The final round of the 2014 BRCA Touring Car National Championship was held at the Mendip track this past weekend, situated a stones throw away from the popular UK holiday town of Weston-Super-Mare. Going in to this round both championships were wide open with Olly Jefferies, Chris Grainger, Colin Price and Elliott Harper battling it out in the super touring (modified) class and Zak Finlay, Lee Price and Chris Gunter going for it in pro stock.
The weather forecast for the weekend was not going to be kind to the drivers, and the conditions proved to be very difficult for all with sudden rain falling on the track regularly meaning some rounds of qualifying were better for the higher heats and some rounds better for the lower heats.
In the super touring class it was Olly Jefferies with his Xray who was able to secure TQ ahead of the Schumacher pairing of Colin Price in second and Chris Grainger third. In leg one Olly was able to convert his pole position start into a win, with Colin second and Chris third. Speaking with Olly after the race he said the wind during the first leg was very strong and all drivers were having to be super careful to not get caught out in the fierce cross winds blowing across the Mendip track. In leg two Chris was able to pass Colin early on and started to attack Olly who had to start driving defensively. On the last lap off the main straight Chris was able to make an attack and sent his car up the inside of Olly allowing him to take the lead and win the leg. In the third and final leg, Olly made a good start and led the pack away. Chris had difficulties off the line and was then involved in an incident with other cars that put him down the order. In the heat of all this, Elliott Harper with his Team Durango was able to capitalise and move into second position from fourth and started to close in on Olly. Elliott was looking very fast and was on the back of Olly for the whole race but was unable to find a way past the Xray. As a result, Olly crossed the line to take the 2014 BRCA title ahead of Elliott in second and Colin in third, who had done enough to secure himself second in the championship ahead of Chris Grainger.
In the pro stock class it was Zak Finlay who was able to secure TQ ahead of Tony Broad and Lee Price. In leg one the track was still a little damp in places and it was really looking like it was going to rain. The Xray team made the call and sent Zak out on wet tyres with the rest of the field choosing the Sorex 32 slick tyre. This decision proved to be a great call with the rain starting to fall about halfway through the race and  Zak was able to take the leg one win. In leg two again Zak led the field away on a now dry track and was able to pull out a significant lead over the rest of the field. Zak crossed the line and had successfully defended his title and was the 2014 BRCA Pro Stock champion. Lee Price finished second overall on the day and Tony Broad third. Chris Gunter would take third overall in the championship.
The BRCA would like to thank all drivers for competing at this year’s national championship despite the tricky weather conditions we have had throughout the year. See you next year!