Moss and Martin Shine at Telford

By Matt On June 2, 2015 · Add Comment

Round three of the BRCA Off-Road National season saw a new venue join the exulted list of clubs that have hosted a British national. The Telford club has only been around a few years, but Tony Bishop and his band of helpers have done a great job to get a worthy track up and running. The all Astroturf track had a lovely flow to drive for the 2WD event on Saturday with grip good right from the start.
The first two rounds of the series have all been about Neil Cragg and Lee Martin. We’ve been waiting for someone to step up and challenge these two and at Telford we got that. On a track he knows very well indeed, Simon Moss was fast taking pole position after a very hard fought battle with Neil and Lee, and this was how they lined up at the front of the grid.
The finals were all close races and each time Simon just had that extra second to stay ahead of the chasing pack. In the first leg Lee got very close, even tapping the back of Simon’s car at the last corner, but to no avail as he had to settle for second. The second leg again saw Lee as the closest challenger but once past Neil his pace was too similar to Simon for him to close the gap. The final leg saw Simon round off the day with a slightly easier win again ahead of Lee and Neil.

Result – 2WD
1. Simon Moss – Schumacher
2. Lee Martin – Yokomo
3. Neil Cragg – Team Associated
4. Tom Yardy – Team Associated
5. DannyMcGee – Schumacher
6. Elliott Boots – Kyosho
7. Ellis Stafford – TLR
8. Nathan Waters – Schumacher
9. Tom Cockerill – Yokomo
10. Ben Jemison – Schumacher

As has been the pattern this year, the forecast for 4WD on Sunday was not good. Arriving at the track it looked like we might get away with it, only for the drizzle to arrive just as practice started. This made the track very slippery and combined with the tighter technical layout, it was a real test for the drivers.
Lee Martin took charge in the first round with Neil Cragg fighting back in rounds two and three. This left a battle for pole in the final round, which was taken by Lee after some costly mistakes from Neil. It was clear that 4WD had seen normal service resume with these two drivers those few vital seconds clear of the chasing pack, which was headed by 2WD winner Simon Moss.
In leg one, as expected the top two broke away and an early mistake from Lee put Neil in charge only for him to repay the favour a few laps later, and this was how it stayed to the finish. The second leg saw drama on the penultimate lap. Neil had hunted down Lee and was coming at him fast when an incident for Lee put him into Neil’s path and whilst it was 50:50 Neil decided to wait for Lee in case he had impeded him. In the time left Neil couldn’t find a way though so Lee sealed another 4WD win. The final leg was easier for Lee after Neil went off, with Richard and Tom Yardy coming though the pack to help their overall finishing positions.

Result – 4WD
1. Lee Martin – Yokomo
2. Neil Cragg – Team Associated
3. Tom Yardy – Team Associated
4. Richard Taylor – Schumacher
5. Craig Collinson – Team C
6. Simon Moss – Schumacher
7. Nathan Waters – Schumacher
8. Greg Williams – Team Associated
9. Ben Jemison – Schumacher
10. Tom Cockerill – Yokomo