2008 European Championships

A quick round of practice got underway at 8am. The weather was a lot cooler than the previous day, with overcast skies, and the grip levels were resultingly much higher. To give an idea, running 6 cells in practice was a lot easier than even 5 cells (on the same motor) the previous evening.

Right: A brief interlude between practice and the start of round four of qualifying saw 'football doggy' giving a display in the area outside the pits. He managed to outmanouver several UK drivers.

'football doggys' real name is 'MORSE' - named so because the owner really likes the old TV series called 'inspector morse' - this is 100% true and FACT.

Rumour in the pits this morning is that Paul Worsley (BRCA, EFRA) enjoys visiting B&Q in his spare time to check out the power tools, and to see what batteries are being used.

Paul was kind enough to clarify the EFRA bodyshell rules for us last night, which in previous years has caused distress and confusion for some drivers (Ian Barnyard will tell you). The official rules state that if a bodyshell has a scoop moulded into the shape of the shell, it may be cut out for cooling purposes. If the shell doesn't have a scoop moulded into its shape, then an area of no more than 30mm squared, in the direct vicinity of the speed controller and motor, and no hole must be bigger than 10mm in any dimension.


Manolis from Greece showed off his 2WD creation - specially shortened for this track since Manolis usually races on a 'blown out' (rutted) 8th buggy track, where a longer car is an advantage unlike here. The car uses many losi parts and the body shell is from the old Kyosho Optima Mid.

Qualifying commenced at 09.15am with round 4, starting with the top lads in heat 10.

Neil Cragg once again started the day on top form, leading the way with the only 11-lap time of this qualifying round. Neil made a mistake on the last lap, getting hooked up on a pipe just before the loop, so it could have been even better. Paul Bradby took second in round, narrowly missing 11-lap time by less than one second. Top 10 grid for round 4 is shown below.

Position	Driver	Country	Laps/time
1	Neil Cragg	UK	11/05.29.329
2	Paul Bradby	UK	10/05.00.901
3	Simon Moss	UK	10/05.01.340
4	Hupo Honigl	Austria	10/05.05.004
5	Tom Yardy	UK	10/05.05.890
6	Kevin Lee	UK	10/05.07.750
7	Tony Truman	UK	10/05.07.872
8	Peter Pinisch	Austria	10/05.08.594
9	Jorn Neumann	Germany	10/05.10.317
10	Lionnel Labez	France	10/05.10.891

Ellis Stafford experienced problems with his cells disconnecting mid-race, resulting in a low round score, although with his strong performance in previous rounds he remained top 10 overall. 12th in round for Tom Cockerill kept him high in the rankings, ahead of Matt Benfield who placed 13th in round 4, closely followed by Grant Williams taking 14th in round.

Overall after 4 rounds, Brian Preddy is sitting in 53rd place, whilst Dave 'MCDC' Church is placed 57th.

Qualifying round 5 completed a domination for Neil Cragg - winning every round. Paul Bradby was again on top form and Simon Moss had a great run to get into 11 laps for the first time.

Position	Driver	Country	Laps/time
1	Neil Cragg	UK	11/05.26.173
2	Paul Bradby	UK	11/05.28.368
3	Simon Moss	UK	11/05.30.563
4	Hupo Honigl	Austria	10/05.02.377
5	Peter Pinisch	Austria	10/05.04.820
6	Tony Truman	UK	10/05.04.928
7	Kevin Lee	UK	10/05.05.413
8	Jorn Neuman	Germany	10/05.06.666
9	Ellis Stafford	UK	10/05.07.045
10	Matt Benfield	UK	10/05.07.235


Neil gets it on two wheels - pushing his car hard!	Always great organisation at EFRA events

UK driver Tom Cockerill made his second Eurpoean A final, interestingly enough Tom has now made 2 Euros A finals, but never a Euros B final.

Overall Qualifying after 5 rounds top 20 places.

Position	Driver	Country	Score
1	Neil Cragg	UK	310
2	Paul Bradby	UK	306
3	Hupo Honigl	Austria	305
4	Ellis Stafford	UK	304
5	Simon Moss	UK	304
6	Lee Martin	UK	301
7	Peter Pinisch	Austria	300
8	Jorn Neumann	Germany	299
9	Tom Yardy	UK	298
10	Tom Cockerill	UK	297

11	Tony Truman	UK	297
12	Kevin Lee	UK	297
13	Alberto Duran Garcia	Spain	293
14	Matt Benfield	UK	289
15	Grant Williams	UK	289
16	Roland Macho	Austria	289
17	Stephen Lawson	UK	286
18	Antoine Rossetti	France	285
19	Lionel Labbez	France	284
20	Thomas Siller	Austria	284

Where the rest of team GB ranked:

Position	Driver	Country	Score
25	Gareth Stanton	UK	272
34	Greg Spicer	UK	261
49	Ian Barnard	UK	235
52	John Spencer	UK	230
56	Brian Preddy	UK	224
58	Paul Timberlake	UK	223
59	David Church	UK	222
66	Richard Isherwood	UK	204
72	Lee Farrer	UK	194
74	Paul Wragg	UK	193
75	Mike West	UK	188
83	Steve Oyston	UK	170
93	Jimmy Storey	UK	152
96	Scott Whyman	UK	146
107	Gareth Edwards	UK	119

Piespeed drivers Tom Cockerill and Grant Williams are both flying around the track and making top 10 and top 20 times. We won't mention Lee Farrer though, well, someone has to finish last.

Before the first final the A finalists got a 'practice' A final to get used to the start system. Neil Cragg got away cleanly with Paul Bradby, Hupo seemed to have problems and these two pulled away from the rest. Paul got past and these two continued to change places throughout the first 4 minutes. Eventually Paul dropped back a few places and Neil got clear. In the end it was Neil, Jorn and Paul Bradby. It's only practice but once more Neil didn't hold back.


Paul Bradby makes Neil eat some dust	Hupo Honigl throws up some roosters

A Final Leg 1.

Whoops, well no photos within the track for any finals - makes covering them quite hard it has to be said. Capturing all the incidents as they happen just isn't possible by standing outside the track - quite frustrating. So, instead I had to stand under the drivers stand, which funnily enough was also out of bounds to photographers but I blatantly broke the rules anyway.

Since there was no internet access at the track and oOple doesn't bring in enough to buy a sheet of paper never mind a mobile broadband device - so live updating of the A finals as they happen wasn't possible.


Bradby right behind Cragg	Bradby fell down the order

On the buzzer Neil Cragg got away cleanly followed by Paul Bradby, Hupo Honigl and Ellis Stafford. Coming over the table top in front of the drivers stand for the first time Paul Bradby in second place got his car sideways on the dust and collected Hupo Honigl - leaving Paul in the pipes for a second whist Hupo rolled but didn't lose much time and went to 2nd place with Ellis in third right behind him. Paul got going again but was down to around 6th and another mishap a couple of corners later meant he was too far down to have a chance.

Coming round to start lap 2 the field was already a little spread out and Cragg got into the groove he'd had in qualifying, gradually extending his lead. By around 4 minutes into the race Neil had a large lead and wasn't going to give anything up.

Neil took the first leg, Hupo second and Lee Martin third.


Bradby ends up in the pipes and drops even further	Hupo was up to second and chasing


Tom Cockerill challenges Jorn	Jorn made an error and ended up stuck on a pipe


Neil Cragg on his way to win leg 1	Lee Martin got third

A Final Leg 2.
Neil got away from pole but coming half way round the first lap he under-jumped the small double in the centre of the track - the front wheels hit the top of the second jump and the car flipped. As Neil sat on his roof waiting to be marshalled, Paul Bradby lead a stream of cars through, taking the lead in the process.


	Neil leads them over the double for the first time


Neil tumbled onto his roof and down to 6th	Paul Bradby stormed off in the lead and didn't look back


Neil gives Moss a gentle tap on his way back to second	Bradby took a well deserved win

It was now Paul Bradby in the lead, chased by Hupo Honigl and Ellis Stafford - then a small gap back to the chasing three of Simon Moss, Lee Martin and Neil Cragg now back on his wheels. Neil Cragg set about working his way through the field with some great moves to finish 2nd. Paul drove a perfect race and took a well deserved win in leg 2.

Paul Bradby won on 11/5.06.604 - Neil Cragg second with 11/5.10.627 - Hupo third with 11/5.15.251

A Final Leg 3.
After the second leg, one of three drivers could win. With a first and second, Neil Cragg was sitting in a good position. Hupo already had a 2nd in leg 1 so with a win in leg three and a faster time than Neil he could take it. Bradby had a poor first leg but his win in the second meant a win was more than possible.


EFRA referee moves non-essential people from under the drivers stand - there really were very few places to get a good view and watch the racing.	Matt Benfield from Racer magazine

Neil Cragg lead with Paul Bradby chasing - the rest of the field slowly got left behind by these two great friends and rivals. The pair pulled away and Neil had a small gap on Bradby by lap 5. Coming through the chicane before the loop Neil made an error - clipping the pipe and needing marshalling. Bradby saw his chance for a Euros victory and shot past Neil into the lead.


Neil leads them away


Neil Cragg made an error - allowing Paul Through	Quick marshalling saw Neil back in the race

Bradders was now in charge of things and drove well to keep a hard-charging Cragg from catching - a small error where Bradby clipped a pipe saw Neil close up the gap. Over the next lap Neil got closer and closer - really setpping up the pressure on Bradby.

Coming through the chicane where Neil had lost the lead earlier in the race Paul seemed to clip the apex of the corner and lose momentum - allowing Cragg completely alongside him. Paul came off the worst and his car spun round - the referees told Neil to wait but showing great sportsmanship Bradby said it was no foul and for Neil to carry on - which he did.


Neil took the corner tight as Paul lost momentum	Suddenly Neil was alongside and wheels touched

Looking at the photos, and some from Matt Benfield from RACER magazine - the two were alongside each other when the incident happened, and the nature of open-wheeled cars means close racing can sometimes end with an accident. Paul could have taken advantage of the referees call but chose not to - deciding that winning this way wouldn't be right.

Paul chased Neil all the way to the end of the race - but the form Neil was on during these championships, once in front, he's the hardest man here to catch.

Neil won it and retained his 2WD Euro title, although Bradders was nearly European champion for a couple of laps, finishing second.

Overall Position	Qualified	Driver	Country	Score
1	1	Neil Cragg	UK	310
2	2	Paul Bradby	UK	306
3	3	Hupo Honigl	Austria	305
4	6	Lee Martin	UK	304
5	4	Ellis Stafford	UK	304
6	9	Tom Yardy	UK	301
7	7	Peter Pinisch	Austria	300
8	5	Simon Moss	Germany	299
9	10	Tom Cockerill	UK	298
10	8	Jorn Neumann	UK	297


Hupos 3rd place Associated B4 + Tamiya shocks	Paul Bradbys 2nd place Associated B4


Neil Craggs winning Associated B4	An impromptu party was started around Neils car


A slight mishap involving a female member of Tony Trumans pit crew and his unfortunate B4, resulted in a broken chassis and a variety of pieces for Tony to replace before he was allowed out to celebrate his B final win.