FTX Delivers A Punishing Performance
The FTX Punisher claimed a much deserved victory at the second round of the BRCA Large Scale UK National Championships held at Kernow Off-Road Race Track, Cornwall.
The CML supported team put in an awesome job over the weekend to give the FTX Punisher it’s first national championship win. CML Team member and FTX Punisher driver Steve Haynes qualified 2nd overall with CML supported Darren Johnson qualifying in 5th and Ollie James, also supported by CML, qualifying in 4th.
It was a clean start for the main final with Steve Haynes quickly moving into first place followed by Darren and Ollie after pole-man Stevo Backland, driving an MCD, had a problem and had to return to the pits. After a quick fix he soon returned to the action and set about catching the FTX Punisher’s leading trio.
The Kernow Off-Road Race Track, Cornwall.
Darren made a slight mistake and left a gap for Ollie to pass through into second place where he pushed Steve Haynes for a while trying to get past. An unfortunate mistake from Ollie who clipped the track hose and dropped back to fourth place. He quickly got back on the pace and moved into third and set about chasing down 2nd place held by my team mate Darren Johnson.
In the mean time Steve had pulled a healthy gap on the chasing pack as Steve Buckland was trying hard to close the gap on Darren and Ollie in 2nd and 3rd. Darren and Ollie changed places a couple of times over the race with the FTX Punisher trio leading all the way until Darren ran out of fuel moving Stevo Backland and his MCD into 3rd.
Then, with less than 2 minutes of the final remaining, Ollie was struck with the same fate as his team mate Darren as he also ran out of fuel! This moved Stevo Backland up to second and Ollie down to 3rd overall.
Good team work prevailed as Ollie and Darren informed Steve of their situation before leaving the rostrum giving him the chance to drive conservatively for the remainder of the final. This allowed Steve to take his first large scale victory and give the FTX Punisher its first national win here in the UK. (Steve also ran out of fuel on his run down lap.)
“Not a bad result considering all 3 drivers were running standard engines and no tuned pipes. As a team we are all new to large scale racing and have to learn a bit more about engine tuning as this was our down fall and why we ran out of fuel.” said Ollie James after the race.
Overall another good result for the FTX Punisher with 3 in the top five and 2 on the podium, with that all important top step for Steve Haynes.
Source: CML Distribution
