Saturday May 28th 2011 - Talywain 2wd National.
After a pleasant (if extremely long and slow) journey across the border into Welsh-land on Friday, disappointed drivers awoke on Saturday to find that the previously mild and dry conditions had deteriorated into a cold, grey, muddy mulch.

Like brave soldier boys though, a bit of weather wouldn't slow down the proceedings, so on schedule practice started at 8am.

Drivers briefing was held on schedule in record time so as to reduce the risk of hypothermia. Drivers were advised to take care whilst mounting and dismounting the rostrum due to the slippery conditions. We were also informed that the wireless network would not be functioning due to the excess moisture and risk of sheep chewing the line.

Paul Worlsey confirmed that the Schumacher Silver tyres previously deemed as 'not commercially available' have now officially been shipped out in sufficient numbers to satisfy everyones rubbery needs and are therefore race legal at this event.

Despite the inclement conditions and numerous cancellations in the week prior to the race, 120 drivers booked in to race.

The 2WD track (pictured) ran clockwise - the 4WD track was near enough identical but ran in reverse.

Tony Evdoka wraps up for the weather	Piloting a car with rain in the face isn't easy!

Darren Bloomfield - the newly crowned 2WD IFMAR WORLD (warmup) CHAMPION had turned up to every round of the 2011 BRCA championship so far in hopes of gaining a late entry, to no avail. Talywain's weather changed his fortunes however and the champ finally gained his 2WD entry as other drivers cancelled or failed to show up - though it was still a full race..

A rather soggy first round of qualifying left the line at 10 am, and Trish from Trishbits fame NEARLY lost his best time of the day (before even racing) by chancing it last minute to the marshall point, however the ref ruled that Trish was suitably positioned in time for the race starting.

Further trouble followed in heat 4 when Craig Harris' transponder wasn't counting, however he continued his persuit around the track. An altercation with the race leader saw Harris issued with a smacked bottom and a warning to all drivers - if your transponder isn't counting and you choose to continue your run, make sure you keep out of the way of other drivers.

10th Off Road IFMAR World (warmup) Champion Darren Bloomfield was looking GOOD in practice but his car 'shit out' in round one - it just wouldn't start on the line and he lost 3 laps before getting underway. A lot a drivers had similar problems in the inclement weather, with moisture possibly entering the electrics.

Moisture continued to precipitate across the venue throughout the first qualifying round. Neil Cragg took took the round in heat 11; 4wd Worlds-warm-up-hero Lee Martin won heat 12 but was 1.79 seconds behind Neils time. Warrior Trish of Trishbits fame put in a storming 9th in round, good skillz!

Danny McGee 'could' have put in his best time of the day, but we'll never know because sadly his transponder didn't count at all.

Below - Cragg slides his C4.1 buggy around after the main straight.

During round 2 the rain finally slowed down however conditions on the track remained slippery early on. The sun came out briefly toward the end of the round and lap times were much faster than round 1 - Neil Cragg put in the top time to add a little more concrete to his TQ position, and was the only driver to make it through for 13 laps.

Cragg went out in heat 11, there was still Heat 12 to go with some fast drivers but right before it started it was all over as the rain came down and added seconds to their lap times. Lee Martin put in a respectable run but couldn't even manage top 10. Despite all being on improved times, only two drivers from heat 12 made it into the top THIRTY overall.

Tom Cockerill had a nightmare in round 2 and couldn't get his car around the track fast enough, despite crossing the loop twice in one lap he still couldn't make it past 105th place, with a 9/304.00 - defitinely a time to lose.

Frustratingly for the heat 12 crew, as soon as they reached their marhsall points the rain subsided and sunshine made another appearance. Throughout the course of round 3 conditions continued to improve, with the mud in the pitting field becoming noticably more viscous.

Darren Bloomfield Inverview   Darren concentrates Congratulations on your success at last weeks 1/10th off-road World Championships warm up event in Finland - Your focus has been very much on the 1/8th off-road class in recent years, how much practice have you had in preparation for the warm up? I haven't had chance to practice with the car recently; the only times I have raced 1/10th electric off-road have been 2 small indoor events, 1 European race (CS race in February), and 1 club race at EPR. Those are the only times I've raced electric since winning the national championship in 2007, and the last time I raced electric on dirt before going to Vaasa was in 2006 at the Euros! Were you suprised at your success in the Worlds warm up? Well at first I felt relaxed and was enjoying it, then I realised I was quite fast and got quite excited, I realised I had a good chance at doing well so really concentrated on it. Following your success will you be attending the World Championships in July to compete for the real deal? I would like to but it all depends on whether the BRCA can get me a place to race there. How about the rest of the UK national series this year, are we likely to see you competing at any more events? If I can get into any more events I'll be there - It has been really difficult to get entry but I'll try. What setup changes did you make for the race in Finland compared to your usual UK setup? I used the outboard / rear motor car in Vaasa, whereas I have been running the mid-motor car over here. Used a kit set up other than 2 hop-ups. The aluminium pivot blocks and pins. Darren's Finland car had a neat king pin modification Darren ran two cars at Talywain - this is the dry weather mid-motor car. What did you like most about Finland? I liked the fact that it was a dirt track. Finland was expensive but is a nice place. Since your move to 1/8th offroad what have you missed the most about racing electric offroad? Definitely the atmosphere around the track. At the 1/8th events there is a long wait before the A final races, therefore many people go home rather than waiting around. Also with all the noise there isn't as much cheering / banter. The rear of Darrens mid-car Alloy hex's Are you running anything special on your car today or is it a standard set up? The only addition I have is a Rudebits under-battery weight, 75g Which is your favourite class of racing, and why? I enjoy all racing, especially on a good track. My favourite surface to race on is dirt. Do you adjust your style of driving for each class? I'm not aware of changing driving style but I must do it without realising. The Finland IFMAR Worlds Warmup winning car - camber links were taken for his other car. Which has been your favourite country to race in? America definitely, California and Arizona, everywhere really, it's all good. The tracks, weather, the whole scene really. Do you like pie? Yes - chicken. This is the car Darren ran in early practice and qualifying - in the wet the rear-motor layout was the one to use. The new ESC wasn't wired in properly after the previous one got soaked in the apalling conditions. The weather picked up so Darren went to the mid-motor car - yes, he has one built in each configuration. Do you think it would be achievable for racers to compete in both 1/10th off-road and 1/8th offroad national events? What changes need to be made? Yes it should be achievable - the organisers need to work together to arrange schedules to minimise clashes. As drivers we're not trying to choose one class of racing over another, we just want to race! Hopefully they'll work together. This is the car that got Darren into the A final and the one he raced with in the 3-legs. The mid motor layout is the one he preferred i the dry. Is it mandatory to grow facial fluff if you compete at 1/8th scale events? LOL. I've just been to Germany, back home for a few hours, back to Germany, home again, then to Finland and home for a few hours before coming here - so I've been pretty busy working on my cars and it was easier to let it grow. Thanks Darren!

Phil Sleigh put in a storming run in round 3, throwing in some 22-something second lap times, and averaging 23-something second laps, he almost had a 14 lap run in the bag, but an error coming off the end of the straight dashed his chances of that. With one round left to run though and multiple top-10 changes so far, we could be in for some suprises yet.

	Round 3 Qualifying Times.
	position name result 1 Phil Sleigh 13/305.96 2 Neil Cragg 13/309.90 3 Paul Bradby 13/312.05 4 Tom Cockerill 13/314.31 5 Lee Martin 13/314.98 6 Grant Williams 13/318.81 7 Lloyd Storey 13/319.21 8 Darren Bloomfield 13/319.35 9 Craig Collinson 13/319.65 10 Paul Penney 13/319.76

	The local club drivers had worked hard recently to make track changes in the run up to this years national, following feedback from drivers at previous events. Many of the bumpy areas have been smoothed out, a tabletop jump has been constructed, more astro turf added to the banked corner, and the track length has been enhanced.

*Random fact. The Rain Factory Ltd (UK) is located just across the hill from where Talywains track is based, and provides Wales (especially) and the rest of the UK with all of its natural rainfall.

Unfortunately a recent change in wind direction resulted in the track venue being directly in the path of the rainclouds route away from the factory, which was the reason behind the moist conditions at the event.

Paul Penney stuck in a 6th in round 4 to seal up a place in the A Final.

Paul Bradby took the final round of qualifying with the fastest time of the day, a couple of seconds ahead of Lee Martin who himself was a couple of seconds up on Tom Yardy.

Darren Bloomfield had problems in rounds 1 & 2 but managed his best round score with a 7th in round 4 - and with his 8th in the previous round managed to squeeze into the A final

	Round 4 Qualifying Times.
	position name result 1 Paul Bradby 13/303.70 2 Lee Martin 13/305.09 3 Tom Yardy 13/307.52 4 Neil Cragg 13/308.07 5 Phil Sleigh 13/311.11 6 Paul Penney 13/312.54 7 Darren Bloomfield 13/312.61 8 Craig Collinson 13/313.11 9 Danny McGee 13/313.65 10 Lloyd Storey 13/315.20

We don't have the results for the overall qualifying - :(

2WD A Final Leg 1

Tony used a cartoon-style Losi 8ight wing - but it was too mad for him.

The first leg of the A final started out very uneventfully, with no scrabbles at the front and just a climb up the order from Darren Bloomfield. Drama for Neil Cragg though two laps in, as he cartwheeled off the tabletop and waved goodbye to his lead. Bradders was through into the top spot, followed by Sleigh and Lee Martin. Cragg slipped back onto the racing line in fourth place, Collinson was still in 5th place but was being chased hard by Tom Yardy whose first national win was at this same venue a couple of years back.

Bloomfield takes a call on the start line	The Schumacher lads watch on

Cragg leads mid-way thru lap 1	Bradby looks for the inside but Cragg holds on

A mistake from Cragg and Bradby slipped through	Cragg dropped to 4th behind Lee Martin

Neil Cragg was knocking hard at Lee Martins back door, and looked ready to make a pass but unfortunately pulled another cartwheel trick as the pair entered the straight. Some quick marshalling from B-finalist Ben Jemison saw Cragg back onto the racing line, but he was down another two places.
Bradby out at the front appeared to have pulled a good lead on second place Sleigh, but Sleigh hammered down hard and looked to be catching up. An incident with the track marker though saw Sleigh require marshalling, and Lee Martin was through into second place.

Cragg pushed hard but another mistake dropped him down	2nd-3rd-4th bunched up as Bradby pulled a lead

Sleigh looked good but got over-eager and rolled which allowed Bradby some breathing room out front.

Next incident was Craig Collinson in 4th place, who had fought off Yardy so well for the first half of the race, however unfortunately he clipped the track marker as he approached the straight, and became momentarily disoriented. Yardy was through into the 4th spot, Neil Cragg followed through into 5th, and Bloomfield was up to 6th.
Ahead of all the mayhem, Paul Bradby had pulled a nice lead of 3.5 seconds.
Lee Martin lead Phil Sleigh around in 2nd and 3rd place, but a roll coming around the corner before the straight saw Sleigh promoted back into his starting position.

The top 5 were now: Bradby, Sleigh, Martin, Cragg, Yardy.
A bash from Lee Martin saw Cragg and Yardy move up into 3rd and 4th places, but with one and a half minutes left to race would the TQ man be able to catch up to lead man Bradders who by now had pulled a 4.5second lead.
With less than one minute less to race, further position changes meant the race order was now Bradby, Sleigh, Martin, Yardy, Cragg, Penney, Collinson, Stafford, Bloomfield, and Cockerill.
Paul Penney moved into 5th place after an incident from Cragg, however a coming together on the straight saw Penney penalised by 10 seconds and Ellis Stafford out of the game. Bradders held on for the win but as he eased up toward the line Sleigh's last minute push saw him lose out by just half a second..

Sleigh puts on a last minute effort to catch Bradby	The two round the last corner

	2WD A Final Leg 1
	position name result 1 Paul Bradby 13/306.54 2 Phil Sleigh 13/306.96 3 Lee Martin 13/310.82 4 Tom Yardy 13/311.63 5 Neil Cragg 13/314.55 6 Craig Collinson 13/317.94 7 Tom Cockerill 13/321.24 8 Darren Bloomfield 13/322.77 9 Ellis Stafford 13/329.43 10 Paull Penney 12/303.65

Tom Cockerill put in 4 out of the ten fastest laps,

Paul Penney received a 10 second penalty for an incident that occured.

2WD A Final Leg 2
An uneventful first couple of laps saw most cars running in start order. Neil was quick and clean from the start, with a short gap beginning to appear between him and second place Bradby. Sleigh was hot on the gearbox of Bradbys car and looked to be challenging him for his position.

Cragg leads them through the chichane after the start	Cragg stretched out a quick lead

Collinson moved up to 4th place followed by Cockerill in 5th, Yardy in 6th place and Bloomfield in 7th.
With three minutes left to race, the top three cars were all spread out. A short distance further back Cockerill remained hot on Collinsons tail, and Bloomfield had moved up into 6th place.
Lee Martin pulled into the pit lane with 1minute20sec left to race - won’t win it from there Lee!
With just a couple more laps left to get in, the boys up at the front decided to spice things up a little, after keeping a safe distance throughout the race. From nowhere it seemed, Bradders got his second wind and hammered down hard,

Cragg with his CML C4.1	Bradby put down the hammer and caught Cragg

Bradby lost it coming onto the straight	The marshall fumbled in an effort to catch the roly-poly car of Bradby

catching right up to Neil Craggs rear end, reducing the gap to 0.2sec. However a brief encounter with a track marking set Bradders back a little, and in his effort to catch up to Neil he swiss-rolled towards the straight and shattered his chances of a leg-2 win, as Cragg throttled down the straight at full pelt to drive his last lap solo-style to win the second leg, whilst Bradders wrestled through his final lap with his ariel tube tucked into his wheel.

Neil Cragg took the win this time - by 4 seconds from Bradby.

	2WD A Final Leg 2
	position name result 1 Neil Cragg 13/301.63 2 Paul Bradby 13/305.77 3 Phil Sleigh 13/306.54 4 Craig Collinson 13/312.63 5 Tom Yardy 13/319.79 6 Darren Bloomfield 13/320.52 7 Tom Cockerill 13/321.27 8 Paull Penney 13/321.67 9 Ellis Stafford 12/309.04 10 Lee Martin 08/210.16

2WD A Final Leg 3
Clean start away from the line; Neil Cragg and Paul Bradby had everything to play for in this race. Neil looked to pull a slight lead when Bradders briefly licked the track marking, but he was soon back on the racing line and putting up the chase.

Bradby chased Cragg hard for several laps

Phil Sleigh was hot on the tail of Bradders after his early blip, and Lee Martin kept close; The top 4 started to pull a gap on the rest of the field.
On the second lap Sleigh binned it over the small double jump, and required marshalling assistance, losing himself valuable places. Darren Bloomfield moved up to 5th place. One minute into the race and Cragg looked to be pulling a lead again, but Bradders hammered down hard and soon the gap was zero-point-zero.

	Bradby sneaks on the inside as Cragg overshoots

Bradders pulled a mighty smooth move coming through the centre section of the track, and he was through into the lead to the delight of his onlooking fans.
Cragg kept close though, and nearly took the lead again when Bradders rounded a corner on two wheels, but landing neatly back on the racing line Bradders retained the lead position.
One second further back Lee Martin was cruising around in 3rd place, followed by Yardy in 4th.

Bradby passes and the pair jump together as Cragg tries to regain the lead

10 laps in and the leaders were approaching traffic at the back of the track, with Ellis being the first driver to pass. Ellis kindly accomodated the leaders requirements by landing on his lid coming around a corner, and the leaders passed uneventfully.

Another brief meeting between Bradders and a track marker saw the gap back to Cragg reduce slightly in the excitement of the last minute of race time.
Cragg was almost on top of Bradders, looking for an opportunity to pass, he nearly had it on the corner approaching the straight, but Bradders slammed his back door shut and stayed in the lead. The pair crossed the loop a micro-second before timekeeper Stuart Whyman called the race over, so it was all eyes on Bradders and Cragg as they rode the final lap together, whilst the remainder of the drivers finished their race. Cragg clipped a track marking coming around the corner at the end of the straight, allowing Bradders some breathing room to finish his final lap. Still, Bradders wasn't taking any chances and took caution as he navigated the track, mounting the final small double jump in single-single format, finally cruising around to cross the finish line and take the leg win, with it winning his second national this season. Good skills!

Cragg knew he had no time left and threw it all down	Cragg went wide after the straight and clipped the barrier

	2WD A Final Leg 3
	position name result 1 Paul Bradby 14/323.09 2 Neil Cragg 14/323.89 3 Lee Martin 13/306.54 4 Tom Yardy 13/312.63 5 Paull Penney 13/319.79 6 Tom Cockerill 13/320.52 7 Craig Collinson 13/321.27 8 Phil Sleigh 13/321.67 9 Ellis Stafford 12/309.04 10 Darren Bloomfield 08/210.16

Neil Cragg 2nd - Paul Bradby 1st - Phil Sleigh 3rd

	Overall results - 2WD
	pos car name result chassis 1 2 Paul Bradby 2 [ 1 2 1 ] CML C4.1 2 1 Neil Cragg 3 [ 5 1 2 ] CML C4.1 3 3 Phil Sleigh 5 [ 2 3 8 ] CML C4.1 4 4 Lee Martin 6 [ 3 10 3 ] Tamiya TRF201 5 6 Tom Yardy 8 [ 4 5 4 ] CML C4.1 6 5 Craig Collinson 10 [ 6 4 7 ] Fabs RB5 Mid Custom 7 8 Paul Penney 13 [ 10 8 5 ] Schumacher Cougar SV 8 7 Tom Cockerill 13 [ 7 7 6 ] Schumacher Cougar SV 9 9 Darren Bloomfield 14 [ 8 6 9 ] TLR 22 - MID 10 10 Ellis Stafford 18 [ 9 9 10 ] XFactory X6 squared

	Paul Bradby's winning CML C4.1
	Another victory for the CML C4.1 and a 1-2-3-5 for the car proves it's capable in the right hands. Based on the design of the Atomic Carbon S2 but using an alloy main chassis plate - the C4.1 still isn't available to buy and there's no word on when it'll be released or which part may change - but opinion is that they need to get it out ASAP to benefit from the success! Losi ball cups     SP 7.5 motor Bradders used Speed Passion ESC and 7.5 motor geared on 22/78, reedy saddle lipo's and AE XP (ACE) servo along with some rudebits brass weights.

4WD day kicked off with the same weather that had kicked off the previous days racing - miserable horizontal rain in the face of the equally miserable drivers that turned up.

A full 12 heats with 120 drivers braved the early rain to get in the two practice runs before drivers briefing again took place down on the ground behind the rostrum - the scant protection of the scaffolding didn't do much to warm the drivers hearts.

Damo and ? - side by side man action, and it's only practice!!!!.............. 4WD RULES!!!	Even the top pro-drivers (Lee Martin) have to use a plastic bag to protect from the rain.

Round one of qualifying was effected by rain - this time however it didn't really stop. Lee Martin utterly dominated - just missing out on 13 laps but over 9 seconds the better of Paul Bradby who finished second. Tyre choice was of course the ballistic buggy tyres - of the two choices allowed these are the go-to ones for very wet tracks.

Ellis upped the ante in round two with the first 13-lap run. The slightly dryer track making the times for everyone a bit quicker. Lee Martin went off in the last heat with an even quicker time, 2 seconds up on Ellis to take the round and it was just these two drivers on 13 laps as Tom Cockerill and Grant Williams both piloted their Schumacher CAT SX3's into fast 12 laps in 301.XX seconds.

	Round 2 Qualifying Times.
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 13/320.18 2 Ellis Stafford 13/322.44 3 Tom Cockerill 12/301.14 4 Grant Williams 12/301.32 5 Tom Yardy 12/302.64 6 Richard Lowe 12/302.73 7 Paul Bradby 12/304.78 8 Nathan Waters 12/304.95 9 Keith Robertson 12/305.69 10 Lloyd Storey 12/305.94

With the first and only 14 lap run so far on a much dryer track (proving that round by round qualifying is THE ONLY way to do it) Lee Martin showed he is able to pull just a little extra out of the bag when it comes to 4WD.

	Round 3 Qualifying Times.
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 14/322.46 2 Tom Yardy 13/301.72 3 Craig Collinson 13/304.73 4 Tom Cockerill 13/306.54 5 Greg Williams 13/306.99 6 Paul Bradby 13/307.65 7 Simon Moss 13/308.05 8 Richard Lowe 13/309.87 9 Nathan Ralls 13/310.41 10 Danny McGee 13/311.05

	Paul Bradby Interview. Congratulations on your success so far this season - three races in and you're looking good for the 2wd national series. With three nationals left to race, how confident are you feeling, and which track do you think will be your greatest challenge? Feeling pretty confident because now we've got the c4.1 it's down to the driving not the car any more. Southport will be the biggest challenge, everyone else is quick around there. Do you have a strategy for the rest of the season? Who do you perceive to be your greatest rival competitor? Win everything. Neil, and Cockers really, they're the biggest competition. The tracks so far this season have all been astroturf tracks, and with Kidderminster, Southport and Oswestry yet to race this series, the track surfaces will be a  combination, of astroturf, grass, astroturf, tarmac, and astroturf. What is your favourite surface to race on? Dirt or clay. Do you think there's a future for dirt tracks in this country? There'd be lots to sort out with funding and stuff; planning shiz like that. You raced the B4.1 in Finland last week and didn't even try the new C4.1 you've won two nationals already with - do you think in the near future all racers will have to own two 2wd cars to compete on various tracks and is there any instance you'd bring out the rear-motor car in the uk, perhaps on a wet track or indoors on low traction?  It's a possoibility that people may need two cars, especially if they're racing international events. In this country even if it became really wet I'd still use the c4.1 What do you feel are the benefits / drawbacks of each design of car - rear vs mid, generally and perhaps not specific to your own cars? The rear motor car is on high grip too edgy and unpredictable. mid motor will always be more consistent, not necesserily faster though. When it comes to dirt though rear motor is king, and always will be. You expressed excitement about your recent visit to Finland, what do you like the most about the host country of this years World Championships event, and what do you like the least? The clean air, friendly people, and  the fact that it only gets dark for a very short space of time at night (when we're there). They all have names like rally drivers, even down in the G final. Worst thing is paying 7 euros for beer! Well done, and good luck with continuing your winning streak.

Trish was very wet - but very pleased with his run	Go up the hill after your run = a big telling off!

Tom Cockerill tried to drive beneath the astro rather than on top, which cost him dearly - a flaw with the astroturf not being secured down properly we're told. Lee Martin took the win - again - proving he can bore us all with his consistent speed. MIX IT UP MAN - geez!

Richard Lowe was once a big fan of one-ways but these days he's all about the fixed 4WD and he used those front brakes to good effect on his way to second in round just barely in front of his CML team mate Paul Bradby.

	Round 4 Qualifying Times.
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 14/315.42 2 Richard Lowe 14/321.77 3 Paul Bradby 14/321.86 4 Nathan Waters 13/300.74 5 Danny McGee 13/302.89 6 Greg Williams 13/304.09 7 Craig Collinson 13/305.19 8 Nathan Ralls 13/305.42 9 Keith Robertson 13/306.56 10 Tom Yardy 13/307.93

4WD A Final Leg 1.

The start was delayed slightly because there was a problem with first-time national A-finalist Greg Williams' car. The drivers can ask for time in the finals if there's a problem and if it's reasonable then at the officials discretion it can be given. Greg claimed he had no punch off the line and a quick run back to the pits and a change of cells saw him back out in no time - a noisy car was a bad sign but a poorly mounted body was the reason and it was all good for the youngster.

It was a clean start from the line and Paul Bradby looked to pull a move on Ellis Stafford, the 2nd and 3rd place pair driving side-by-side across the banked corner, but Ellis slammed his back door shut and throttled hard to catch up with lead-man Lee.
As if to tease his followers Lee flip-rolled off a small-double jump, but landed on his wheels before anyone could even think about taking his lead - DC on the microphone likes to call this a millionaires roll we think. Luck we call it!

Greg Williams with a borrowed shell - first time out!	Lee Martin leads Ellis and Bradby

Ellis was all over Lee for 0.5 of a lap	Ellis had a lot of errors in leg 1

Yardy in 4th place tried to copy Lees style in exactly the same place, but sadly it didn’t end so well for him and some marshalling assistance was required, costing him valuable places.
The top three pulled a reasonable gap back to 4th place Tom Cockerill, then Richard Lowe, Craig Collinson, Tom Yardy, Greg Williams, Nathan Waters, and Grant Williams.

A further tumble from Yardy saw him drop to the back of the pile. A flip from Stafford in the centre of the track saw him drop two places into 4th whilst previous days winner Bradby was through into second to challenge Lee for the win.
Tom Cockerill was now up to 3rd place and prepared to hunt down the leaders, but he had a hard-charging Ellis hot on his gearbox ready to make a move.

With three minutes left to race the top 5 were Lee Martin, Paul Bradby, Tom Cockerill, Ellis Stafford, and Craig Collinson.
Lee was out on his own, and with 2 minutes still left to race Lee had pulled a lead of 5.5 seconds - no one had an answer for his speed.
Another roll from Ellis saw Cockerill with some room to breathe, Craig Collinson was now right with Ellis and another roll on the next corner dropped Ellis down to 5th place with Collinson moving up to 4th.

Another rolypoly from Ellis! oops.	Bradby and Ellis go nuts after the straight

A schoolboy error from Tom Cockerill over the small doubles meant Collinson was now in the game for 3rd place, and the pair drove side-by-side over the next doubles. Unfortunately though a coming together meant both cars flipped. Ellis was through to 3rd place; Collinson landed on his wheels and kept 4th place,  but Tom Cockerill was worse off and demoted to 5th position, and had 6th place man Nathan Waters hot on his tail.
Meanwhile following his earlier incident Yardy had worked his way up to 6th place and was hoping to join in the battle between Ellis, Collinson and Cockerill who were all fighting it out for 3rd.

Tom Yardy owned Talywain a couple of years ago	Craig Collinson put in a sweet 3rd

With one minute left to race, Lee had pulled a lead of 6.1 seconds back to 2nd place Bradby who was hanging out on his own. Stafford tried for a big move over the double jump but couldn’t quite make it stick, and landed on his lid. The order was now Lee Martin, Paul Bradby, Craig Collinson, Tom Cockerill, Nathan Waters, Ellis Stafford.
Nathan was racing close to Cockerill and was looking for any opportunity to pass; Ellis kept close but made another error over the small double jumps and lost a place to Tom Yardy.

Lee Won, by quite a lot.

	4WD A Final Leg 1
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 14/317.98 2 Paul Bradby 13/302.82 3 Craig Collinson 13/305.93 4 Tom Cockerill 13/307.94 5 Nathan Waters 13/307.94 6 Tom Yardy 13/309.82 7 Ellis Stafford 13/311.88 8 Richard Lowe 13/314.24 9 Greg Williams 13/319.94 10 Grant Williams 12/303.36

	Greg Williams - First time National A Finalist.
	Young Greg Williams got his hands on the new Schumacher CAT SX3 just prior to the Talywain National and never raced it before the event - indeed in the words of his dad, they didn't even have time to build the turnbuckles on this car, hence the slightly random look / colours of some links & ball cups. Gregs car is a pretty standard SX3 - first time out Greg still managed his best ever result and made his first ever national A final with the new car - an awesome result which was greeted by the largest round of applause during the drivers introduction for A-final leg 1. Greg didn't have his own bodyshell painted in time Lots of blue tack to stop the water Adjustable centre one way

4WD A Final Leg 2.
Lee was fast off the line but Ellis wasn’t going to let him get away so soon, trying to reel in the rapid leader. Third place Tom Yardy was holding off Paul Bradby in 4th place and Tom Cockerill in 5th.  One minute into the race though and Lee had pulled a decent lead on Ellis, with a further gap back to 3rd place Yardy. Most racing was occurring in the mid-field, where Tom Cockerill was hassling Bradby for 4th place.

Lee leads them round

Ellis looked dangerous	Ellis got out of shape in his desperation

A couple of errors coming over the doubles on two consequetive laps saw Lees lead reduce, and Ellis looked to be reeling him in, however an error in the same place by Ellis one lap later gave Lee some breathing space and Ellis now had Tom Yardy bearing down on him. Paul Bradby was still rocking around in 4th place waiting to make the most of any error from these two, whilst putting in the single fastest lap of the leg.  A roll over on the banked corner though saw Paul Bradby demoted to 6th place as Tom Cockerill and Craig Collinson danced on through. Bradders confidently tried to pull a fancy move coming over the small double which most drivers had been single-single jumping all day, but it didn’t work out for him as he landed facing the wrong way, in the direct path of Craig Collinson. Craig had no choice but to Hulk on through, and Bradders waited for the opportunity to U-turn, in the meantime dropping to 7th place. Nathan Waters moved up to 6th place, whilst Greg Williams was in 8th place, Grant Williams in 9th and Richard Lowe in 10th place.
Lee Won again, taking the overall win for his 3rd national event of the season.

	4WD A Final Leg 2
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 13/301.28 2 Ellis Stafford 13/303.63 3 Tom Yardy 13/307.51 4 Tom Cockerill 13/309.40 5 Craig Collinson 13/310.49 6 Nathan Waters 13/311.09 7 Paul Bradby 13/314.51 8 Grant Williams 13/320.54 9 Greg Williams 13/320.75 10 Richard Lowe 13/323.51

Lee takes them round corner 1 Bradby stuffed it

Lee Martin had already won the event, but knew he was fast enough to win again so participated in the third leg.
Bad news for Ellis off the start line as he skimmed along the track marker and wheelied away, losing out to Paul Bradby and Tom Yardy who moved into 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Bradby skidded off the double jump and Yardy was through into 2nd place. Lee was already 1.8 seconds ahead two laps into the race, but performed a champignon roll, landing on his wheels and losing out to no-one but himself as he kept the lead.

Bradby saw Lee’s error and thought he’d try one of those for himself, still hanging in 4th place, but it didn’t work out quite so well for the previous days winner and 2wd hero, and he needed the assistance of a nearby marshal; meanwhile pretty much most of the field drove on by.

A couple of minutes in and all the drivers were pretty spaced out. Soon though Ellis was reeling Yardy in, and the battle for 2nd place was ON.  The pair raced closely for the final few laps, and Ellis was throwing everything into the mix, but couldn’t get through past the Yardster. A roll from Ellis on the final lap meant the fight was over, Yardy finished in second place and Lee came through to take yet another win - damn he's good.

Tom Yardy and Ellis battle it out down the straight

Ellis Stafford 3rd - Lee Martin 1st - Tom Yardy 2nd

Thanks to Talywain for a great race meeting despite the weather. The next round (4) of the 2011 series heads back to Kidderminster which hasn't been a main feature on the National series for a few years.