Olly Jefferies and Team Associated 12R5.1 Win EPS Round Two
Last weekend’s European Pan Car Series event saw some of the UK’s top 1:12 drivers head for Ardent Raceway for a two-day race catering for F1, World GT and Mardave, as well as 10.5T Stock and Modified for the 1:12 cars. On the back of his recent 1:12 National success, Olly Jefferies entered his Reedy/LRP-powered RC12R5.1 in both stock and modified classes in an effort to get some more testing done prior to the Christmas break.
After five rounds of qualifying, Olly topped the time sheets in both classes, but his advantage was small and he would have to work hard to fight off a strong challenge from Stock European Champion Chris Kerswell and former World Champion Dave Spashett. Both Zak Smith and Ben Putt were also going well and were rewarded with good spots in the A final, Zak lining up fifth in Modified and Ben seventh in Stock with Team Associated National regular Nigel Hale starting fifth in the Stock A final.
Leg one of the A finals resulted in two wins for Olly as he led from the front, controlling the pace and not making any errors. Leg two saw another win for Olly in the Stock A final, which gave him the overall victory before a quick switch of cars for the Modified A final. Another good clean start and Olly was gone, but then all eyes turned to an epic battle between Zak Smith and David Spashett – one a multiple World Champion and Zak only competing in his third 1:12 meeting. The driving styles were obviously very different, but Zak held off David for four minutes until David made a mistake. Zak was then clear to run to the finish and take the runner-up spot in leg two behind Olly. Another Stock A final win for Olly in leg three, but David Spashett spoiled Olly’s chances of a clean sweep with a win in the final Modified leg, with Olly second. Zak finished third in leg three, which gave him an excellent fourth overall.
So a great end to the year for Olly, Reedy, LRP, and Team Associated with wins in both classes and a great showing from Zak and Ben.
Source: Team Associated
