Round 2 of the BRCA Rallycross 2023 was at Brookthorpe Model Car club just outside of Gloucester, this fast technical track has been one of the highlights of the calendar for the past few years and this year it did not disappoint. There was a threat of rain all weekend, but the racing would hardly be affected, meaning some flat-out fast and fun racing throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Jonny Skidmore would take 4 of the 5 rounds of qualifying with his Xray machine and therefore the overall TQ. Lewis Jones and his WRC would get 2nd overall with 3 second places and 3rd overall would be Will Skidmore equal on points with Graham Alsop and his HB machine who got 4th on count back and 5th was the Agama of Kevin Brunsden.

The lower finals started and still no sign of the predicted rain, the bump ups from those finals are as follows: -

B 1/64

1st – Nick Simmerson ( Agama)

2nd – Luke Bennett ( Agama)

3rd – Chris Willetts ( Mayako)

4th – Alan Paver ( Agama)

A 1/64

1st – Oliver Frost ( Associated)

2nd – William Paul ( Xray)

3rd – Charlie Tomlinson (Mugan)

4th – Lewis Millman ( Associated)

B 1/32

1st – Darren Wilby ( Tekno)

2nd – Andrew Rennick ( Mayako)

3rd – Luke Bennett (Agama)

4th – Lee Maggs (Xray)

A 1/32

1st – Joe Chew (WRC)

2nd – Clive Maland (Associated)

3rd – Michael Shorey ( Agama)

4th – Adam Buckholt (Sworkz)

B 1/16

1st – Callum Mcloughlin ( Kyosho)

2nd – Chris Smith ( Kyosho)

3rd – Allan Ward (Hot Bodies)

4th – Sam Cobley ( Hot Bodies)

A 1/16

1st – Westley Jolly (Tekno)

2nd – Chris Lovell (Sworkz)

3rd – Joe Chew ( WRC)

4th – Adam Buckholt (Sworkz)

B 1/8

1st – Ashlee Owen (Agama)

2nd – Adam Hall ( Hot Bodies)

3rd – Callum Mcloughlin( Kyosho)

4th – Cayden Stenhouse (Hot Bodies)

A 1/8

1st – Westley Jolly (Tekno)

2nd – Ricky Cooper (WRC)

3rd – Dennis Holding (Mugen)

4th – Adam Buckholt (Sworkz)

B ¼

1st – Max McDonnell (Xray)

2nd – Jack Willetts (Mugen)

3rd – Reuben Shakespeare (Sworkz)

4th – Ben Billing (Kyosho)

A ¼

1st – Darren Hayden-Ball ( Sworkz)

2nd – Elliott Taylor (Associated)

3rd – Taro Cradock (Kyosho)

4th – Dave Bailey ( Associated)

The B Side Semi final would see WRC driver Lewis Jones on pole and he would have a great race with the HB of Graham Alsop and the AE Driver Neil Cragg. Some brilliant wheel to wheel action from these great drivers eventually saw Graham take the win by just a few seconds of Lewis Jones in 2nd. Cragg crossed the line in 3rd. A steady drive by Lee Martin and his N1 buggy saw him come home just in front of team-mate Ben Simpson in 4th, with the Jnr driver getting 5th and his first A main final place. Another strong drive by another Jnr driver Billy Grindley and his Sworkz buggy saw him gain promotion to his 2nd main final in a row. The Mugen of Simon Willetts gained the last bump spot in 7th .

Jonny Skidmore was pole in the A Semi, and he did not disappoint, he led every lap of the final and even managed the extra lap on the field. Some amazingly fast laps from the Xray driver. The 2nd place would not be so straight forward, with William Skidmore starting in 2nd, but him sharing the place with the Sworkz of James Le Pavoux, the Agama of Kevin Brunsden and his teammate Jnr driver Erik Lykke. With 5 laps to go William managed to get passed James and he did cross the line in 2nd after 20mins. A last lap change of places saw James drop back to 4th behind  Brunsden in 3rd which left Erik Lykke in 5th, getting his first Main final spot. A great drive by Josh Graham from 9th saw him get 6th but he was so close to being caught by Mayako team-mate Michael Lewis with just over half a second between them as the buzzer went!

The main final would see Jonny on pole position. He would dominate the final, but he would be pushed for the majority of the 45mins by his brother William and his FX powered Xray machine. The pair were awesome to watch, Will looking for passing opportunities at every corner and Jonny driving defensively to keep his brother behind his gear box, it was just great to see the brothers battle each other. Another amazing drive by Neil Cragg and his Alpha powered AE along with the ever present HB of Graham Alsop and the rejuvenated Lewis Jones and his WRC were all in the mix for the podiums as well as Will. Neil from 10th on the grid made a charge through the field, and was up to 3rd at the midway point, he was battling with Will after some issues in the pits saw him cut, leaving Neil to take up the second spot and that’s how it’s stayed. Jonny taking the win and Neil 2nd. Behind Cragg due to the lengthy stops by Will, it was Lewis Jones and his Reds powered WRC taking up the remaining podium position and that’s how it continued until he had some last lap drama. As the timer run out Lewis Jones had an issue which saw him having to crawl his car over the line to finish the race, meaning Graham Alsop passed him for 3rd, and Kevin Brunsden also gaining a place to 4th with Lewis ending up in 5th, unfortunately Will not finishing the race seeing him drop down the field.

An unexpected end to the 45min final but a great race none the less on the brilliant Brookthorpe dirt! Special mention to the 3 Jnr drivers making the main and for young Billy Grindley and his Sworkz Buggy getting the fastest lap of the final. The next generation of drivers are definitely coming to the front this year and we are excited what the future holds for them.

The full results and all the championships standings can be found here:-

https://www.brca.org/8th-rally-cross-results

Thanks again for all of the crew at Brookthorpe, the BRCA RallyX committee, the racers and all of the supporters for a fantastic race weekend.

We have a quick turn around to round 3 of the championships this time, as we return to the stunning North West Nitro near Blackpool on July 1st and 2nd. We hope the racing continues to be as good as it has been this year already!!