Round 2 of the 2025 BRCA 1/10th Offroad National Championships took place at Boughton Raceway near Downham Market in Norfolk on 31st May/ June 1st. The venue does not host a club as such, so meetings are limited to nationals and one-off events. The track is situated on an elevated site pinned between a large meadow, a small piece of woodland and a private air strip which was active whilst the meeting was on. Boughton offers something unique – nobody gets home advantage, and everyone is arriving not really knowing what to expect. The track has been very neatly presented, and it is generally considered to be loose! Last year the track featured a double jump which was unpredictable, and which had caught out some of Europe’s best, however for this year it has been removed with only the first section remaining as a small jump/roller. This makes the track look fairly featureless, but as it is quite bumpy there was plenty to absorb the driver’s attention.
Herts which is a fantastic start to his season, but it was generally hoped that one or two new winners would come to the forefront at Boughton so that the championship isn’t stitched up too early. Practice got underway in glorious summer conditions with the driver’s first attempt being a little damp. Most dealt with the slight reduction in grip without any major complaints but it was fully dry by the second round. At the end of practice there was 10 drivers who had completed two laps within a 1.2 second window. Lee Martin going fastest with Tommy Hall, Neil Cragg and Thomas Phipps in close pursuit.
However when it came to race times that actually counted in qualifying it was Thomas Phipps who set himself apart. Phipps’ pace was dominant – able to cruise with the front runners, but also able to take it up a notch when required for short periods. He was unlucky in Round 2 of qualifying going 51st, but TQ’d rounds 1, 3 & 4 without challenge. There was nothing between Cragg, Hall & Smith in the chasing pack so the finals would surely be action packed.Congratulations to Callum Akeroyd-Bench on making his first National A Final.Overall 2wd Qualifying Positions (top 20)
By the time of the start of the first Leg of the 2wd A Final the clouds had rolled in the sun was nowhere to be seen. Thomas Phipps led the field away from Pole Position and it only took one corner before incident struck! Neil Cragg in second place sliding sideways over the first roller causing him to oversteer into the hose at the apex. With the field so closely bunched immediately after the start, Tommy Hall and Ben Smith had nowhere to go, collecting the stricken Cragg and making the whole situation worse. Hall and Smith just managed to clamber their way through as the remainder of the field slowed and ran wide to avoid the chaos. Cragg rejoining in seventh after some fully committed marshalling. Phipps now with a lead of a couple of seconds.
The grip seemed to have changed from the latter rounds of 2wd qualifying and the cars were very noticeably squirming around and breaking sideways under power. Phipps started lap 2 and after the first corner, which had witnessed the chaos of lap 1, he tipped the hose on the apex before the roller and put his car into a barrel roll. More enthusiastic marshalling got him going again quickly, but not before Tommy Hall passed to take the lead.
Hall had about a 1.2 second advantage over Phipps and the pair put in almost the exact same times for several laps with the gap not changing. It was interesting to compare the differing styles of Phipps and Hall. Phipps’s car looked smooth and was rarely breaking traction at lower corner speeds whilst Hall was exploiting the inherent balance in the car and sliding sideways at every opportunity – both methods equally effective in this case. Then, all of a sudden at the three-minute mark, Phipps put in an extraordinary lap to completely evaporate Hall’s lead – the two now battling. This battle allowed Ben Smith in third to close the gap a bit and looked at one point like we may have a three-way battle.
With a minute to go, Phipps made his first error. He clipped the apex going up onto the banked corner and had to hop the hose twice to get back on track – letting Ben Smith and Josh Holdsworth through. For the remainder of the race, Hall looked composed at the front as Smith, Holdsworth and Phipps bunched and battled for that second position. None of the racers looked prepared to take a big risk in the low grip conditions, so the order did not change. Result: 1st Tommy Hall, 2nd Ben Smith, 3rd Josh Holdsworth.2wd A Final Leg 2 started in an equally disruptive way. Initially the field got away from the line without incident, but halfway into the first lap as the cars made their way off the banked corner, Neil Cragg in 2nd and Tommy Hall in 3rd had a coming together – their cars becoming intertwined. Somehow with the addition of excessive power, the cars freed themselves and Cragg and Hall continued without losing any places – the field now dangerously bunched behind them. Then on the same lap, just before coming onto the straight, Phipps gave away his full advantage by having a full 360° spin. Before the first lap could be put behind them, Hall had a tank-slapper coming onto the straight letting Josh Holdsworth through to third.
As the second lap commenced there was now a break-away group at the front of Phipps, Cragg and Holdsworth. Cragg biting big chunks out of Phipps’ lead on the following lap before catching a transition in the astro and putting his car up onto two wheels. The momentary pause in Cragg’s progress was enough of an opportunity for Holdsworth to pass. Holsworth then put in a couple of very quick laps to position himself on Phipps’ back bumper. The attack was short lived as Holdsworth clipped a hose and cart wheeled across the track just as he was in striking distance of the lead – Cragg reclaims seconds as Smith moves into third. With a minute to go, another error from Phipps as he barrel rolls through the first corner. He recommenced immediately, but Cragg was now right behind him. As the race finishing tone sounded, Cragg started to throw caution out the window and nearly got up the inside on one occasion, however with that strategy comes higher risks and Cragg would have a tumble letting Phipps off the hook. Result: 1st Thomas Phipps, 2nd Neil Cragg, 3rd Ben Smith.
The final leg of the 2wd A Final would decide the overall result. Thomas Phipps led the field away neatly and at pace. He broke away from the main pack immediately and started to build a lead. This was aided by Cragg at the end of the second lap as he tagged the apex coming onto the straight and hindered Tommy Hall and Ben Smith. Hall’s car appeared to have monumental forward drive – the car lifting its front suspension to maximum travel under power. He was making use of this and reducing Phipps’ lead quickly. By half race distance a battle at the front was developing. Then in the far left side of the track, Hall seemed to miss his braking point and collected Phipps mid-corner. The marshal scrambled to the scene to untangle the two cars, placing Phipps down at an awkward angle as Josh Holdsworth took full advantage into the lead. Correctly, Hall paused as Phipps realigned his car and got underway and resumed in second place.
With two minutes to go, Holdsworth had a diminishing lead of 0.8 seconds with Phipps and Hall hard charging behind him. The game of cat(s) and mouse ran for two laps till Hall crashed coming onto the back straight. This reduced it to a two horse race. Phipps was unable to draw in Holdsworth over the last couple of laps which means Holdsworth takes the leg win – the third different winner.
On points, Thomas Phipps did enough with a win and a second to secure the overall 2wd win. Josh Holdsworth was second and Tommy Hall third.
Many spectators seemed to be quite happy to have a winner from outside the usual group. It’s very healthy for the series and also a sign that UK racers have continued to develop to a very high standard as the stewardship of the Nationals has changed hands.
It was noticeably windier and cooler for Sunday’s 4wd portion of the meeting. There was very little change to the entry with a notable exception or two. 1/8th Nitro ace Jonny Skidmore coming in off the reserve list. Practice got underway and Cragg and Martin set the pace at the front with Charlie Saunders going third. Ben Smith and Luke Holdsworth driving the new Schumacher shaft driven 4wd prototype going 4th and 5th respectively.
By the time 4wd qualifying started, the Schumacher team seemed to have screwed a bit more performance out of the car. Smith taking rounds 1 & 3 and Josh Holdsworth taking round 3. Neil Cragg putting in a solid run when others couldn’t to take round 4. Qualifying in the top 10 was not as close as normal with a good spread of results – the 10 drivers within a of about 12 seconds which is more than usual.
4wd Overall qualifying results
It was much cooler and overcast by the start of the 4wd A Final Leg 1. We had seen TQ man Ben Smith run fast in cooler conditions earlier in the day, so all bets were on him if he could get away and build a buffer. The field ran in qualifying order for two laps until we saw another uncharacteristic mistake from Neil Cragg. Going up onto the banked corner, the back end of his car snapped out and he oversteered into the pipe at the apex letting Lee Martin and Tommy Hall through. A lead group of Ben Smith, Josh Holdsworth, Lee Martin and Tommy Hall developed with none of them looking comfortable.
The procession ran for several laps, all drivers sliding into corners and squirming out till, with a minute to go, Smith oversteered into the chicane near the end of the lap and forced his car into a cartwheel. Smith landed back on his wheels, just as Holdsworth was approaching the same point and, under pressure, his car oversteered and slid sideways under hasty acceleration. Unfortunately, Smith and Holdsworth came together, entangling their cars and the experienced Lee Martin simply drove around the drama. With thirty seconds to go, Lee Martin led with Holdsworth following and Tommy Hall in third. Holdsworth pushed hard over the last lap, but Martin himself was too fast. Result: 1st Martin, 2nd Holdsworth, 3rd Hall.
We expected 4wd A Final Leg 2 to be more settled down as two of the top three qualifiers didn’t have a result in Leg 1 and they will need to rectify that. We were wrong. On the first hairpin, Josh Holdsworth in second place oversteered and got his car stuck facing the hose at the apex. Rather than wait for the marshal he hopped the hose twice rejoining in ninth – Smith with an 8 or 9 metre lead over Cragg who inherited second place. Then on lap 2, Cragg makes exactly the same error letting Lee Martin and Tommy Hall now take 2nd and 3rd respectively.
With two minutes down, a major accident for Hall in third. Running at high speed on the back straight, he clipped the hose on the entry to the proceeding chicane and cartwheeled his car through a couple of lanes of track, narrowly missing Martin’s car on the return after the corner. He landed on his wheels and rejoined in fourth behind Jonny Skidmore. At the race midpoint, Smith leads 1.7 seconds ahead of Martin with Skidmore, Hall, and Charlie Saunders battling for third a second or two behind. With a minute to go, Lee Martin was making small inroads into Ben Smith’s lead, however there would have to be an incident for the gap to be fully closed in the next 60 seconds. The incident never occurred and the result for the leg was 1st Smith, 2nd Martin, 3rd Skidmore.
Once again Leg 3 of the 4wd A Final would be the result decider. Lee Martin’s win and second place is not a secure win. Smith and Holdsworth still have the opportunity to win if things go well. The race started fast and Ben Smith created a gap immediately to Josh Holdsworth. For the first time in 6 A Finals, the field managed to do two opening laps without anyone crashing – perhaps these drivers are the best in the UK afterall!. With a minute down, a couple of marshals were indicating that it was raining, but there was no sign to most people.
At the midpoint of the race, all the drivers were on the same pace. Nobody was attempting to overtake and more importantly, nobody was gaining on the leader Ben Smith. Josh Holsworth in second with a hard charging Tommy Hall in third. A mistake from Neil Cragg going up onto the banked corner let Martin though to fourth. And then with a minute to go a small mistake from Hall let Martin through to third. The battle for second place was intense over the last two laps, but ultimately no driver was able to setup the pass. Leg results: Smith, Holdsworth, Martin.
Ben Smith takes the overall 4wd win with Lee Martin second and Josh Holdsworth third. A great result for the new Schumacher prototype with two cars on the podium.
4wd results: 1st Ben Smith, 2nd Lee Martin, 3rd Josh Holdsworth.
[ARTICLE & IMAGES PROVIDED BY WILLIAM WHITE - RACEWAY ONE]
