Serpent’s Kyle Branson Wins Halifax BRCA 1:8 National
The seventh round of the Championship was hosted by the Halifax club in West Yorkshire. The weather forecast was for a dry weekend which would allow a good high standard of racing without having the worry of rain set-ups and wet tyres. The field of competitors was the best of the season with potentially 20 drivers with the ability and previous experience to make the main final. Richard Hicklin after taking a short break due to getting married was back, alongside Dan Jones (Serpent/Reds) and Mike Walton (Shepherd/IDM) making a one off appearance.
Sunday greeted the drivers with bright sunshine with the committee allowing a seven minute practice session in heat format before four rounds of qualifying. After round one, it was Kyle Branson who set the pace from Mark Green, who managed to make five minutes but at a little slower pace. Kyle was stopping for fuel and lost around three seconds in the pits, but had more than enough power to gain this time back on the track. Round two and it was the same at the top but this time, Mark Green changed engine and this meant he would require a fuel stop. The majority of the drivers chasing the top two had to make fuel stops which cost them valuable time, but Andy North, Adam Catchpole, Mike Walton and Andy Hastings managed to make five minutes. This would become an advantage towards the end of qualifying when the level of grip was at its best. In round three, Andy North managed to beat Adam Catchpole to move up to third and then in round four, TQ was in his sights but failed just short by 0.31 seconds, with the top three being separated by only 0.34 seconds. On a separate note, Pete Hastings had a very bad meeting only completing eight laps in qualification due to various car/engine related issues however, he ran in the lower final which shows good racing spirit and gave the lower racers the opportunity to race alongside a top driver. The top ten was as follows:
1 Kyle Branson
2 Andy North
3 Mark Green
4 Adam Catchpole
5 Tim Wood
6 Jason Frost
7 Andrew Hastings
8 Karl Dransfield
9 Neil Diver
10 Michael Walton
The final started cleanly with Andy North slowly away due to a little too rich bottom end which allowed Mark Green to pass and chase down Kyle. The order then remained until the first pit stops when Tim Wood jumped Andy North and started to chase down the leading two. Up front Kyle was pulling out a little lead over Mark until Kyle’s Sirio engine went rich and required a pit stop to re-tune the engine. At this point Mark started to experience some problems and was out. This put Tim into the lead, but engine problems with five minutes to run put him out. Up front Andy North who kept out of trouble was on the lead lap but five seconds behind Kyle and so decided to settle for second place and also opted to pit for splash and dash to make sure of a finish. Third place went to Neil Diver who struggled in qualifying to balance pace with run time however, a strong drive in the final keeps him on course for third in the overall championship standings. The final results are as follows:
1 Kyle Branson – Serpent/Sirio – 115 laps
2 Andy North – Mugen/IDM – 114 laps
3 Neil Diver – Shepherd/IDM – 112 laps
4 Karl Dransfield – Shepherd/IDM -112 laps
5 Jason Frost – Serpent/IDM – 107 laps
6 Andrew Hastings – Shepherd/IDM – 101 laps
7 Michael Walton – Shepherd/IDM – 98 laps
8 Tim Wood – Serpent/Exceed – 93 laps
9 Adam Catchpole – Shepherd/IDM – 89 laps
10 Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 85 aps
The next round is at Cotswolds, where the Championship could be decided in Kyle Branson’s favour if he finishes on the podium.
