UK micro national series - Heat 1 Race report
10-10-2010, 02:01 PM
#1
UK micro national series - Heat 1 Race report
The UK Micro National series has kicked off and here is the first race report, no pics yet, but they are on the way, Enjoy!
With the summer season over and with champions new and old crowned in rally-cross, 1/10th and touring car it's time move move our racing indoors and out of the cold. Traditionally this meant 1/12th pan car racing in the oldest BRCA national series, but increasingly top drivers from 1/10th and 1/8th off and on road are joining the ranks of hardcore micro nuts in the BRCA Micro National Series.
All Change!
This year sees significant changes to the series with a wealth of new rules voted in by the racers at Aprils egm, most important are the creation of two distinct size classes, 1/16th and 1/18th, and the abolition of foam tyres for the upcoming season.
In 4wd last seasons all conquering LRP shark platform falls in to the 1/16th class with the soon to be released GT14B from Carisma, leaving the Associated RC18s, Exotek conversions and Maverick Atoms to fight it out in the 1/18th class.
2wd will see the Exotek MXB conversion for Losi's Mini-T take on the new Chunk C2 from Phat Bodies I 1/16th whilst 1/18 is open to the Losi Mini-T , the Exotek MXT conversion and Thunder Tiger's ZT2.
Heat 1 - Broughton
With 7 heats at venues stretching the length and breadth of the country, the pressure was on the Ellesmere Port and Oswestry clubs to launch the season with a bang at their venue in Broughton, nr Chester.
40+ drivers braved the torrential rain to begin the season in the early hours of Sunday morning and were greeted with a fast but challenging track. A mixture of carpet and parquet sections, kickers, jumps, rumbles and a 1/10th sized table top ensured that they'd have to be on top form all day.
A lengthy but necessary race brief was preceded by the concours competition, judged by 1/10th off road warrior Tom Yardy and deservedly won by local racer Tim Rawcliffe.
The practice rounds are a poor indication of qualifying performance, but Schumacher and Team RC Model Imports Andy Jones looked to have his set-up dialled and gave the rest of the field something to think about.
Qualifying Round 1
1/16th 4wd saw Andy Jones continue his form from practice with a blistering 16 lap time, closely followed by Trackside Spare's Craig Harris and well known 1/10th driver Colin May.
CML Distribution's Phil Sleigh driving the Carisma and reigning Champion Castle Creation's Mark Stiles could only place 7th and 9th respectively, but with 2 0f 4 rounds to count they weren't out of it yet.
18th 4wd saw Exotek's Matt Dodd lead the way from Team RCMI's Mat North and Scott Dumayne and the 2wd class had Craig Harris in front with His Phat Bodies C2 followed by Mark Williamson and Kevin Weldon driving an 18th class Exotek MXT.
Qualifying Round 2
Round 2 in 1/6th saw Andy really up the pace with another 16 lapper with one lap dipping below 18 seconds .Craig held station in second and Mark Stiles harnessed the power of the Castle motor to move up to third overall Phil sleigh, Chris Leighton Colin May,.Tony Bishop and local racers Gavin Stephenson and Daniel Murphy completed the top ten.
In 1/18th 4wd, Matt Dodd again posted the fastest time followed this time by Scott, and 2wd saw Craig's C2 looking awesome in leading home the C2 of mark Williamson and Kevin Weldons Exotek , so much so that his time was good for 3 in round, including all the 4wds!!
Qualifying Round 3
After round three Mark Stiles jumped above Craig 1/16th 4wd and Andy set the days only 17 lapper to confirm the TQ. Gavin dropped out of the top ten to be replaced by Hereford's own Steve Davies. The B final qualifying was beginning to look very tight with last pace being held by Morgan Rahm, and excellent result so far for a promising young driver.
No Changes in 1/16th 2wd or 1/18th 4wd saw Craig Harris and Matt Dodd confirm their TQ's with solid performances.
Qualifying Round 4
With the top spots all locked up, the final round was all about jockeying for position and last gasp bids to take the A and B finals. 1/16th 4wd saw Mark Stiles post the fastest times closely followed by Andy Jones, a stunning drive from Colin May saw him go 3 fastest in round and secure a place in the A.
Despite a great drive Gavin Stevenson just missed out on the final A spot and secured BQ. Likewise a solid 19th in round wasn't enough for Morgan Rahm to break in to the B final.
Other notable drives saw CML and Traktech's former National Champ Cris Oxley drive the second GT14B to a creditable 17th place after being dogged by set-up problems, micro legend and Team RCMI stalwart Stu MacDonald place high in the C and EPOR driver Daniel Murphy continue his fine form from UK-MicroX with an excellent 9th in the A.
2wd Final, 1/16th and 1/18th
The Finals Kicked off with the 2wd class, Craig Harris continued his imperious run with the C2, leading from start to finish. His 15 lap time followed by Mark Williamson on 14 and Kevin Weldon on 13. Kevin placed second for much of the race with the 1/18th scale car until a small error allowed mark past for second, but he’s still secured top points in the championship.
After making its debut at UK MicroX the Phat C2 is starting to generate a lot of interest down to its performance and not just its unique appearance as a shrunken X Factory X6.
1/18th 4wd final
1/18th 4wd raced in with the bottom of the 1/16th 4wd cars making for an interesting little and large look to the grid. Matt Dodd lead them off, jumping up from 5th to 1st and never looked back. Scott followed him up the grid into second as the 1/16th cars were left standing.
Tight racing was the order of the day with a incident on lap 4 letting Mat North through into 2nd and dropping Scott down to 5th. The end of the 5th lap saw Matt Dodd leading from Mat North, followed by the LRP Shark of Simon Strickland, Oople impresario Jimmy Storey and Scott Dumayne, positions they were to hold until the end leaving Matt Dodd to take this round for Exotek.
1/16th 4wd finals
The C and B finals saw some of the best racing of the day, in the C Morgan Rahm held on under intense pressure to take the win from Stu Macdonald and Tim Rawcliffe with Morgan regaining the lead on the final lap.
1/16th 4wd B final
Standards are rising year on year and the B finals are home to some serious racers, a first lap charge saw Richard Rimmer leap up to 1st from 8th, only to drop back after a crash on lap 2.
From here the race for first was between Micro Newbie Paul Rotherham and pole sitter Gavin Stevenson with Paul taking a lead he would hold onto after lap 8.
Positions changed hands throughout the field during the early stages with Cris Oxley moving from 7th to 3rd and Winston Barnett vaulting up to 4th from 9th.
The top 3 held position over the final 6 laps, but with the top 5 separated by just 9 seconds everyone had to push right till the end.
1/16th 4wd A final
A final time in 1/16th 4wd and all eyes were on Andy Jones and whether he could convert his TQ into the win.
Andy lead them away with Mark and Craig in tow pulling out a slight lead, but crashes for both Andy and Mark allowed Craig to take the lead and leave them with work to do in3rd and 8th.
Colin May now had a hard charging Andy on his tail in 2nd and they both smashed in sub 19 second laps and they chased down Craig.
Another spill by Andy left Colin with some breathing space until under pressure from Tony Bishop he clipped and corner on lap 9 letting Tony up to 2nd and Mark stiles back up to 3rd after a fantastic recovery drive, only for Tony to drop back under pressure from Colin and Mark.
Further down the field Dan Murphy and Chris bottle got past Steve Davies into 8th and 9th and Phil Sleigh and Cris Leighton traded 6th and 7th.
Despite a small spill with 3 to go, Craig cruised to the win with 15 laps in 301 secs, Mark pulled off a dramatic recovery by taking second from Colin May on the final lap to pip him by 0.3 of a sec just 11 secs back from Craig. Andy stormed back with some blistering final laps to finish fourth just 0.5 secs down from Colin.
With the top 7 separated by just 17 seconds the final was one of the best races of the year.
The series moves south in November, where the return of The EMS racing team and Team Banzai from WORM should make the competition even stiffer.
Massive thanks to the hosting clubs and all involved on the day for a hugely successful meeting and a great start to the series.
With the summer season over and with champions new and old crowned in rally-cross, 1/10th and touring car it's time move move our racing indoors and out of the cold. Traditionally this meant 1/12th pan car racing in the oldest BRCA national series, but increasingly top drivers from 1/10th and 1/8th off and on road are joining the ranks of hardcore micro nuts in the BRCA Micro National Series.
All Change!
This year sees significant changes to the series with a wealth of new rules voted in by the racers at Aprils egm, most important are the creation of two distinct size classes, 1/16th and 1/18th, and the abolition of foam tyres for the upcoming season.
1/16th Scale
Max Wheelbase - 190mm
Min wheelbase – none
Max wheel diameter – 55mm
Max Overall width – 209mm
1/18th scale
Max wheelbase - 167mm
Min wheelbase – none
Max wheel diameter – 39mm
Max Overall width – 184mm
Max Wheelbase - 190mm
Min wheelbase – none
Max wheel diameter – 55mm
Max Overall width – 209mm
1/18th scale
Max wheelbase - 167mm
Min wheelbase – none
Max wheel diameter – 39mm
Max Overall width – 184mm
In 4wd last seasons all conquering LRP shark platform falls in to the 1/16th class with the soon to be released GT14B from Carisma, leaving the Associated RC18s, Exotek conversions and Maverick Atoms to fight it out in the 1/18th class.
2wd will see the Exotek MXB conversion for Losi's Mini-T take on the new Chunk C2 from Phat Bodies I 1/16th whilst 1/18 is open to the Losi Mini-T , the Exotek MXT conversion and Thunder Tiger's ZT2.
Heat 1 - Broughton
With 7 heats at venues stretching the length and breadth of the country, the pressure was on the Ellesmere Port and Oswestry clubs to launch the season with a bang at their venue in Broughton, nr Chester.
40+ drivers braved the torrential rain to begin the season in the early hours of Sunday morning and were greeted with a fast but challenging track. A mixture of carpet and parquet sections, kickers, jumps, rumbles and a 1/10th sized table top ensured that they'd have to be on top form all day.
A lengthy but necessary race brief was preceded by the concours competition, judged by 1/10th off road warrior Tom Yardy and deservedly won by local racer Tim Rawcliffe.
The practice rounds are a poor indication of qualifying performance, but Schumacher and Team RC Model Imports Andy Jones looked to have his set-up dialled and gave the rest of the field something to think about.
Qualifying Round 1
1/16th 4wd saw Andy Jones continue his form from practice with a blistering 16 lap time, closely followed by Trackside Spare's Craig Harris and well known 1/10th driver Colin May.
CML Distribution's Phil Sleigh driving the Carisma and reigning Champion Castle Creation's Mark Stiles could only place 7th and 9th respectively, but with 2 0f 4 rounds to count they weren't out of it yet.
18th 4wd saw Exotek's Matt Dodd lead the way from Team RCMI's Mat North and Scott Dumayne and the 2wd class had Craig Harris in front with His Phat Bodies C2 followed by Mark Williamson and Kevin Weldon driving an 18th class Exotek MXT.
Qualifying Round 2
Round 2 in 1/6th saw Andy really up the pace with another 16 lapper with one lap dipping below 18 seconds .Craig held station in second and Mark Stiles harnessed the power of the Castle motor to move up to third overall Phil sleigh, Chris Leighton Colin May,.Tony Bishop and local racers Gavin Stephenson and Daniel Murphy completed the top ten.
In 1/18th 4wd, Matt Dodd again posted the fastest time followed this time by Scott, and 2wd saw Craig's C2 looking awesome in leading home the C2 of mark Williamson and Kevin Weldons Exotek , so much so that his time was good for 3 in round, including all the 4wds!!
Qualifying Round 3
After round three Mark Stiles jumped above Craig 1/16th 4wd and Andy set the days only 17 lapper to confirm the TQ. Gavin dropped out of the top ten to be replaced by Hereford's own Steve Davies. The B final qualifying was beginning to look very tight with last pace being held by Morgan Rahm, and excellent result so far for a promising young driver.
No Changes in 1/16th 2wd or 1/18th 4wd saw Craig Harris and Matt Dodd confirm their TQ's with solid performances.
Qualifying Round 4
With the top spots all locked up, the final round was all about jockeying for position and last gasp bids to take the A and B finals. 1/16th 4wd saw Mark Stiles post the fastest times closely followed by Andy Jones, a stunning drive from Colin May saw him go 3 fastest in round and secure a place in the A.
Despite a great drive Gavin Stevenson just missed out on the final A spot and secured BQ. Likewise a solid 19th in round wasn't enough for Morgan Rahm to break in to the B final.
Other notable drives saw CML and Traktech's former National Champ Cris Oxley drive the second GT14B to a creditable 17th place after being dogged by set-up problems, micro legend and Team RCMI stalwart Stu MacDonald place high in the C and EPOR driver Daniel Murphy continue his fine form from UK-MicroX with an excellent 9th in the A.
The top ten for 1/16th 4wd after 4 rounds were;
Andy Jones
Mark stiles
Craig Harris
Colin May
Tony Bishop
Phil Sleigh
Chris Leighton
Steve Davies
Daniel Murphy
Chris Bottle
Andy Jones
Mark stiles
Craig Harris
Colin May
Tony Bishop
Phil Sleigh
Chris Leighton
Steve Davies
Daniel Murphy
Chris Bottle
2wd Final, 1/16th and 1/18th
The Finals Kicked off with the 2wd class, Craig Harris continued his imperious run with the C2, leading from start to finish. His 15 lap time followed by Mark Williamson on 14 and Kevin Weldon on 13. Kevin placed second for much of the race with the 1/18th scale car until a small error allowed mark past for second, but he’s still secured top points in the championship.
After making its debut at UK MicroX the Phat C2 is starting to generate a lot of interest down to its performance and not just its unique appearance as a shrunken X Factory X6.
1/18th 4wd final
1/18th 4wd raced in with the bottom of the 1/16th 4wd cars making for an interesting little and large look to the grid. Matt Dodd lead them off, jumping up from 5th to 1st and never looked back. Scott followed him up the grid into second as the 1/16th cars were left standing.
Tight racing was the order of the day with a incident on lap 4 letting Mat North through into 2nd and dropping Scott down to 5th. The end of the 5th lap saw Matt Dodd leading from Mat North, followed by the LRP Shark of Simon Strickland, Oople impresario Jimmy Storey and Scott Dumayne, positions they were to hold until the end leaving Matt Dodd to take this round for Exotek.
1/16th 4wd finals
The C and B finals saw some of the best racing of the day, in the C Morgan Rahm held on under intense pressure to take the win from Stu Macdonald and Tim Rawcliffe with Morgan regaining the lead on the final lap.
1/16th 4wd B final
Standards are rising year on year and the B finals are home to some serious racers, a first lap charge saw Richard Rimmer leap up to 1st from 8th, only to drop back after a crash on lap 2.
From here the race for first was between Micro Newbie Paul Rotherham and pole sitter Gavin Stevenson with Paul taking a lead he would hold onto after lap 8.
Positions changed hands throughout the field during the early stages with Cris Oxley moving from 7th to 3rd and Winston Barnett vaulting up to 4th from 9th.
The top 3 held position over the final 6 laps, but with the top 5 separated by just 9 seconds everyone had to push right till the end.
1/16th 4wd A final
A final time in 1/16th 4wd and all eyes were on Andy Jones and whether he could convert his TQ into the win.
Andy lead them away with Mark and Craig in tow pulling out a slight lead, but crashes for both Andy and Mark allowed Craig to take the lead and leave them with work to do in3rd and 8th.
Colin May now had a hard charging Andy on his tail in 2nd and they both smashed in sub 19 second laps and they chased down Craig.
Another spill by Andy left Colin with some breathing space until under pressure from Tony Bishop he clipped and corner on lap 9 letting Tony up to 2nd and Mark stiles back up to 3rd after a fantastic recovery drive, only for Tony to drop back under pressure from Colin and Mark.
Further down the field Dan Murphy and Chris bottle got past Steve Davies into 8th and 9th and Phil Sleigh and Cris Leighton traded 6th and 7th.
Despite a small spill with 3 to go, Craig cruised to the win with 15 laps in 301 secs, Mark pulled off a dramatic recovery by taking second from Colin May on the final lap to pip him by 0.3 of a sec just 11 secs back from Craig. Andy stormed back with some blistering final laps to finish fourth just 0.5 secs down from Colin.
With the top 7 separated by just 17 seconds the final was one of the best races of the year.
The series moves south in November, where the return of The EMS racing team and Team Banzai from WORM should make the competition even stiffer.
Massive thanks to the hosting clubs and all involved on the day for a hugely successful meeting and a great start to the series.
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