The BRCA 1/10th IC 200mm Scale Touring Championship round 4 went to Snetterton Park Norfolk. At this meeting we will be having EFRA Style Bump-Up Finals, something I have never experienced so I was looking forward to the weekends racing. I arrived Friday night because the British Formula 3 Championship was taking place at the full size circuit the same weekend and the roads were very busy.

Saturday
It had not stopped raining all night and by 9am it was still pouring down, 10am saw Robin Hammett go out to see how the car handled, every corner it was like a drift car but well controlled. By mid afternoon the rain had got lighter but still too wet for practice, so yet again back to the hotels and caravans.

Sunday
Due to no practice the committee decided to have 1 hour of practice in heat order starting at 8:30 to give all 30 drivers a chance to set cars up. Vice Chairman Wayne Lander called a drivers briefing just before 9:45 am it was very detailed he told us how the bump-up finals work reminded everybody about the rules, there were a few more committee members here to help run the meeting. Bob Harley was on the rostrum to be referee, Max Crossland was the official flagman to start the heats and finals, Malcolm Norwood in race control with Rob Nelson from BBK Rob brought along some wireless technology to enable those with Laptops and PDA`s so they could be pick up Wi-Fi signals to have race results and full lap timing in their pits, this proved very popular.

Practice
The practice was more like a rubber meeting most opting for rubber tyres but the track was very greasy and no grip.

Qualifying
The first round was not easy with lots of pirouettes and no grip, by round 2 the track had a dry line and with most drivers back on foam tyres laps and times would be better.
With the Snetterton Sunday market on the adjoining field there was always a large crowd looking on as the qualifying was going on, so people were interested to know when the finals were on as they were amazed at how fast the cars were going, but they did appreciate how hard they would be to handle.
If you are wondering about such names as Darren Johnson, Ben Cosgrove, Mark Gilliland and Gareth Bell well unfortunately they had other commitments so this prevented them from attending, hope to see them at the next round.

Finals The next four finals are all over 20 mins, before all finals there was a warm up time and a 1lap formation as per EFRA rule.

Finals

B 1/4 Final
Nice clean start for all Neil Wallace took the lead followed very closely by Peter Craig at the 1st fuel stop both cars came in together Neil got out just in front of Peter and held it till lap 27 when Peter Craig took pole Mark Owen in 3rd and 4th Haley Baker, David Gerard and Nigel Philpott both jostling for 5th place at the 3rd fuel stop Nigel was in the pit lane along time which put David Gerard up to 5th place but unfortunately David retired on lap 56, Peter held 1st and Neil 2nd and Mark 3rd these three bumped-up to the B Semi

A 1/4 Final

Another good start especially for Matthew Oke who from 4th on the grid was in 1st place from the start, Devendra Mahatme took 1st place on lap 5 then on lap 14 Alex Brown took1st place and held it till the end, Matt Williams moved up to 2nd place on lap 18, Matt was slowing down at lap 27 and losing places he came in to the pits his front drive belt had broken but went back out and at lap 40 retired, Matthew Oke took 2nd place and held this till the end, and with Devendra Mahatme in 3rd this is how it finished. So Alex Brown, Matthew Oke and Devendra Mahatme all bumped-up to the A Semi.

B Semi Final

With another clean start pole position man Stephen Brown takes the lead with Neal King very close behind and by lap 5 Neal King took 1st place, little Alex Thurston was in 3rd Fred Singleton in 4th. On lap 21 Stephen Brown went into the back of Neal King and was given a stop penalty, this put Neal down in 6th place but he pushed so hard he took a tumble but by lap 29 he was back in 3rd place, Adam Walker Catchpole had moved up to 2nd place, Adrian Garlick was the first retirement on lap 27 followed closely by Fred Singleton. On Stephen Browns second fuel stop as he came in to the pits he hit the pit wall and broke a front linkage this put him out of the race, so we had Adam in 1st place Neil 2nd and Alex in 3rd place. Lap 56 saw Neal King retired; Peter Craig who was 8th on the grid was now in 2nd place, so they finished with Adam Walker Catchpole in 1st Peter 2nd and little Alex Thurston in 3rd all bumped-up to the A Final. Neil Wallace just missed out coming in 4th.

A Semi Final

With only 3 places left in the A Final it was anyone’s all had a good start with Simon Wood in 1st Pete Watt 2nd and Robin Hammett in 3rd from 5th on the grid, by lap 17 Robin was now in 2nd and all over the back of Simon, he put in a lap of 13:16 on lap 28 but could not shake Robin off, Pete Watt was now in 3rd with Daniel Williams in 4th place. On lap 38 as Trevor Villa came in for fuel to use his words “The pit wall swerved out in front of me and damaged my wishbone” so he retired. Robin took the lead on lap 42 Simon and Robin changed places many times, Pete Watt was lying third, but fell down to 5th place with a wheel coming off then got back to 3rd when rear shock came off he carried on regardless. On lap 54 Robin did a fast lap of 13:27 I think they were playing with everyone with the crowds wooing and arrring and oh no, by lap 61 Robin was back in 1st and was having trouble keeping his place by lap 68 Simon was back in 1st, Aaron Wearn was having his own race with Daniel for 3rd place. Pete Watt had his front shock come off on lap 72 he retired. By lap 79 Robin was 1st Simon in 2nd and Aaron was 3rd and they all bumped-up to the A Final.

A Final (45 minutes)

This was going to be the final of finals, excellent start for all apart from Johnathan Dobney who had a clutch problem during the main final warm up, sending him to the back of the grid, Mark Green lead the field followed by Kyle Branson in 2nd and Chris Slater in 3rd but by lap 9 Kyle took 1st place Mark in 2nd and Robin Hammett in 3rd, Chris was in 4th place and slowing down he had a problem, by lap 24 he was down in 5th Adam Walker Catchpole had moved to 4th as the first cars came in for fuel the position were Kyle 1st Mark 2nd and Robin 3rd. Before the second pit stop on lap 41 Chris Slater’s clutch came undone and resulted in a fly weight breaking off and cracking the fuel tank, better luck next Chris. At the second fuel stop both Kyle and Mark came in together it was down to the pitmen Kyle just pulled away with Mark right on his bumper, a good fuel stop for Robin still keeping 3rd place and Adam Walker Catchpole now in 4th this is how it was for very much of the race Mark and Kyle changing places they kept us all fixed on them it was a really close thing. On lap 95 Mark Green put in a 12:94 lap, on lap 109 Aaron`s pitman put a foot in the pitlane so he had a stop go penalty. On lap142 Kyle seemed to lose power and lost 3 places down to 4th he came into the pits where the pitman had to change both 1st and 2nd gears (they had stripped) back out still in 4th place Mark still 1st Robin 2nd and Johnathan Dobney in 3rd place but then his front right shock absorber snapped but stayed out meaning he drove the last 10 minutes of the race on three dampers. Kyle Branson was called in for a stop go again his pitman put his foot in the pitlane. Peter Craig made a last minute dash with disastrous consequence he snapped his conrod in his new STS engine on lap 172 with the last few minutes left Mark was still in 1st Robin in 2nd and Kyle had fought back to 3rd place and Johnathan in 4th with his broken shock, this was the finishing order. Alex Thurston had a great days racing going straight from qualifying to the B Semi and straight to the A Final were he finished 9th due to his battery failing.