After the rescheduled round 2 earlier in the season thanks to the typical British weather, this round marked the halfway point of the season and the last round before the summer break and the LSOR European Championships been held in France later this month.
With Team GB sending a team of 35 drivers to France, there were a few regular faces missing at this round due to other commitments. As a result, strong points were on offer for those in the attendance at Pickering RC, perhaps the most remote and rural track of the year.
As usual, the track was fast and with a mix of grass and astro, made set up and tyre choice interesting. In addition, summer showers threatened all weekend and occasionally made an appearance keeping all racers guessing on tyre and set up choices.
Saturday practice was relaxed with the slightly lower numbers but plenty of laps were recorded by the timing computer as people sought the perfect set up, if one really does exist.
2WD Buggy
2WD buggy was up first this time and it was clear from the early pace Oliver Whittleston, with his Elcon Traxx 2.0 was the car and driver to beat. Oliver secured TQ after the first 2 rounds with 2 first in rounds on Saturday and cemented TQ with another first in round Sunday morning. Behind him, the battle for 2nd was tight and was still up for grabs between Karl Norris, Andy Blackburn and Mark Higgins in the last qualification round. In the end, Karl pipped Andy to 2nd and 3rd respectively making it an Elcon 1,2,3 for the main final.
Before the main final, there was the small matter of the semi-final. Paul Diver lined up on pole, Dean Coulson 2nd and Ryan Griffin 3rd. Paul got away well and never lost the lead with a horn to flag drive. After some close battles and unexpected pit stops for Ryan, Dean secured 2nd and Barry Mander, despite running out of fuel on the last lap took the final bump up spot in 3rd.
On to the main final and could anyone put up a challenge to Oliver? Oliver got away well and with Karl, Andy and Mark all battling for 2nd, was able to build a sizeable lead in the first 10 minutes and never really looked back managing his pace and the car to the finish, 1 lap up on the field. Karl won the battle for 2nd and Andy held off Mark for 3rd.
In the clubman class, Craig McGinnis beat Ryan Griffin to 1st place to take the lead in the 2WD Clubman Championship.
4WD Buggy
With championship leader not in attendance, Dave Ashton set the pace in qualification with 3 firsts in round. Andy Knight after a tight battle with Craig Orman and John Bell secured 2nd with Craig rounding out the top 3 to make it an all MCD top 3.
With 10 cars in the semi-final, it was going to be a hectic 20 mins to determine the final 3 spots in the Main Final. Pole sitter Adam Lea managed to get round the first couple of laps in the lead but Stavros Costas and his Losi 5ive Buggy was applying the pressure and took the lead on lap 3 and never relinquished it to take the win. Adam held on to 2nd place and Jason Mander, after a tough qualification took the final bump up spot finishing in 3rd from 9th on the grid.
As the rain shower started, the 4WD main final lined up on the grid, making tyre choice a potential race decider. 4 different selections across the 10 cars, who would have made the right decision. After some early battles between Dave, Andy and Craig, Ian Slater from 7th on the grid found himself in the lead after 12 laps as his tyres were working well. However, 5 mins later and the rain stopped. As the track dried, Dave and Craig closed the gap back up to Ian and managed to retake 1st and 2nd respectively where they ultimately finished. Ian, driving his Elcon Fourtex managed to hold onto 3rd by 5 seconds ahead of Andy Knight to prevent an all MCD podium.
Jason Mander took 1st in the clubman ahead of Stavros Costas in 2nd and Darren Watson in 3rd.
Short Course Truck
Rain played havoc with the first heats of Short Course qualification, giving a mixed up set of results overnight on Saturday, with Championship leader, Ian Oddie sitting 2nd just behind Alfie-Jack Shilcock. Subsequent rounds saw normal service resume as the weather complied with Ian Oddie taking TQ, however with Alfie’s overnight night lead he was able to secure 2nd place in the main final with Taylor Letchford completing the top 3.
The semi-final saw the junior racer, Jake Humphries line up on pole and with the top 4 changing places throughout the race, at the finish just 22 seconds separated them. It was another Jake that took the win, Jake Faulkner with Jake Humphries finishing 2nd and James Clark completing the top 3 and bumping up to the main final. Andrew Stephenson finished 4, just missing out on the top 3 by 7 seconds.
Just like the 4WD Final, tyre choice was mixed across the grid for the main final, which 3 different tyre choices across the top 5 drivers. The start was clean and the top 5 got away well and started to pull away from the pack. With Alfie defending 2nd place from Taylor, Jack Keatley and Zach Whittleston, Ian Oddie built a lead that would end up being too great for anyone to close and took the win. Behind him, it was clear Zach had the tyre advantage and pace and quickly secured 2nd and built a gap to Taylor, Jack and Alfie battling for 3rd and after a lonely race crossed the line in 2nd. Who would complete the podium? Alfie’s tyre choice ruled him out and dropped off the pace and with Taylor having to retire after 27 mins from 4th took the pressure off Jack Keatley who crossed the line in 3rd.
Special mention to Jake Humphries who in his first Main 30 minute final crossed the line in P5 to take 1st place clubman.
With the EFRA LSOR European Championships now beckoning, the section would like to wish all of Team GB good luck in France.
Our national series resumes after the summer break in August where we visit our most southern track, Sussex RC Track. We hope to see you all there.
