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| The fourth round of the popular Carpet Wars Championship sponsored by R/C Car Racer, Xray and Vega took place at the University of Greenwich Sports Hall. With four rounds out of six to count, this would be the last chance for drivers to suffer an off day as both the stock and modified championships were extremely close. The modified class was headed by Glen Doman, from Adam Rogers by a single point, with Adam Hampton in third. The stock championship was lead by Stuart Rand, followed closely by Colin Witt and Gavin Clinch. All three drivers are capable of winning a round of the championship so it was very close. |
| Qualifying |
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Stock
Round 1 saw Gavin Clinch take control of the stock class with FTD in 24 laps 301.09, with second placed David Wastall only 1.28 seconds behind. Stuart Randâ™s brother Dave held third place, just under 2 seconds behind Gavin. Championship leader Stuart suffered badly from interference caused by a new motor and so failed to record a fast time in this round.
Round 2 was headed by Steve Henry, who came from 4th place to take FTD by 0.31 seconds from Gavin and David in third. Stuart appeared to be suffering from all of the bad luck that had eluded him so far in the series, as his transmitter fell apart in his hands during his qualifying run. Could he redeem himself in the remaining two rounds?
Round 3 saw a cluster of 25 lap scores achieved, the fastest being Steve with 25 laps in 306.55, just 1.74 seconds ahead of Mark Edwards, who was in turn just 3.7 seconds ahead of Gavin. Stuart finally recorded a decent time in this round but it only placed him 8th overall and he would have it all to do from the back of the grid. Would it be a ballistic run in the final round to secure FTD?
The answer was no, as Steve Henry remained at the top of the pile, indeed the top four stayed the same as the previous round. It became quite precarious for Stuart, as he clung onto the A final in 10th place by just over 1 second. |
| Modified |
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David Spashett, visiting the Carpet Wars championship for the first time, took FTD in the first round with 27 laps in 301.50, just over a second ahead of Glen Doman and a lap ahead of Adam Rogers. The modified top 10 was covered by over two laps in total, and so was nowhere near as close as the stock FTD list.
Round 2 saw Glen Doman, Adam Rogers and Adam Hampton join David on the 27 lap score, but he held onto FTD even though he failed to improve his time. The top four were now separated by just under 10 seconds and the A final itself was now a lot closer.
David demonstrated his undeniable pace by slicing over 8 seconds off his time in the third round to remain at the top of the standings, with 28 laps in 304.38. Glen pursued this benchmark but came up 0.99 seconds short of taking FTD and had to settle for second fastest, with Kevin Brunsden moving up to third also on 28 laps.
David stretched his advantage over the rest of the field by a further second in the fourth round, with Glen and Kevin staying in second and third respectively. The A final closed up in terms of pace, with the first four drivers on 28 laps and the next five on 27 laps.
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| Finals |
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Stock
Congratulations to the following drivers for winning their finals
G Final Chris Brasier
F Final Reece Anscombe
E Final John Plummer
D Final Lee Hedges
C Final Joe Johnson
B Final Steve Moore
The A final began quite quietly with very little action in the first couple of laps as the cars trailed each other in one long train. As the first minute elapsed, the cars began to divide and a clear top three formed of Mark Edwards, Joe Cook and Dave Rand. Some confusion existed over Daveâ™s position as a lap had been missed and the race counting system insisted he was about to be lapped by the leaders. This was later solved, as a long lap appeared on the printout. Eventually, Mark took the win, from Joe in second and Dave in third. Stuart salvaged what had begun as a bad day with a fourth place in the A final and left with his championship lead intact. |
| Modified |
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Congratulations to the following drivers for winning their finals
D Final Paul Canhann
C Final Peter Ayune
B Final Ian Dibboll
The A final was lead from the start by David Spashett and he was never to be beaten in this dominating form. Following a slight tangle in the early laps, Glen Doman set about trying to narrow the gap in second place but was soon overtaken by Adam Rogers, who continued the charge. Glen recovered from his slight mistake to continue in third place and keep Adam honest. Meanwhile, the remaining positions were hard fought, with close racing aplenty. By the final few seconds, Adam had closed the gap on David to just over a second, but couldnâ™t find that last little bit extra to get on terms. David won the final from Adam, with Glen in third, the first two being the only drivers to record 28 laps in the final.
Thanks must go to the sponsors of the series (R/C Racer magazine, Xray and Vega), the committee of the Maritime Racing Club for setting up the track and running the meeting and last but not least, the Knight ladies for keeping all of us racers fed and watered throughout the day. This was the final meeting to be staged at the University of Greenwich Sports Hall. The series has become such a huge success that a larger venue has had to be arranged, this being the main hall of the Black Lion Leisure Centre. The next meeting is scheduled for the 1/02/04 but there are very few spaces, so book in now to ensure a place.
For report and details from individual rounds click here. |
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