Yes, you read correctly, this is the round 2 race report in September. The original planned date for this round back in April fell victim to the British weather so our first visit of 2 to the northwest of the UK this year was delay to September.
That didn’t however impact the standard of racing, which across the weekend was exceptionally high, often in difficult racing and track conditions.
With the date being changed and the rescheduled round now just a fortnight either side of Round 6 and Round 7, the number of racers booked in for this one was lower than normal. This, however, gave those in attendance plenty of track time in practice on Saturday and a great opportunity of a good haul of championship points.
After practice finished on Saturday, it was time for 2 rounds of qualification followed by the final round on Sunday morning. Short Course were up first, and Ian Oddie set the pace claiming TQ with 2 wins on Saturday, but the juniors of Alfie-Jack Shilcock and Zach Whittleston were keeping him honest in P2 and P3 respectively. After the final round of qualifying, the top 3 remained unchanged.
Onto the buggy’s and in 4WD it was Tommy Chung setting the pace with a perfect qualifying just in front of Craig Orman and the returning Leon Satchell. Tommy’s nearest championship rival, Dave Ashton would line up 4th in the A final. In 2WD, this round appeared to be no different to any other round with Oliver Whittleston setting blistering pace to take TQ, knowing a win on Sunday would secure him the 2WD National Title. Behind him though the fight for the top 3 was tight with Andy Blackburn taking P2 and Craig Chilvers P3. Championship leader Karl Norris would line up P4.
Sunday afternoon arrived and so did the rain, adding to the damp track racers had to navigate in the morning. With little wind, the rain was set in for the afternoon, so racers scrambled to find the right wet set ups and tyres for finals. Short Course semi-final first and pole sitter and junior racer Jake Faulkner drove a faultless horn to flag race to take the win. Newcomer Adrian Hullah managed to finish second and earn himself a spot in the main final alongside another newcomer Damian Henning who crossed the line in P3. The main final was always going to be a race between Ian and the 2 juniors of Alfie and Zach, but I don’t think anyone expected the 30 minutes that followed. A final that will go down in the history books as one of the best, the top 3 cars were never more than 5 seconds apart for the whole 30 mins. In a display of exceptional driving from all 3 of them, they followed bumper to bumper, changing positions most laps but it was Alfie-Jack Shilcock who held his nerve to take the flag first ahead of Ian Oddie in P2 and Zach Whittleston in P3, with just 3 seconds between all of them to make it a Losi 1,2,3. Well done to Alfie on his first National win, with many more surely to follow. In the clubman class, Andrew Stephenson secured top place finishing 4th overall, Jake Humphreys 2nd and Simon Godney 3rd.
In the 4WD Semi Final Martin Fitzpatrick drove a solid race to take the win from P5 on grid with Stephen Hunt and pole sitter Ian Gardiner crossing the line in. 2nd and 3rd respectively to move up to the main final. In the main final pole sitter Tommy Chung struggled to find the right set up for the change in conditions and with the MCD notably more suited to the low grip track it set the scene for a great race. In the end Dave Ashton showed his class with some exceptionally consistent lap times to climb from 4th on the grid to take the win, just 8 seconds ahead of Leon Satchell for an MCD 1-2 and Tommy Chung managed to hold off Craig Orman to claim the final step on the podium. In the clubman class, Ian Gardiner claimed top spot followed by James Clark after his switch from Short Course and Josey Schifano rounded up the top 3 (ps - thanks to Martin Fitzpatrick for standing in for Josey for the photo!).
In 2WD, Oliver started on pole knowing a win would seal the title but the conditions were going to be tough for the 2WD buggy drivers. After a clean start, Craig Chilvers and Andy Blackburn battled hard for P2 which gave Oliver a little breathing room but it weas clear Craig had real pace and was able to build a gap from Andy in P3 and start to close the gap to Oliver. After half distance Oliver and Craig were well ahead of the rest of the field with Craig just 1.9 seconds behind Oliver. However, Oliver managed to drive a very clean race and managed his pace well to take the win and the 2024 BRCA LSOR National 2WD Championship with his Elcon Traxx 2.0. We also crowned our clubman winner in 2WD as Craig McGinnis finished 7th overall to take top clubman and the season title with Darren Moon taking 2nd position. Well done Oliver and Craig.
So, with just 2 rounds left of the season, the 2WD championships might be all done and dusted but it is still all to play for in the Short Course and 4WD classes. Can Ian Oddie and Tommy Chung retain their national titles and can Ian Gardiner hold onto his lead in the 4WD clubman class? Perhaps the hardest championship to call is the Short Course clubman with both Andrew Stephenson and Jake Faulkner tied on points and with Jake Humphrey’s recent surge in form, it’s still all to play for.
Round 7 at North Ings Raceway is just 2 weeks away on 21st and 22nd September. Booking in is now open online at https://www.brca.org/events/lsor-nationals
We look forward to seeing you all trackside.
