Team Williams © 2003-2012 All Rights Reserved
B.R.C.A. 1/10th I.C. 200mm Foam National
Round 5 At Mendip Club on 24th July 2011
For round 5 of this year’s championship we made the trip to the superb Mendip track close to Weston-Super-Mare.
The forecast for the weekend was looking very promising with sunny weather predicted for Saturday and Sunday. With a total of 52 drivers booked in for the meeting this was sure to be welcome news to all of them.
On Saturday morning it was Neal King who ventured out onto the track first with others following shortly after. It was clear that there was very little grip to start off with but this gradually increased throughout the day as the black racing line started to emerge. At the end of the day’s practice it was Pete Hastings and Glyn Beal who were quickest in the Sports GT class. Mark Green would not be arriving until tomorrow so would he be able to keep up with Pete and Glyn after missing Saturdays practice? Making an appearance for the first time this season competing in the Sports GT class was Kevin Taylor. Kevin knows the track very well as it’s his home circuit and it wasn’t long before he was also right on the pace.
In 200mm touring it was Joe Kerry who was fastest just ahead of Championship leader Adam Catchpole. Behind these two it was very close between the other top drivers as they were separated by just a tenth of a second.
At 8:30am on Sunday drivers briefing was held at the side of the rostrum in the pits. There were going to be four rounds of qualifying and six heats to be run per round. Chairman Grant Williams explained to drivers that we would be introducing a new system for the finals. This involved drivers going up onto the rostrum one by one in qualifying order so that number one gets the first pick of where they want to stand, then number 2 and so on. This therefore rewards drivers for qualifying higher up. Everyone was also reminded to keep up the good driving and
Marshalling standards. Grant also told everyone that any proposals for this year’s AGM will need in by the meeting at Colchester. Finally, all drivers attending the Euros in Ettlingen, Germany in a couple of week’s time were wished the best of luck for the event.
Into the racing then and the very first heat out was the 200mm touring class. This was won by local driver Mark Owen on a quick 15 lap run. Scott Hellawell finished runner up in this race just managing to join Mark on 15 laps but was unfortunately disqualified afterwards as his rear wing was found to be too high.
Heat 2 was the Sports GT and was won by Kevin Taylor with his Xray NT1. Paul Bellinger took second place around 8 seconds behind. Mark Green’s car failed scrutineering as his fuel failed to pass on the 16% limit.
Matthew Cook won heat 3 of 200mm touring despite running out of fuel shortly before the end of the race. Matthew was almost a second per lap quicker than any of his rivals in this race so his time of 16/4m54.88 was enough to take victory ahead of Dave Gerard in second. Dave did well to take second place on the last lap and hold off Lee Stokes and finish half a second in front of him.
Paul Dewsnap managed to beat Jim Beesley to first position by just 9 hundredths of a second in heat 4 of Sports GT. The battle for third place was almost as close as the previous one with Steve Woodhams just edging out Peter Lague.
Heat 5 was up next and it was the 200mm touring class. After leading the race for 4 ½ out of the 5 minutes Joe Kerry ran out of fuel and was unable to finish. This made way for Andy Hastings to take the win just ahead of new Shepherd team mate John Zottl. Neal King completed the top three after playing it safe and using a fuel stop during the run.
Pete Hastings won the last heat of the round in the Sports GT class as he was the only driver to get 19 laps. Glyn Beal took a very comfortable second place with Joe Keaveney in third.
Straight into round 2 of qualifying then and in heat 1 it was Mark Owen again out in front. Mark Improved his time by a lap, as did Scott Hellawell who finished just a few seconds behind. This was Scott’s first national race and he was clearly doing a very good job as he moved up to 11th overall after this heat. Also competing in his first national was young Charlie Nash who drove very well to take fourth place just a couple of seconds behind Malcolm Norwood in third.
Paul Bellinger took victory in heat 2 as Mark Green’s fuel again failed during scrutineering. Paul put in a new best time of 18/ 5m 9.83 to strengthen his hold on fourth place overall. Martin Trice managed to hold off the challenge of Dave Pittaway to take the runner up spot in the race.
Matthew Cook again dominated the 200mm touring heat 3 having lapped the entire field and record his best time so far. Peter Spratley brought his Xray NT1 in second place just ahead of Dave Gerard in third.
In the Sports GT heat 4 it was a very close battle all the way through the race as the top three traded positions several times.
When the time was up it was Jim Beesley who finished on top one second ahead of Steve Woodhams who was also one second ahead of third placed Paul Dewsnap.
Simon Wood won heat 5 of the 200mm touring only just beating Adam Catchpole by a couple of tenths. Both drivers managed to get 18 lap runs to go first and second in the overall standings. Johnathon Dobney and Alex Thurston put in quick 17 lap runs after just making the 5 minutes. Joe Kerry also managed a decent 17 lap run despite having to stop fuel.
In the top heat of Sports GT it was again Pete Hastings setting the pace as he completed another 19 lap run. However, he failed to improve his best time as he fell just a few tenths short. Lee Chapman took the runner up spot even though he ran out of fuel just before the end. Richard Boult just got ahead of Andy Gregory to take third place.
In heat 1 round 3 it was Scott Hellawell setting the pace as he lapped second and third placed drivers Kyle Dewsnap and Tom Evans. All three improved their times during this run as did Malcolm Norwood.
Onto heat 2 then and it was another win for Kevin Taylor on an 18/ 5m 4.06 improving his best time by a couple of seconds. Second place went to Paul Bellinger although he failed to improve on his fastest time from the previous round. Mark Green finished third in the race but was again failed for his fuel during scrutineering.
It was the same old story in heat 3 as Matthew Cook again lapped the rest of the field and completed his run in an almost identical time to the previous round. Elsewhere, Dave Gerard improved by a few seconds as did Tobie Mansor who bettered his time by 2 laps.
The next Sports GT up was won by Phil Edwards around 4 seconds in front of Peter Lague. Jim Beesley narrowly edged out Mark Fagan to take third but was still unable to improve on his best result so far.
The top heat of 200mm touring was won again by Simon Wood who drove a very consistent race with his Xray NT1. With just 0.16 seconds between his best and average lap times Simon Extended his lead overall. Adam Catchpole took second place again with a time of 18/ 5m 15.98 and improved his time from earlier. Interestingly if Simon hadn’t improved his time then he and Adam would be joint first with identical results. There were also improvements for Alex Thurston with his Kyosho R4 and Andy Hastings and his Shepherd V10. Joe Kerry, Neal King, John Zottl, and Neil Wallace all ran out of fuel after 4 ½ minutes of this race.
The last qualifyier of the round was the Sports GT class and this was won yet again by Pete Hastings. He managed to send his Shepherd V10 round in a time of 19/ 5m 13.10 to further improve on his current FTD time. Joe Keaveney, Lee Chapman, and Andy Gregory all produced 18 lap runs to help secure their places in the A Final. There was also an improvement for Mark Christopher after a bad opening two rounds.
John Zottl gets refuelled before qualifing
The final qualifier for 200mm touring was on next and it was a very close race for first position. Simon Wood eventually took the win and therefore FTD for the meeting. After some engine adjustments during the warm up in an attempt to make the five minute run Joe Kerry finished just 3 tenths shy of Simon’s time to take second overall. Johnathon Dobney held off the challenge of championship leader Adam Catchpole to take third as both drivers were just a few seconds slower than Simon and Joe. The only other improvement in this heat was by Neil Wallace a he finally managed to get a good run in after bad luck for most of the day. The result was good enough for Neil to sneak into 10th place overall and into the main final at the expense of Dave Gerard who dropped to 11th.
With the 200mm touring qualifying over and done with it was time for the last of the Sports GT heats to be run. Glyn Beal took the victory ahead of Serpent team mate Lee Chapman after Pete Hastings was forced to retire from the race. Pete was running on an average lap time of 16.43 until a collision with the boards on the banking damaged the front left of his Shepherd car. Joe Keaveney put in another strong performance with an 18 lap run and Richard Boult was the only other driver to improve during this run, narrowly beating his previous best time to secure the last remaining place in the Sports GT A final.
Sporst GT A Finalists
Richard Boult 10th Xray NT1 - Mark Christopher 9th Xray NT1 - Andy Gregory 8th Serpent 733 - Joe Keaveney 7th Mugen MTX4-R - Paul Bellinger 6th Serpent 733 - Lee Chapman 5th Serpent 733 - Kevin Taylor 4th Xray NT1 - Glyn Beal 3rd Serpent 733 - Mark Green 2nd Serpent 733 - Pete Hastings 1st Shepherd V10
During the lunch break the Mendip Cafe was very busy as was the pits as drivers prepared their cars for the finals.
The 200mm touring C final was the first to be run and pole sitter Kyle Dewsnap got a good start off the line and lead on the opening lap. By lap 2 Jason Thompson had worked his way up to 2nd place and it was not long before he took the lead from Kyle. Meanwhile Tom Evans was battling for third place with Malcolm Norwood. After some great work in the pit lane by Alex Thurston, Jason had opened up a decent lead and was looking odds on for taking the win. Just minutes from the end disaster struck for Jason as his engine stopped and he was unable to continue. This gave the win to Kyle and his Serpent on 58 laps. Tom Evans crossed the line in a very comfortable second position on 55 laps, 3 laps up on third placed Malcolm Norwood.
In the Sports GT B final Phil Edwards got away from first on the grid and was able to keep hold of the position. Meanwhile there was an excellent start by Steve Woodhams as he went from 5th to 2nd after the first lap and then went on to take the lead on lap 7. Steve was able to stay in front for the rest of the race, only losing first position during the fuel stops. The fight for second place was between Phil Edwards and Jim Beesley with Jim eventually taking second position as Phil suffered problems and dropped down the order. Peter Lague had been working his way up through the field took third place ahead of Mark Fagan. It was later revealed that this would be Peter’s last race in the 1/10th nationals so not a bad way to end with a podium finish.
The next final on track was the 200mm touring B final. Peter Spratley took the lead straight from the start with Lee Stokes in second followed by pole sitter Dave Gerard in third. On lap 17 Lee Stokes got past Peter to take the lead while Dave Gerard was battling with Matt Williams for third position. Just after the halfway point in the race and Matt Williams was fighting with Lee Stokes for first position which he eventually took. Shortly before the end of the race Lee had taken back first and Matt Williams was in second just ahead of Peter Spratley in third. This was the order they finished in with Lee on 62 laps, Matt 61 laps, and Peter on 61 laps.
Onto the A finals now and first up was the 200mm touring. Simon Wood and Joe Kerry got good starts from 1st and 2nd on the grid and maintained their positions round the first few corners. Johnathon Dobney and Adam Catchpole collided round the banking which resulted in Adam suffering with a broken rear wing on his Kruzer bodyshell. After the first lap the order was Simon in first followed very closely by Joe. Alex Thurston had taken full advantage of the collision at the start and was in third place holding off the challenge of Neal King who was up from 8th on the grid. Simon and Joe began to pull out a big lead on the rest of the field after a few minutes and were within touching distance of each other lap after lap. With Simon driving very well and blocking off all the overtaking opportunities, Joe was unable to find a way past. At 4 ½ minutes Joe dived into the pits as he had been struggling to make 5 minutes all day. Meanwhile Simon was only
planning on doing 6 minute stops so would only have to do 4 stops over the 30 minute final compared to Joe’s 6 stops. As Joe was being refuelled Simon continued on for another lap but then encountered problems. After losing all drive from his car it effectively ended his chances of a good result. At the same time third placed Alex Thurston was suffering with problems of his own, another rear diff being the cause yet again on his Kyosho R4. Next to retire from the race was Neal King with a blown conrod on lap 31. With Joe Kerry in control of the final out in front, the battle for second place was on between the two Shepherds of Andrew Hastings and John Zottl. Andrew was managing to stay ahead of John and keep hold of second place. Johnathon Dobney was making his way back up the order after an unlucky start. On lap 71 Johnathon took second place as Andrew suffered radio problems and his car shot off over the straight resulting in him having to retire. John Zottl therefore took over the last remaining podium position and began to catch up to Johnathon. In the end Joe won the race two laps clear of Johnathon and John who finished less than a second apart. Matthew Cook finished in 4th place to add another strong score towards his championship. Neil Wallace drove well to guide his Shepherd V10 to his best ever result at a 200mm touring national in 5th place.
Peter Hastings Shepherd v10
Andrew Hastings Sheperhed V10
200mm Touring top heat get ready for the final qualifier
Results up everyone eager to know how they`ve done
Neil Wallaces Shepherd V10
Johnathon Dobneys Serpent 733
200mm Touring A Finalist`s
Neil Wallace 10th Shepherd V10 - Matthew Cook 9th Serpent 733 - Neil King 8th Serpent 733 - John Zottl 7th Shepherd V10 - Andrew Hastings 6th Shepherd V10 - Alex Thurston 5th Kyosho R4 - Adam Catchpole 4th Shepherd V10 - Johnathon Dobney 3rd Serpent 733 - Joe Kerry 2nd Serpent 733 - Simon Wood 1st Xray NT1
Peter Hastings checks the damage on his Shepherd car
FTD 200mm Touring Simon Wood
Alex Thurston with a quick fuel stop for Jason Thopson
All Serpent Sports GT C Final
Matt Williams Serpent 733
Adam Catchpole with broken wing
200mm Touring B final drivers
Into the last round of qualifying then and in heat 1 it was Mark Owen who took the win, also managing his best time of the day to surely secure a decent starting position in the B final. Scott Hellawell finished second but was unable to improve, as was Kyle Dewsnap who completed the top three.
After all the trouble he had had with his Byron Gen2 fuel, Mark Green borrowed some from Joe Kerry and was able to pass scrutineering with a result of 19/ 5m 16.13 to go on provisional second for the final. Paul Bellinger finished second but was some way off improving his time and Kevin Taylor had to withdraw after just one minute.
Matthew Cook made it four wins from four in qualifying heats as he again took victory in 200m touring race 3. Dave Gerard finished runner up but was unable to improve on his best time and remained 10th overall after the race. Would it be enough to keep hold of that last place in the A final though?
In heat 4 it was Steve Woodhams who crossed the line in first place ahead of Phil Edwards. Mark Fagan completed the top three and improved his fastest time.
Joe Kerry crosses the line to take the wins
Dave Wood refuels Simons car during the A final
So with Joe Kerry winning for the second time this year he has closed the gap on championship leader Adam Catchpole to just 3 points. Johnathon Dobney has now moved up into third place in the overall standings with another 2nd placed finish here at Mendip. Another 1-2 finish for Serpent this year and a good result for John Zottl and his Shepherd car. It seems that the change of teams has worked very quickly for John as this was his debut race with his new Shepherd V10.
Onto the Sports GT A final now then which got underway at around 4pm. Mark Green immediately took the lead from the start and Glyn Beal managed to find a way past Pete Hastings in the first few corners to move into second. Kevin Tayor and Lee Chapman were fighting for fourth place early on in the race with Kevin just managing to stay ahead. At the first set of pitstops Pete Hastings briefly took the lead as Mark and Glyn pitted but soon had to surrender that as he came in for fuel himself. This was the order the top five stayed in for a while until Kevin Taylor encountered trouble with his Xray NT1 and began to drop down the order. This meant that Paul Bellinger was able to move up into the top five. On lap 63 Glyn suffered an engine cut after a blown plug and droped down to fifth place. After some quick work by Glyn’s mechanic for the race, 1/8th National champion Tim Wood, he soon rejoined the race and began to catch Paul Bellinger who was in fourth position. By lap 82 Mark Green was still out in front with Pete Hastings second and Lee Chapman in third. Glyn had managed to overtake Paul for fourth place and was closing in on Lee for the final podium position. At this point Kevin Taylor had been quietly working his way back up the field and managed to get past Paul to take 5th place just moments from the end. So in the end it was another win in the Sports GT class for Mark Green with Pete Hastings finishing 2nd a couple of laps behind. Third place went to Lee Chapman who managed to hold off defending champion and Serpent team mate Glyn Beal by a few seconds. Kevin Taylor just got ahead of Paul Bellinger to take 5th by six seconds, and Richard Boult finished 7th after starting from 10th on the grid. Andy Gregory, Joe Keaveney, and Mark Christopher unfortunately all suffered problems and were forced to retire from the race.
So Mark Green and Pete Hastings will take 100 points apiece towards their championship after round 5. Glyn Beal has extended his lead over Richard Boult despite only managing a 4th place finish. Glyn leads by 8 points now with three rounds remaining. Even though Mark Christopher had a bad meeting and came 10th he still holds onto third overall and has a very comfortable 20 point lead over Andy Gregory in 4th.
Alan King helped Mark Green on his way to victory
Thanks to the Mendip club for an excellent meeting. Next up on the calendar is a trip up to Scotland to visit the superb Stonehaven club. Thanks to Team Dremel, Rob Dobney and especially Julie Thurston for all photos over the weekend.
Joe Kerry - 1/10th IC PRO
Dremel Prize winner Johnathon Dobney
In the C final Sports GT it was Bob Harley who led from the beginning with Devendra Mahatme getting an excellent start and moving up to second by the first corner. With Bob Harley still leading, Peter Hellawell first overtook John Russell and then Devendra Mahatme to move into second place on lap 4. On lap 12 Peter suffered yet more problems to add to his disappointing qualifying result and dropped down to third place. So at the halfway point it was Bob out in front with Devendra second, Peter third, and John Russell fourth. Shortly after Peter had managed to work his way back up to second position but then yet more bad luck as he was forced to retire just three minutes from the end. This meant that Devendra and John both moved up a place into second and third. This was the order they finished in with Bob on 58 laps, Devendra 52 laps, and John 49 laps.