Bedworth 2005 Summer Series Round 1 – Race Report

Just a few short weeks after the end of a very close Winter Series, the start of a new championship is upon us. Both classes would have a slightly different look about them, as a few drivers have moved over to the increasingly popular 19-turn class – most notably, Adam Barker (required to move after two top-3 finishes in the last 2 series), but also others such as Mark Handford Jnr, Ashley Coupland and Marcus Gorvin – all no strangers to ‘A’ final action at 27t level, and would all be looking to make their mark in the faster class. 

As for the 27t class, it was still well-subscribed, and once those who have moved up were taken into account it was almost a case of ‘The gang’s all here’ from the Winter Series, with James Parker, Jason and David Petch, Rob Cunliffe, Winter Series Top Senior Dean Coupland, and a whole host of other series regulars all itching to make a good start to the summer racing season. The most notable absence was that of Michael Polson, sadly unable to race due to other commitments, but two rounds can be dropped in this six-round championship, so no real ground lost. The fact that several drivers have moved to 19t means that there was a good chance of some ‘A’ final debuts being made today. 

Traditionally, the Summer Series sees drivers who aren’t necessarily going to do the whole series but are preparing for National races attending, and it was good to see a large group of Broxtowe-based competitors turning up, and as at the last round of the Winter Series, giving a good account of themselves. 

Another Summer Series tradition is that this is the testing ground for different meeting formats. Today would see 3 rounds of 5-minute qualifying heats, with order decided by FTQ – so far, so normal. But the finals (2 legs) would be run by laps rather than time, with everyone finishing once the winner finishes – in other words, if you were lapped you would complete a lap less than the winner, as in full-size. The distance wouldn’t be decided until the finals were sorted, but the aim was to make each race one lap more than the pole-sitter managed in qualifying, hence each race would be about 5:30 long. 

The previous day had been cold and windy, and hopes of good weather were low for race day. However, the conditions were actually fantastic, with only the odd gust of wind and cloudy patch threatening to spoil things. 

And so, on with the action…… 

Qualifying

Stock Touring 

With FTQ Qualifying being used, only a single run would count, making this more a test of outright speed that the Round-by-Round used in the winter. Times really dropped during the course of the morning, but as qualifying came to an end it was Series Regulars to the fore at the sharp end, with Rob Cunliffe steering his Yokomo SSG to the top spot, followed by Jason Petch’s Xray FK and James Parker’s Yok CGM (marking a new qualifying PB for its driver in the first truly good-weather meeting with the car). David Ward and Roger Pearson were placed next, running with standing 10-second penalties due to having ballraces in their 27t motors. David Petch placed 6^th,just missing out on 17 laps, then Dean Coupland who pulled off a good 3^rd round run under pressure to take 7^th. Long time Losi driver Paul Dickens has finally been prised away from his XXX-S and, now with an HPI Pro 4 under him, really flew in qualifying to take 8^th and a series ‘A’ final debut (and this reporter’s ‘Driver of the day’ award) in qualifying. Craig Marshall came in 9^th, and Mark Handford (of the senior variety this time) was another to make his first series ‘A’, bringing his HPI home in 10^th. The ‘B final would be another closely-fought race with Steve Baines, Norman Britton, and a fast-improving Libo Bian qualifying in the top 3.

 
A fine Pole by Rob Cunliffe

Tech Chart – Stock Touring

 19 Turn 

Schumacher driver Simon Smith took pole for this class, with TC4 pilots Stewart Noble, Shane Dye, and Phil Chambers next up. Shane’s 3^rd spot came from a 3^rd round pressure run (he was dead last after round 2). The top 3 got 19 laps, Phil just missing out, then came Adi Wright;s Xray, followed by Ben Emery and David Sharp separated by only a few hundredths of a second. Adam Barker, in his first 19t race, drove excellently to qualify 8^th, in front of the RC-Lab 7even of John Davie, who had arrived intending to run 27t but found he hadn’t put his stock motor in his pitbox! Ryan Lewin took the last ‘A’ final slot in 10^th. The top end of the ‘B’ looked like a reunion for ex-27t runners, with Steve Dye, Ashley Coupland and Mark Handford Jnr separated by only half a second. 

TORC regular Simon Smith visiting from the Broxtowe club used the meeting for practice.  He must have been pleased with the result.



Shane Dye's Mazda bodied TC4 poised for action

Tech Chart – 19t

 Unlimited 

There were two unlimited-class entries in this meeting, James Ambrose, running a touring car under the new-for-2005 ‘unlimited wind’ modified motor rules, got 19/308 and overall fastest time of the day (4 seconds ahead of the 19t pole). Luke Burr was running a 1/12^th circuit car with 4 cells and a 12-turn motor to test settings for this class in the Evening Series, and put some blistering laps in in qualifying. With the right tyres and a bit more track time 20 laps may be possible….

 The Finals 

Stock Touring ‘B’ Final (17 Laps) 

 Leg 1 – Steve led the field away and led the first lap, pursued by Norman and Libo in that order. Scott had a demon start to be 4^th after one lap from 8^th on the grid, followed by Richard W, John and Richard S. Philip was seventh after the first lap, and Daniel and Jon failed to start. The top 4 held station over the next few laps, while first John and then Richard S got past Richard W. On lap 6 Norman got past Steve, then Steve got back in front on lap 8. Meanwhile things were still busy in the mid-field, Richard S getting up to 5^th, then Richard W getting back to the head of the group on lap 8. The first retirement was Richard S on lap 9. Back at the sharp end, Steve still held the lead but Norman got past again on lap 12 and made it stick this time, holding 1^st all the way to the finish to win by 4 ½ seconds from Steve. Libo drove a clean race to finish a lap down in 3^rd, while Scott drove with a cool head after a storming start to take 4^th. John re-took 5^th when Richard W had to retire on 12 laps, but the fast-improving Mr Wilson held on to 6^th. Philip came round in 7^th, with Richard S, Daniel and John in the remaining spots. 

Leg 2 – Norman took the lead on the opening lap from Steve this time, with Libo, Richard S, Daniel, Richard W, John and Jon following in starting order, Philip and Scott not making the start. Jon retired after 1 lap, while John got past Richard W on lap 2. Richard re-took the place on lap 4, then it was ‘Hold Station’ for a few laps until a battle of the Smiths, Richard and Daniel swapping places on three consecutive laps until Daniel finally held on to 4^th. Richard W got past Richard S on the last lap to take over 5^th, but a quiet race at the front meant that Norman took the win by 18 seconds from Steve, with Libo again in third a lap down, followed by Daniel, Richard W, Richard S and John, with Jon being classified 8^th, and Philip and Scott 9^th and 10^th. 

 Overall positions for this race:- 

Congratulations to Norman for the win, and to Steve and Libo for some excellent driving. 

Stock Touring ‘A’ Final (18 Laps) 

Leg 1 – The top three came round in grid order for this one, Rob leading from Jason and James, followed by Roger, Dean making a good start, David P, then Craig, mark and Paul, with David W not recording due to fitting a wrong transponder. James dropped from 3^rd to 6^th on lap 2, and Mark had to retire, while Jason got past Rob for the lead on lap 3. Davis P got past Dean for 4^th on lap 3, and James also got past the luckless Mr Coupland to climb back to 5^th. Rob got past Jason to re-take the lead on lap 6, then Jason lost 2^nd to Roger a lap later. Rob had an incident on lap 9 which only cost him 2 seconds but also 2 places as he dropped to 3^rd, and that’s the way it stayed as Roger won by 7 seconds from Jason, with Rob a further 3 sec back in 3^rd, just in front of James who had been putting pressure on David P and got past when the latter spun at the last corner, winning the drag-race up the straight by 0.3s. Dean finished a lap down in 6^th, followed by Craig and Paul, and Mark and David W were classified 9^th and 10^th. 

Leg 2 – Again Rob led away, this time from a demon-starting David W and Jason, then James in 4^th, Roger in 5^th, David P 6^th, then Mark all the way up to 7^th, Paul in 8^th, Craig 9^th and Dean 10^th. Roger dropped from 5^th to 9^th on lap 2, and Paul from 8^th to tenth, then Roger continued his busy start by getting all the way back up to 6^th on lap 3! Dean was back up to 7^th by now, followed by Mark, Craig and Paul. On lap 6 David W took the lead from Rob on lap 6, while on that same lap Mark dropped 2 places to Craig and Paul. Jason got past Rob for second when Rob half-spun at Dunlop Bank, then an unfortunate incident between Rob and a backmarker on the following lap (lap 11) let James up into third. Roger got up to fifth by passing David P, and Mark got back past Paul for ninth. Dean had to retire from a good 7^th on lap 14 with interference, and after another tight 18 laps of racing David W took the win by 9 seconds from Jason, with James taking third. Roger got past Rob to take fourth on the last lap, David P finished 6^th, followed by Craig, Mark and Paul, with Dean’s retirement placing him 10^th. 

Overall positions for this race:- 

 19 Turn ‘B’ Final / Unlimited Final (19 Laps) 

These two finals would run together, the Unlimited class cars starting from the back row of the grid.

Leg 1 – Steve led the field after one lap, followed by Mark Jnr, but James was already up to 3^rd from the back row. Bob was in 4^th, followed by Gary, Ashley. Luke, Marcus, Phil and Andrew. James got up to 2^nd on  lap 2, while bob and Gary dropped to 7^th and 9^th respectively. Steve had an off on lap 3 letting James into the overall lead and Mark into the 19-turn lead, Luke up into 3^rd followed by Ashley with Steve down to fifth. Luke dropped places to Ashley and Steve on lap 4, but was back in third by lap 6, by which time Bob was back in 6^th followed by Marcus, Gary, Phil and Andrew.  Luke got past Mark for 2^nd on lap 8, by which time Bob was past Ashley for 5^th and Marcus had dropped to 9^th.  Ashley re-passed Bob on lap 9, and Marcus took 7^th again on lap 10. The race settled down after this apart from a battle royal between Phil and Gary for 8^th place (6 position changes between these two), and James came home to take the win 12 seconds ahead of Luke after the latter had a last-lap off. Mark came home third and top of the 19-turn runners (the only 19t car to complete 19 laps), while Ashley was in 4^th a lap down. Steve came in 5^th ahead of Bob, then Marcus, Phil just pipping Gary to 8^th, with Andrew in 10^th.  

Leg 2 -  Ashley led after lap 1, followed by Mark Jnr, Steve, James, Bob, Marcus, Gary, Phil, Andrew and Luke. Mark had an off on lap 2 which dropped him to 7^th, while James also got past Steve for 2^nd, Bob moving up to 3^rd. James took the overall lead on lap 4, by which time Luke was in 7^th and climbing. Steve had dropped to 8^th by now but was also climbing the order. Bob’s good run in third was thwarted on lap 7 where he was forced down to 6^th and retired. On lap 8, Luke finally got into second by passing Ashley, who retained the 19t class lead. Gary had to retire on lap 11, and Mark got past Marcus for 4^th on lap 13. From then on it was Hold Station, and James came round for his second win, 11 seconds ahead of Luke’s 12^th. Ashley took the 19t class win in 3^rd, beating Mark to the leg and overall wins (on a tie-break) by a mere 2.5s. Marcus had a good run to finish just beating Mark in 5^th, then Steve in 6^th, then a gap back to Phil and Andrew, with Gary and Bob being placed 9^th and 10^th.

Overall positions for this race:- 

Well done to all the drivers for entertaining racing, especially Ashley and Mark who marked their 19t series debuts with trophies. 

Ashley Coupland & his Pro 4 failed to make the top final on this occasion but showed promise with some quick laps and also by winning the B final out of the 19t runners.

19 Turn ‘A’ Final 

Leg 1 – Simon shot away at the start and led the first lap from Phil and Shane, then Adam who made an excellent start in 4^th, followed by Ben and Ryan, then Adi, David and Stew who had a terribly unlucky first lap to end up in 10^th. Shane got up to 2^nd on lap 2, while Stew was all the way back to 7^th by the end of the second lap. Phil re-took second on lap 3, while Adam dropped back to 7^th following his amazing start and Stew was in 6^th, Lap 4 and David had to retire, while Stew continued to climb to 5^th, then 4^th on lap 5. Adi got past Adam for 7^th on lap 8, then on lap 9 Stew got past Shane for 3^rd, which became 2^nd on lap 10 when Phil had to retire. John got past Adam for 7^th on lap 11, and Adi overtook Ryan for 5^th on lap 12, while Stew was catching Simon all the time, but the Mi2 driver held on for the win by three seconds from Stew after a amazing recovery drive from the second-place man. Shane was only 3s further back in third, nine seconds ahead of Ben who just pipped Adi for 4^th. Ryan came in a lap down in 6^th just ahead of John, Adam gave a good account of himself in 8^th ahead of Phil and David. 

Leg 2 – Again Simon led away from the start, Shane shadowing him in second this time with Stew in third. Adi was in 4^th, followed by Ben, Ryan, Adam, John, and Phil who had an unlucky first lap. Phil climbed back up to 6^th on lap 2, then Ben got by Adi for fourth on lap 3. Phil got up to 6^th on lap 4 and fifth on lap 5, while John passed Adam for 8^th on lap 5. Phil’s storming run came to an abrupt halt on lap 9 with retirement, then Stew got past Shane on lap 11. Adi had an off on the same lap which dropped him to 7^th, then he lost this to Adam on lap 12. Shane now suffered trouble and retired on lap 16, and from then on it was plain sailing for Simon who took the win by 7 seconds from Stew, with Ben in 3^rd a lap down, ahead of Ryan who drove well to take 4^th from the back of the grid, just pipping John to the place. Adam was in 6^th 3s behind this battle with a similar gap back to Adi in 7^th. Shane was classified 8^th, Phil 9^th, and David failed to start. 

Overall positions for this race:- 

Congratulations to Simon for a double win and to Stew for some excellent driving that was very good to watch, while Ben drove very consistently to take third. 

League Standings 

Let’s take a look at the tables after the first round. 

Stock Touring 

A lot of drivers will be very pleased with the start they’ve made to the season, which will stand them in good stead for the months to come. 

19 Turn

Again, some of the likely title challengers will have left the track pleased with their results from the first round. 

Unlimited 

The unlimited class is unlikely to run at each round, but for now James leads the standings. 

An excellent day’s racing, played out in the spirit that R/C racing ought to be all about, and with excellent driving and good times as well. Hopefully it’ll be exactly the same at round 2 on the 22^nd May. Meanwhile, the Wednesday Evening Series starts on 11^th  May, so come along for racing after a day’s work! 

Entry forms available here

Postscript: Although ballraced 27t motors were allowed to run at this meeting with a standing 10-second penalty, from now on all motors will have to fully conform to the BRCA regulations for their class, so for 27t this means motor bushings only, no motor ballraces. If you are thinking of entering a BRCCC meeting please ensure that your car is compliant to the BRCA rules for its class.

Race Report by James Parker.  Pictures by Adi Wright and sub-photographer JP!