30th June 2012
The Oswestry national weekend was scheduled for 4 weeks after round 3 at Eden Park at the start of june. As the British Summer (yes, weather talk, again...) had well and truly kicked off, we eagerly anticipated a pleasantly balmy, mild, and dry weekend.

Halfway through the 2012 BRCA 10th off road national series, the standings were as follows:

2wd top 20. 1. Lee Martin 2. Neil Cragg 3. Darren Bloomfield 4. Tom Cockerill 5. Simon Moss 6. Kevin Lee 7. Paul Bradby 8. Ellis Stafford 9. Danny Mcgee 10. Tom Yardy 11. Grant Williams 12. Craig Collinson 13. Nathan Waters 14. Lloyd Storey 15. James Helliwell 16. Richard Lowe 17. David Poulter 18. Phil Sleigh 19. Stuart Wood 20. Nathan Ralls 4wd top 20 1. Lee Martin 2. Neil Cragg 3. Danny Mcgee 4. Tom Cockerill 5. Simon Moss 6. Kevin Lee 7. Paul Bradby 8. Ellis Stafford 9. Tom Yardy 10. Nathan Waters 11. Lloyd Storey 12. Craig Collinson 13. Richard Lowe 14. Nathan Ralls 15. David Poulter 16. Stuart Wood 17. Greg Williams 18. Adam Skelding 19. Dan Greenwood 20. Darren Bloomfield

With two TQ’s and 3 wins in the 2wd championship series so far, Lee Martin is leading 8 points from Neil Cragg.  I’m not good enough with numbers to calculate who can’t win after the three rounds so far, but judging on consistency and on-track skills, Lee Martin is coming up as a decent chance of taking the title after four events. However all the events so far this year have been on astroturf / multi surface technical tracks, so it will remain to be seen how his skills transfer onto a grass track. At last years Oswestry national, Lee finished 3rd place in both classes, although in 2010 Lee took the 4wd National Championship title at the Oswestry track.

Lee also boasts three TQ and wins in 4wd so my bets are on him walking away with at least one (more) championship title this weekend.

Not-so-lil' Greg Williams is the highest placed under19, sitting 17th place overall in 4wd and 26th in 2wd. Having made his first national A final last year Greg is definitely one to watch.
Newly-wed Gentlemanly racer Dan Greenwood is currently placed 19th in 4wd and 24th in 2wd, it will be interesting to see whether married life impacts positively or negatively on Dans results.
Nathan Ralls of recently re-established Ralls Racing fame is having a good season so far, with 20th overall in 2wd and 14th in 4wd, good job! Look out for Nathan with his trackside shop and tastefully converted campervan.

Enough blurb about results anyway, what about this weekends racing.
Round 4 of the 2012 BRCA national championships is brought to you by the Oswestry radio car club, based at the Oswestry Showground in Shropshire. This exclusive venue often has events running alongside racing, such as dogging matches and carnivores. The club do have a purpose built track which is not used for national events, so each year they build the national track from scratch out of hills, grass, timber constructed obstacles, and firemen's hoses.
Quite gruesomely Owestry is named after a tree upon which Oswalds bodily parts were displayed (this is no joke!), it’s not clear exactly what Oswald did wrong but he perhaps tried to take over the village and move it to his hometown in Northumberland - very impractical.

Paul Worsley giving drivers briefing	There was some laking about

Factoid: 'Larking' derives from the Yorkshire dialect word 'lake', meaning 'to amuse oneself'

Oswestry is home to many local attractions, such as its castle and other ancient buildings, many markets, and an iron age fort. It’s that tree I’d be watching out for though.
Owestry is located remarkably close to Wales, and the route that we take to drive there even takes us into Wales and out again, fortunately. A passport is not required to cross the border, and the local currency is the same as is used in England.

The Oswestry 2wd national event kicked off on Saturday June 30th 2012, we opted for the stay-at-home expansion pack for Friday night, making the short drive over to Os-Fest early on Saturday morning. Practice was well underway on our arrival.

Racing got started at 10am with bright sunshine, but by 10:30 the first rain shower came down. It was light and things weren't really affected badly but more showers came soon after. This was supposed to be the order of the day - lots of small showers - nice.

	2WD Qualifying Round One - Top 10
	position name result 1 Darren Bloomfield 12 310.65 2 Neil Cragg 12 310.67 3 Kevin Lee 12 310.99 4 Lee Martin 12 311.25 5 Paul Bradby 12 311.31 6 Ellis Stafford 12 315.50 7 Tom Cockerill 12 316.67 8 Simon Moss 12 316.71 9 Nathan Waters 12 317.73 10 Craig Collinson 12 317.68

Wayne Collinson had some 'grass flaps'	Gaz Stanton broke out his old B4 due to the rain

Matt Benfield from Racer magazine drifts his C4.1 in the muddy conditions

Lee Martin put in a heroic effort to go second to Paul Field in round - just 5 seconds down. Some unfamiliar names joined Paul Field to take up their rightful places in the top 10.

	2WD Qualifying Round Two - 'The Wet One' - Top 10
	position name result 1 Paul Field 11 306.79 2 Lee Martin 11 311.42 3 Neil Cragg 11 313.30 4 Chris Stewart 11 315.96 5 Paul Upton 11 316.18 6 Nicholas Cox 11 317.60 7 Jeff Steele 11 318.33 8 James Wilkinson 11 318.65 9 Paul Crocker 11 319.16 10 Stuart Hurley 11 319.41

	Interview with Paul Field - TQ in round 2, BQ, finished 19th overall. Hey Paul, what is your secret to success? Rain! Do you have any preparation tips prior to a race meeting? Just the usual really, strip the car down, make sure everything is in the right place, check that tyres are on properly. How long have you been racing? 25 years. What is your best ever race result? I won the 1998 1/10th IC British Championships, and in the same year finished 28th at the world championships in that class. If you could be a fly on the wall anywhere...? The McLaren pits so I could learn their setup secrets. What is your favourite sport? Apart from this? Cricket - for both participation and spectating. Do you prefer sweet or savoury pies? Savoury Where is your home track, and which is your favourite venue? Home track is Tipton St Johns, in Devon, and Oswestry is my favourite. What is the best thing about Oswestry (the location). Must be the track - I haven’t been anywhere else here yet! Paul is running the Kyosho Rudebits DB1 conversion

Rain - where's it coming from?	Tom Cockerill's Cougar SV2

Paul Upton's Akula Racing AKX2 'Thresher' Paul Upton had a newly anodised (red) Akula Racing AKX2 'Thresher' - based on the Ansmann X2C, but with a nice narrow alloy chassis plate (covered in vinyl here) that extends the wheelbase 10mm over the Ansmann car. . It looked nice in the morning - before it rained. Lots of bluetac to waterproof it

More rain affected round three but not to the same extent as it had in the previous round. A few drivers were starting to break out their rear motor cars to cope with the worsening conditions. Ellis Stafford took this round with his XFactory X6. Paul Field had another great result with 18th in round - not quite TQ, but he could still make the A with a little help from the rain gods.

Disturbing	Disturbed

	2WD Qualifying Round Three - Top 10
	position name result 1 Ellis Stafford 11 313.85 2 Darren Bloomfield 11 314.16 3 Neil Cragg 11 315.99 4 Tom Yardy 11 318.78 5 Tom Cockerill 11 320.67 6 Lee Martin 11 323.15 7 Simon Moss 11 323.23 8 Richard Lowe 11 324.13 9 Kevin Lee 11 324.98 10 Greg Williams 11 325.44

Lee Martin took the final qualifying round just ahead of Darren Bloomfield - but Bloomfield's excellent consistency would see him take the overall TQ having won the opening leg and placed second in rounds three and four.

The Schumacher pair of Tom Cockerill and Simon Moss both broke out the new Cougar SVR for the final round of qualifying. The guys used a test car (Simon) and the press / show car (Tom) since the final cars aren't available yet. Electrical problems plagued Simon in his run - the last minute car swap not as smooth a transition as he would have liked as he dropped out after just 1 lap with a stalled car. Still - he'd done enough to make the A final so the SVR would get another chance.

	2WD Qualifying Round Four - Top 10
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 11 312.57 2 Darren Bloomfield 11 313.59 3 Ellis Stafford 11 315.34 4 Tom Yardy 11 316.38 5 Neil Cragg 11 316.99 6 Paul Bradby 11 322.17 7 Kevin Lee 11 322.18 8 Richard Lowe 11 322.90 9 Andrew Jones 11 326.82 10 Danny McGee 11 326.95

Reports in the media suggest that Darren Bloomfield TQ'd every round - this wasn't quite true.

2WD A Final Leg One
A final leg one got off in light rain. Bloomfield lead them round lap one as Lee Martin dropped to fourth after coming up short on the table top and having a tumble. Ellis was through for 2nd followed by Cragg. As the drivers came round for lap two Darren Bloomfield took the end of the straight too tight and got caught on the unforgiving track markers which cost him dearly as Ellis now bumped up to the lead.

Ellis takes up second behind Bloomfield	Headed for disaster - Bloomfield aims for the pipe

Cragg pushed Ellis hard as Lee Martin now closed in on the leading pair. Cragg got out of shape and ended up mounting the apex of a corner so now Lee was back to second as Yardy also came past for third before Cragg could get back underway.

Cragg pushes Ellis hard	Cragg gives Ellis a nudge

Lee Martin and Yardy come past as Cragg gets it wrong

Cragg made his way past Yardy back to third and caught up to Lee Martin who was still chasing Ellis out front. The trio now broke away as they battled to the line. Ellis kept his cool and held on for the win, Lee second and Cragg third.

Ellis heads to the finish line around the next corner as he's chased by Lee and Neil

2WD A Final Leg Two
The second leg of the A got underway in glorious sunshine. The track was still moist but nothing like it had been in the opening leg.

Bloomfield (out of shot) is followed by 'the pack'

Darren leads them round to complete another lap	Things were close

Bloomfield lead them round and for half the race the first five cars lapped close and in start order. Bloomfield was driving consistently with Lee and Ellis right behind. Ellis running in third made an error on the main straight and dropped several positions.

Bloomfield was still leading with Lee right behind. With a couple of laps to go, Lee started to push his car hard and close right in on the rear of Darren's car. As the pair came down the main straight Lee took the inside line as Bloomfield went wide and Lee was through for the lead. Bloomfield got out of shape a couple of corners later and nearly lost another position as Tom Yardy closed in to fight it out for second.

Bloomfield - Lee - Ellis - Cragg - Yardy	Bloomfield had a wide line - Lee takes the inside

Lee Martin wasn't going to be in trouble as long as he kept it on its wheels. Tom Yardy made a last minute push to pass Bloomfield but couldn't quite do it. The positions remained the same with Lee taking the leg, Darren second and Tom Yardy third.

Ralls Racing is the new business venutre by well known racer Nathan Ralls. Nathan brought his shop trackside to support the racers and has a new website online - www.rallsracing.com. We're proud to also have Ralls Racing as one of our advertisers on the website. Best wishes to Nathan in his new venture.

2WD A Final Leg Three
It was a good start with close racing at the top - Darren pulling a short lead and Ellis hot on Lee’s tail after a wobbly landing off the tabletop. Racing remained close, Lee puts the hammer down on Bloomfield and pressures hard for any opportunity to take up the lead. Ellis chasing down in 3rd place but mounts the pipe and takes a roll -landing on his wheels but dropping down to 4th place behind Neil Cragg, now in 3rd.

Darren Bloomfield had a bad landing coming off the tabletop but Lee landed right behind him and had no space to come up the inside. Darren rejoined the racing line still in 1st place, but Lee was now on his gearbox and pushing for another error.
At three minutes in, Darrens back end stepped out ever so slightly, the crucial moment that Lee was looking for and without missing a beat Lee slipped up the inside to take the lead.

Darren now had Neil Cragg pushing him round. The pair almost swapped positions slightly coming down the straight but it didn't quite pay off for Neil, and Darren remained in 2nd. The pressure may have been too much though as moments later Darren flipped into the air and Neil goes through.

Neil chased Lee hard for the final couple of laps but Lee had this one in the bag, taking the leg win and winning the 2wd event. This nearly-on-par result for Lee see’s him competing head to head with Neil Cragg for the championship title - for Neil to win he would need to TQ and win the remaining two events at Silverstone and Kidderminster.

	2WD A Final Leg 3
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 11 310.03 2 Neil Cragg 11 310.75 3 Darren Bloomfield 11 314.20 4 Tom Yardy 11 317.42 5 Ellis Stafford 11 317.60 6 Kevin Lee 11 319.50 7 Simon Moss 11 320.37 8 Paul Bradby 11 327.19 9 Tom Cockerill 11 328.80 10 Richard Lowe 10 302.94

Saturday July 1st 2012 - Oswestry 4wd national.

As per the usual schedule drivers who awoke early enough ran two rounds of practice, followed by drivers briefing before the start of qualifying at 10am. Track conditions throughout practice started to dry up and the viscous mud started to groove up. In a timely manner some light showers arrived after practice finished to dampen things down slightly.

A warm up during practice reduces risk of masrhalling strains	Tom Cockerill excitedly displays his range of Kifo-painted shells

This deep sea fisherman came to race	Darren 'DMS Racing' Boyle

Ashley Caunt

4wd Qualifying Round 1.
Round one remained mostly overcast and relatively dry - with only the occasional light shower. As the top heats came out to play Kevin Lee was sitting in the TQ position after heat 10, but an epic race between Darren Bloomfield, Ellis Stafford and Simon Moss in heat 11 saw Kev drop down the order. In heat 12 the only two drivers to top the list were Neil Cragg and Lee Martin. Lee started out quickest but a couple of bobbles on the track saw him lose valuable seconds to TQ in round Neil Cragg.

Grant Williams Schumacher CAT SX3	Andy Jones battles up the inside

Dave Belsten's DEX410v3

	2WD Qualifying Round One - Top 10
	position name result 1 Neil Cragg 12 321.51 2 Lee Martin 12 324.62 3 Darren Bloomfield 12 324.77 4 Ellis Stafford 12 326.46 5 Simon Moss 11 300.77 6 Kevin Lee 11 302.38 7 Tom Yardy 11 302.40 8 Danny McGee 11 304.29 9 Richard Lowe 11 305.54 10 Nathan Waters 11 306.24

Round 2 Qualifying.

Stuart Wood again had problems with his XX4 in this round - the slipper backing off twice in two runs. His Losi team mate, Darren Bloomfield, was having much better luck with his XX4 and fought off an early challenge from Ellis Stafford before storming off to the TQ - 12 seconds ahead of the previous round TQ time, showing how much faster the track was.

Stu wood gets pulled off after slipping badly	Ellis leads Bloomfield round before making an error.

Neil Cragg and Lee Martin running in the final heat had a fierce battle - Lee eventually making an error and dropping back slightly as Cragg forged ahead to attack Bloomfields time, but had to settle for 2nd by a narrow margain.

Hot off his first 4WD national A final at the previous round of the championship - Dave Poulter was again flying with his Team Durango DEX 410 finishing 6th in round 2.

Stu Wood adjusts his slipper

	2WD Qualifying Round Two - Top 10
	position name result 1 Darren Bloomfield 12 310.41 2 Neil Cragg 12 310.56 3 Lee Martin 12 311.63 4 Tom Yardy 12 317.00 5 Simon Moss 12 317.67 6 David Poulter 12 317.98 7 Nathan Waters 12 318.55 8 Richard Lowe 12 319.20 9 Ellis Stafford 12 319.24 10 Paul Bradby 12 319.33

British National Champions - past 10 years.

	2wd Champion 2011. Neil Cragg 2010. Tom Cockerill 2009. Ellis Stafford 2008. Ellis Stafford 2007. Darren Bloomfield 2006. Neil Cragg 2005. Neil Cragg 2004. Neil Cragg 2003. Neil Cragg 2002. Richard Taylor 4wd Champion 2011. Lee Martin 2010. Lee Martin 2009. Neil Cragg 2008. Lee Martin 2007. Lee Martin 2006. Richard Taylor 2005. Neil Cragg 2004. Richard Taylor 2003. Neil Cragg 2002. Richard Taylor

European Champions - past 10 years.

	2wd Champion 2011. Lee Martin 2010. Lee Martin 2009. Hupo Honigl 2008. Neil Cragg 2007. Neil Cragg 2006. Hupo Honigl 2005. Neil Cragg 2004. Neil Cragg 2003. Neil Cragg 2002. Neil Cragg 4wd Champion 2011. Jorn Neumann 2010. Lee Martin 2009. Marc Rheinard 2008. Neil Cragg 2007. Hupo Honigl 2006. Peter Pinisch 2005. Ellis Stafford 2004. Jorn Neumann 2003. Neil Cragg 2002. Mighty Chris D

4wd Qualifying Round 3.

Round three of qualifying saw Lee Martin step up to take the win a couple of seconds ahead of Neil Cragg, getting ever closer to 13 lap pace. Lee, Neil and Darren had all dominated the top three positions to this point and it was only these three who could now take the overall TQ.

	Stuart Wood fixed his slipper!

John Spencer is racing the Schumacher this year and has his new Proline shells. Rock on.

Lap times were again improved as the track continued to dry out and drivers opted for Schumacher Yellow mini spikes - earlier in the day, particularly the opening round, Greens or Silvers were the choice. Richard Lowe performed best on Blick Whites.

	2WD Qualifying Round Three - Top 10
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 12 300.86 2 Neil Cragg 12 302.98 3 Darren Bloomfield 12 303.60 4 Ellis Stafford 12 304.41 5 Simon Moss 12 305.02 6 Paul Bradby 12 305.37 7 Tom Yardy 12 305.90 8 Tom Cockerill 12 306.82 9 Craig Collinson 12 308.08 10 Kevin Lee 12 308.21

The track for 4WD was virtually identical to 2WD - the only difference was the direction. Some large features were built on the gently sloping grass track. The track markers were quite unforgiving and pushed those drivers who tried to take too-tight a line on the apex.

Qualifying Round 4

13 Laps didn't happen! Neil Cragg took another round win just ahead of Ellis Stafford.

4WD A final Leg One

The first leg of the A Final was lead away by pole man Neil Cragg but it was only a couple of corners before he clipped the track marker and went off line. Lee Martin was quick to capitalise and move up to the lead as Cragg just managed to hold position in front of Darren Bloomfield.

	Neil gets sandwiched after losing the lead

Ellis tries to take Bloomfield at the end of the straight	Ellis and Bloomfield came together

Neil landed badly off the tabletop and Bloomfield was again close to making his move but held back to remain safe - Lee stretched out a small lead as Ellis Stafford now closed up on Bloomfield. Neil, Darren and Ellis all hit the main straight together and Ellis looked to power his XFactory X7 prototype past Bloomfield - getting alongside but backing off at the last second before impact. Only two corners later the pair did come together and Ellis came out on top in the mayhem as Lee and Neil pulled away to fight it out for the lead.

Darren had already delayed the start of the race as his XX4 had blown a diff during the final round of qualifying - and the repair obviously wasn't quite right and he had to retire with more diff problems.

Ellis and Darren	Bad times for Darren as he retires with diff problems

Lee Martin in the lead made an error where Neil had - and gave the position back in the process. So now Neil was on top. Both Neil and Lee looked to have small error coming up to the tabletop and now Ellis Stafford joined the pair at the front though the positions remained the same. Ellis tried to pass Lee but again had to back out of it.

Neil back in the lead - Lee follows with Ellis third.

Lee clipped the apex just before the main straight and rolled his Tamiya across the path of Ellis Stafford who sailed by for 2nd. Lee's turnbuckle had popped off and by the time he rejoined he was only just in front of the leader Neil Cragg, and effectively out of the running.

Neil Cragg held a decent lead over Ellis but a mistake allowed Ellis to catch and pass just as Neil got back underway. Neil tried everything to pass as the pair went nose-to-tail for the next couple of laps with the time ticking down. The last lap started and Neil was now really close on Ellis's bumper but couldn't pressure a mistake or force his way past. It looked like it wasn't going to happen as the pair came onto the main straight together - Cragg went wide and cut in early - taking Ellis on the inside for a dramatic lead change only to touch the apex and bounce out wide enough for Ellis to come right back on the inside of Neil to regain the lead. With only one corner to go now Ellis clipped the next apex but the order stayed the same and he took the win ahead of Neil by half a second. Kevin Lee was up all the way from 8th on the grid to finish a further 4 seconds down on Neil for third.

Ellis now in front after an error from Cragg	Cragg wasn't about to give up

Neil kept close as they came onto the straight	...And then dove inside for the lead

Crowd goes wild but Neil clips the pipe and opens the door for Ellis to come straight back through.

4WD A final Leg Two

The first five remained in order for the first few laps. Neil, Darren and Lee Martin all going round like a train with a short gap back to Ellis and then Simon Moss in 5th. Ellis joined the front three before a bad landing over the tabletop allowed Simon Moss through for fourth.

Neil continued to lead from Lee and Darren in what was turning out to be another exciting final. Neil clipped the pipe before the tabletop and Lee squeezed through for the lead with Neil tucking in behind and Bloomfield following.

Ellis made an error and Simon Moss moved up	Lee, Neil, Darren - close racing action.

Lee Martin pulled out a small lead over the chasing pair as Neil looked more to defend the attack from Darren than chase down Lee. Darren looked to have the speed advantage with his Orion powered car and each time the pair came down the main straight he was all over Neil looking for any opportunity to pass.

Darren came onto the straight with Neil	When you race this close, errors happen

Lee fell foul of the unforgiving track markings and clipped a pipe - taking a long tumble down the track as first Neil and then Darren came past for 1st and 2nd position. Lee kept with the leaders a short way back and as Darren looked to pass Neil he clipped him - slowing both drivers and allowing Lee to join the fight once more.

Lee dramatically tumbles whilst leading - Neil and Bloomfield are quick to capitalise.

Darren continued to look for a way past - desperate now to make a move as the final lap started. An error from Bloomfield allowed Neil to pull away and Lee to attempt a pass down the main straight for the last time. Darren held position as Neil Crossed the line for the win, Darren second and Lee third.

Bloomfield continued to pressure Neil

4WD A final Leg Three
The third leg saw Neil Cragg pull out a small lead after about half a lap - back to Lee Martin and Darren Bloomfield who were fighting it out in second. Darren dropped back from Lee a little before clipping the track marking and taking a roll. The order was now Neil, Lee and Ellis up to third.

Neil and Lee raced for several laps almost joined together - Neil having to work ever harder to keep the Tamiya in his rear view mirror. All this time Ellis Stafford was slowly closing the gap to the front pair. Neil clipped a pipe he'd visited a few times and took a tumble - Lee was so close behind he tried to avoid the mess and ended up hitting a bump as he slid sideways and rolled himself. Both cars landed on their wheels and carried on as if nothing happened but Ellis Stafford had closed right up in third.

More fierce race laps ticked by, with Lee looking for every opportunity to pass. The battle to the line ended without any change of leader and Neill took the leg and with it the overall victory. Ellis Stafford took second overall and Lee Martin finished third overall.