The penultimate round of the 2014-15 BRCA 1:12 Nationals was held at the permanent Teesside track near Stockton on Tees last weekend. It was a somewhat depleted field due to the travelling distance for some competitors, so Saturday’s qualifying started with three heats of 13.5T and five heats of 10.5T stock.

Saturday
After four rounds of qualifying in 10.5T stock the normal order resumed with Zen-Racing principal David Spashett heading the times with Andy Murray and Mick Farrell following close behind. In the 13.5T stock class it was Leigh Dibble, Matthew Lax and Jason Butterfield heading the time sheets.
It was a messy start to the 13.5T stock class A final with a first corner incident that left front row starter Matthew Lax with a damaged car. A brave move from Gavin Clinch allowed him to move up the field into second place with a good race between Mark Barford and Zen-Racing driver Ollie Payne for sixth and seventh places. Leigh Dibble led the race from start to finish, with Gavin Clinch second and Jason Butterfield third so a clean sweep for Zen-Racing and a title win for Leigh Dibble with a round to spare.

Result – 13.5T Stock A Final
1. Leigh Dibble – Zen-Racing
2. Gavin Clinch – Zen-Racing
3. Jason Butterfield – Zen-Racing
4. Richard Norris – Serpent
5. Kevin Creaser – CRC
6. Mark Barford – Team Associated
7. Ollie Payne – Zen-Racing
8. Fred Hatfield – Team Associated
9. Vincent Formosa – Xray
10. Matthew Lax – CRC

In the 10.5T stock A final Zen-Racing driver David Spashett took a start to finish win with no-one really troubling him. A strongly contested battle for second place was eventually won by the Matrix-shod Xray of Andy Murray with the Trinity-powered CRC of Mick Farrell following close behind in third place.

Result – 10.5T Stock A Final
1. David Spashett – Zen-Racing
2. Andy Murray – Xray
3. Mick Farrell – CRC
4. Jim Spencer – Red Mosquito
5. Mark Stiles – Yokomo
6. Tim Wood – Serpent
7. Scott Booth – Zen-Racing
8. Peter Craig
9. Aidan Ripley – Xray
10. Adam Walker-Catchpole – On-Point

Sunday
On Sunday the LMP sport qualifying times were very tight with several drivers being within striking distance of taking TQ. In the end it was Jim Spencer taking pole closely followed by Tim Wood and Matt Rice with young Zen-Racing driver Ollie Payne achieving his highest qualifying result of the season in fourth. In the A final a mistake by Jim Spencer allowed Tim Wood into the lead. Further down the pack a crash left Gavin Clinch, Luke Burley and Ollie Payne tangled together with the marshals not able to get to them quickly. Time was lost by several drivers allowing the final to spread out. Local driver Kieran Manders found himself in fourth position where he would stay until the end. There were lots of close battles down the order and the results saw a very welcome win for Tim Wood with Jim Spencer and Matt Rice close behind.

Result – Sport A Final
1. Tim Wood – Serpent
2. Jim Spencer – Red Mosquito
3. Matt Rice – Yokomo
4. Kieran Manders – Zen-Racing
5. Gavin Clinch – Zen-Racing
6. Mark Jewitt – Team Associated
7. Jason Butterfield – Zen-Racing
8. Kellyann Bligh – On-Point
9. Luke Burley – Zen-Racing
10. Ollie Payne – Zen-Racing

Onto the modified class and following a day-long battle for TQ between David Spashett and local driver Adam Walker-Catchpole the A final started with much anticipation. The pack set off with a small mistake by pole-sitter Spashett allowing the Team Orion-powered On-Point car of Walker-Catchpole into the lead. The Reedy-powered Yokomo of Mark Stiles made his way through to third place and a good battle developed between the CRC of Mick Farrell and Andy Murray for fourth and fifth. The pace was now set and the final progressed with Adam holding on to take his maiden BRCA 1:12 National victory despite David slowly catching him towards the end of the race.

Result – Modified A Final
1. Adam Walker-Catchpole – On-Point
2. David Spashett – Zen-Racing
3. Mark Stiles – Yokomo
4. Mick Farrell – CRC
5 Andy Murray – Xray
6. Scott Booth – Zen-Racing
7. Chris Kerswell – Zen-Racing
8. Matt White – Zen-Racing
9. Aidan Ripley – Xray

Detailed information and results can be found here.

Source: Steve Payne