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With the Carpet Wars championship now at round 5, and surpassing all expectations of the event organiser, the first day of the 2 day international had arrived. As we walked into the venue it was clear that Richard Weatherly had out done himself with the track design, the best yet!
As the drivers took their pitting places round the track it was starting to look like a âśwhoâ™s whoâť of the R/C world.
The day got under way at 8.00am with open practice, all the teams were looking for the best set up to start with, the pit area was a hive of activity. |
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After two hours and forty five minutes of intense practice, Race Director Ian Knight addressed the drivers with a warm welcome and the rules of the meeting.
We had the pleasure of seeing 4 qualifying heats, which started dead on time at 11.00am under the watch full eye of Ian. |
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From the very beginning of Round 1, this class looked very competitive, with the top 6 drivers all on 20 laps. In pole was the Carpet Wars championship leader Stuart Rand (X-ray), Nathan Parker was 2.29 secs behind in second and Colin Witt in third, this set the standard for the rest of the drivers.
In round two the only one to better their first round out of the top three was Colin Witt. |
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| After round 2 there was a controversial query regarding the rules. It was put to the Race Director that a lot of the top drivers started to use a 27 tyre, which was blue in colour. Ianâ™s decided that the heats for that day would be finished with blues being allowed as too many drivers had set their cars up for these tyres and a decision would be made over night and announced at driver briefing on day 2. |
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| Round 3 got under way and we saw a complete change in the top three. Nathan Parker took pole, with Jimmy Maddison 1.29 secs behind, and following up in third was the man from the BRCA, Mark Burgess. The top 3 had been the only drivers to make 21 laps after the controversy with the tyres. The top drivers were driving hard against each other which put a new look on the meeting and Ian Knight had to keep an eye over the races to see that there was no foul play. |
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A warning was give to two teams to tidy up on the track.
Round 4, a bit of change at the top, Stuart Rand knocked Jimmy Maddison down to third and Mark Edwards pushed his way into fouth, so after a hard first day the top ten look like this.
1 189 Nathan Parker 21 308.59
2 4 Stuart Rand 21 309.36 +0.77 +0.77
3 194 Jimmy Madason 21 309.88 +1.29 +0.52
4 91 Mark Edwards 21 314.38 +5.79 +4.50
5 187 Mark Burgess 21 315.70 +7.11 +1.32
6 24 Gavin Clinch 20 300.48 +1 Lap +1 Lap
7 8 Colin Witt 20 304.77 +1 Lap +4.29
8 136 Ricky Copsey 20 307.91 +1 Lap +3.14
9 147 Jon Winter 20 308.18 +1 Lap +0.27
10 137 Joe Cook 20 309.59 +1 Lap +1.41
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Next up were the little gems 1/18th class. We found that in todayâ™s line up all drivers were using the new M18
The rule for this event had been changed to accommodate the hop ups now available, the most noted change was to the colossal speed that the M18 generated.
We only had 4 entries for this class but this did not stop the class being as competitive as the others. The M18 had the same track to negotiate as the 1/10 cars, so even though the track seemed a bit wide, the drivers were keeping tight lines round the track which still made it hard to over take and keep on the line. The first round had the top 3 on 17 laps with Ian Dibboll in pole and Gavin Clinch in second only 0.96 behind Ian and Adam Hampton third. |
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The second round was upon us in no time but there was no improvement so the top 3 remained as round 1.
Round 3 had Adam Hampton finding some ballistic speed and quality driving to give him pole and the only driver in the round to make 18 laps.
Round 4 came and went with no change, the run order at the end of day one scored as below
1 155 Adam Hampton 18 312.20 FTD
2 150 Ian Dibboll 17 305.11 +1 Lap +1 Lap
3 148 Gavin Clinch 17 313.46 +1 Lap +8.35
4 157 Paul Canham 14 319.99 +4 Laps +3 Laps
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| As mentioned at the beginning of this report, we had 95% of all the UK top drivers and Jean-Marc Betticher from Orion. The first round drivers pushed the cars to the limit, with all the top names on the track for heat 14, you could not see the pit area for the sea of bodies watching this heat. With baited breath we all watched a clean run form Andy Moore, this put him in pole and the only driver on 23 laps in the modified class, David Spashett in second and Glen Doman third. |
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| Round 2 - with Andy Moore on 23 laps, all the other teams were running round looking for a way to chase him down. David Spashett and his team had worked hard and found some speed to put him in pole with 23 laps, this dropped Andy to second and no change in third. |
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| Round 3 - No change in the top two but Chris Grainger found his way round the field to be in third over all so we had the top 3 on 23 laps the chasing pack consisted of Ben Cosgove, Glen Doman, Adam Rogers, Jean-Marc Betticher and Adam Hampton, all of them capable of knocking the top three down. |
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Round 4 - Last round of the day the grip had picked up over the day but it seemed in the stock of this round the track had slowed down. We could only wait and see what the modified drivers had up their sleeves for us. As thought, the track had slowed down the top 3 stead but Jean-Marc Betticher and Adam Rogers improved to 23 laps so at the end of round 4 this set the stage for the next day, the top ten were
1 173 David Spashett 23 307.88 FTD
2 144 Andy Moore 23 311.44 +3.56
3 30 Chris Grainger 23 311.91 +4.03
4 201 Jean-Marc Betticher 23 312.14 +4.26
5 38 Adam Rogers 23 312.83 +4.95
6 143 Ben Cosgove 22 300.34 +1 Lap
7 84 Glen Doman 22 300.55 +1 Lap
8 129 Lee Woodhams 22 308.84 +1 Lap
9 33 Adam Hampton 22 310.61 +1 Lap
10 85 Chris Delves 22 313.15 +1 Lap
As we left the venue and looked back on the days events the biggest question was âśwould the blue tyres be legal for the finals?âť
Day 2
With Ian Knight letting us know the night before that the first race would be on the line at 8.30 the car park was full by 7.30.
As we returned the question in the pits was would the track be fast enough to see anyone improve their time. At driver briefing the tyre situation was addressed and the blue tyres were deemed legal as the rule only stated T27 which is what the blues tyres were, so day two got under way.
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Nathan Parker being the man to chase, all the top drivers in stock were watching the lower heat to see whether the track conditions had changed.
The top five in round 5 did not change but the driving was hard and you could see some drivers getting frustrated. |
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Round 6 - this was the last chance for the drivers to improve and make the A final so they would be in with a fighting chance to take away the first Stock X-ray/Vega International title. Jimmy Maddison got away clean, he drove a faultless heat which put him on pole, Gavin Clinch and Nathan Parker dropped out of their heat, however nobody else bettered their time. The top 10 were
1 194 Jimmy Madason 21 305.79 FTD
2 189 Nathan Parker 21 308.59 +2.80
3 4 Stuart Rand 21 309.36 +3.57
4 91 Mark Edwards 21 314.38 +8.59
5 187 Mark Burgess 21 315.70 +9.91
6 134 Mark Broomfield 21 319.28 +13.49
7 24 Gavin Clinch 20 300.48 +1 Lap
8 136 Ricky Copsey 20 301.28 +1 Lap
9 42 Dave Rand 20 301.47 +1 Lap
10 8 Colin Witt 20 303.18 +1 Lap
With the top 6 drivers all on 21 laps and the rest of the grid capable. we could only wait to see what the finals would bring. |
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Round 5 - Adam Hampton was the only one to better himself from 18 laps in 310.20 to 18 laps in 302.87
Round 6 - Who was going to pole this class with the 3 top driver all capable? This time Ian Diboll could only get a better time this did not change the final orders
1 155 Adam Hampton 18 302.87 FTD
2 150 Ian Dibboll 17 300.03 +1 Lap
3 148 Gavin Clinch 17 313.46 +1 Lap
4 157 Paul Canham 14 309.53 +4 Laps
Adam Hampton looked like the favorite in this class, being one lap up on the pack but would he have what it takes? |
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The drivers in this class were ready to battle out the second day.
Round 5 - The round was calm and not much swapping went on in the listing but was it the calm before the storm?
Round 6 - Glenn Doman pushed for the start, he was a man on a mission and pushed the top 2 drivers hard. It paid off for Glenn, it put him into third but the top two did not change
1 173 David Spashett 23 304.17 FTD
2 144 Andy Moore 23 309.48 +5.31
3 84 Glen Doman 23 310.48 +6.31
4 30 Chris Grainger 23 311.91 +7.74
5 201 Jean-Marc Betticher 23 312.14 +7.97
6 38 Adam Rogers 23 312.83 +8.66
7 143 Ben Cosgove 23 313.35 +9.18
8 129 Lee Woodhams 22 303.61 +1 Lap
9 198 Neil Mottram 22 305.94 +1 Lap
10 35 Andy Childs 22 306.55 +1 Lap |
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Modified the top 7 on 23 but David and Andy seemed the cleaner.
There was a concourse, which had all the drivers showing off the shells they spend so much time on. Tracey Knight was the judge and after some deliberating (and then some more) the winner was Colin Witt, well done Colin. |
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were going to be run over 3 legs, best two to count for the A and two for the rest. This was going to be a good experience for the lower heats, some had never had final run in this manner.
So leg of stock was out first, Jimmy Maddison got a way clean and had a good run, the pack lead by Stuart Rand tried reeling him in, but Jimmy kept his cool and was a lap up on all the other drivers from 2nd to 8th were on 20 laps
Leg 2 - This was the one where, being on pole, Jimmy could wrap it up after his 1st leg win, Jimmy was driving his
X-ray to the limit. Stuart Rand was pushing hard, a bit of a mistake on the first corner let Jimmy pull away but Stuart came through the pack and did not give up, he knew he had to keep up with Jimmy, all he needed to do was get in front and he would stand a chance of the title. However, fate was not on his side, with another mishap on lap 6 Jimmy was well away all he had to do was keep it clean. Jimmy had stamped his authority on this leg and sewn the 2 day international up. With a look at his lap times in leg two all at mid 14 and one 15.01 this was a world-class show of his driving skills. If Stuart got his second 2nd this could be an X-ray 1,2.
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Leg 3 â“ When the leg started, Jimmy had won but the drivers behind him wanted the 2nd place and the racing was still going to be good. Once the leg started there seemed a patient start, the X-ray team let Gavin Clinch though and were protecting him, the racing was clean but a lot of blocking. Gavin managed to take the lead and Jimmy had dropped right out, Stuart still kept Gavin back clear, Colin Witt was climbing all over Stuart but Stuart kept the blocking going so this gave Gavin the win, the driving skills of Stuart Rand was a pleasure to see so the final places were as follows
G Stock Tony Board
F Stock Anthony Bostock
E Stock Alan Smart
D Stock Chris Procter
C Stock Sam Newcomb
B Stock Mark Payne
A Final STOCK
1. Jimmy Maddison Xray
2. Stuart Rand Xray
3. Gavin Clinch Xray
4. Mark Burgess Schumacher
5. Colin Witt Yokomo SD
6. Dave Rand Xray
7. Mark Broomfield Associated TC3
8. Nathan Parker Losi XXXS
9. Mark Edwards Associated TC3
10. Ricky Copsey HPi Pro 4 |
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Leg 1 of the micro started, Adam Hampton had it all his own way in this leg with Gavin and Ian Diboll pulling off, Adam took an easy win
Leg 2 we could only wait and see if the others would keep their micros going the 5 mins or would Adam Hampton walk this title. This leg was much tighter, the lead swapping between Adam and Ian Diboll, the skill was with the M18 pulling tight to the apex, just missing the blot dot, one touch could upset the car long enough to put you out of the running Ian Diboll took the 2nd leg. |
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So it was all down to the 3rd Ian and Adam were going to give the crowd a leg to watch as the cars went off, both drivers had great speed, this leg was going to be down to how could get the lines the tightest. There was not a lot between them in the pass of the cars but Ian managed to pull away and get the extra lap over Adam and take the spoils.
A Final MICRO
1. Ian Dibboll
2. Adam Hampton
3. Paul Canham
4. Gavin Clinch |
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The scene was set, the top drivers in the UK with Jean-marc from Switzerland chucked in for good measure, this was going to be the pinnacle of the meeting.
Leg one started with David Spashett in pole and Andy Moore behind him. The cars followed each other round the track like a train, all in perfect line then David and Andy pulled away slowly at about lap 5. Andy was pushing hard trying to force David into a mistake, it looked as if Andy had the pace on the infield but David made up for it on the straight, the race finished as it had started, David taking the first leg but not by much Andy was only 0.33 sec behind, the next 3 drivers were all on 22 laps Adam Rogers, Chris Grainger and Ben Cosgove.
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Leg 2 was promising to be a nail bitter the race started the same, 1 and 2 got away from the rest but David seemed to be pushing hard and as Andy responded the distance from the pack grew. Andy counter attacked David but made two errors, one on lap 6 and one in 9. He was just taking the corners too tight trying to make the secs up on David so the finishing order for the top 3 was David, Andy and Jean-marc.
As we went in to leg 3 David had already got the title and Andy had also secured 2nd so the battle was on for 3rd. Leg 3, as in the previous leg, David and Andy showed their domination, but the crowd were watching the pack behind them, the fight for third was between Jean-Marc Betticher, Glenn Doman, Lee Woodhams, Neil Mottram the victor from this was Jean-Marc Betticher who came 3rd so the overall placing in modified was
D Modified Peter Aynge
C Modified Wayne Palmer
B Modified Neil Diver
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| A Final MODIFIED |
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1. David Spashett Losi XXXS
2. Andy Moore Xray
3. Jean-Marc Betticher HPi Pro 4
4. Glen Doman Losi XXXS
5. Adam Rogers Yokomo SD
6. Lee Woodhams HPi Pro 4
7. Chris Grainger Yokomo SD
8. Neil Mottram Associated TC3
9. Andy Childs Yokomo SD
10. Ben Cosgrove Xray |
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In conclusion, what more could you want, great racing, great venue one of the best meetings I have seen in a long time.
There has been confirmation for Ian Knight that the next 2004/2005 Carpet Wars is being planned and the 2 Day meeting will now be called (Carpet Wars 2 Day Xray/Vega World Challenge) which has already had the thumbs up from the sponsors.
Info on all MRCC activities can be found on a updated web site www.maritimeracing.co.uk
Or contact Tel: 07903664713 E-mail [email protected]
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