This last weekend was Rnd 4 of the National Truggy series which was held at N.O.R.C which is near County Durham or Newcastle & to us southern lads way way up north in the UK.
The track surface was astro turf with a laid brick section adding a bit of variety. With multiple jump sections & banked corners this alone made it fun, but to add the technical layout it would prove very hard & demanding. I was the only one to make this trip for the UK Xray Team as the others had prior commitments, but with club drivers the XT8 was well represented.
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With no practice but an extended warm up session gave only a small amount of time to learn the track, Rnd 1 was used just to get up to pace. The XT8 felt good with only a tyre change required to make it safer due to high traction.
Rnd 2 I had a good run but still with mistakes but with a time good enough to keep me in the Main.
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Rnd 3 the car felt very good but with back markers trying to help but not really the run was slower so remained 7th on the grid. During all my qualifying runs the car felt very good & lap time were some of the quickest, my qualifying could of been alot higher if only for a bit more luck.
With a check of the diffs prior to the final due to the high load from the grip all was ok as expected.
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In the lower finals many cars failed but the XT8's proved strong & many bumped up through several finals showing of the XT8's durability & strength.
For the 30 minute Main final the warm up felt good & with cars called to the line felt confident. From 7th on the grid had a good start & buy the end of lap one found myself in second pulling away from the main pack. I built up a buffer & settled into a steady rythem, with 10 minute stops my economy was good & remaind in this positon to finish 2nd at the end.
1. Ed Kerry 2. Brennan Ralls XRAY XT8
3. Mike Cradock
4. Jamie Booth
5. Darren Bloomfield
