Saturday 25th May 2013
Friday was a truly miserable day at the track with plenty of rain and not much going on. Saturday however started with bright sunshine to welcome the 2WD racers. Weather predictions looked good too so the farcical mayhem of last years under-water 4WD finals wouldn't be replayed, hopefully.

Practice kicked off at 8am with the lowest heats - the track having quite a different layout to 'usual' with the main straight cut in half. We saw one car 'forget' this and put in the biggest jump of the weekend as he sprung off the flexible pipework at full chat.

Right - Racer magazine's Matt Benfield isn't racing any Nationals this year but was doing plenty of work helping out at his home track.

Just a few puddles on the track remained from the horrors of the previous day and conditions were certainly slippery in some parts of the track. Things were bound to get better as the day wore on however.

Apparently starting today, 25th May, our vehicle doesn't meet the 'low emission zone' rules - and the charge is astonishingly £100 per day!!! It's ok though because apparently we can replace our motorhome with a newer one with lower emissions - great advice on the official website. Might have to put tape over the numberplate until we're out of 'the zone' on the way home. London sucks, it would cost less to get a ferry to france for the weekend.

The concrete section is deceptively bumpy and tricky to navigate cleanly.

Low Emission Zone (LEZ) - lol

Drivers briefing was the usual affair - all the do's and don'ts of the site and obviously the on the track. Transmitters were allowed to be kept by the drivers again after Southport's trial run, under the strict rule that they must not be used outside the track.

The successful fundraising initiative from Neil Round was once again in action - with Mr.Round offering to match any donations with an equal contribution from his own pocket, this time for the British Heart Foundation.

Paul Worsley asked for volunteer referees from the ranks of the experienced racers and whilst not a single hand was raised, Paul promptly announced he'd already decided who was going to 'volunteer' and suprised a few people with the list he'd already made before hand..

The Schumacher guys are COOL	But the positioning of their pits was even cooler.

Long-time Xfactory driver and part time male model, Dan Greenwood strikes a catalog pose.	Even special people can race nationals

The opening round of qualifying saw Simon Moss take the win after his run in heat 11, two seconds ahead of Neil Cragg who was running in heat 12. The track still had some really greasy sections and Paul Bradby got beached after spinning out, losing a lot of time - Simon Moss lapped him and pulled away. Lee Martin was not having a great run, visiting the fence on his way to 102nd in round.

Cheeky geezer	I think Tom Yardy knew I was taking a photo of him

Cragg takes the tight line

The Schumacher of Simon Moss - mini spikes up front were doing the business nicely.

	2WD Qualifying Round One - Top 10
	position name result 1 Simon Moss 13 305.14 2 Neil Cragg 13 307.23 3 Darren Bloomfield 13 308.40 4 Nathan Ralls 13 314.76 5 Grant Williams 13 314.82 6 Ellis Stafford 13 315.75 7 Lloyd Storey 13 315.83 8 Greg Williams 13 319.26 9 Nathan Waters 13 319.50 10 Craig Collinson 13 319.55

Super Stu WoOd lost his best time of the day - before he'd even taken to the track for qualifying, by failing to marshal heat 1. This left him a little bit demotivated for the rest of the day - knowing if he did better it'd just be taken off him. Naughty boy.

Race officials made an announcement late into the morning, asking for the loud music in the pits to be turned down as it was drowning out the noise of passing trains and aeroplanes, the neighbours were starting to complain. It all transpired that in fact the music wasn't emanating from the pits, but from a nearby mansion which was playing host to a young maidens 'sweet sixteen' birthday party.

Neil Cragg laid down the first 14 lap pace of the day, as the temperatures raised and the track surface continued to dry out. Yardy, Lee, and Darren were all close behind and look set to smash through the back doors of 14 lap pace. By now most drivers were running Schumacher yellow tyres, following the earlier preference for Schumacher silvers.

	2WD Qualifying Round Two - Top 10
	position name result 1 Neil Cragg 14 327.17 2 Tom Yardy 13 300.28 3 Lee Martin 13 300.45 4 Darren Bloomfield 13 302.37 5 Craig Collinson 13 306.09 6 Lloyd Storey 13 307.79 7 Nathan Ralls 13 310.21 8 Paul Bradby 13 310.41 9 Grant Williams 13 311.55 10 Matt Latham 13 311.96

Tony Vodka - Finished 12th in Rd2	Stu Wood, Mashalling so as to not lose ALL his best times

	Lee Martin had the new Tamiya 2WD which had arrived on his doorstep a couple of weeks previously. Sadly the car currently doesn't have a mid-motor option but Lee confirmed there would be a mid-motor gearbox coming out for the car. Whether it'll be released with the option or not, who knows - Lee is due to get a new car in a couple of weeks time and mentioned that they have different thickness chassis plates to test. The side pods are machined on Lee's car but of course the car will come with moulded pods. At the moment even Lee isn't sure when he'll get the mid-motor gearbox so isn't sure when he'll be replacing his trusty Thick chassis! Machined side pod warriors Hmmmm, that's a big block of ally int it it looks a bit.... unfinished   22RB6-a-like. 2WD buggies were alloy, then carbon, then moulded composite, then carbon and now alloy.

Lee Martin and Darren Bloomfield battled throughout their heat, Darren was leading until the final lap when he made a small error which saw Simon Moss take over the lead position, taking the round TQ just a fraction of a second ahead of Darren and Lee, who'd all made it through for the extra lap..

	2WD Qualifying Round Three - Top 10
	position name result 1 Simon Moss 14 320.37 2 Darren Bloomfield 14 320.76 3 Lee Martin 14 322.26 4 Neil Cragg 13 301.12 5 Grant Williams 13 301.52 6 Nathan Ralls 13 301.63 7 Tom Yardy 13 302.41 8 Craig Collinson 13 302.52 9 Elliott Boots 13 303.68 10 Ellis Stafford 13 304.65

The final round of qualifying was crash-tastic with plenty of errors, as drivers made a last push. Ellis Stafford was looking good to wrestle the round TQ off Lee Martin in the final heat but a series of big off's saw him drop off the pace. Neil Cragg only had one big crash in his run but just managed to make it through for the extra lap - unable however to get close to the time Lee had set.

	2WD Qualifying Round Four - Top 10
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 14 320.84 2 Neil Cragg 14 322.29 3 Grant Williams 13 300.44 4 Kevin Lee 13 301.36 5 David Poulter 13 301.82 6 Tom Yardy 13 303.05 7 Craig Collinson 13 304.14 8 Ellis Stafford 13 305.22 9 Elliott Boots 13 306.86 10 Nathan Ralls 13 307.16

Some huge thumping obnoxious music was ever present - rumour is that it's the people behind the track (and train line!) that complain about the noise from the track, they've created their own noise pollution and probably gone out shopping.

2WD A Final Leg One

Simon Moss lead them away from pole position and the entire field stayed in regulation order for the first couple of laps until the front pair of Moss and Cragg pulled a small gap on Lee Martin in third. Cragg was pushing Moss round as the pair lapped like they were glued together. Lee Martin was running third and fighting off the pressure from Bloomfield - but an error coming onto the start straight allowed Bloomfield past for third.

Cragg was now looking for a way past and taking different lines to try and make a move on Moss's Schumacher - eventually however he cut a corner too tight and rolled just before the loop. Another mistake over the tabletop dropped him all the way to 9th as Bloomfield now took up the chase on Simon Moss.

Craggy has a sniff	Cragg goes a bit too deep on the apex...

Bloomfield made up the time on Moss quickly and swiftly muscled his way on the inside as they came onto the start straight for the lead. Moss was a bit desperate now and was getting some pressure from Lee Martin as Bloomfield looked to pull out a small lead on the chasing pair.

...and rolls down the order	Lee Martin forces Moss to take a tight line

Moss took an apex too tight as he fought off Lee - resulting in a huge roll. As he rejoined the track, Moss collided with a passing car which caused havok as the rest of the field came through the madness tumbling and rolling.

Bloomfield looked to have it in the bag but a schoolboy roll after the bomb-hole saw him throw it all away.

Lee Martin heads for the win	Bloomfield threw it away but took it lightly

	2WD A-Final Leg One
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 13 311.52 2 Darren Bloomfield 13 311.86 3 Simon Moss 13 315.14 4 Neil Cragg 13 316.36 5 Grant Williams 13 316.93 6 Kevin Lee 13 317.16 7 Nathan Ralls 13 319.56 8 Craig Collinson 13 320.14 9 Tom Yardy 13 320.63 10 Lloyd Storey 12 301.93

2WD A Final Leg Two

Moss lead them off again in what turned out to be a fairly boring race - at least for him. Cragg in second made an error on the first lap which dropped him to 4th. Lee Martin was running second but Bloomfield siezed his chance for another smooth move - taking the inside like on the infield and jumping into the #2 spot.

Moss had a nice little lead over Bloomfield - which was quickly extended as Bloomfield made an error and ended up on his roof as he came onto the start straight. It was a bit messy as cars battered into the upturned southern warrior - sending him tumbling into last place by the time he was on his wheels again.

Bloomfield takes up the chase for Moss	Bloomfield - from hero to zero in no time

Neil Cragg in 3rd was chasing down Lee Martin - who was quickly catching Simon Moss. Neil Cragg jumped on a wide line error from Lee - taking the inside line and second. Neil made an error which again promoted Lee Martin into second as Simon Moss looked to extend his lead. A big error from Lee Martin on the start straight allowed Neil back into second but with a gap of 3 seconds and only 30 left to race there wasn't going to be any miracle moves this time and Simon held the gap for the win, with Neil second and Lee third.

Neil Inside!	Neil Outside!

Simon was rarely in the action in this one - staying clean and steady out front.

	2WD A-Final Leg Two
	position name result 1 Simon Moss 13 310.98 2 Neil Cragg 13 313.64 3 Lee Martin 13 314.86 4 Craig Collinson 13 317.40 5 Nathan Ralls 13 317.62 6 Grant Williams 13 319.38 7 Tom Yardy 13 319.71 8 Lloyd Storey 13 303.20 9 Darren Bloomfield 13 306.03 10 Kevin Lee 12 306.44

	New Centro? Going through the photos - Tom Yardy's Centro C4.1 seems to look a bit............ Differernt. We didn't spot these differences on other AE team cars. Hmmmm ooooh That certainly isn't a Centro C4.1 gearbox is it. Looks a bit more 'finished'

2WD A Final Leg Three

Going into the final leg there were still four possible winners of the meeting - Simon Moss, Lee Martin, Neil Cragg and Darren Bloomfield. So it was still all to play for and race for - of men. Like a bat out of hell Moss went off like like a can of sprite - desperate to secure the win.

Like an uncorked champagne bottle, or a spotty youth - Moss went off like a rocket.

Neil Cragg had a bad landing just after completing his first lap - allowing Lee Martin through for second. A couple of laps later and it was Lee making the error - rolling over and allowing Neil back through for second as he luckily rolled back onto his wheels and continued the chase.

As Simon continued to lead out front the battle for second was still on. Cragg got his car a little out of shape coming up to the long sweeping banked corner, Lee was quickly on the inside line and regained second. Some fierce driving saw Lee quickly within striking distance of Moss as the gap came down lap after lap.

Moss had a barrel roll straight back onto his wheels but it was enough for Lee Martin to steal the lead and never look back. Simon had a huge crash as he pushed his Schumacher to the limit on the final lap - giving Lee some room to breath and cross the line for the overall victory.

Moss leads Lee Martin around for another lap

Greg Williams poised and ready - but moss rolls to 2nd	Moss tried hard but couldn't hold onto Lee

Lee Martin's VEGA-Tamiya car. When Lee eventually changes to the Tamiya 2WD mid-motor, will he be as quick or will it be a bag of spanners?! who knows.

	2WD A-Final Leg Three
	position name result 1 Lee Martin 13 308.93 2 Simon Moss 13 311.93 3 Tom Yardy 13 313.60 4 Neil Cragg 13 314.38 5 Darren Bloomfield 13 314.83 6 Grant Williams 13 317.16 7 Nathan Ralls 13 321.64 8 Lloyd Storey 13 327.65 9 Craig Collinson 12 297.42 10 Kevin Lee 12 304.15

	2WD Overall A final results
	position qual name score chassis 1 3 Lee Martin 1 3 1 (2) Tamiya / VEGA 201 2 1 Simon Moss 3 1 2 (3) Schumacher Cougar SV2 3 5 Neil Cragg 4 2 4 (6) AE / Centro C4.1 4 2 Darren Bloomfield 2 9 5 (7) TLR 22 5 4 Tom Yardy 9 7 3 (10) AE / Centro C4.1 6 6 Grant Williams 5 6 6 (11) Schumacher Cougar SV2 7 7 Craig Collinson 8 4 9 (12) Team Durango DEX210 8 10 Nathan Ralls 7 5 7 (12) Kyosho RB6 9 8 Kevin Lee 6 10 10 (16) Kyosho RB6 10 9 Lloyd Storey 10 8 8 (16) Schumacher Cougar SV2

Sunday 26th May 2013
The sun was destined to be out all day for 4WD - and right off the bat in practice round one it was clear the grip levels were vastly different from the previous morning. Too much in fact as there were plenty of crashes - Lee Martin losing out quickling - and getting a second chance to practice his first round with the early 2nd round heats. Cragg went off the straight like a mad man - and afterwards 2WD front spikes seemed to be the order of the day, at least in the AE camp, to calm things down a little.

Ellis Stafford looked super quick around this, his home track - but far from clean. Just managing to usually 'get away with it' he was pushing his Durango 410 round like he hadn't paid for it and as his practice finished he managed to destroy the car after clipping an apex.

Just before the first round of practice finished it was announced the second round of practice would be 4 minutes instead of the usual 3 - the 11-heat schedule being the reason for the extra time allowed.

After the first round of qualifying the Associated lads turned to 2WD front tyres to try calm things down a little - Ellis Stafford on the other hand was sticking with the usual 4WD front Schumacher mini spikes but with plenty of spikes cut off.