The 2012 BRCA 10th off road national series kicked off at the Stotfold club's all-weather astroturf venue in the South East of England. The track is a regular season opener - being well suited to the unpredictable weather.

The usual two rounds of controlled 4-minute practice kicked off at 8am, in heat order. We turned up unusually early, mid-way into the opening round - and looked for somewhere to pit! Thankfully the Kyosho boys had a space just big enough for our huge new table and took us in out of the cold, so the reporting could begin.

The weather was cold but the sun was out and the track was starting to dry from the overnight moisture. The early runners were trying silver and green Schumacher compounds of the prescribed 'Mini Spike' variety but the 'yellows' were out by the time the top heats were on.

Tony Rudebits Evdoka sets up Bloomfield's new Orion ESC	Trish from Tri.... erm, SCHUMACHER!

The Stotfold national marks the start of what could be the most competitive year of racing 10th off-road in recent times. Due to increasing popularity of the national series the entry lists are dominated almost exclusively by drivers with F1 or F2 gradings (the best driver)- quite how it should be, as this series see's the best of the best come together for some fast racing action.

Right: Like a bodyform commercial

The BRCA 1/10th off-road section received 169 entries for the 2wd and 4wd national series, exactly the same as last year - this number doesn't sound high but is for a 6 round series, not a one-weekend race meeting spread over many classes.

	Jimmy's random Thoughts I've raced at nationals since 2003 - And whilst I hope I've helped in a small way to promote the BRCA national series, this is the first time I've NO CHANCE of racing a national in 9 years. It's meant I've had to look more seriously at regionals and club races (I've raced at my local club the previous 3 weeks) to both brush up on my skills and attain a good grade (through regionals) to be able to race at these National events. Maybe - just maybe - the time is right for a new national series that caters for all those drivers who don't have the chance to compete in the BRCA nationals / don't want to take the racing quite so seriously. I love racing - but I want to report on the big races - it's a hard compromise. The opening round of my local regional series is next weekend, and I'll be in Germany covering the final round of the EOS race series. Maybe racing just isn't my thing and I should retire? oOple series, anyone?

In 2wd 163 drivers submitted entry forms, of which 155 were requesting to race at 4 or more events. In 4wd 147 entries were received, 144 wishing to race in 4 or more events. Of these entrants 115 had a F1 or F2 grading which is far more than in previous years.

The 10th off road section has also seen an increase in attendance at regional races, a trend that is evident across many regions in the country, either due to increasing difficulty for lower F-rated drivers to access the national events, or further evidence of the increasing popularity of this hobby. Either way we like statistics :)

The BRCA national series is the absolute best race series in the world - FACT.

Early morning drivers briefings always give great opportunities for candid madness

Lee Martin STORMED the round in heat number 11 - taking the TQ away from Bloomfield by 4 seconds. Tom Cockerill and Neil Cragg battled early early in their heat but weren't quite on the pace to oust Lee's time.

Lee Martin's Tamiya-Vega car with Proline Losi-22 shell.

Steerwheel is quicker!	At least someone has a cab-in-correct-place shell

Tony Truman was back doing the 10th nationals after a stint away with the smelly cars - the newly 'arranged' meetings not clashing for the first time in a while.

2WD Qualifying Round One - Top 10

The second round of qualifying again saw a storming run from Lee Martin as he set the TQ in the penultimate heat of the round. Tom Cockerill and Schumacher-returnee Simon Moss, swapped positions several times as they lapped together in heat 12 - getting ever closer to Lee's TQ time. Simon Moss took up the lead on time and was looking good for slipping under Lee's time. The last lap saw an error from Tom Cockerill and Simon had a clear track ahead of him to press his car to the line and take the round.

Super-Stu Wood now racing for TLR	Tom Cockerill lead on track - Moss in front on time

Simon Moss - back at Schumacher and taking round two qualifying.

2WD Qualifying Round Two - Top 10

Local ace, Kevin Lee made it three winners from three rounds as he took the round with his new Rudebits DB1, Kyosho based mid motor buggy. Lee Martin wasn't far behind and things were very close up front.

2WD Qualifying Round Three - Top 10

2WD Qualifying Round Four - Top 10

The top 10 in qualifying were as follows.

	2WD Qualifying Overall - Top 10
	position name 1 Lee Martin 2 Simon Moss 3 Kevin Lee 4 Darren Bloomfield 5 Tom Cockerill 6 Danny McGee 7 Grant Williams 8 Neil Cragg 9 Paul Bradby 10 Tom Yardy

Defending national champion Neil Cragg wasn't quite on the winning pace - the main difference to last year? A cab forward shell! It's all a myth people* - please put the cabs back to their original position, where the driver has room for his legs.

*please note - this is all made up for entertainment purposes. All of it.

The warmup for the A final saw poor Grant Williams break - a 2 minute break was asked for and give, but it wasn't enough and Grant wasn't able to fix his car in time to start leg one.

Lee Martin leads them round

Cragg dropped to the back	Keith Robertson captures all the action

Lee - Simon and Kev broke away out front.	Kev presses Moss hard

Lee lead the 9 remaining cars off for the first leg of the A. Neil Cragg crashed over the small corner double and dropped way back. Simon Moss was pressing hard behind Lee, followed himself by Kevin Lee back in 3rd. Things didn't change up front for the first few laps but then Lee Martin started to pull away slowly and the battle for second was on as Kevin closed right up on Simon.

Where does the drivers legs go?

A small error from Lee Martin up front gave Simon a boost and he looked to turn up his pace and start to close the gap - it was short lived however as he caught a track marker, spinning around and losing the position to Kevin Lee

Lee Martin was now in command of a good lead and over the closing laps it didn't look like anyone could touch him - so all eyes turned to the fights for second and the mid-pack battle of Tom Cockerill, Darren and Neil Cragg - who'd risen through the field after the early crash.

Lee held his position all the way to the line - Kevin Lee came in 3 seconds later and Simon Moss a couple of seconds further back after another error in his desperate last-minute effort to pass Kevin ended poorly.

2WD A final Leg Two

Confusion	Anger	Bemusement

Lee Martin simply drove away with it in leg two and was without an equal as he lapped consistently fast out front - extending his lead all the time. Simon Moss made a mistake and dropped to fourth behind Tom Cockerill. The order now was Lee Martin, Kevin Lee, Tom Cockerill and Simon Moss.

A mid-race incident saw a coming together and some controversy - but it didn't effect the leader Lee, who was continuing his domination of the race. Lee held his nerve to the line to take the leg and with it the overall win here at Stotfold.

	Nowt I can do about it boss!

2WD A final leg two

2WD A Final Leg 3.
Lee quickly pulled away as he looked to complete his domination of the finals. The gap grew quickly from the chasing pack and Lee looked likely to win by miles but an error over the large tabletop in the centre of the track saw him on his roof and require marshalling. There was enough of a buffer to keep the lead but some mis-marshalling saw him thrust back onto his roof as Simon moss and Kevin Lee steamed past.

Lee tackles the tabletop as Simon Moss and Kevin Lee chase.

Simon, Kev Lee and Darren Bloomfield.	Bloomfield tries to pass Kev - by going over the top

Simon Moss was leading and Kevin Lee in second was getting pressured by Lee Martin - another error from Lee however dropped him back and promoted Darren Bloomfield to 3rd.

Kevin closed in on Simon and used every ounce of his local knowlege in order to put real pressure on the Schumacher man. Simon went wide and Kevin saw his chance - going on the inside for the lead as they came over the table top. Kev crashed out in the excitement and Simon regained the lead quickly.

Tom Cockerill had made the most of the battle for the lead, and closed in on the leading pair. Kev made an error over the large tabletop and Tom was through - but the order swapped back the next lap as Tom had the same error in the same place.

	2WD A final leg three
	position qual name result 1 2 Simon Moss 14 305.35 2 3 Kevin Lee 14 306.88 3 5 Tom cockerill 14 308.01 4 7 Grant Williams 14 312.44 5 4 Darren Bloomfield 14 318.22 6 8 Neil Cragg 14 318.40 7 10 Tom Yardy 14 320.91 8 9 Paul Bradby 13 300.02 9 6 Danny McGee 13 301.65 10 1 Lee Martin 9 201.22

	2WD Overall A final results
	position qual name score 1 1 Lee Martin 1 1 10 (2) 2 2 Simon Moss 3 5 1 (4) 3 3 Kevin Lee 2 2 2 (4) 4 5 Tom Cockerill 4 10 3 (7) 5 8 Neil Cragg 6 3 6 (9) 6 4 Darren Bloomfield 5 8 5 (10) 7 7 Grant Williams 10 7 4 (11) 8 6 Danny McGee 8 4 9 (12) 9 10 Tom Yardy 9 6 7 (13) 10 9 Paul Bradby 7 9 8 (15)

Lee secured his first win of the national series in his national debut with the VEGA 201 - Tamiya based mid 2wd. Simon Moss put in a supreme effort all day to show he's lost none of his pace after having a winter break from the Schumacher team - he's back and he's faster than ever. Congratulations also to Kev Lee who showed what the new DB1 buggy is capable of.

Sunday15th April 2012 - 4WD

Interview with DB1 Designer Dave Burton. (Photo on the left) How long have you been racing for? I first started in 1986 and took a break in 2002 for the usual family & house buying priorities. I started racing again in 2009, mainly racing 10th scale although I have tried some 8th nitro off-road. What was your inspiration when designing the DB1? In 2010 I converted a B44 - I realised that I wasn't the first person to do this as Jonathan Clark had converted one previously. It worked really well and won the Petit 2011 B Final. I was really pleased with it racing indoors but when we went back to racing outdoors it didn't work as well, so I sidelined that for a while. Following this I stopped driving Associated and moved to Kyosho, I liked how well planted the Kyosho felt so morphed the front end of an RB5 with the rear end of an FS2 and here we are. What are your favourite features of the car? The way it looks, its ultra low centre of gravity; it hasn't just been thrown together - it's been done properly. Is there any further development work to do? We're always trying new things, I know that Tony and Kev will help to bring the car forward. What are the cars best results? Kev finished 2nd or 3rd with it recently at Kidderminster, Tony finished 2nd at TORCH last week, and of course Kevs result today - TQ in round 3, qualified and finished 3rd overall. What is your favourite brain food to help you concentrate when you are designing stuff? Hob-Nobs - the plain version, and not dunked. What are your aspirations for the next 12 months? I'd like to achieve my F2 grading this year. What is your favourite springtime flower? Bluebell. What's your best setup tip? Plenty of practice, and don't overdrive the cars. If you could have any superpower? I'd want to be able to fly. What is your top ever racing result? I won the Hampshire national in 1998. Your motto is 'If you can't win, you should look good trying' - what is your best grooming tip? You've got to smell nice and keep your nasal hair trimmed. Which is your home track? TORCH. And your dream job? I'd like to be a rockstar performing sell out tours at Wembley stadium - I'd play the guitar. (Kev Lee - I'd like to be a stuntman.)

The track that greeted the racers for 4WD on Sunday morning had been changed - making it a lot faster with open areas and turbo powered flowing sections. The drivers seemed to like this much more than the slower and more technical track of yesterday's 2WD event.

The sun was out but temperatures were still very cold and Schumacher yellows were the order of the day right from the first practice round.

Kev Lee took second in round with his Lazer FS2	Ellis made an error early in his run with the X7

Round one of qualifying saw just three cars through for 14 laps - the longer obviously a lot longer than the previous day where everyone was putting in 14's. Tom Cockerill lead the charge after an impressive time from Kevin Lee in the previous head gave him the provisional TQ. Phil Sleigh just managed to squeeze through the line in time to join the others and take a third overall. The rest of the top 10 were incredibly close on time!

4WD Qualifying Round One - Top 10

Round two saw a light hail shower as the final heat got underway but it didn't slow the drivers and Lee Martin managed to kick Kevin Lee off the provisional TQ again as he took the win just 0.7 of a second ahead of the local hero Kev. Lee is back to the Tamiya TRF511 buggy for this year.

	4WD Qualifying Round Two - Top 10
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 14 317.09 2 Kevin Lee 14 317.85 3 Danny McGee 14 318.80 4 Neil Cragg 14 322.13 5 Lloyd Storey 14 322.41 6 Simon Moss 14 324.30 7 Paul Bradby 13 300.49 8 Tom Cockerill 13 301.46 9 Nathan Waters 13 304.46 10 John Spencer 13 304.49

Mad timber racer - eco militant dancer!	Cold pizza engineer

Ellis Stafford had a bunch of the new Revolution Design tools on his desk at Stotfold. These things are pure SEX. The shock stand was so ludicrously over-the-top as to be positively 'NEED'.

This is hewn from a lump of alloy and feels like a grenade

Nice ride height guage

Round three of qualifying was heavily hail effected - a couple of heavy downpours effected times for as long as the ice was on the track - but almost as soon as it melted times were back down and even quicker than before as the risk of grip rolling reduced.

Todays report is sponsored by Stuart Whyman

Lee Martin was on a good run and looking to set a new fastest time of the day in the final heat of round three - but a sudden heavy hail shower in the last few seconds saw his car scrambling around like it was on marbles as he came over the line to just make the extra lap - which wasn't a quick one.

Lloyd Storey (above and below) admitted to us that he'd been lucky with the weather - with hail before and after his run but not during. Either way, Lloyd took the win!

4WD Qualifying Round Three - Top 10

The 4wd track layout - FAST

Lee Martin was back with a new fastest time - the track getting a lot faster in the final round it seems as everyone was going quicker. Tom Cockerill was on a mission but couldn't quite match Lee's time - losing out by less than half a second after 5 minutes qualifying.

Lee's result was enough to secure the overall TQ and put him pole on the grid for the second time this weekend.

4WD Qualifying Round Four - Top 10

The opening leg of the A final kicked off with havok - Lee Martin took the small corner double on lap one - putting down the power he pulled a wheelie and couldn't catch it. Lee cartwheeled as the rest of the field started to pile past. Ellis Stafford came to marshall - falling and doing a bit of a breakdance move to get Lee on his wheels again.

Tom Cockerill took up the lead followed by Lloyd Storey and Kevin Lee. These three pulled away from the rest before Kevin dropped off the front runners and it was the Schumacher lads out front - and the rest clumped together battling for third.

Lee Martin was on a charge near the back and taking some names - a coming together with Phil Sleigh saw the pair somersault in sync over the tabletop after the main straight. Phil came off worst with a popped ball joint effectively taking him out of the running.

Lee lays down too much power after landing	A huge cartwheel is the result

Lee and Phil Sleigh tangle

wtf	Mid-pack action - Lowe, Moss, Martin

The battle up front continued. Lloyd closed in on Tom but couldn't quite make a move. An error from Lloyd saw him drop away slightly from Tom's car - but he quickly got back on his wheels and closed the gap once more. Tom Cockerill was driving a smooth race out front and didn't give anything away - Lloyd gave it one last try over the closing lap but made an error and dropped back as Tom crossed the line for the win.

Tom Cockerill held off the pressure of Lloyd Storey for a Schumacher 1-2 finish.

4WD A final leg one

A Final Leg 2
Lee kept his front end planted at the start of leg two and lead the pack round the first lap with Tom Cockerill staying close behind. Tom Yardy instantly fell foul of some bad wiring and his car went nuts off the end of the straight on the first corner.

The start

Lee quickly pulled out a lead despite the best efforts of Tom Cockerill and LLoyd Storey behind - who were having their own battle.

Tom Yardy's car was misbehaving	Lee quickly pulled out a lead

Kevin Lee made a mistake and fell back - Neil Cragg kicked sand in the eyes of Lloyd Storey as he over-jumped him and the pair came together.

Tom Cockerill	Kevin Lee makes a mistake

Lee was driving perfectly out front - Tom was hovering around 2 seconds further back for several laps before slowly dropping back from the Tamiya car. This is how things stayed, with Lee eventually pulling out a 5 second lead by the end of the race. Kevin Lee made it through for the extra lap and promptly declared that cab forward shells are **** - Kev switched to the standard Kyosho FS2 bodyshell for leg two and said the car was 'transformed' - jumping better and being easier to drive.

4WD A final leg two

Alloy chassis on Phil Sleigh's Associated B44.1

Team FISTER proformance RC, with their new Durango 'Turbo Pinz'

4WD A final leg three

4WD Overall A final results

A dream start for Lee Martin as he returns to his TRF511 - and with a newly competitive 2WD buggy in the shape of the Vega 201, Tamiya based 2WD mid-motor buggy, he's now able to mix it at the very top on the UK's tracks.