Last weekend we had the 3rd of the BRCA 200mm Nitro Championship held at the wonderful Halifax facility in Yorkshire.
All the Xray guys where in attendance with the exception of Ben Cosgrove who was on electric duties at Aldershot.
(click to enlarge)
Saturday proved to be a waiting game as heavy showers put a stop to running for most the day. By about 3 oâ™clock the rain had stopped and it had started to dry. Most guys used this time to test rubber or damp foams. Our cars were very much on the pace in all conditions and we managed to find a good setup and rubber tyre combination when the track was at its driest before the track closed at 6pm.
(click to enlarge)
Saturday evening the team met at a restaurant in the town centre to refuel and discuss various setup ideas for the full dry conditions we were hoping for the following day.
We arrived at the track on Sunday morning to be pleasantly surprised with a dry track and clear skies.
(click to enlarge)
With the track dry but with not much grip, Robin Hammett put in a brilliant run to claim 3rd on the grid after round 1.
Round 2 saw Robin slip to 13th, but Mark Gilliland and Steven Hayes put in solid runs to sit 5th and 8th on the grid, Adam Walker Catchpole in the unlucky 11th place. A special mention to Steven Hayes who was driving the car for the 1st time and had to qualify from heat 4 after a year out from racing.
(click to enlarge)
Round 3 saw improvements for Steven, Robin and Adam. Unluckily Robin and Adam both ended up in the B after small errors or coming togethers in the final qualifier.
Qualifying
1. Darren Johnston
2. Mark Green
3. Chris Slater
4. Ben Kelsall
5. Gareth Bell 6. Mark Gilliland XRAY NT1
7. Peter Watt 8. Steve Hayes XRAY NT1
9. Paul Knapton
10. Kyle Branson
Adam 12th, Robin 14th
A â“ Final
(click to enlarge)
Mark got off to a cracking start in the A final, moving into 2nd place after a couple of laps. Unfortunately Mark had an engine cut which dropped him to the back of the pack. Despite setting the fastest lap of the race Mark could only manage to get back to 6th place due to some more fuel problems.
1. Darren Johnston
2. Mark Green
3. Kyle Branson
4. Paul Knapton
5. Chris Slater 6. Mark Gilliland XRAY NT1
7. Gareth Bell
8. Peter Watt
9. Ben Kelsall 10.Steve Hayes XRAY NT1
