The third round of the 2023 season was held on the 8th & 9th July at the superb facility at the Halifax circuit.
Saturday had a gloomy forecast with heavy rain due but racers were greeted to a dry start with the showers not arriving until early afternoon. The track then dried out allowing a brief window of opportunity for further practice before the rain returned again. It was nice to see the return of several of the GT8 Nitro drivers.
Sunday was dry first thing and open practice was followed by the usual 4 rounds of qualifying heats . The main pace setters were : Craig Nutting in GT8E , Rob Scott in GT8 Nitro and Matt Dunning in 1/10 Touring . 220mm GT saw a three way tussle between Matt Cook, Adam Southgate and Bailey Rice Draycot .
The final qualifying positions were as follows :
GT8 Electric
TQ Craig Nutting
2nd Adam Griffith
3rd Andy Travis
GT8 Nitro
TQ Rob Scott
2nd Paul Dewsnap
3rd Alex Bold
1/10 IC 220mm GT
TQ Matthew Cook
2nd Bailey Rice Draycot
3rd Adam Southgate
1/10 200mm Touring
TQ Matt Dunning
2nd Jonathan Withington
3rd Nigel Philpott
Finals:
B Final 220 GT
Bob Harley , fresh from his recent European podium success , led throughout. Jim Beesley had a close run with Adz until Adz had a flame out.
1st Bob Harley (X-ray)
2nd Jim Beesley (Serpent )
3rd Adz Mughal (Serpent)
A Final GT8 Electric
TQ Craig Nutting led the first leg until a body post issue related the body shell allowing Andy Travis to steal it. However Craig took the next two legs to take the win.
1st Craig Nutting(X-Ray)
2nd Andy Travis (Harm)
3rd Andy Talbot
A Final 200mm Touring
Matt Dunning led from the start .Nigel drove superbly overtaking Jon W. Nigel then had some drivetrain issues allowing Jon back ahead. Jon then had a flame out allowing Nigel to go second again. Meanwhile Ian was steadily chasing down these two. Nigel had further issues allowing Ian to claim his first A Final podium.
1st Matt Dunning
2nd Jonathan Withington (X-ray)
3rd Ian Coates (X-ray)
A Final 220 GT
TQ Matt Cook controlled the race with most of the other racers having racing incidents and/or mechanical or engine issues.
1st Matthew Cook (Serpent)
2nd Ian McLarney (Serpent)
3rd Bailey Rice Draycot (X-ray)
An enjoyable weekend’s racing for all .Overall the weather was good with no rain on Raceday Sunday. As per usual Bev and Muriel ran the meeting smoothly so thanks to them both , John Russell , and all at the Halifax Club. The next round is at Wombwell on the 5th & 6th August.