Bedworth Winter Series 2004/05 Round 4 - 20th March 2005

The penultimate round of the series, and crunch time for many of the competitors in both classes. Lots of drivers would be looking for good scores to either consolidate their position or to provide a springboard for a late challenge. The weather forecast for Sunday had veered from dry to wet and back again over the preceding days, but in the end the 35 competitors who booked in found a track that was bone dry but very, very cold. Water spilt in the pits froze instantly, pegs put in to secure gazebos needed a good few minutes of hammering to get through the frozen earth, and on the track many cars were suffering handling problems simply due to the cold numbing the drivers’ hands and slowing reactions! At least grip was consistent, if low, all the way round the circuit, and hopefully by the time qualifying kicked off the drivers would have woken up and thawed out sufficiently to post some quick times. As throughout the series, Round-by-round qualifying would mean that good times from the off would be the order of the day for the top runners.

Qualifying – Round 1

Stock Touring 

The 21 drivers entered into this class were first out for qualifying, and straight away 16-lappers were on the menu, with Rob Cunliffe taking his Yokomo SD to top of the tree with 16/311 from a start position of 7^th in his heat! Next up was James Parker 3 seconds back, then came series newcomer Liam Brooks, getting some early practice in for this year’s national series in the summer, and putting in an excellent 16/315 from heat 1. Adam Barker returned from his round 3 absence to post 4^th 1 second behind Liam, then came Marcus Gorvin, Michael Polson and Nigel Shaw with quick 15-lappers. 

19 Turn 

Anthony Potter and Dom Carter quickly established themselves as the people to beat in this class with storming 18-lap runs, Anthony (18/312.60) just beating Dom by 0.04 of a second. The top pair were over a lap ahead of 3^rd-place man Adi Wright, who nevertheless brought his Xray round to 17/314, just beating Phil Chambers who was driving the TRF415 for the last time. Shane Dye was next up, followed by Andrew Gower’s Yokomo and Ben Emery. Stew Noble just missed out on 17 laps, as did Bob Burr.

Round 2 

Stock Touring 

As the track warmed up the times came down, and most of the top runners bettered their round 1 time by six or seven seconds this time round. Once again Rob Cunliffe’s Yok led the field with 16/307, by a second from James Parker – this meant Rob had pole for the final sewn up with a round left. A further second behind James came Adam Barker, by half a second from Marcus Gorvin. A further five drivers made 16 laps in this run, in order these were Michael Polson, David and Jason Petch, Wayne Davis and Nigel Shaw. 

19 Turn 

Dom Carter and Anthony Potter again headed the field, but this time Dome led the round, with the only 18-lapper this time round (18/313). Anthony followed up with 17/301 as he never fully recovered from a slow first lap, just a couple of seconds ahead of the TC4 of Shane Dye. Adi Wright and Ben Emery were close together and a further 2 seconds behind Shane, then came Stew Noble a further second back, with Andrew Gower the last driver on 17 laps. 

Round 3 

Stock Touring   


James Parker lost out on Pole but what would the Finals bring?

With the ‘A’ final pole position already having Rob Cunliffe’s towel draped over it, the fight was on to join him on the front row. Jason Petch won the round with a ballistic 16/300, only just missing the first stock 17-lapper of the day, but alas his earlier round scores meant he wouldn’t take second spot. Instead it went to James Parker, a model of consistency (the only kind of model he’s ever likely to be) who took 2^nd place for the third consecutive round, 6 seconds back off Jason, and only just beating the Losi of Wayne Davis. Liam Brooks secured a sharp-end starting position for the final with 4^th for the round, ahead of Adam Barker, then followed Mark Handford Jnr, showing signs of the form that gave him such a good result in round 3, then David Petch, Michael Polson who suffered traffic trouble putting him back a few places, Rob Cunliffe (having a trying time by his high standards of the day thus far) and Dean Coupland who, struggling to come to grips with brand-new radio gear, got his first 16-lapper of the day. Unfortunately for Dean he’d miss out on the top 10, which looked like this:- 

Rob took his first pole of the series and, with most of the title hopefuls involved, the ‘A’ in this class was an appetising prospect. Nigel Shaw deserves mention here, he just missed out on an ‘A’ place on a tie break to Mark, both having 16 points, normally a guaranteed top-10 score – reflecting the closeness of the class in qualifying. Also worthy of note is Liam, making his first series ‘A’ on his debut.

 19 Turn

Dom Carter missed out on pole this time to Anthony Potter

Dom Carter and Anthony Potter had the front row sewn up, but in what order? This round would determine it, and it was Anthony who won the round to take pole, doing it with 18/311, 2 seconds ahead of Dom. No-one else made 18 laps, and Adi Wright bagged another 3^rd place with 17/305. Stew Noble and Shane Dye finished close behind Adi, then came Tarnjit Bharaj’s TRF415 (unfortunately his only good run in qualifying), followed by Bob Burr’s SD CGM, improving with every round as he learnt his way round his new speed controller. These drivers all made 17 laps, with Andrew Gower and Phil Chambers being the top 16-lap runners. 

Top ten for this class:-

Again, most of the contenders for the top places involved, so another good final in prospect.

The Finals 

With 21 cars booked in to Stock Touring, there was always the possibility of a 1-car ‘C’ final, and Patrick Rafferty was the unlucky contender to end up in this position. Patrick decided to withdraw from the race as his car was giving trouble, so this final didn’t run. Straight on, therefore, to the:-

Stock Touring ‘B’ Final 

Leg 1 – A very scrappy start to this final meant that the grid order was well jumbled up by the end of the first lap, with 4^th-place qualifier Mark Handford leading the field round to complete lap 1, followed by Glynn Davis and Kris Kennedy. Next up were Dean Coupland and Norman Britton, followed by poleman Nigel Shaw and Ashley Coupland in close company, then a gap back to Leigh White, Paul Dickens (who had to pull out after this lap) and Philip Hughes. This race didn’t seem to settle at all with the spins and incidents continuing almost all the way through, with virtually every car suffering at some point or another. Mark led and was the most consistent until a series of events a few laps from home cost him dearly, and in the end Kris Kennedy crossed the lie first with his TC3 to take the win from Norman Britton by half a second, with Glynn Davis third a further 15 seconds back. These were the only drivers to get 14 laps, Dean Coupland, Mark Handford and Nigel Shaw getting quick 13s and finishing close together in that order. Philip Hughes came up to seventh, demoting Ashley Coupland who had to retire at 4 minutes but was classified 8^th, followed by Leigh White. Paul was classified 10^th.

Leg 2 – A Much better start this time, and Kris Kennedy led the field round after the first tour, quickly followed by Dean Coupland’s Pro 4, with Nigel Shaw being shuffled down to 3^rd from pole. Ashley got past Mark into 4^th, and the rest of the field followed in order, save for Paul who couldn’t make the start. Everybody lapped very consistently after that, this race was almost the polar opposite of leg 1, and apart from the odd half-spin there were no incidents in this race. At the five-minute buzzer Kris came round to win, followed by Dean, Nigel, Ashley, Mark, Norman, Glynn, Philip, and Leigh, with Paul unable to start. 

Overall positions for this final:-

Congratulations to the top 3, Norman surprised at his final place, and hopefully for Dean the trophy will make up for a trying day – hope to see you back in the ‘A’ soon, Dean.

Stock Touring ‘A’ Final   


Marcus Gorvin had a good result in qualifying with 6th in the Stock A final.  His best of the series so far.

This final would line up as Follows:- 

Pole
Rob Cunliffe
Yokomo SD SSG

                                                            2^nd
                                                            James Parker
                                                            HPI Pro 4

3^rd
Adam Barker
Yokomo SD SSG

                                                            4^th
                                                            Liam Brooks
                                                            Schumacher Mi2

5^th
Jason Petch
XRay Factory

                                                            6^th
                                                            Marcus Gorvin
                                                            Associated TC3

7^th
Wayne Davis
Losi XXX-S

                                                            8^th
                                                            Michael Polson
                                                            Yokomo SD CGM

9^th
David Petch
XRay Evo 2

                                                            10^th
                                                            Mark Handford Jnr
                                                            HPI Pro 4

Leg 1 – Clean round the first corner, and Rob and James got through the next series of bends OK, but behind them an almighty tangle at turn 3 resulted in the rest of the field being well and truly jumbled up, Marcus saying that ‘it was chaos by the time I got there’ with his TC3 starting from 6^th spot on the grid. Rob got sideways out of turn 5, letting James through, and the yellow-and-green HPI led the field round by half a second from Rob, these two having a two-second cushion over Adam, who just led Marcus and Jason, then next up was Michael, then Mark and Liam very close together, with David and Wayne losing out the most. Liam got past Mark on lap 2, and Adam suffered a spin which put him down the field. The race then settled down a little, Mark having a small incident on lap 5,  and at about 2 minutes Jason started showing the pace he had in the last round of qualifying, making his way up through the field, as was Liam. Jason got up into second, past Rob who suffered another spin, and then set his sights on the leader, James, who had been circulating quickly but steadily up until now. The HPI held off the XRay for a few laps, but with three laps to go Jason sold the dummy and sent James the wrong way under braking for turn 5, James running wide and letting slip the lead. Jason pulled out a small gap in the remaining laps, and eventually won by a second, these two clear of the rest of the field. Marcus and Wayne finished very close together in 3^rd and 4^th, with Liam classified 5^th – all these drivers getting 16 laps. Fastest of the 15-lappers was Rob, then Michael, David and Mark. Adam had car trouble at just under 4 minutes, had to retire and was placed 10^th. 

Leg 2 – The field got around turn 1 OK again, and kept it going this time, with Liam the star performer at the start – getting past Adam at turn 2, James at turn 3, and overtaking Rob for the lead at turn 5. Jason followed him up the order, joining the top group with a robust late-braking move on James at turn 5 (again!), and these 4 were locked together for the rest of the first lap, completing it with Liam in the lead by 0.2s from Jason then 0.02s back to Rob, with James a further 0.4s back! Immediately after the loop Rob and Jason tangled at high speed going into turn 1, James the main beneficiary as he just avoided the incident and took over 2^nd place. David headed the rest of the field at this point, from Michael, Wayne, Adam, and Mark, Marcus the only one to lose any time on the opening lap. Jason and Rob dropped back following their tangle, and David also suffered an off on lap 2 undoing his good start. Adam’s troubles returned on lap 3 and he had to retire, Rob’s car looked slow for a few laps (Interference which mysteriously cleared up after 4 laps making the poleman 3 seconds a lap quicker) and Michael lost a few seconds with an incident on lap 4. Everyone settled into a rhythm after that, Liam leading with James keeping in touch a couple of seconds back. Jason was busily gaining places again and made it into 3^rd, but by this time the race was in its last minute and he was 10 seconds behind second place holder James – however, James half-spun at Dunlop Bank with 2 ½ laps remaining and needed marshal assistance – he still had a cushion over the chasing XRay, however. The five-minute buzzer sounded, and Liam came round to score the win – just rewards for a storming lap 1 and an intelligent drive thereafter. James finished 9 seconds behind the winner, and held on to second place, and the leg win, from Jason by 2 ½ seconds after tip-toeing round the last couple of laps. In fourth was Mark driving well to haul the Pro 4 up from last on the grid, ahead of Michael who just missed out on 16 laps in his first dry meeting with his SD CGM, beating Rob by a second, the remaining order being Marcus, David and Wayne, and Adam was placed 10^th. 

Overall positions for this final:-

 James proved that 2+2 can equal 1 by taking the overall win on a tie-break, and Liam and Jason drove exceptionally well to take a leg win apiece. 

19 Turn ‘B’ Final 

Leg 1 – Tarnjit Bharaj was the hot favourite for this final after the time he put in in round 3 of qualifying, and he led Howard Harrison and Gary Smith by almost 5 seconds after the first lap, with Andy Reeves not able to take the start in this 4-car race. After that Tarnjit drove consistently to take the leg win from Howard, who just beat Gary into 3^rd. Andy managed to get going, but was too late to improve his position, and finished 4^th.

 Leg 2 – Tarnjit slipped up from his pole position this time, and it was Howard who took the lead from Gary and Andy. Andy went off on lap 3, and Gary on lap 4, to let Tarnjit back up into second, but he couldn’t catch Howard’s BMI TC3, who took the win by 0.8s from the TRF415, Gary kept in touch in 3^rd – all the top 3 took 16 laps – but Andy, driving for the first time since 1999, had to pull out after 3 minutes. Commiserations, Andy, and welcome back to the sport – hope to see you again soon. 

Overall positions for this final:- 

 Tarnjit takes the win on a tie-break from Howard – well done to all the drivers.

 19 Turn ‘A’ Final   


Shane Dye planted his TC4 in 4th spot on the grid in qualifying.

Last final up, the top final for the faster class, lining up like so:-  

Pole
Anthony Potter
Schumacher Mi2

                                                            2^nd
                                                            Dom Carter
                                                            HPI Pro 4

3^rd
Adi Wright
XRay Factory T1

                                                            4^th
                                                            Shane Dye
                                                            Associated TC4

5^th
Stew Noble
Tamiya TRF415

                                                            6^th
                                                            Ben Emery
                                                            Associated TC4

7^th
Phil Chambers
Tamiya TRF415

                                                            8^th
                                                            Andrew Gower
                                                            Yokomo SD CGM

9^th
Bob Burr
Yokomo SD CGM

                                                            10^th
                                                            Steve Dye
                                                            Associated TC4 

Leg 1 – Anthony and Dom took off away from the line and established a gap from the rest of the field pretty much straight away, Anthony leading after the first lap from Dom by half a second, then a further two seconds back to Shane, Phil finishing a good first lap in 4^th, then Stew, Ben, Steve, Adi dropping to 8^th, then Bob and Andrew.  The top two continued to pull away, lapping regularly in the low 17s (Anthony even in the 16s), but Andrew had to retire after 3 laps, and Stew spun after 4 laps, dropping him back. Steve was the next casualty, suffering a couple of slow laps and throwing in the towel at just over 3 minutes, then a few seconds after that Ben suffered a similar fate. The rest kept lapping at a rapid pace, however, but the top two were away, and after 5 minutes Anthony won by 4 seconds from Dom. Shane finished about 7 seconds further back with a quick 17-lapper. The rest of the finishers were well spaced out, finishing Phil, Stew, Bob and Adi, with Ben Steve and Andrew not finishing but being classified in that order.

Leg 2 – A repeat of the first lap from last time, with Anthony narrowly leading from Dom – but the others were much closer this time, Stew heading the chase with Phil, Bob (making an excellent start) and Adi in close attendance. Steve, Shane and Ben were next up, with Andrew not able to make the start. Everyone held station for a while, Shane and Adi getting back past Bob, and Stew mixing it with Anthony and Dom. Anthony still led until he slipped up on lap 11, dropping to third, and then a couple of laps later Stew got past Dom into the lead. Despite pressure from the pair who had dominated all day, Stew held firm and took an excellent and well-deserved win from Dom by a second, with Anthony a further 0.3s back – very close! No-one else made 18 laps, Phil finishing 4 a second ahead of Shane, then Adi, Bob, Ben and Steve, with Andrew placing 10^th.  

Bedworth regular Stew Noble saw his pace quicken during for the Finals, achieving 3rd overall.

 After 2 excellent legs, the overall results:- 

Despite his 2^nd leg 3^rd, Anthony takes the win from Dom on a tie-break, with Stew’s 3^rd being just rewards for his great 2^nd leg drive. Well done to all for some very entertaining racing. 

League Standings 

With one round remaining, here are the tables with each driver’s worst score dropped:-

Stock Touring 

Nothing is certain in this class yet, with plenty of drivers able to take top positions – it will all come down to the final round. 

19 Turn 

Again, loads of competitors can take podium positions in this class, so another exciting final round in prospect. 

So we come to the end of a dry, bitterly cold, and exciting day’s racing. There’s still all to play for at the final round on March 20^th, when hopefully the weather will be just as dry, but a bit warmer…   


No Nick at this round but no doubt he'll be racing at the last round of the series next month

Race Report by James Parker, pics by Adi Wright