Bedworth Winter Series 2004/05 Round 1 – 21 November 2004


Wet conditions all day

Race Report

The start of another winter series is upon us. This year hopefully promises that both classes (27 and 19 turn) will deliver competitive racing and maybe a few surprises, with the entry being a good mix of competitors who have driven well in previous series, and new drivers and improvers going all out to establish themselves as forces to be reckoned with.

In the Paddock

A good mixture of chassis makes were seen in the paddock and this meant that no one make of car would enjoy any particular advantage come finals time, however the new Associated TC4 was being given its Bedworth Series debut in the hands of Michael Polson. 

The lack of supply of Pit Shimizu wet treaded tyres in the last few months means that alternatives are being sought, and one of the more popular on display was the HPI B15-40 tyre, as used as the control tyre in the HPI Challenge.

The race day dawned cold and very damp; an overnight spell of rain meaning that there was plenty of standing water on the racing surface, which in turn meant that hardly anyone used the practise session for driving, more like making sure the cars were fully waterproof. Regular light showers and murky, damp conditions meant that the track would not truly dry out all day, and would only see slight improvement as the finals approached.

Qualifying would be run to a Round-by-Round format, with best 2 of 3 scores to count, a format which suited the conditions very well.


It was good to see Dave Bailey (not the photographer) back racing

Qualifying – Round 1

27 Turn

Some of these heats had a rather scrappy look about them at the start as the 25 drivers had their first taste of the conditions, but Jonathan Brook rose above it all to post Round 1 TQ with the only 15-lapper of the round (15/326.02), despite a spin on the very last lap! A large group of drivers posted 14-lappers, quickest amongst them being James Parker (14/304.64) and David Petch (14/307.49) who took 2nd and 3rd places for the round respectively. However, the top 8 were covered by less than a lap, which given the conditions is remarkable.

19 Turn

Dominic Carter took command in no uncertain terms in these dreadfully wet conditions, leading the 11-car field by over two-thirds of a lap with an excellent 16/316.60. Summer Series title holder Stew Noble was the nearest challenger on 15/310.80, with Gary Smith driving very well to take an excellent 3rd for the round with14/304.42. The slippery track meant that the more powerful 19-turn cars could not reap the benefit of their power advantage, hence the relatively small gap between the two classes.

Round 2

27 Turn

The 15-lappers started to appear in quantity in this round, despite some drivers feeling that the track was slightly slippier than in round 1! James Parker took TQ for the round with 15/311.51, with Round 1 TQ driver Jonathan Brook following up with 15/317.17 to take second, meaning that pole for the finals would be contested between these two. Joining them on 15 laps was Jason Petch (15/318.45) and Robert Cunliffe (15/321.76), with Adam Barker just missing out (14/301.50) but taking 5th for the round anyway.

Sadly, after this round the effects of mixing water and delicate RC electronics began to be seen, and several drivers, including the rapid Craig Daffron and 27 turn Summer Series champ Paul Streather were forced to retire with dead cars.

19 Turn

Dominic Carter continued his dominance of the class with another fast time (16/310.64). No-one else could better 14 laps, although 2nd place Stew Noble (14/297.11) would have done had he not been forced to stop on the last lap. Phil Chambers and David Bailey were very close for 3rd and 4th respectively, both scoring in the fast 14s. After this round Xray driver Adi Wright was forced to retire from the meeting with what was suspected to be a bent layshaft, but was later found to be a collapsed layshaft bearing cage. Adi was quoted to be ‘bitterly disappointed’ at his forced retirement, but vowed to be back for the rest of the series!

Round 3

27 Turn

Into the final round, and a chance for some to grab a high spot and thus propel themselves up the qualifying order. The track had dried out very slightly, but this simply means that it was greasier which cancelled out any advantage from the lack of water. Thus there were only two 15-lappers scored in this run, and we had the third different round winner of the day in this class when Adam Barker drove his Yokomo SD to 15/311.35, beating James Parker (15/315.47) who half-spun at the Dunlop Bank when going well. Jason Petch missed out on 15 laps by only 0.09s, but took 3rd for the round, just ahead of Michael Polson (14/301.01) who was beginning to find a setup for the new TC4. Jonathan Brook elected to sit out this round, his R1 and R2 performances guaranteeing him a front-row grid slot.

The final top 10 in 27-turn qualifying looked like this:-
1 James Parker
2 Jonathan Brook
3 Adam Barker
4 Jason Petch
5 David Petch
6 Robert Cunliffe
7 Michael Polson
8 Dean Coupland
9 Kris Kennedy
10 Ashley Coupland

A couple of family rivalries would be fought out in the ‘A’, and James Parker would sit on pole for the first time in a Series round. Dean Coupland would make a series ‘A’ final debut after knocking on the door for a few races, and Jonathan Brook, Jason and David Petch, and Robert Cunliffe were other newcomers to Bedworth Series races who made the A. 
Michael Polson also deserves mention for getting the TC4 into the top final at the first time of asking with virtually no setup experience with this particular car – watch out for the new AE offering climbing the order fast in the next few rounds.

Roundabout the A-B final split was very tight – Ashley made the ‘A’ on 21 points, but had to do it on a tie-break from Mark Handford jnr and Marcus Gorvin, who would take the front row slots in the ‘B’ with the same points score, Nigel Shaw also joined this battle, winding up with 22 points.

19 Turn

Would anybody step up to the plate and end Dominic Carter’s dominance of qualifying in this class? The answer was a resounding ‘No’ as the HPI Pro 4 driver scored 16/311.01 to take a perfect score (2 points from 2 rounds with 1 point dropped) from qualifying. Nick Bruty got 15/309.46 to take 2nd for the round, with David Bailey scoring 3rd with a 15/321.61. Gary Smith added an excellent 4th to his round 1 3rd with a fast 14-lapper, just ahead of Tarnjit Bharaj and his Tamiya TRF415. Stew Noble, already well up in the order with 2 2nd places, failed to finish in this round.

After 3 qualifiers, the top 10 was as follows:

1 Dominic Carter
2 Stewart Noble
3 Nick Bruty
4 David Bailey
5 Gary Smith
6 Phil Chambers
7 Tarnjit Bharaj
8 Mark Palmer
9 Howard Harrison
10 Dave Randle

Dominic justly got pole after a flawless morning’s driving, but beating Stew and Nick in particular in the final would still be a test. Gary deserves mention for his 5th place, an excellent performance. The final would certainly be one to watch in this class.

The Finals

Stock Touring ‘B’ Final

Leg 1 - A full grid of 10 cars would enter for this final, but unfortunately Peter Spratley and Paul Dickens would miss the start, meaning eight took to the grid. 3rd grid spot holder Nigel Shaw dominated this race, quickly getting past Marcus and early leader Mark to win by nearly a lap, with only the 2nd and 3rd placed competitors not being lapped by the flying Nigel. Marcus just nabbed 2nd spot by 2 seconds from Mark, with Scott Walker driving well to stay in touch with these two and finish 4th, just ahead of Norman Britton. Scott’s dad Derek was next to finish, ahead of Philip Hughes, a recovering Peter Spratley and Patrick Rafferty, driving solidly and steadily in his first RC race. Unfortunately Paul couldn’t get onto the track and did not record a lap.

Leg 2 – Nigel dropped to 4th at the end of lap 1, with Marcus taking the early lead from Mark by a tiny margin. However, Nigel powered through the field to take another leg win, and with it the overall ‘B’ final honours, showing the kind of driving that would have put him in the top final if it had been done in qualifying. Another tight battle between Mark and Marcus was again resolved in Marcus’ favour by an astonishing 0.24 seconds after 5 minutes of racing! Norman finished strongly, only 2 seconds behind the 2nd/3rd place battle, almost lapping Scott in 5th, with Peter, Paul, Derek, Philip and Patrick completing the order.

Final results for this race after 2 legs:-
1 Nigel Shaw
2 Marcus Gorvin
3 Mark Handford Jnr
4 Scott Walker
5 Norman Britton
6 Peter Spartley
7 Derek Walker
8 Philip Hughes
9 Paul Dickens
10 Patrick Rafferty


Stock Touring ‘A’ Final

27t Stock drivers line up for Final 1.

The first ‘A’ final of this year’s Winter series lined up like so:-

Leg 1 – All the cars got away from the grid cleanly, with Jonathan almost taking the lead at the old Bus Stop, only for James to hold the line as it became the inside line at the Horseshoe. A couple of minor comings-together during the first lap left 2 or 3 of the mid-grid cars at the back, whilst Adam got past Jonathan at the Esses to take 2nd. Jason also passed the 2nd-place qualifier on lap 2 to move up to 3rd . Adam then spun on lap 4, letting Jason up to 2nd and Jonathan to 3rd, however Robert Cunliffe moved up past Jonathan to take 3rd when the Xray T1 driver took a 25-second lap following a spin. Michael also had the new Associated working well and was running in the top group until mechanical maladies forced him to drop back. Battles were happening up and down the field as everyone settled into a fast rhythm, with every place being fought over. Towards the end of the 5 minutes, the leaders’ times dropped off by about 1 second a lap as discretion became the better part of valour when lapping, and as the buzzer went to signal 5 minutes was up James came round to convert pole position into a leg win with 15/314.08, followed less than 6 seconds behind by Jason. Robert just missed out on 15 laps whilst taking 3rd for the leg, with Jonathan 4 seconds further back, and Adam recovering to finish 2 seconds behind Jonathan. David took 6th, followed by Michael and Dean, and Kris beat Ashley to 9th place by 5 seconds after a tight battle in the mid-part of the race.

Pole man James Parker leads in the Complex.

Leg 2 – Another clean start round the first series of corners, and again it was James’ TC3 which took the early lead, with Jonathan’s Xray keeping the pressure on. Adam fell away on the first lap, coming round 9th, and Michael also suffered traffic trouble in the early part of the race. The race settled down quickly, with everyone capable of putting fast laps in, but the pace was so quick that position changes were relatively infrequent. Then on lap 10, James got sideways and let Jonathan up into the lead, indeed the poleman nearly lost 2nd to Jason as well, but after a lap or so of tight battling pulled into a bit of a comfort zone. This battle allowed Jonathan to pull away and although James tried to come back, the Xray took the win from the TC3 by 3 seconds, with Jason taking 3rd a further 4 seconds back, these three notching up 15 laps. David was about 8 seconds behind Jason with a fast 14, heading a tight group consisting of himself, Dean, Robert and Adam – 4 seconds covered places 4 to 7. Michael put in some fast laps on the way to 8th, with another Kris v Ashley 9th-place battle being resolved once more in the favour of the man with the well-known voice by 2.15 seconds.

After both legs the aggregate result was:-
1 James Parker
2 Jonathan Brook
3 Jason Petch
4 Robert Cunliffe
5 David Petch
6 Adam Barker
7 Dean Coupland
8 Michael Polson
9 Kris Kennedy
10 Ashley Coupland


19 Turn ‘A’ Final

19 turn A finalists get ready for their first Final.  Nick looking apprehensive while old timer Howard looks chilled.

Although just the one 2-legged final was being held in this class, it would have a full grid, which
formed up thus:-

Leg 1 – Only 7 cars came to the grid for this leg, Stew and Dave unable to take the start due to car trouble, and David missing the grid formation. A couple of cars spun on the opening circuit, and Tarnjit’s TRF415 suffered gear trouble which was to result in retirement without recording a lap. Dominic already had a good lead after the first lap, and held it comfortably from Phil Chambers, who came charging up from 6th spot on the grid to second during lap 1. Behind them, Nick Bruty and Gary Smith had an excellent battle for third, resolved in Nick’s favour when Gary lost the back end of his TC3 and spun. They were followed home by Howard, Mark and a late-starting David, with the remaining three not recording laps.

Nick, Dom and Gary at the left hander and Tarnjit makes a pit stop.


Super quick wet race man Dom Carter exits the 'S' chicane.


Last year's Winter Series champ Nick Bruty at the Complex.

Leg 2 – Another excellent launch from Dominic saw the HPI lead the field by over 3 seconds after just one lap, with Gary leading a tight chasing pack consisting of himself, Nick, Phil, Mark, David and Howard. Phil quickly came to the head of the group and pulled out a gap, with Howard picking his way up though the group to take 3rd. Nick and Gary found themselves in another scrap, unfortunately as the race wore on Gary fell away letting Mark through into 6th, which then became 5th as David was forced to drop out after 8 laps. Meanwhile, Dominic controlled the race from out in front to win by approximately 10 seconds from Phil, who had a further 11 seconds over Howard, driving well to take 3rd from 9th on the grid. Nick and Mark were the other finishers, while Gary spun on the last lap and could not reach the line before the race timed out. David had already retired and Stew, Tarnjit and Dave could not make the start.

After the two legs, the final reckoning was:-
1 Dominic Carter
2 Phil Chambers
3 Nick Bruty
4 Howard Harrison
5 Gary Smith
6 Mark Palmer
7 David Bailey
8 Stewart Noble
9 Tarnjit Bharaj
10 Dave Randle


Dom Carter: A great result on his Bedworth Winter Series debut.

Championship Standings
After the first round of the series, the embryonic league standings are as follows:-

27 Turn

1 James Parker 200 Points
2 Jonathan Brook 198
3 Jason Petch 195
4 Adam Barker 193
=5 David Petch 192
=5 Robert Cunliffe 192
=7 Michael Polson 187
=7 Dean Coupland 187
9 Kris Kennedy 184
10 Ashley Coupland 184

19 Turn

1 Dominic Carter 200 Points
2 Nick Bruty 196
3 Phil Chambers 194
=4 Stewart Noble 192
=4 Gary Smith 192
6 David Bailey 191
7 Howard Harrison 189
8 Mark Palmer 188
9 Tarnjit Bharaj 186
10 Dave Randle 182

There is still a long way to go in the series, and the dropped-score format means that nothing is clear as yet.

So, with all the racing and prize-giving done for the day, the meeting concluded with the weather still quite damp, but despite that an impressive turnout and excellent driving standards in tricky conditions made this an excellent start to the Winter Series. Perhaps the championship picture will become slightly clearer after the second round of the series, which will take place on Sunday 19 December 2004. Who will lead the field going into 2005?

Race report by James Parker
Photos by Adi Wright

and finally....

There's always one joker!