The Wakefield club hosted the third round of the BRCA 1:8 Off-Road National Championships and the racers were treated to some great weather over the weekend with no rain, leaving all the storms to take place on the track! The club had put a huge amount of effort into the meeting and their facilities where looking top notch with an improved rostrum, pit lane and the track being in the best shape many had ever seen it.
Qualifying would be a more open affair than Coventry with Elliott Boots coming out on top after tying on points with Graham Alsop, both taking two rounds each. It came down to the third round scores where Elliott had a third and Graham a fourth, so it would be the Kyosho driver from Swanley who would TQ the meeting ahead of the HB of Graham who always goes well at Wakefield. Lee Martin, after dominating the series so far did not look so comfortable and would line up third, setting TQ in the final round of qualifying.
In the semi finals there would be some issues for a few of the top runners. The first was Lee Martin who would not make the cut after what looked like an electrical issue. Elliott Boots did however make the final, despite an engine cut. Darren Bloomfield and Neil Cragg kept their cool respectively and would line up for 45-minutes final in first and second respectively.
As the tone went and the A final started, the lead three of Bloomfield, Darren, Elliott and Neil would stretch away, whilst recovering from a bad start Graham Alsop would set about driving through the field. At the end of the 45-minutes final it was Darren Bloomfield’s AKA-shod TLR 8ight 3.0 that took the win almost a lap up from Neil in second, following some late on mechanical issues. Graham recovered to third as Elliott would come home fourth following an engine cut late on into the final.
Lee Martin still looks like the championship favourite but he can’t afford another slip up. Darren and Neil are both starting to get their championships up and running which should make the next round at NRC an important meeting for all.
Don’t miss Racer Magazine’s full and detailed report from the Wakefield round in a forthcoming issue.