Kerswell Takes Triple Crown!
Report: The Mighty Mark Stiles
The final round of this seasons BRCA 1:12 scale nationals took place last weekend at the home of British 1:12 scale racing; Chesterfield. Going into the meeting there were six drivers still in contention for the stock championship, while any one of three could still win modified.
Chris Kerswell came to the meeting on a crest of form after winning the EFRA Stock Euro’s 2 weeks previously and looked to be one of the favourites to take the BRCA stock championship with his GM powered V-Dezign car.
Qualifying was all about two drivers. Andy Moore and Chris Kerswell were the class of the field and would occupy the front row of the grid with Chris on pole. Associated’s Keith Robertson would line up third ahead of the Tekin powered CRC of Mick Farrell and Mark Stiles’s V-Dezign.
Once again the final was all about Chris and Andy. The pair drove away from the field and eventually lapped everyone else in the race! Chris led from the start until just after the seven minute mark when a mistake let Andy through into the lead. Chris then piled on the pressure and managed to slip back past the Hot Bodies driver with a stunning move on the last lap. However, on the very next corner Andy fought back and re-took the lead, which he would hold until the finish. Andy’s move was seen as very robust by many of the watching crowd, but the result stood and Andy took the win. Mark Stiles had a good run to cross the line third, but received a five second penalty for a jump start, and this dropped him to sixth. This gifted Elliott Harper third place. The result meant that Chris took the championship on count back ahead of Elliott.
Sunday was modified day and once again the championship would boil down to the final race of the season. Olly Jefferies, Chris Kerswell and Andy Griffiths were the drivers involved and these three all looked fast during qualifying. Chris ended up taking TQ by less than a second in the final round of qualifying ahead of Andy Griffiths with Olly lining up third.
The A final was the closest of the year with five drivers all running in a train at the front for the entire eight minutes. Chris led from the front knowing that a win for him with Olly third or lower would give him the championship. CRC’s Elliott Harper and Andy Moore were also in the lead group and were looking to get good results to improve their championship positions.
Mark Stiles ran slightly behind the lead group during the early stages but could not maintain the leaders pace and would eventually fall off the back of the group and have a lonely run to sixth place.
Like on Saturday Chris led for the majority of the race, but a mistake at about two-thirds distance let Andy Griffiths through into the lead. At this stage Andy looked on course for the title, but an agonising half spin saw him drop to fourth with just over a minute remaining. This put Chris back in the driving seat and he didn’t need any further invitation. He held the lead until the end to take his second BRCA title in as many days. Elliott Harper finished second to deny Olly Jefferies the title, with Olly right behind Elliott in third. Andy Griffiths was disappointed to finish fourth, a mere 1.2 seconds behind the winner!
So in a BRCA national series that turned out to be the closest for years, Chris Kerswell is the champion in both the stock and modified classes. He adds these titles to the Stock Euros one he already had under his belt to round off what can only be described as an amazing season for him. Well done Chris! Chris used V-Dezign cars, GM electrics and Parma Blackhawk tyres to power him to victory.
