Kyle Branson Wins for Serpent at Brookland National
Round six of the BRCA 1:8 On-Road Championship saw the second visit to the Brookland venue in Kent. The track looked in excellent condition with after remedial works to remove bumps on the infield straight, but the bumps at the end of the straight remained but did not cause any major problems.
The weather forecast was for a bright Saturday, with showers Sunday morning and then a dry day thereafter. Saturday allowed drivers to find the ideal setup and strategy for the five-minute qualifying sessions. With almost every engine manufacture now designing engines to run to EFRA qualifying requirements of seven minutes that requires a pit stop, it has made it increasingly impossible for UK drivers to complete a five-minute qualifier without pitting and therefore a stop for fuel on fast circuits is now generally the case by the top drivers.
Sunday started with a dry track for free practice, but it soon rained which prevented any representative times being set until round three when the track became fully dry. With Mark Green not racing due to 200mm European Championship preparations, Kyle Branson become the pre-event favourite for victory. After round three, it was Kyle Branson who was top of the time sheets, followed by Andy North and Tim Wood. In the final round, Kyle Branson improved on his previous time, which saw improvements from Neil Diver, Tim Wood and Andy North. However, the surprise of the day, was James Connolly who had a trouble-free race in the previous heat and without a fuel stop due to a very economical VOX engine allowed him to qualify second overall. The top ten were as follows:
1. Kyle Branson – Serpent – Sirio – 21 laps 308
2. James Connolly – Motonica – Vox – 21 laps 314
3. Neil Diver – Shepherd – IDM – 20 laps 301
4. Tim Wood – Serpent – Exceed – 20 laps 303
5. Andy North – Mugen – IDM – 20 laps 303
6. Pete Hastings – Shepherd – IDM 20 laps 308
7. John Carr – Serpent – Exceed – 20 laps 313
8. Ross Simons – Serpent – Exceed – 19 laps 295
9. Jason Frost – Serpent – IDM – 19 laps 301
10. Chris Simons – Serpent – Exceed – 19 laps 301
The main final blasted away in more or less grid formation and the race quickly settled down with Neil Diver, Tim Wood and Andy North trying to cut the gap to Kyle upfront. At this stage, James Connolly had dropped back a little and Neil Diver had serious handling problems caused by a stripped belt which he replaced and then continued to gain a couple more points. While negotiating a lapped car, Andy North got tangled and lost his air filter which gave Tim some space to pull away. Andy carried on for two laps which did not help the engine and when a replacement filter was added, the engine would stop at the end of the main straight and so he was out. Some ten minutes later, Tim Wood encountered engine problems that dropped him down the order. This left Kyle to cruise to victory with Pete Hastings taking second place after a steady ‘keep out of trouble’ drive. Chris Simons making his first A final of the season completed the podium positions. The results are as follows:
1. Kyle Branson – Serpent – Sirio – 118 Laps
2. Pete Hastings – Shepherd – IDM – 115 Laps
3. Chris Simons – Serpent – Exceed – 107 Laps
4. James Connolly – Motonica – Vox – 105 Laps
5. John Carr – Serpent – Exceed – 102 Laps
6. Tim Wood – Serpent – Exceed – 75 Laps
7. Neil Diver – Shepherd – IDM – 41 Laps
8. Jason Frost – Serpent – IDM – 21 Laps
9. Andy North – Mugen – IDM – 18 Laps
10. Chris Simons – Serpent – Exceed – DNS
Round seven is at the Halifax track after the summer break on 4 September. The championship standings can be found on www.brca.org or www.brca8.com
