Three in a Row for Tim Wood and Kyle Branson

Report Andy North

 

 

The ninth round saw a visit to the Cotswold circuit, which is now becoming a regular season finale to the BRCA Championship. The circuit is located within the Kemble Airfield complex on the outskirts of Cirencester. The circuit is very technical with elevation changes and corners which are taken in second gear. The requirement of mid-range engine performance is essential at a circuit with these characteristics as it allows you to use the power to help steer the car from the rear. The championship title was to be decided with Tim Wood having a slender three point lead over Pete Hastings with John Carr in a strong third position. The weather forecast was for a dry weekend which was a surprise since October normally brings rain. With plenty of action on the track during Saturday practice, the grip steadily increased throughout the day and from looking at the relative pace of cars, Mark Green and Kyle Branson again looked by far the quickest. The pace of the championship challenges was very close which would make for an interesting race day.

Sunday was a dry day with clear blue skies so the championship battle would be decided on equal terms. After the first round, it was Mark Green who was the fastest by a comfortable margin from team mate Kyle Branson and Tim Wood, who all registered 20 laps. The chasing pack had registered quick 19 lap runs and aimed to push that little harder to see if the 20 lap bracket was achievable. In the third round, Mark Green again showed is complete dominance with another 20 lapper which was four seconds quicker than his previous run which would surely secure the TQ spot. Down the field, the places for the remaining A final spots were still unknown. Pete Hasting managed to secure a position which jumped him up to fourth overall, splitting the Serpents of Tim Wood and Richard Hicklin. On the other hand, Neil Diver was having a bad day at the office and after a driving incident in the first round, he suffered some mechanical failures that required him to change to an new engine and this meant he would not line up in the A final.

 

Qualifying

• 1. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi
• 2. Kyle Branson – Serpent/Sirio
• 3. Tim Wood – Serpent/Mega
• 4. Pete Hasting – Shepherd/IDM
• 5. Richard Hicklin – Serpent – Mega
• 6. Andrew North – Mugen/IDM
• 7. John Carr – Serpent/Mega
• 8. Jason Frost – Serpent/Mega
• 9. Dan Ghilbaldan – Motonica/Sirio
• 10. Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/IDM

All the cars made it around to the grid for the start of the A final, but the first casualty was Andy Hastings who’s engine cut on the line. Just after the initial get away, Mark Green’s car came to a sudden halt on the racing line which was due to loosing radio caused by possible fuel in the receiver! The remaining drivers after negotiating the start got steadily up to speed with Kyle Branson breaking away from the pack. In second was Tim Wood followed by Richard Hicklin and Pete Hastings. The race then became a precession up front and fuel strategies may have bunched the pack up mid race, but this was not the case and the top four remained the same.

A Final Result

• 1. Kyle Branson
  
• 2. Tim Wood
  
• 3. Richard Hinklin
  
• 4. Pete Hastings
  
• 5. Andy Hastings
  
• 6. Jason Frost
  
• 7. John Carr
  
• 8. Dan Ghilbaldan
  
• 9. Andrew North
  
• 10. Mark Green
  

 

B Final Result

• 1. Alex Thurston – Kyosho/Novarossi
  
• 2. Ashley Gouveia – Motonica/Novarossi
• 3. Nick Gilbert – Serpent/IDM
  

C Final Result

• 1. Ian Billett – Edam/Mega
  
• 2. Graham Hurley – Edam
  
• 3. Roger Duran – Serpent/Mega
  

 

D Final Result

• 1. Earl McLean – Serpent/Novarossi
• 2. Adam Smith – Serpent/Mega
• 3. Tony Clowes – Edam/SH

 

So the 2010 season comes to a close with Tim Wood successfully retaining his title and making it three in a row, which is no easy task with the level of competition this year. As for the winner of this meeting, Kyle Branson also makes it three successive wins after only driving the class for the second half of the season. From all the committee, congratulations to all the winners this season and we look forward to an even better season in 2011.