Team Durango – BRCA National Round 6 – Stotfold – End of Season Report
It doesn’t seem long ago that the BRCA National series kicked off at Talywain back in April and now we are at the final round in Stotfold. The Stotfold track is one of the most demanding on the calendar due to its astro-turf composition and proximity to some large trees. The track never seems to quite dry out fully leaving a greasy section of astro whilst the rest of the track basks in sunshine and dries out quickly to some of the highest grip we encounter throughout the year. This said, the track and facilities are in tip- top condition and is amongst the driver’s favourite tracks to visit.
After the excitement of the finale of the 2wd championship the day before (Well done Tom Cockerill!) the 4wd had somewhat less to live up to. Lee Martin had already walked away with the championship, but the rest of the top ten were far from sorted and there was the all important F1 license grade to be fought for, some nails were certainly going to be bitten to the quick by the end of the day.
Qualifying
Round 1 – Elliot Boots (14th) driving his DEX410 got the ball rolling for Team Durango setting the time to beat in heat 7 with Wayne Collinson (31st) competing the ‘R’ version of the car also putting in a healthy time. The end of season form of David Orbell (16th) continued with another good showing in the following heat only just over a second off Elliot’s time. 2009 4wd Champion Neil Cragg returned to the championship for the first time to prepare for the 1:10 Euro’s in Austria. Neil’s pace was there to see from the outset, determined to put away the nightmare of the 2wd event from the day before although Rob ‘Hollywood’ Rasey will never go quiet about the 2wd final result! Adam Skelding (15th), just pipped David Orbell’s time and with Craig Collinson (11th), Team Durango were looking good. Nathan Waters finished the round off for Team Durango with an excellent 6th in round.
Round 2 – The round was almost a carbon copy of round one with Nathan (7th), Craig (13th), Adam (15th), Chris Bowater got his meeting started with a 16th followed closely by David (17th) , James Helliwell (19th), Richard Ralph (21st). Graham North backed his 32nd in round one with a 29th looking to secure enough points to attain his F1 license for the first time.
Round 3 – In almost another carbon copy of rounds 1 and 2 the same drivers swapped positions with each other and the Durango boy’s ended up with the same scores for the 3 round. Nathan (6th), Craig (11th), David (16th), Richard (22nd). Wayne Collinson backed up his round 1 score with a 34th in round with his ‘R’ version, closely followed by Stuart Harlow’s ‘full fat’ version in 35th.
Round 4 – Nathan finished an excellent set of qualifying results off with another top ten in round and was safe in the A- Main. With only Chris Bowater and James Helliwell able to improve their scores the nail biting began for those eager to see if they were dropping previous scores.
After qualifying the team were:
- 7th Nathan Waters
- 17th Craig Collinson
- 18th Adam Skelding
- 20th David Orbell
- 23rd Chris Bowater
- 28th James Helliwell
- 29th Richard Ralph
- 38th Graham North
Finals
Nathan’s A finals went well for once after what seems to be a torrid time of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time at other events this season.
Leg 1 – An excellent drive in leg one from flag to flag saw him take 3rd behind the flying Kev Lee and Simon Moss holding off the 2010 champion Lee Martin in a full on wheel to wheel battle reminiscent of the oOple event earlier in the year.
Leg 2 – This seemed to be back to normal for Nathan as he collected Lee Martin’s back flipping car off the line, cart wheeling for what seemed like an eternity of the track only to be stopped by the catch fencing. The strength of the 410 showed through though and he was able to continue and still finish a creditable 6th after a disasterous start.
Leg 3 – Another epic midfield battle saw Nathan take 5th, giving him 6th overall at the meeting.
Then the nail biting began…
Where would people end up…Who would get their F1? The cut-off announced by ‘Master of Ceremonies’ Paul Worsley was 41st, and anyone above this would attain the coveted F1 ranking. The series had also been one of the best attended on record, with 120 drivers completing 4 rounds or more and 160 different drivers competing in the series, making the 1:10 off road section the strongest section in the BRCA.
Team Durango took the following positions:
- Nathan Waters 11th
- Craig Collinson 12th
- Adam Skelding 15th
- James Helliwell 18th
- David Orbell 22nd
- Chris Bowater 23rd
- Richard Ralph 26th
- Richard Coates 34th
- Graham North 39th
- James Dixon 47th
- Damian Whittle 57th
- Wayne Collinson 58th
- Stuart Harlow 65th
- Chris Stewart 68th
Team Durango drivers also took the following honours.
F2’s
- 1st Adam Skelding
- 2nd David Orbell
- 5th Richard Coates
With 9 Durango drivers attaining their F1’s, and 8 of these having their best ever 4wd season, it’s been a great debut season for the team and it’s not over yet. The F2 & F3,4,5 Championships still to come along with the fast approaching Euros, there’s plenty of time to add some silverware to the cabinet.
Back Row (From Left to Right) – David Orbell, Richard Ralph, Nathan Waters
Front Row (From Left to Right) – Craig ‘Hulk’ Collinson, James ‘Ralph’ Helliwell, Adam Skelding, Richard Coates, Graham North, Chris Bowater, Damian Whittle.
Picture courtesy of Jimmy @ oOple.com
Source: Team Durango
