Stafford And Martin Continue To Impress

Ever since round one of the BRCA Nationals at Talywain, Lee Martin and Ellis Stafford have been contenders for race wins and at Eden Park Raceway, the location for round three was no different.

In 2WD, X Factory’s Ellis Stafford had to settle for second in qualifying behind the flying Schumacher Cougar SV of Grant Williams with Tom Cockerill lining up third, enjoying another strong performance with the new Cougar whilst Lee Martin was the top rear motored car in fourth for Tamiya. Ellis won a close first leg from Grant and Tom before the latter two improved a spot in leg two with Ellis breaking. It was all down to the final leg and this saw Ellis highlight his championship credentials with the win and his first National Championship round win of 2010. Grant’s consistency gave him second at the meeting with team mate Tom Cockerill third.

The weather was a lot more comfortable on Sunday and with the track rotation reversed and a new section implemented, it looked like qualifying would be close once again. After taking the TQ spot in 2WD, Grant Williams made it two from two as he drove his CAT SX to the top spot ahead of Lee Martin’s Tamiya with Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill third. Grant Williams won leg one but was dogged with car issues in leg two as Lee took the win. Come the final leg and the pressure was on the pole man and it was Lee Martin who cruised to the leg win and with it the round victory as Grant had to settle for second place again with Tom Cockerill making it two third places in two days.

The next round moves to Oswestry later in the month and the only grass track on the calendar. Will Lee be able to wrap up the 4WD title at the first opportunity and will we see another new winner in 2WD? Keep your eye on rcracer.com to find out.

For a full report from this race meeting, make sure you don’t miss the September issue of Racer Magazine, on sale 5 August 2010.