Embling wins at BRCA Truggy & EP R4

This past weekend the BRCA Truggy and Electric 1/8th national series descended on the new dirt track for the series which was the NRC track near Bromsgrove, Birmingham. The track looked in tip top condition when we arrived. Due the temperature at 7 o’clock they even had the sprinklers on. The lay out comprised of some nice well thought technical sections. Normal situation started at 9 o’clock with the electric buggies starting of the meeting for the first of their 3 qualifying runs. It was evident from the first runs that it would not be a walk in the park. The weather was going to going to be a challenge for all drivers and cars as well as the track. The track started off quite loose but the wider Truggy tyres helped to push the loose dirt to sides which made the racing line start to blue groove.

After the first round Craig Drescher was in pole position starting off with an impressive time of 7/310.47. He was closely followed by David Crompton and Tony Truman. This did change at the end of round 2 as local driver Simon Willetts had sorted out his PT issues and had the fastest time. The standings were to stay the same after the end of round 3.
The top 10 qualifying positions were as follows:

1. Simon Willetts
2. Craig Drescher
3. David Crompton
4. Tony Truman
5. Graham Howard
6. Stuart Howard
7. Richard Taylor
8. Glen Howard
9. Paul Robinson
10. Matt Owen

So onto the truggies. At the end of round 1 the top 11 places were all on 7 laps with Jack Embling being 1.97 seconds off an 8 Lapper. Neil Simons was the last person to complete 7 laps. This was to be extended at the end of round 2 with Leon Goode trying his hand with a loaned Truggy joining the 7 lap club with Michael Shorey. At the end of the qualifying run Jack had an impressive 3 runs having the fastest time in 2 out of the 3 runs. Michael Lewis was starting to get to grips with the track by completing 8 laps in 335.42 on his final run. The top 10 places were as follows:

1. Jack Embling
2. Michael Lewis
3. Jon Howells
4. Tommy Chung
5. Lewis Beach
6. Mathew Ball
7. Oliver Currie
8. Leon Goode
9. Llyod Pitt
10. Robert Cork

With the meeting running to schedule it was onto the finals. The lower E8 finals were to have 2 x 10 minute finals. Whilst the A final had 3 x 10 min finals with the best 2 to count. The B final, leg 1, was won by Pedro Oliveira, closely followed by Jim Boulton and Dave Griffiths. Jim moved up to the top step at the end of leg 2 and Ashley Coupland taking the 3rd spot.
The A final in all 3 legs was won by Simon Willetts. Craig Drescher followed Simon in all 3 legs and Tony Truman, after a 10th position in leg 1 managed to finish 3rd in the next 2 legs. At the end of the 3 legs the best 2 legs were to count. So this left the overall standings as follows:

1. Simon Willetts
2. Craig Drescher
3. Tony Truman
4. David Crompton
5. Stuart Mahon
6. Paul Robinson
7. Graham Howard
8. Matt Owen
9. Ben Cosgrove
10. Glen Howard

So onto the truggies. The first final was the 18 min C final. With the top 4 to bump up it was all to play for. The top 2 had a close race finishing just 13 sec apart. The top 4 to bump up were:

1. Jonathan Warbrton
2. Geoffrey Blackwood
3. Kayleigh Blackwood
4. Keith Bellamy

The B Final which was also an 18 min race saw Robert Cockcroft swiftly off the line from his 6th position on the grid to take the win. He was followed by the following, all of which bumped up to the A final.

1. Robert Cockcroft
2. Michael Shorey
3. Peter Hedley
4. Dean Coupland

The 30 min A final started with all 14 cars ready and raring to go. The race started. Straight away it was evident that it was going to be a close race. Jack led the way but Jon Howell s was pushing him hard. Michael lewis was putting in some impressive laps but had to pull off in the 19th lap. The final places were as follows:

1. Jack Embling
2. Jon Howells
3. Tommy Chung
4. Matthew Ball
5. Lewis Beach
6. Leon Goode
7. Llyod Pitt
8. Oliver Currier
9. Michael Shorey
10. Robert Cockcroft

A big thanks to Simon, Bill and the NRC team for allowing us to visit a really good dirt track. Ross Whitelock for the pics. Hope to see you all at the next round which is at Deerdale on the 11th August.

Report: Dean Coupland
Photos: www.RossWhitelock-Photography.co.uk