two cars made slight contact, but thankfully this didn’t result in any incidents. A bad landing for Cragg coming off the tabletop saw Ellis move up into 2nd place,.
Ellis chased down hard on Lee Martin, but despite applying maximum pressure Lee didn’t cave in, and swiftly moved around to take the 3rd leg win..
Cragg crashed on the tabletop
Lee held on for the leg win
Another awesome race with three drivers who were really well matched throughout the day.
A final Leg 3.
position
name
result
1
Lee Martin
13/306.77
2
Ellis Stafford
13/309.08
3
Neil Cragg
13/310.55
4
Simon Moss
13/314.95
5
Tom Cockerill
13/315.16
6
Paul Bradby
13/315.30
7
Grant Williams
13/317.75
8
Richard Lowe
13/320.58
9
Phil Sleigh
13/321.18
10
Danny McGee
10/253.93
Overall A Final Results
pos
name
Chassis
Leg1
Leg2
Leg3
Overall
1
Ellis Stafford
Tamiya TRF511
1
2
2
3
2
Neil Cragg
Associated B44.1
4
1
3
4
3
Lee Martin
Tamiya TRF511
7
4
1
5
4
Tom Cockerill
Schumacher CAT SX3
2
6
5
7
5
Simon Moss
Schumacher CAT SX3
6
3
4
7
6
Richard Lowe
Associated B44.1
3
5
8
8
7
Paul Bradby
Associated B44.1
9
7
6
13
8
Danny McGee
Schumacher CAT SX3
5
10
10
15
9
Grant Williams
Schumacher CAT SX3
10
8
7
15
10
Phil Sleigh
Associated B44.1
8
9
9
17
Alec Springer - Akula Racing SPEAR TOOTH
Since Ellis is sponsored by XFactory and their new 4WD car is some way off Ellis has been running different cars for a while - the Team Xtreme predator was his 2010 ride and for 2011 he's been piloting the Kyosho ZX5 FS2 for the most part. At the previous round of the series however Ellis tried out the Tamiya TRF511 of Racer Magazine's Matt Benfield which he used to good effect here at Oswestry.
Ellis hasn't really done anything to the car and other than a few bolt-on goodies like the gearbox covers there's nothing really that far from standard. Ellis didn't know if he'd be trying other cars or sticking to the Tamiya for the next round of the series.
Lee missed out on the chance for a perfect season with only a 3rd place finish - but perhaps a perfect score in the championship is enough for the 2011 4WD National Champ. Ellis Stafford surprised with his pace - even he was surprised but it was a well deserved win as he awaits the arrival of his sponsors 4WD, the X7.
The final round at Southport comes a couple of weeks after the World Championships and oOple Invernational races (clearly ascending in order of prestige) and we'll be hoping to have some newly crowed World Champions in attendance.
