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On the last weekend before Christmas, 114 enthusiastic drivers, made their way to the University of Grenenwich Sports Hall in Chatham for the second round of the Carpet Wars Championship, run by the prestigious Maritime Racing Club
This was the first meeting for the exciting new Xray 1/18 Micro Car the âśM18âť. To control costs and to ensure the result would depend upon driver skill, the micro cars were raced exactly as per kit. This was no problem as the cars were very controllable with excellent track manners. A full complement of 10 drivers was entered but with the cars measuring less than 10cm in width, there was plenty of space on the track for these little cars to strut their stuff on a modified variant of the full track! |
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| All drivers were greeted by a challenging track layout designed by Richard Weatherley. It incorporated some incredibly fast sections, which led straight into tight hairpins and chicanes. This meant a good suspension balance was imperative as cars had to be stable through the various direction changes and the controllable from throttle to brakes. Todayâ™s track would sort out the men from the boys and prove to provide some very fast and close racing. |
| Qualifying |
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During qualifying, some drivers were able to adapt really quickly and put in fast performances straightaway. As the day went on, the track was getting faster and faster, so the early morning strugglers had plenty of opportunity to make the most of the quickening track. Many â big nameâ™ drivers were in attendance, including, Chris Grainger, Andy Moore, Adam Rogers, Andy Childs, Ben Cosgrove, Richard Barton, Gavin Clinch and many other super quick National level drivers. Local hero Wayne Palmer was driving well and just missed out on an A place by 0.62 of a second.
By the end of qualifying, the drivers who had made the most of their opportunities to take the TQ spots were Colin Witt in Stock, Andy Moore in Modified and Adam Hampton in Micro.
And so on to the finals. After a day of racing on the circuit most drivers had got to grips with the layout and the finals would provide some very close and exciting racing. |
| STOCK |
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The stock finalists winners were as follows :-
G Luke Cogger
F Anthony Bostock
E Lee Hedges
D Ben Woods
C Chris Procter
B Wayne Palmer |
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The A final proved highly eventful, with some excellent driving throughout the field. At the end of the 5 minutes, it was Xray/Vega Team Driver Stuart Rand taking the win from his Team Mate Xray/Vega Team Manager Gavin Clinch, who finally found his way around the track with out the need for a pilots licence ! Rounding out the top three was Steven Henry, ahead of Tamiya Euro champ Jon Winter from TQ man Colin Witt.
1. Stuart Rand Xray
2. Colin Witt Yokomo
3. Gavin Clinch Xray
4. Steve Henry Losi
5. Jon Winter Tamiya
6. Neil Castle Xray
7. Martin Broomfield ?
8. Ricky Copsey HPI
9. Joe Jenyavanija Yokomo
10. Mark Young Schumacher |
| MODIFIED |
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The Modified finalists were :-
E Richard Andrews
D Chris Boots
C Malcolm Hall
B Adam Sage
Following his dominant performance in qualifying, Andy Moore was a clear favourite for victory. As the start warble went, it was clear he wouldnâ™t have it all his own way, as the pack gave chase. Despite prolonged pressure, Andy held on to win by 2 seconds from Glen Doman. Third went to Ben Cosgrove less than half a second ahead of Andy Childs after a great but lucky drive. Rounding out the top 5 was Richard Barton.
1. Andy Moore Xray
2. Glen Doman Losi
3. Ben Cosgrove Xray
4. Andy Childs Yokomo
5. Richard Barton Asso
6. Lee Woodhams Yok
7. Adam Rogers Yok
8. Richmond Rogers Losi
9. Chris Delves Losi
10. Adam Hampton Xray |
| MICRO |
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This was the first ever Carpet Wars Micro Class and the first appearance in competition of the beautiful little shaft drive âśM18âť. Massive amounts of fun was had by all the drivers in this new class, with cars that seem to handle straight out of the box. The Micro racing went eaxactly to plan, according to Adam Hampton, who dominated qualifying and the final, taking the win from Max Weatherley, with Ian Dibboll in 3rd.
1. Andy Hampton
2. Max Weatherley
3. Ian Dibboll
4. Elliot Boots
5. Wayne Palmer
6. Keith Rice
7. Paul Canhann
8. Gavin Clinch
9. Ian Knight
10. Richard Weatherley |
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So after 2 rounds of the Carpet Wars Championship the top three are as follows:
Modified
1st Adam Rogers Yok
2nd Glen Doman Losi
3rd Adam Hampton Xray
Stock
1st Stuart Rand Xray
2nd Colin Witt Yok
3rd Gavin Clinch Xray
Congratulations must go to the Maritime Racing Club for a superb meeting, which once again ran exactly to timetable.
Roll on 11th January for Carpet Wars Round 3, and the next exciting meeting.
See you there.
For report and details from individual rounds click here. |
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