Bedworth RCCC Winter Series Round 3 - 18th January 2004

It was a cold start for round 3 of the Winter Series with an early morning temperature of -2ºC... brrrghhh! This meant a sharp frost on the circuit to contend with during open practise and the first round of qualifying.  Another great attendance with 41 drivers booked in (29 Stock, 12 Super Stock).  League leaders going into this round were Shane Dye (27t Stock) and Mark Traversoni (19t Super Stock) - both drivers looking for a good result to stay in the top spot. 

27 turn Stock Qualifying

There was a good turn out of drivers in this class again, with all of the league forerunners in attendance.  The icy track saw some well executed power slides, the sort of thing you'd usually see on a rally stage!  League leader (and race director for the day) Shane Dye  was the favourite to take an early FTD but it wasn't to be, as Shane had handling problems with his TC3.  Up stepped Tamiya driver Tarnjit Bharaj to set FTD with 15/309.29s, just over 1 second ahead of Phil Chambers in 2nd.  Stew Noble set the fastest lap out of all of the stock runners during round 1, but wasn't consistent enough to make every lap count.  He set the 3rd fastest time ahead of Kris Kennedy and Craig Daffron, who were in 4th and 5th respectively.  With the track thawing well, quicker times were guaranteed for the subsequent rounds.

In round 2, there were plenty of dry spots on the track to really get the power down.  Paul Chambers took full advantage of the improving conditions to set a new FTD of 17/318.28s.  Phil Chambers moved up from 8th after round 1, to 2nd place with a 16 lapper.  Tarnjit and Craig Daffron were 3rd and 4th respectively, both also on 16 laps.  Kris Kennedy kept his top 5 position, improving with 15 laps.  

By round 3, the track was almost dry on nearly all parts of the racing line.  FTD was snatched from Paul Chambers by indoor superstar Stew Noble (left), who until this run was 14th overall!  What a pressure drive from Stew, pulling it together when it mattered.  He wasn't the only driver to complete a pressure drive during the meeting but more on that later...  2nd fastest was Tarnjit Bharaj, followed by Phil Chambers, Paul Chambers and Paul Streather.  Next stop.... the 2 leg Finals. 

19 turn Super Stock Qualifying

Once again, there were enough drivers in this class to have two qualifying heats.  In addition to the regular runners, it was good to see Chris Cook, Mark Jackson and John Davie all running 19t at Bedworth.  By the first round of qualifying for the 19t class, the track had thawed, leaving damp, but still tricky conditions to race on.  

Fastest out of the blocks in the first qualifier was Stock King Nick Bruty, who before this meeting was lying 3rd in the championship.  Nick continues to do well with the shaft driven Yokomo.  Nick set an early pace of 17/316.44s.  Bob Burr was 2nd fastest with long term Bedworth member Mark Traversoni.  Mark was racing R/C cars when many of the younger Bedworth members were still in nappies! Back to qualifying and it was recent 19t convert Chris Cook who was 4th fastest with Ben Emery completing the top 5.  

Round 2 saw ever improving track conditions with many drivers improving their times.  Nick Bruty improved his FTD time as did Bob who was just 0.41sec behind Nick.  Mark Traversoni remained in 3rd place and Howard Harrison did well to move up to 4th overall.  Ben Emery kept his 5th position.

In round 3, Nick once again improved his FTD to secure pole-position on the grid for the finals.  Remember that other pressure drive of the day?  Step up Adi Wright.  Adi, Nick, Bob, Mark and many other drivers who have plenty of experience of racing at Nationals know all about pressure drives.... your last qualifying run where you need to make it count and do well to secure that A final place.  Before this round, Adi was 10th quickest and looked a fair bet for a 'B' final place.  Not wanting to be accused of carpet bagging, Adi made some setup changes and took 2nd fastest overall behind Nick.  Bob and Mark didn't improve but still remained in the top 5, in 3rd and 4th place respectively.  Howard improved once again to secure a deserved 5th place overall. 

27 turn A final Leg 1

On pole this time was Stew Noble, showing that he can adapt well from racing indoors at Hinckley.

There was a clean start to the final with all drivers getting through the chicane cleanly.  With a gaggle of cars coming onto the main straight together, there was bound to be trouble and we didn't have to wait long.  There was a huge pile up at the sweeper, but luckily for Stew and Tarnjit, they weren't affected.  Stew started to pull away and create a comfortable lead ahead of Tarnjit.  A mistake from Tarnjit let Paul Chambers move up to 2nd place.  Tarnjit clawed his way back and made a nice overtaking pass on the straight to take 2nd place, using his straight line speed advantage to his benefit.  Tarnjit tried well to catch Stew but the pole-man was out for an event-free Sunday afternoon drive and cruised to a win.  Tarnjit maintained 2nd with Phil Chambers recovering well to take 3rd.  A consistent drive by Stew Noble.

27 turn A final Leg 2

In the second leg of the Stock A final, Stew Noble made a clean start as usual but with a clear track ahead of him, a lapse of concentration saw him barrel roll his TC3 on the middle straight on the way down to the Dunlop Bank.  Tarnjit following close behind, must have thought it was his lucky day at being gifted the lead.  Phil Chambers moved up into 2nd, also taking advantage of Stew's misfortune.  Stew recovered well and gave chase to Tarnjit and Phil.  Tarnjit knuckled down to build up a comfortable lead ahead of Phil who was being closed down by Stew mid-race.  Stew did eventually catch Phil and moved into 2nd with ease.  At the 5 minute marker it was Tarnjit who took the win with Stew 2nd and Phil in 3rd.

27 turn winners: Phil Chambers (3rd) and Tarnjit Bharaj (2nd)

19 turn A final Leg 1  

Sometimes when there is damp grid, it is easy to spin at the start of a final.... and this was perfectly demonstrated by Bob Burr who got the power down too soon to pirouette on the grid at the start of Leg1.  Bad luck Bob!

Front row starters Nick Bruty and Adi Wright made clean starts through the chicane and hairpin.  Later in the same lap however, Adi got a wheel on the painted curb approaching the Dunlop Bank and ended up stranded on the grass, allowing Barrie Yeend, Mark Traversoni and others to move past.  By lap 5, just 2 seconds covered Nick, Mark, Bob, Barrie and Adi.  Nick started to edge out and by lap 7 he had a comfortable 5.5 second lead ahead of Bob and Mark.  Barrie Yeend suffered a flip at the chicane and moved down to 6th.  Adi clawed his way back to 4th following that first lap crash with Ben Emery pushing not far behind.  All drivers seemed to be struggling with handling through the bus-stop chicane, perhaps the cold conditions were causing this.  At the 5 minutes marker, Nick Bruty crossed the line first for a comfortable win with Bob, Mark, Adi and Ben Emery completing the top 5 finishers.

19 turn A final Leg 2

Another clean start for the forerunners with Bob and Mark swapping places for 3rd place.  On lap 2, a rare mistake from Nick saw him off at the hairpin and down to 7th after rejoining the track.  Mark Traversoni moved into the lead ahead of Bob, Ben Emery and Barrie.  On lap 4, Ben Smith made a good move at the chicane on Barrie Yeend to take 5th place.  Bob took the lead from Mark Traversoni and by lap 7, Bob lead by just 0.17 seconds.  Backmarkers allowed Bob to edge out slightly from Mark.  Mark was having problems from behind with Ben Smith closing in fast with his BMI chassis TC3.  On lap 14, Ben Smith tried a move on Traversoni at the chicane but failed to take the place.  Bob continued to edge out and by lap 15 had a comfortable 5 second lead ahead of Traversoni.  Nick was closing in fast on the top 3 following his crash earlier in the race.  Bob cruised to victory with ease ahead of Mark Traversoni, Nick, Ben Smith and Adi Wright.  

All smiles:  19 turn winners (from left) Mark Traversoni (3rd), Bob Burr (1st) and Nick Bruty (2nd)

After round 3 of the series, the top 3 league standings are as follows:

27 turn Stock

19 turn Super Stock

See you at the round 4 of the Winter Series on 15th February 2004!  

View the results for this meeting.

Tech Charts

27 turn Stock

 19 turn Super Stock