140 drivers from 14 countries descended on Auto Model Club de l’Ouest (AMCO) for a week of racing to decide the European champion in 2 Wheel Buggy, 4 Wheel Buggy and Short Course Truck.

35 Team GB drivers made the short hop across the channel with high hopes of good results across all 3 classes.

A week of racing was split into 3 main sections, Monday to Wednesday practice, Thursday and Friday morning qualifying and Friday afternoon and Saturday finals.

The weather was changeable for most of practice and qualifying with very few drivers getting a dry run. However, the forecast was set to improve on Friday and Saturday with the expectation of the finals being dry.

140 drivers from 14 countries descended on Auto Model Club de l’Ouest (AMCO) for a week of racing to decide the European champion in 2 Wheel Buggy, 4 Wheel Buggy and Short Course Truck.

35 Team GB drivers made the short hop across the channel with high hopes of good results across all 3 classes.

A week of racing was split into 3 main sections, Monday to Wednesday practice, Thursday and Friday morning qualifying and Friday afternoon and Saturday finals.

The weather was changeable for most of practice and qualifying with very few drivers getting a dry run. However, the forecast was set to improve on Friday and Saturday with the expectation of the finals being dry.

After qualifying there were UK contenders in both SC and 2WD, with Ian Oddie taking TQ in SC, Jack Keatley 2nd and Taylor Letchford 3rd. The UK juniors of Alfie-Jack Shilcock and Zach Whittleston also featured in the top 10, qualifying 5th and 7th respectively.

In 2WD, Oliver Whittleston battled hard in a close field to qualify in 3rd with a TQ in round 3, with Karl Norris (5th) and Mark Higgins (10th) also in the top 10. In 4WD, Dave Ashton led the charge for team GB in 19th in a very competitive and high calibre field.

Friday afternoon saw the lower finals and with several Team GB in action, it was all to play for on a dry track to try and make the semi-finals on Saturday.

SC was up first, and Ross Bruce set the benchmark with a fantastic drive to win the 1/8 A final by 15 seconds from Ian Southey for a GB 1-2. Jake Humphries then continued the excellent GB start by winning the 1/8 B final with a horn to flag drive showing real maturity for his age. Reigning European SC Champion Matt Stokes grabbed a 2nd place finish in the ¼ A final to make the semis just in front of David Attiwell who also bumped up pushing out Andrew Stephenson by less than 10 seconds who came home 4th. In the ¼ B final, Heidi Shilcock lined up 3rd and drove a great race to come home in 3rd and secure her place in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In 2WD, Matt Chapman and Darren Smith secured semi-final positions after finishing 2nd and 3rd in the ¼ Final A, with Barry Mander just missing out in 4th. In the B ¼, Kayleigh Knight crossed the line in 3rd to also make the semi-finals. In 4WD, both Jason Mander and Paul Wadman secured bump ups from the 1/8 finals into the ¼ finals, however the ¼ finals is where the Team GB challenge ended in 4WD with Dave Ashton coming closest, finishing 4th in the ¼ final A, missing a semi-final place by 5 seconds.

Saturday morning came and with a damp track due to overnight dew, a one-hour delay was called and the track was dried by the AMCO crew in exceptional time. Again, SC was up first and with 6 drivers in the ½ A final, with 5 making the main final. Ian Oddie and Taylor Letchford got away well and finished 1st and 2nd. Alfie-Jack drove a great race to finish 3rd. Zach unfortunately had to make a pit stop due to a broken steering link and that ruled him out of a top 5 finish. Matt Stokes retired ending his title defence and Dave Attiwell couldn’t quite make the top 5 finishing 6th. In the B Semi, Jack Keatley drove a fantastic race to come home 1st as the only brit in the top 5.

2WD next and after a 10-minute delay called by pole sitter Cyril Cadour, Oliver Whittleston had a clear track starting in P2 and with a brilliant horn to flag drive was the quickest driver over the 2 semis to take pole for the main final. Karl Norris suffered a spun wheel centre to end any chances of a top 5 finish but Kev Churchill came home 5th in his semi-final to make the main final alongside Oliver to strengthen the team GB team in the main final.

Main finals started after the lunch break and 4 team GB drivers lined up in the SC final. After a close battle with the lead changing every lap, Taylor Letchford came across the line to become LSOR SC European champion with Ian Oddie in 2nd. Jack Keatley unfortunately retired while leading the race after 23 mins when a wheel axle failed. Alfie-Jack drove a fantastic race to finish 4th and take top junior.

2WD final followed, Oliver Whittleston on pole and Kev Churchill in p10 lined up on the grid. All drivers got away well but a few nerves set in and Oliver made a few silly mistakes in the first 5 mins. This dropped him down to 5th and a drive back through the pack was needed. He drove hard and fast and settled into a really quick rhythm but the damage was done. Luke van den Berg and Lars Abbes had built too big a lead. In the end he crossed the line in P3, a fantastic podium. Kev Churchill unfortunately retired the car after 22 mins but still placed in the top 10 in his first euros. An awesome result.

Team GB finished with 3 podium places and a top junior junior, including one new European Champion in SC, Tayler Letchford.

 

Full results for all Team GB drivers:

Short Course

2WD

4WD

1st – Taylor Letchford

3rd – Oliver Whittleston

21st – Dave Ashton

2nd – Ian Oddie

10th – Kev Churchill

26th – Ian Slater

4th – Alfie-Jack Shilcock

11th – Mark Higgins

27th – John Bell

9th – Jack Keatley

13th – Kayleigh Knight

31st – Paul Wadman

13th -  Heidi Shilcock

15th – Darren Smith    

34th – Jason Mander

14th – Neil Sivins

16th – Matthew Chapman

38th – Ian Gardiner

15th – David Attiwell

17th – Karl Norris

39th – Martin Fitzpatrick

17th – Zach Whittleston

22nd – Barry Mander

44th – Neil Young

18th – Matt Stokes

24th – Paul Diver

 

21st – Paul Scrase

25th – Craig McGinnis

 

23rd – Andrew Stephenson

 

 

24th – Simon Godney

 

 

25th – Ross Bruce

 

 

31st – Jake Humphries

 

 

32nd – Andy Spence

 

 

33rd – Ian Southey

 

 

40th – Martin Corbett