Sunday August 5th - 4wd
After a comfortable night in the on-site dorms and an early start to work on the previous days report, we rolled up at the track just as drivers briefing was dispersing. We caught up with some of the drivers to capture their response.
Drivers Briefing:
Anonymous: I really wish microphones would be used at drivers briefing, surely the whole point of a drivers briefing is to inform everyone at the venue of details of the event, do's and dont's, safety etc. It's good to get everyone there in one place but you still miss things that are said. The microphone is there to be used; please use it. This would be better for everyone, for instance non racers in the pits who may need first aid! :)
This was sent in by an anonymous racer who wished not to be named and as professionals we cannot reveal his, her, or their identity.
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Weird! |
Special Friends. Joe is increasingly man-friendly |
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Jim can't believe what Damo keeps inside his shorts. |
Special Friends. |
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Nathan Ralls shows off the new HPI Flux Pro Competition Brushless controller
We followed with interest the development of the HPI racing brushless system over the past - well - what seems like years, but is in fact several months. Finally it's here and the team have been using the final production versions for a little while now and getting used to all the settings.
The Flux Pro Competition as it's known is a hugely customizable ESC - suitable for everything from top level touring car racing to modified off road where smooth throttle response is more usually desirable.
The top of the case on the new ESC is a one piece alloy with integrated heat sink to soak up the heat and allow the included fan to do its job.
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Nathan seducively poses with the new HPI Flux Pro Compeition and Flux Pro motors |
Nathan Ralls:
Having spent the last 18 months working on the programs and ideas to the flux pro speed controller to see it finally in production is great. The best features I've found so far is the two-stage punch setting that also has a 'slider' - so you can effectively control where stage 2 comes in. This really helps to create a smooth feeling car that can, and does, return faster and more consistent lap times for the average racer.
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Nathan's currently ruunning the Associated B44 - powered by HPI of course. |
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Flux installed! |
They should have called it 'HPI UNO' |
The brakes also have the same 2 stage settings as well so fine tuning them is very easy. The programing box adds a very familier feel so most racers will automatically feel at home and will only need to master the newer perameters. due to the efficiency of the unit, setting-for-setting, the speedo and motor both run aproximatly 25-30 degrees cooler which with the turbo function means you can push the motor a lot harder than previously. This has ment I'm personally able to run aproximatly 1 wind less than I need to gain more drivability but the car is still like a rocket ship quick down the straight (best of both worlds for me personally). There's also a new turbo disengagement slope to help add an extra adjustable amount of drag brake at the end of highspeed sections which once you've tried it, has been raved about by all the test drivers and new customers alike.
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Nathan will gladly help set up your HPI Flux trackside and give some tips - here he's setting mine up. |
For those jumping on board with the products feel free to either send a private message to Nathan (Ralls Racing) or Craig Collinson (Oople screen name HULK) or of course you can come say hello track side for all the latest settings and setups from any of the team. |
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Qualifying Round 1
Neil Cragg took round one despite a good effort by Ellis Stafford to challenge Neil's time. Previous days winner Elliott Boots was looking fast but took the front of his car off in a grip-roll incident and that was the end of his round one.
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4WD Qualifying Round One - Top 10 |
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1 |
Neil Cragg |
15 302.21 |
2 |
Ellis Stafford |
15 305.30 |
3 |
Nathan Waters |
15 309.20 |
4 |
Lee Martin |
15 310.41 |
5 |
Greg Williams |
15 310.89 |
6 |
David Poulter |
15 311.21 |
7 |
David Orbell |
15 311.82 |
8 |
Craig Collinson |
15 313.01 |
9 |
Adam Mackman |
15 314.71 |
10 |
Tom Cockerill |
15 315.95 |
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Jack Neal - Junior (under 13) champion 2011 in 2wd and 4wd.
Age: 14
Years Racing: 5 years.
Usually races at: Holbeach community centre Wednesday night, mid-east Regional series, nationals.
Current License Grade: F2.
This is his 3rd year doing nationals in both 2wd and 4wd classes. Also races superstock on Wednesday nights.
First got into racing: A friend used to come racing and invited me along, I had a go with his car one Wednesday night and pretty much started from there.
Support team: Tom Cockerill helps if we're struggling with a set up. I come racing with my Dad who helps with wrenching. Direct Schumacher sponsorship and customblitz for bodyshell paint.
Favourite race: Any of the nationals.
Favourite track: Eastrax - one of our regional tracks.
Aims for this year: I'd like to achieve my F2 through the national series, aiming for another win at the juniors this year after taking the 2wd and 4wd under 13 win last year. Connor Cocker and Ashley Caunt will be my biggest competition in the Under 16 group.
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Rudebits Ackerman plate for the Kyosho ZX5 FS2
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Tony's car with the new steering installed. |
Lots extra holes for mega steering! |
Tony Evdoka had a new steering part on his Kyosho Lazer - giving extra ackerman positions. The thin but strong matt-finish brass plate allowed the driver to space the ball stud fore/aft using shims for extra tunability.
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Lots of option to pust the ball studs further forward if steering is needed. |
Check out the Rudebits website for more information - www.rudebits.co.uk |
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The 4WD cars were suffering a little from excessive grip at the Silverstone track - the astroturf making the cars edgy and ultra responsive - sometimes a little too responsive. Some drivers opted for heavily cut 4WD Schumacher tyres up from to calm things down whilst a lot of drivers started experimenting with 2WD fronts.
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The track had a lot of traction |
Ellis Stafford - lots of rows cut off |
Ashley Caunt took things to the extreme and ran the high profile cut staggers up front on his Kyosho 4WD car - with the sidewalls glued for extra stiffness (and even less agressive steering. Did it work? 11th in round as Ashley was happy to mention.
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A lot opted for standard 2WD front spikes - cut down! |
Ash Caunt was running 2WD staggers! |
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Damian Whittle - Tyre guru and adviser to the stars. |
Even former World Champs were seeking out Damo's sage advice. |
I think in the USA they sometimes refer to some tracks as being 'high traction' - this would probably blow their minds. |
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Qualifying round 2
Danny McGee took the second round - storming it with the first 16 lap run of the day. Most drivers were running narrow front (2WD) tyres on the front - but with Danny TQ'ing with the standard wide Schumachers up front, some were reconsidering their options.
Lee Martin made it a Tamiya 1 - 2 in round but things were tight at the top and there was nothing between most of the top ten.
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4WD Qualifying Round Two - Top 10 |
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1 |
Danny McGee |
16 319.85 |
2 |
Lee Martin |
15 301.56 |
3 |
Neil Cragg |
15 302.47 |
4 |
Tom Cockerill |
15 302.84 |
5 |
Greg Williams |
15 303.43 |
6 |
Paul Bradby |
15 303.93 |
7 |
Nathan Waters |
15 303.95 |
8 |
Simon Moss |
15 305.03 |
9 |
Kev Lee |
15 307.86 |
10 |
Craig Collinson |
15 309.19 |
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Top off business on Danny's 511 |
Danny McGee - Rd 2 Top Qualifier |
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Extra Curricular Activities
Throughout the weekend here at Moulton College, R/C racing wasn't the only competition on the agenda. In the stables next door we discovered some very strong people lifting extremely heavy weights. Referee Dave Kirkham kindly explained a little about their activities. The weights are scored in three categories - deadweights (pictured), squats, and benchpress. We don't know what squats are but that's probably for the best, and when we discovered that benchpress were part of the competition we had to take it an oOple step further. Powerlifting winner Ben Banks kindly stepped into our aromatic equestarian for a few minutes to lift the lightest (but most wriggly) weight of the event.
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Dave Kirkham posed for this photo just to shut us up. |
The judging panel nearing the end of the event. |
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Ben Banks on his way to taking the win |
What a warrior |
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The trolly races one stadium down had finished early. |
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Baby Boomers
Small people have been cropping up left right and centre over the last few months, so these proud fathers kindly agreed to pose for some celebratory photos. Griff's mini-Ffion certainly captured the attention of Lee's Scott and Darren's Warwick.
Griff TQ'd the offspring championships followed by Lee in 2nd place and Darren in 3rd. Congratulations boys, and especially the ladies in charge of production and quality control. |
Qualifying Round 3
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4WD Qualifying Round Three - Top 10 |
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1 |
Lee Martin |
16 319.74 |
2 |
Neil Cragg |
15 300.23 |
3 |
Paul Bradby |
15 300.46 |
4 |
Nathan Waters |
15 302.86 |
5 |
Tom Yardy |
15 302.94 |
6 |
Greg Williams |
15 307.65 |
7 |
Tom Cockerill |
15 308.80 |
8 |
Elliott Boots |
15 308.70 |
9 |
Tony Truman |
15 310.46 |
10 |
John Spencer |
15 310.48 |
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TQ in round 3 blew Lee's hat off. Cheese. |
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Qualifying Round 4
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4WD Qualifying Round Four - Top 10 |
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1 |
Neil Cragg |
16 321.18 |
2 |
Simon Moss |
15 301.76 |
3 |
Nathan Waters |
15 302.36 |
4 |
Greg Williams |
15 303.03 |
5 |
Craig Collinson |
15 304.26 |
6 |
Danny McGee |
15 304.48 |
7 |
Tom Yardy |
15 305.98 |
8 |
Lee Martin |
15 306.40 |
9 |
Elliott Boots |
15 308.13 |
10 |
Tony Truman |
15 308.50 |
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Super weight lifter Ben Banks came to show off his immense powers.
The weightlifting competition next door was interesting enough but how could we really 'oOple' it up? How about getting the winner of the competition Ben Banks, to lift our stick-like oOple man Stu Evans! Now that would be funny as...... Something very funny.
We tried to get Stu into the idea but he was just having none of it - claiming he already looked like a fool on many race reports at my request - and this, was for him a step too far. So to avoid the situation Stu went and queued for his race - which wasn't for about 15 minutes!
We took the opportunity to fetch Ben and bring him into the racing arena. Impressed with the setup and all the little cars going round Ben really was there for one reason, and one reason only. The sweet talking of Mrs.oOple was all the motivation Ben needed to show off his competition winning power.
At this point Stu had no option as he was confronted by the enormous weightlifter - nervously introducing himself and concerned about what was going to happen. The combined gathered crowd and the huge man next to him finally convinced Stu to be quite literally man-handled. Ben explained that Stu would have to remain rigid (!) so it didn't flop around up there - and he worked Stu up onto his shoulders before carefully positioning his hands so as to avoid the man-tackle of the oOple man then proceeded to power Stu high into the air as racers all round the hall cheered.
Afterwards Ben claimed it was the easiest lift of his careed and that Stu's mass compared to the weight of a KFC selection bucket. Stu commented that he had never had a mans hands so close to his genitala before - but quite enjoyed it.
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Stu gets sized up by Ben as he looks for hand holds |
Not a drop of sweat from big Ben |
I personally appologised to Paul Worsley for bringing the serious sport of National-level off road into disripute with the antics I had both encouraged and indeed, insisted upon. Paul was generous in his reply that the sport can survie a little of this sort of stupidity from time to time - little does he know our forthcoming plans. Giggle. |
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Overall 4WD Qualifying
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Overall Top Ten Qualifying - 4wd |
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1 |
Neil Cragg |
0 (3) (2) 0 |
2 |
Lee Martin |
(4) 2 0 (8) |
3 |
Danny McGee |
(16) 0 (78) 6 |
4 |
Nathan Waters |
3 (7) (4) 3 |
5 |
Paul Bradby |
(15) 6 3 (21) |
6 |
Greg Williams |
(5) 5 (6) 4 |
7 |
Simon Moss |
(12) 8 (19) 2 |
8 |
Tom Cockerill |
(10) 4 7 (106) |
9 |
Tom Yardy |
(112) (15) 5 7 |
10 |
Craig Collinson |
8 (10) (23) 5 |
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A Final Leg 1.
Poleman Neil Cragg lead the guys around with Lee Martin hot on his heels. Neil held the lead for a few laps but a grip roll saw Lee Martin move into 1st place. Neil didn't drop back though and was hassling Lee for the lead. The chase stepped up as the two lead cars drove almost side by side down the straight, and Neil pulled the perfect move coming around the slabbed corner, moving smoothly into 1st place. Lee prepared to hammer back onto his line but couldn't quite pull it off.
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Error from Neil |
Lee comes up the inside |
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Neil keeps close... |
...piling on the pressure |
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Taking the inside line over the tabletop corner |
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Dominates the racing line |
Lee hot on the gearbox of Cragg |
The race was on for 2nd place, Lee had Danny McGee and Nathan Waters on his tail. Nathan pulled a move on Danny and slipped into 3rd place, Danny chased hard but pushed too much and grip rolled, losing him valuable time but not missing out on any places.
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Danny approaching Lee to fight for 2nd. |
Nathan joined in the fight for 2nd place. |
Nathan pushed to catch up with Lee who was trying to catch a rapidly escaping Neil. A grip roll from Lee saw Nathan catch up and the pair drag raced down the straight battling for 2nd place, Lee took 2nd place 2/100ths of a second ahead of Nathan.
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4WD A Final Leg 1 |
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1 |
Neil Cragg |
15/ 319.16 |
2 |
Lee Martin |
14/ 302.94 |
3 |
Nathan Waters |
14/ 302.96 |
4 |
Danny McGee |
14/ 303.95 |
5 |
Tom Cockerill |
14/ 306.29 |
6 |
Simon Moss |
14/ 308.89 |
7 |
Paul Bradby |
14/ 308.90 |
8 |
Tom Yardy |
14/ 311.19 |
9 |
Craig Collinson |
14/ 313.37 |
10 |
Greg Williams |
11/ 316.97 |
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Paul Bradby put in the fastest lap of the race with 19.12sec lap. |
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Greg Williams - 2nd National A Final - 6th on the grid!
Schumacher driver Greg Williams was on top form at the Silverstone national, qualifying with his highest score to date, placing him 6th on the grid in the 4wd A final. With multiple junior championship titles under his belt Greg is now making a big name for himself (Gregtholemew perhaps) on the 1/10th national scene.
At oOple we're looking forward to seeing Greg putting in some top results in the coming season - future national champion? Definitely one to watch.
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Greg uses Thunderpower electrics and his CAT is near standard spec with a couple of optional hop up parts. |
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L Final
Shaun lead from pole but grip rolled shortly into the race. Mathew Johnson took up the lead but was under pressure from 2nd place EyeBall Paul who toyed with him for the entire race. Paul knew he was clearly the quickest guy in the final and cooly sat in 2nd place for 4min 30sec, taunting the leader. Mathew wasn't able to hero the triple jump and on the last lap as he went single-single-single, eyeball Paul monstered over. The two cars connected but Eyeball Paul came off OK and completed his lap to take an epic victory.
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4WD L Final |
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1 |
Paul Crawford - aka EYEBALL PAUL |
13/ 306.70 |
2 |
Mathew Johnson |
13/ 310.88 |
3 |
Shaun Howe |
13/ 314.34 |
4 |
Chris Reardon |
12/ 302.64 |
5 |
James Maggs |
4/ 100.21 |
6 |
Matthew Latham |
3/ 355.01 |
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Featured Driver ; Craig Mead - aka 'Johnny Wishbone'.
Vital Stats: Started racing in 1985.
Best Result: Hotel Capsis Table Tennis Champ.
1st R/C Car: Mardave Meteor, then JRX2
Best Racing memory: Once got a trick nut lodged in my head and had to have it removed in hospital.
Worst racing moment: Selected reverse in a cavalier 4x4 at 100mph - that turned ugly!
Quote of the day: After the first round of qualifying I decided to motor her up to give her some more rive, she's got a lot of uck low down. Improved in round four which had a solid start and ended up 4th in my heat after a few offs.
Round 3 was a good run, the backend went a bit loose then the front drive shaft shit itself. Decided to change the pinion to give her some more rive, again.
Round 4 was a hell of a run, finally nailed the jump every lap then on the last lap was a disaster but overall a good run.
Overall qualified pole in the K Final, finished 6th.
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Craig Mead - Famous for doing unmentionable things to wishbones. |
GOOD LORD, HE IS QUICK |
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A final leg 2
The second leg of the A kicked off with Cragg and Lee Martin pulling a small gap back to Danny McGee in third. Danny put in some hot laps to catch the leading pair and it was now a three-way battle up front with Cragg still in charge.
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Top 3 leaders |
Lee chases Cragg hard |
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Danny pushes to catch up |
Cragg drops down the order after an error. |
Coming over the 'triple tabletop jump thing' Cragg caught the side slightly which flipped him and dropped in right down the order as the Marshall did his best to right the TQ man. Lee was now leading but McGee was on a mission and closing right up on the back of Lee's car as the pair circulated for several laps. Coming round the corner onto the main stright Lee went wide and Danny made the most of the opportunity to take the inside line and go out wide on the exit. Lee looked to try and take a much tighter line onto the straight but it didn't pay off as Lee clipped the pipe and rolled.
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Lee and Danny now out front... |
Danny piling on the pressure |
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Error from Lee as he tried to come back in for a tight line. |
Bradby in the mix |
McGee was now in charge out front with Lee managing to hold onto second place - he closed the gap a little in the dying laps but missed out on the extra lap as Danny just made it - giving him a lap on his own to cruise to the win.
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Cragg moves up the order - Waters goes nuts. |
Lee tries to catch up but doesn't make it through for the extra lap |
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Danny cruised around his victory lap solo style. |
Danny McGee erupted in laughter at his leg win |
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4WD A Final Leg 2 |
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1 |
Danny McGee |
16/ 319.03 |
2 |
Lee Martin |
15/ 300.57 |
3 |
Paul Bradby |
15/ 302.63 |
4 |
Neil Cragg |
15/ 303.75 |
5 |
Tom Yardy |
15/ 306.97 |
6 |
Craig Collinson |
15/ 307.78 |
7 |
Greg Williams |
15/ 308.67 |
8 |
Nathan Waters |
15/ 311.95 |
9 |
Simon Moss |
15/ 313.36 |
10 |
Tom Cockerill |
4/ 90.10 |
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G Final
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4WD G Final |
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1 |
Dave Belsten |
14/ 307.90 |
2 |
Nick Caro |
14/ 308.20 |
3 |
Kit Jones |
14/ 308.55 |
4 |
Paul Timberlake |
14/ 311.39 |
5 |
Michael Elliott |
14/ 313.26 |
6 |
Nicholas Child |
14/ 316.71 |
7 |
Chris Pattinson |
14/ 317.04 |
8 |
Mike Craddock |
14/ 317.64 |
9 |
James White |
14/ 322.41 |
10 |
Chris Delves |
6/ 143.33 |
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After leading for most of the race, Mike Elliott dropped down to 5th place due to a penalty for cutting a corner on his last lap.
Dave Belsten did some madness and cruised across the line in 1st place. Right: Belsten knows he's #1
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Lee Martin - New Tamiya bits
Lee Martin had a couple of new parts on his cars for this weekend - with some brand new rear hubs on the 2WD buggy - these look like they will fit on either side of the car and there's plenty of tuning options.
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New 2WD Tamiya 201 hubs |
Lee packs away his racing gear for the day |
Lee also had a new 'rudebits' weight on the back of his 4WD 511 buggy. The weight replaces the plastic skid plate on the original car and puts weight over the rear wheels much like the rear skid weight on the Team Durango DEX410. No idea on pricing or availability of these but Lee said he had it for the Euros in Austria to aid with traction on the dirt - but has kept it on since.
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Rudebits rear skid plate weight - very nice. Check www.rudebits.co.uk for more information. |
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B Final.
Elliott Boots won!
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4WD B Final |
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1 |
Elliott Boots |
15/ 302.80 |
2 |
Tony Truman |
15/ 310.10 |
3 |
David Orbell |
15/ 314.89 |
4 |
John Spencer |
15/ 319.77 |
5 |
David Poulter |
15/ 319.85 |
6 |
James Helliwell |
15/ 321.71 |
7 |
Nathan Ralls |
14/ 308.60 |
8 |
Ashley Caunt |
14/ 308.77 |
9 |
Adam Skelding |
14/ 310.58 |
10 |
Ellis Stafford |
10/ 217.93 |
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Might have been only the B final for Elliott today - but he had other things on his mind:
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Kyosho UK's Mick Craddock came to help prepare Elliott's Kyosho 8th buggy for the Euros in Austria which start the day after this meeting finishes! Good luck in Austria Elliott. |
A final leg 3.
Lee kept close to Neil from the start line, Nathan waters was soon up to 3rd place. Top two pulled away slightly. Neils lead was just a fraction of a second, the two cars barely visibly seperated on the track. Lee was pushing harder in the last minute of the race, he pushed too hard and rolled coming onto the triple jump. Lee was back on his wheels quick but Cragg now had some breathing space. Lee charged hard to catch up, and closed the gap once again. As the pair rode the single jump beneath the rostrum Lee went for a jump-past but made contact with Cragg. This didn't pay off for Lee and he was unable to make it through. If Lee had managed to pass Neil in this manoevure he would have been penalised due to the contact on over-jumping, however if he'd jumped past without contact it would have been an acceptable move.
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Close battles throughout. |
Lee and Neil enjoyed the close competition |
The error didn't stop Lee from trying again however and Lee attempted a smooth move coming over the triple jump. This time he tumbled into the track marker and needed guiance from a marshall to get back onto the racing line. Neil now had the track to himself to cruise down the straight to take the 3rd leg and overall win at the event.
As far as we are aware, Neil would have to TQ and win the 6th round of the 4wd national series just to be able to share the trophy with 'Champion Elect' Lee Martin.
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4WD A Final Leg 3 |
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1 |
Neil Cragg |
16/ 315.52 |
2 |
Lee Martin |
16/ 317.51 |
3 |
Nathan Waters |
16/ 320.00 |
4 |
Paul Bradby |
15/ 300.20 |
5 |
Greg Williams |
15/ 304.24 |
6 |
Danny McGee |
15/ 305.81 |
7 |
Tom Yardy |
15/ 308.56 |
8 |
Craig Collinson |
15/ 308.56 |
9 |
Tom Cockerill |
11/ 233.84 |
10 |
Simon Moss |
9/ 185.70 |
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Lee Martin 2nd - Neil Cragg TQ & 1st - Danny McGee 3rd |
This win keeps the 'dream' alive for Cragg - taking the TQ and Win here still gives him a chance to claim something from this season - although the best he could do would be to go equal on points with series leader Lee Martin, effectively tying the championship and being joint champions of the 4WD series. The final round at Kidderminster should be an interesting one that's for sure! |
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4WD Overall A final results |
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position |
qual |
name |
score |
chassis |
1 |
1 |
Neil Cragg |
1 4 1 (2) |
Associated B44.1 |
2 |
2 |
Lee Martin |
2 2 2 (4) |
Tamiya TRF511 |
3 |
3 |
Danny McGee |
4 1 6 (5) |
Tamiya TRF511 |
4 |
4 |
Nathan Waters |
3 8 3 (6) |
Team Durango DEX410v3 |
5 |
5 |
Paul Bradby |
7 3 4 (7) |
Associated B44.1 |
6 |
6 |
Greg Williams |
10 7 5 (12) |
Schumacher CAT SX3 |
7 |
9 |
Tom Yardy |
8 5 7 (12) |
Associated B44.1 |
8 |
10 |
Craig Collinson |
9 6 7 (13) |
Team Durango DEX410v3 |
9 |
8 |
Tom Cockerill |
5 10 9 (14) |
Schumacher CAT SX3 |
10 |
7 |
Simon Moss |
6 9 10 (15) |
Schumacher CAT SX3 |
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Thanks kindly to Schumacher Racing for sponsoring our BRCA nationals coverage.
As usual photo galleries will be up very soon - videos of all the mentioned finals are coming too. We need to streamline the process for videos is all as they currently take a lot of work - but we're getting there. |