Muchmore UK RugRacers 3 Championship Round 1
October 11th, 7.15am and we were entering the hall at Wodson Leisure Centre for Round 1 of the Muchmore UK RugRacers Championship. We were greeted by a 32m x 16m Prima felt carpet track with a fast but technical flowing layout. The track markings were the now widely used white trunking with bendy foam tubes which gave a nice flow to the corners, which had all been laid the previous night by the ever hard working HRCC crew and many helpers from other clubs in the region. Around the track were banners from MM UK which doubled up as an eye catching crash barriers. The rostrum for this track is a little higher than most indoor clubs as it is on the first floor balcony. So for some drivers new to RR's this was a bit of a shock to the perspective but a good one as you have a very nice birds eye view of the whole track. From the rostrum you can see the huge score board along the back straight which gives you a real time readout of track positions and the result at the end of the race, so there's no need to dash to the results board after your race to see which position you finished in. To the far right of the pits and track were Selections Racing, the series shop had set up and they had all the requirements for the days racing.
New changes for this year.
This year saw a change to the rules with a new weight limit of 1450 for all classes due to most now using Lipo's. There was also a change to the control tyre which is now the very grippy Sweep EXP 32's with Yellow wheels and Pink inserts, which are softer, yet fuller giving less air gap.. These new tyres have a huge amount of grip which did catch a few people out during qualifying but they do last a long time so you get your monies worth.
A new idea for this year was to have a control additive, Sweep X1, which from what I can see was a success, as it takes away the guessing game of who's using what and what works the best. After speaking to several drivers of differing abilities during the day and before the meeting everyone agreed it was a good idea and it worked.
As for the format things were going to be very interesting as gone was the old system of 4 rounds and 2 finals and instead we would be treated to 3 rounds and 3 finals, so no room for error's in qualifying. But a bit less pressure in the finals.
Practice.
With ample pitting space we set about running extension leads, putting up tables and chairs and arranging our equipment for the day's racing. Once all had set up practice got underway with two 15 minute slots for both TC3 13.5 and TC2 10.5. No class for TC1 Mod this year as the regular's had decided to drop down to 10.5 for the winter as there was more competition for them due to a lack of Mod drivers booking in.
As practice came to an end it was apparent that to get a good time was going to be hard on this track as it rewarded the brave with quick lap times but if you got it wrong on the two long chicanes you would be finishing the race with a tweaked car, so consistency was going to be the key and there were a lot of very quick consistent drivers in attendance for R1.
In the pits.
There were no major chassis changes for drivers as most had already sorted there rides out and tweaked them to perfection during the outdoor season which had only recently finished.
On my pit walks through the day it was apparent that many drivers were using the GM120 speedo's and motors (13.5-10.5) but there was also a good showing of Tekin RS Pro's aswell with most drivers using laptops or borrowing them to adjust their settings on both types. Demon and Nosram 40c Lipo's were also the most common seen. As for mentioned there was only one tyre additive used and only one brake cleaner worth mentioning, sorry had to do it.
Round 1.
With only 40 minutes of rubber laid during practice the track was still amazingly grippy for round one with some very consistent lap times. As drivers found the full width of the track and using every available inch of it we saw some very fast cars using the turbo on their speed controllers to good effect down the straight. Cars have become a lot faster indoors than last winter now that the technology has gone up with 40c lipo's and programmable speed controllers, not to mention the improved car designs.
13.5 Round 1 FTQ'S
| 1 | Azman Sulaiman | 24/ 311.70 | 12.99 | 12.46 |
| 2 | Dave Ringsell | 23/ 303.03 | 13.18 | 12.61 |
| 3 | Oli Meggitt | 23/ 303.16 | 13.18 | 12.44 |
| 4 | Steve Henry | 23/ 303.44c* | 13.19 | 12.20* |
| 5 | Mark Buonaiuto | 23/ 304.12 | 13.22 | 12.38 |
| 6 | Philip Randall | 23/ 304.48 | 13.24 | 12.42 |
| 7 | Dean Osbon | 23/ 304.86 | 13.25 | 12.48 |
| 8 | Matthew Worton | 23/ 305.01 | 13.26 | 12.53 |
| 9 | Ian Edwards | 23/ 305.19 | 13.27 | 12.62 |
| 10 | Richard Clarke | 23/ 310.30 | 13.49 | 12.22 |
10.5 Round 1 FTQ'S
| 1 | Elliott Harper | 26/ 301.99 | 11.62 | 11.35 |
| 2 | Chris Kerswell | 26/ 307.19 | 11.82 | 11.42 |
| 3 | Ricky Copsey | 25/ 301.43 | 12.06 | 11.71 |
| 4 | Charlie Ware | 25/ 302.17 | 12.09 | 11.63 |
| 5 | David Bowen | 25/ 303.25 | 12.13 | 11.62 |
| 6 | Andy Low | 25/ 306.50 | 12.26 | 11.75 |
| 7 | Tony Broad | 24/ 300.29 | 12.51 | 11.79 |
| 8 | Steve Lissamore | 24/ 302.84 | 12.62 | 11.40 |
| 9 | Ashley Wiffen | 24/ 304.35 | 12.68 | 11.87 |
| 10 | Christopher Delves | 24/ 305.12 | 12.71 | 11.81 |
Round 2.
Things had started to hot up in round two on and off the track as the temperature in the hall went up so did the track temp which produced some very quick times from the front runners.
13.5 Round 2 FTQ'S
| 1 | Malcolm Hall | 25/ 310.41 | 12.42 | 12.00 |
| 2 | Philip Randall | 24/ 302.31 | 12.60 | 12.33 |
| 3 | Richard Clarke | 24/ 303.93 | 12.66 | 12.09 |
| 4 | Azman Sulaiman | 24/ 304.43 | 12.68 | 12.30 |
| 5 | Mark Buonaiuto | 24/ 311.55 | 12.98 | 12.38 |
| 6 | Robert Sawell | 23/ 300.07 | 13.05 | 12.46 |
| 7 | Dave Ringsell | 23/ 300.98 | 13.09 | 12.43 |
| 8 | Oli Meggitt | 23/ 302.71 | 13.16 | 12.24 |
| 9 | Ian Edwards | 23/ 303.57 | 13.20 | 12.28 |
| 10 | Dean Osbon | 23/ 309.21 | 13.44 | 12.32 |
10.5 Round 2 FTQ'S
| 1 | Elliott Harper | 26/ 302.88 | 11.65 | 11.25 |
| 2 | Chris Kerswell | 26/ 304.38 | 11.71 | 11.44 |
| 3 | David Bowen | 25/ 302.46 | 12.10 | 11.77 |
| 4 | Richard Thorpe | 25/ 306.01 | 12.24 | 11.74 |
| 5 | Ashley Wiffen | 25/ 306.32 | 12.25 | 11.94 |
| 6 | Christopher Delves | 25/ 306.48 | 12.26 | 11.73 |
| 7 | David Saul | 25/ 308.02 | 12.32 | 11.62 |
| 8 | Tony Broad | 25/ 312.41 | 12.50 | 11.87 |
| 9 | John Pape | 24/ 300.41 | 12.52 | 11.75 |
| 10 | Charlie Ware | 24/ 301.33 | 12.56 | 11.75 |
Round 3.
Round three or s.o.b. as the grip went up so did the mistakes in the previous rounds so with all to play for there was some very close racing but for some a bit to close with a few drivers ending up in lower finals than would be expected, but that's racing.
Overall Qualifying Results TC3 13.5
| 1 | Malcolm Hall | 25/ 310.41 | 2 | 12.42 | 12.00 |
| 2 | Philip Randall | 24/ 301.66 | 3 | 12.57 | 12.04 |
| 3 | Richard Clarke | 24/ 303.93 | 2 | 12.66 | 12.09 |
| 4 | Azman Sulaiman | 24/ 304.43 | 2 | 12.68 | 12.30 |
| 5 | Oli Meggitt | 24/ 306.58 | 3 | 12.77 | 12.22 |
| 6 | Mark Buonaiuto | 24/ 311.55 | 2 | 12.98 | 12.38 |
| 7 | Matthew Worton | 23/ 297.71 | 3 | 12.94 | 12.11 |
| 8 | Robert Sawell | 23/ 300.07 | 2 | 13.05 | 12.46 |
| 9 | Dave Ringsell | 23/ 300.98 | 2 | 13.09 | 12.43 |
| 10 | Dean Osbon | 23/ 301.25 | 3 | 13.10 | 12.32 |
| 11 | Mark Young | 23/ 302.36 | 3 | 13.15 | 12.77 |
| 12 | Ian Edwards | 23/ 303.31 | 3 | 13.19 | 12.24 |
| 13 | Steve Henry | 23/ 303.44c* | 1 | 13.19 | 12.20* |
| 14 | Matt Curtis | 23/ 310.28 | 3 | 13.49 | 12.51 |
| 15 | Olly O'Conner | 22/ 304.19 | 3 | 13.83 | 12.88 |
| 16 | Marlon Mckulsky | 22/ 305.27 | 3 | 13.88 | 13.14 |
| 17 | Martin Lawson | 22/ 306.52 | 1 | 13.93 | 12.72 |
| 18 | Noel Bean | 22/ 306.62 | 2 | 13.94 | 12.79 |
| 19 | Scott Young | 22/ 306.72 | 2 | 13.94 | 12.94 |
| 20 | Ricky Burnett | 22/ 310.68 | 1 | 14.12 | 12.88 |
| 21 | Chris Smith | 22/ 311.18 | 3 | 14.14 | 13.10 |
| 22 | Ali Can | 22/ 313.84 | 3 | 14.27 | 13.00 |
| 23 | Justin Nuttall | 22/ 314.97 | 2 | 14.32 | 13.19 |
| 24 | Alan Chipolina | 21/ 301.95 | 3 | 14.38 | 13.47 |
| 25 | Paul Kenealy | 21/ 302.38 | 2 | 14.40 | 13.13 |
| 26 | Christopher Hampson | 21/ 304.23 | 2 | 14.49 | 13.67 |
| 27 | Adam Burgess | 21/ 304.95 | 2 | 14.52 | 13.36 |
| 28 | Jan Pedersen | 21/ 305.74 | 1 | 14.56 | 13.56 |
| 29 | Neil Cooper | 21/ 308.67 | 3 | 14.70 | 12.86 |
| 30 | Christopher Brooks | 21/ 309.23 | 2 | 14.73 | 13.95 |
| 31 | Martin Tunak | 20/ 302.04 | 1 | 15.10 | 12.72 |
| 32 | Stuart Laxton | 20/ 305.98 | 1 | 15.30 | 13.38 |
| 33 | John Lloyd | 20/ 306.17 | 1 | 15.31 | 14.35 |
| 34 | Stephen Burton | 20/ 310.78 | 2 | 15.54 | 14.56 |
| 35 | Chris Smith | 20/ 311.30 | 1 | 15.57 | 13.80 |
| 36 | Nicky Yarranton | 19/ 306.38 | 3 | 16.13 | 14.27 |
| 37 | Drew Barby | 19/ 306.86 | 2 | 16.15 | 14.68 |
| 38 | Paul Isaacs | 19/ 309.12 | 3 | 16.27 | 14.31 |
| 39 | Richard Coddard | 19/ 313.52 | 3 | 16.50 | 14.95 |
| 40 | Steve Thompson | 19/ 314.04 | 3 | 16.53 | 14.98 |
| 41 | Dani Young | 18/ 301.13 | 2 | 16.73 | 14.62 |
| 42 | Richard Powell | 18/ 302.48 | 2 | 16.80 | 14.80 |
| 43 | Martin Laxton | 18/ 318.10c* | 3 | 17.67 | 15.24* |
| 44 | Terry Yarranton | 18/ 318.68 | 1 | 17.70 | 16.07 |
| 45 | Martyn Prichard | 17/ 313.17 | 1 | 18.42 | 16.15 |
| 46 | Ken Bean | 16/ 307.43 | 2 | 19.21 | 16.66 |
| 47 | Kristian Irons | 2/ 34.17 | 2 | 17.09 | 16.01 |
Overall Qualifying Results TC3 10.5
| 1 | Elliott Harper | 27/ 310.00 | 3 | 11.48 | 11.21 |
| 2 | Chris Kerswell | 27/ 311.65 | 3 | 11.54 | 11.19 |
| 3 | David Bowen | 26/ 304.15 | 3 | 11.70 | 11.44 |
| 4 | Paul Pinkney | 26/ 310.83 | 3 | 11.96 | 11.46 |
| 5 | Ricky Copsey | 25/ 301.43 | 1 | 12.06 | 11.71 |
| 6 | Ashley Wiffen | 25/ 301.68 | 3 | 12.07 | 11.66 |
| 7 | Charlie Ware | 25/ 302.17 | 1 | 12.09 | 11.63 |
| 8 | Richard Thorpe | 25/ 302.63 | 3 | 12.11 | 11.67 |
| 9 | Steve Lissamore | 25/ 302.91 | 3 | 12.12 | 11.60 |
| 10 | Christopher Delves | 25/ 306.48 | 2 | 12.26 | 11.73 |
| 11 | Andy Low | 25/ 306.50 | 1 | 12.26 | 11.75 |
| 12 | Tony Broad | 25/ 307.72 | 3 | 12.31 | 11.79 |
| 13 | David Saul | 25/ 308.02 | 2 | 12.32 | 11.62 |
| 14 | Jordan Howe | 25/ 310.42 | 3 | 12.42 | 11.83 |
| 15 | Richard King | 25/ 310.76 | 3 | 12.43 | 11.79 |
| 16 | John Pape | 24/ 300.41 | 2 | 12.52 | 11.75 |
| 17 | Andrew Croston | 24/ 303.20 | 3 | 12.63 | 11.98 |
| 18 | Scott Morton | 24/ 304.80 | 3 | 12.70 | 11.81 |
| 19 | Jordan Mckulsky | 24/ 306.36 | 2 | 12.77 | 11.90 |
| 20 | Colin Gardiner | 24/ 306.62 | 3 | 12.78 | 12.17 |
| 21 | Gavin Clinch | 24/ 308.11 | 1 | 12.84 | 12.42 |
| 22 | Adam Pryke | 24/ 309.05 | 3 | 12.88 | 11.93 |
| 23 | Andrew Keen | 23/ 303.76 | 3 | 13.21 | 12.40 |
| 24 | Andy Langham-Service | 22/ 302.94 | 3 | 13.77 | 12.60 |
| 25 | David Price | 22/ 304.75 | 3 | 13.85 | 12.94 |
| 26 | Jonathan Holloway | 22/ 307.68 | 1 | 13.99 | 12.17 |
| 27 | Anthony Adcock | 21/ 301.94 | 3 | 14.38 | 13.15 |
| 28 | Peter Covell | 21/ 306.27 | 2 | 14.58 | 13.20 |
| 29 | Neil Overson | 21/ 308.78 | 2 | 14.70 | 13.03 |
| 30 | Josh Ng | 18/ 300.65* | 2 | 16.70 | 14.43* |
| 31 | Ben Mannell | 15/ 263.90 | 3 | 17.59 | 12.39 |
Concour's.
The lucky winner of the Concour's or as we call it who's got the best body shell was a very nicely airbrushed fluorescent pink, blue and white spidersweb effect painted by Scott Young..
Raffle.
Muchmore U.K. had once again donated a vast amount equipment to the club to give away as raffle which went down very well with the drivers and all the proceeds going to improving and maintaing the club's equipment and track.
Finals.
With the finals sorted and posted we got under way with the:
13.5 E Final.
Leg 1. Was won by Dani Young 20 310.02, second was Richard Powell 19 309.79 and third was Martin Laxton 19 315.63.
Leg 2. Another win for Dani with a 19 301.06, second again was Richard 18 309.78 with Martin following once more in third on a 18 313.19
Leg 3. Well with 2 wins already in the bag Dani had one the E final but had a taste for winning so won the last leg on a 21 314.52 her best time of the day, with Martin finishing second 19 314.00 and Terry Yarranton finishing in third on 18 303.61 a great result for him at his first of many MM RR's meetings. So the Overall results were: 1st Dani Young 2nd Richard Powell 3rd Martin Laxton.
13.5 D Final.
Leg 1. After a very close race Martin Tunak 21 304.38 just pipped Drew Barby 21 306.27 across the line followed by John Lloyd 20 305.50.
Leg 2. Another win for Martin on 21 313.37 with Stuart Laxton 20 301.81 claiming second with Drew hot on his bumper in third on 20 303.64.
Leg 3. With 2 wins Martin went on to record his best time of the day on a 21 303.81 and completed a clean sweep with 3 wins, John finished on a 21 310.10 and Chris Smith (G.M.C.C.) third on 21 313.02. So the overall results were: 1st Martin Tunak 2nd John Lloyd 3rd Drew Barby.
13.5 C Final.
Leg 1. Times were starting to get closer as we moved up the finals and the leg 1 win went to Paul Kenealy on a 21 302.14 second was Alan Chipolina 21 303.21 and third Chris Smith (HRCC).
Leg 2. A different winner this time was Justin Nuttal 22 314.04 second again was Alan 21 308.36 and third was Adam Burgess 21 310.24.
Leg 3. So with two different winners after two legs all was still to play for with Alan looking good for a win but it was Justin again that took the honours with a very quick 22 301. 47 with second going to Ali Can 22 313.94 and third Jan Pederson 21 309.15. Adam unfortunately did not finish the race so could not challenge Justin for the win. So the overall results were: 1st Justin Nuttall 2nd Alan Chipolina 3rd Ali Can.
13.5 B Final.
Leg 1. Winning the first leg from second on the grid was Ian Edwards on a 24 312.62 his first 24 lapper of the day which I'm sure he wished he had done in qualy as this would have put him in the A final second was Steve Henry 23 306.76 and third Matt Curtis with a 22 301.95.
Leg 2. There was a swap of the positions with Steve taking the win on 24 310.92 which was also an A final time from Ian on 23 302.68 and pole sitter Mark Young finally getting his act together on a 23 308.65.
Leg 3. All was close at the top and it was anyone’s final to win or lose but after a bit of bad luck for Steve he dropped down the order as Ian took the win on 23 302.45 closely followed by Mark on a 23 304.43 and Scott Young on 23 308.96. So the overall results were: 1st Ian Edwards 2nd Steve Henry 3rd Mark Young. I'm sure all three will be hoping for better results next time.
13.5 A Final.
Leg 1. With Malcolm being the only driver on 25 laps in qualy it would be a brave person to bet against him winning the finals. After a very good start and some very consistent laps Malcolm pooped in another 25 311.86 a second shy of his best time with Philip Randall taking second on 24 309.10 and Dean Osbon on 24 310.64 from 10th on the grid!
Leg 2. This time we saw a new leader Philip, who just sneaked across the line on a 24 301.47 in front of Malc on 24 304.93 and Oil Meggitt in third on 24 306.27 so it was make or break for leg three.
Leg 3. Malc led the train of cars off of the start grid again and pulled out a lead which he was to hold on to until the trumpets sounded at the end of the race with him finishing first on 24 300.68 ahead of Richard Clarke on 24 303.74 and Azman Sulaiman in third on 24 309.81 who had put in some solid results in the first two legs which rewarded him in the end. The overall results were: 1st Malcolm Hall 2nd Philip Randal 3rd Azman Sulaiman.
10.5 C Final.
Leg 1. Taking the first win was Gavin Clinch on 23 301.97 second was Adam Pryke 23 310.34 and coming home third was Jonathan Holloway with a 23 312.54.
Leg 2. Adam took a fine win by nearly a lap on 24 301.22 with Gavin second on 23 300.24 and Jonathan again took third with a 23 310.43.
Leg 3. Gavin again took the win and with it the final on 24 301.36 with Jonathan taking a fine second on 23 300.40 and Adam taking third on 23 303.80. So the overall results were: 1st Gavin Clinch 2nd Adam Pryke 3rd Jonathan Holloway.
10.5 B Final.
Leg 1. The first win went to Richard King on 24 303.50 second went to Scott Morton on 24 305.00 and Tony Broad claimed third on 24 305.81 so with just a little over 2 seconds between all three drivers we were in for an exciting final.
Leg 2. Tony took his turn in the queue this time to take the win on 25 302.31 with John Pape second on 25 302.63 and Jordan Howe taking a fine third on 25 305.51 in this very competitive final where anyone could take the overall win going into the last leg.
Leg 3. Tony finally took his second win after what seemed like a very long race on 25 303.34 with Richard taking second on 25 306.24 and John on 25 308.51 some very good close racing with times to match. So the overall results were: 1st Tony Broad 2nd Richard King 3rd John Pape.
10.5 A Final.
Leg 1. After some excellent action in quali we were not to be disapointed in the finals as Elliott Harper took the first win on 26 302.65 Chris Creswell claimed second on 25 293.00 and Ricky Copsey third on 25 300.38.
Leg 2. Elliott was back on his qualy pace and put in a faster 27 305.12 with Chris second on 26 300.10 just missing a 27 lapper and David Bowen third on 26 308.34.
Leg 3. After winning legs one and two Elliott was all done and dusted but still up for a challenge and posted a 27 305.57 and showing his consistency by taking his third win with Paul Pinkney on 26 310.24 just ahead of David with another fine third place on 26 311.59. So the overall results were: 1st Elliott Harper 2nd Chris Kerswell 3rd David Bowen.
Meeting Summary.
After a long day and many, many fine races during the finals and laughs throughout the day, that was Round 1 over and done with. There were many drivers happy with their results which showed with the smiles on their faces but there were more left contemplating what could have been and thinking of Round 2 in November. Until then, see you trackside