This was the first time the whole XRAY team had been together all season due to many other calendar clashes. We were back at the Cotswolds track where we had a successful debut of the car at the Handy Models GP. We knew the car was very good at this track and with successful nationals so far and the odd fastest laps creeping in the scene was set for a great weekend.
Saturday started around 9 am with open practise with drivers limited to 10 minutes on the rostrum every time they went up, this ensured no one could spend a long time on the track. The temperature was in the high 20â™s and the track temperature was also very hot which made for a gruelling day on tyres and engines.
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Robin, Mark, Ben, Kevin and Adam were all on the lead pace and looked set for a competitive showing. The cars were all consistent and we worked hard as a team and we all tested various setup changes, evaluated them and then gave the feedback in a structured setting. This made sure that we could work harder on dialling the cars to the track and get more people on the pace.
Sunday morning was another hot start not just in temperature but also in terms of pace. The lap record going in to the meeting was 18 laps in 10 secs and all the top 10 drivers beat this time. Mark had a great run to be .5 second behind pole second and Ben had a good run on the wrong tyre to make 6th. Robin had a big off, Kevinâ™s transponder failed and Adam had a mechanical glitch.
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Round 2 saw Robin and Ben put in good fast runs to go 5th and 7th respectively even though they were both less than 2.5 seconds of the pole time! Mark did not improve, whereas Adam and Kevin were still having problems. Round 3 saw no improvements from the team so Mark lined up third, Robin 5th and Ben 7th.
With the times so close it was going to be a great A final battle over the 30 minutes. There was 8 seconds covering 10 cars and only 2.5 covering the top 7, I still canâ™t believe how close it all was. With three cars in the final we all had slightly different fuel and tyre strategies to cover all eventualities.
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The final saw Mark having many problems and was down at the back of the pack for the rest of it. Robin and Ben were on a move at the start looking very racy and in one stage they were second and third. Ben made a mistake and dropped back to 5th whereas Robin caught Darren Johnson and took the lead. Robin lead for a few stops but had a flame out leaving the pits which put Darren back in front. Darren then had a flame out which put Mark Green into the lead and Ben into second. Ben had Darren chasing hard but had a 5 seconds cushion after Bens last stop. Unfortunately a fuel spillage in the pit lane left Ben with no traction and he spun in the first corner which allowed Darren to close in and make a great pass with a couple of laps to go.
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Mark Green ended up winning the race followed by Darren Johnson and Ben Cosgrove in third. Robin was very unlucky as he had the pace to win the race but luck hasnâ™t been on his side yet this season. Overall a great professional performance by the team and a well deserved result for all the hard work they put in. The next round is at Brooklands and Mark and Ben will be missing due to electric commitments.
Final results:
1. Mark Green
2. Darren Johnson 3. Ben Cosgrove XRAY NT1
4. Steve Brown 5. Robin Hammett XRAY NT1
6. Kyle Branson
7. Kevin Brown
8. Chris Slater
9. Ben Kelsall 10.Mark Gilliland XRAY NT1
