Xray boxed as TC3 continues on with 2nd in 'B' at Bashley - 19 / 07 / 05

As I got up at 7am Saturday morning, stumbled into the lounge and continued assembling the Xray which I’d been working on till midnight the previous day I just knew it was going to be one of those days. After rushing around for the next 4 and a half hours we were ready to go, our destination this time being Bashley Park for round 5 of this years STCC championship. Fortunately Bashley is only 115 miles from home but unfortunately the roads you have to use to get there are awful so by the time we’d changed vehicles and popped into the model shop it was still 3pm before we arrived!

The tight, twisty and undulating Bashley circuit - a real drivers track. And look - I got Barry in a picture for a change! ;-) (Thanks Bob)

At first sight I have to say I didn’t like the look of the track, it looked too narrow and far too tricky to be trying a new car for the first time. Nevertheless we continued prepping the Xray with all those last minute jobs that seem to take 5 times longer than you think they will (especially when Dad dropped a pin out of the front diff onto the grass!) but by about half four we were ready to take the new car out. The only problem being we only had the Multi-diff Xray provide and not a normal ball diff which I’m used to so we first went out with the multi-diff set as a spool. Set in this configuration the car was fairly dreadful it has to be said, with an incredible amount of initial steering but I was having great difficulty keeping it on the track (as anyone watching would have seen) and I had no idea what was going to happen every time I reached a bend which made it quite exciting. We then tried it with a one-way setting and this was better but still felt pretty strange to me. I’ve always used a normal diff and brake like hell at tight tracks like Bashley so not being able to with the one way was very difficult to get used to which resulted in some more grass cutting moments. It was after this run that I decided to strip all the electrics out and put into the TC3 so I could at least get to grips with the track and have some idea of how fast I should be able to go. So after changing everything over it was about 7pm by the time the TC3 took to the track and I instantly felt much more at home with it (good thing about having a car for 4 years I suppose) and we were now lapping consistently and fairly quickly. After a few tweaks the car was really handling well so we decided to shelve the Xray for the weekend and race the TC3 – also as it was now about 9pm and I’d really had enough of rc cars for the day by the time I’d recharged everything ;)

A view down the main straight with rostrum overlooking		The fearsome downhill section that made a busy afternoon for the marshals!

Qualifying

It was bright and warm when I got up on Sunday morning and it was soon time for the first qualifier in which I’d be in the top heat! It was a little strange watching all the people I normally qualify / race with out on the track while I waited for my heat but nice in the same way. The first heat was going okay (even if I couldn’t catch much) until I made a silly error after lapping a slower car and got myself stuck on the grass (sure I’m not the only one who did that all day) and lost 7 or 8 seconds in that lap and another small incident which left us with 17 laps in 301 seconds, 5th in heat and 8th overall from 46 drivers after round 1 of qualifying had finished. Although this was a good position I knew it was more down to other peoples errors and retirements than my outright pace but I knew we could go faster too so I thought we had a shot of making the ‘A’ Final (but you know I always say that don’t I!)

So then, the second qualifying heat and I was 5th car off the start which meant I had to let a couple faster cars through in the early laps but things were still going well for the first half of the race but then it all went wrong when I moved over on the straight to let Adrian lap me (who was on his way to a track record I believe, congrats)
	Snapped by Barry whilst hiding in the shade ;-)

With the rostrum being so close to the straight AT Bashley you’re trying to drive the cars with them pretty much below you which I always find tricky so I moved over a little too far and just dropped a wheel onto the grass and spun. This left me stuck on the grass for the second race in a row and killed off any hopes of improving, the final time being 17 laps in 303 seconds, two seconds slower than my round 1 time which dropped us to 9th and last in our heat and 17th overall, so I was fairly irritated with myself and a little concerned that if the third and final quali round didn’t go well I’d be knocked down to the ‘C’ Final so it had to go well, it just had to.

	So then, the start of the third round of qualifying and talking to Kevin Akehurst beforehand we found ourselves in a fairly similar situation, both currently in the ‘B’ Final but with a chance of making the ‘A’ if things went well. I knew an 18:310 would do it and I thought with a perfect run I might just edge that but it wasn’t to be.
Work underway...

I did have a near perfect run and only had to move over and let 2 cars lap me (which wasn’t bad seeing I started last when the top guys were already halfway round the lap) but only managed an 18:312, a couple seconds off 10th in the ‘A’ Final and a couple tenths off pole in the ‘B’ so we had to settle for 2nd in the B Final and 12th overall – which was still a good result with 46 drivers competing in our class.

'B' Final drivers in action

Finals

We left the grid for the first leg of the ‘B’ Final and I got a slight tap from Stuart Thurtle into turn 1 which half spun me onto the grass, fortunately I was able to bounce my way over the grass and get back onto the track in 5th then make a move up the inside at the next corner to take fourth. I was chasing Stuart for the first few minutes of the race but couldn’t get close enough to make a move until up front Kevin and Colin tripped over themselves which let me and Stuart right back into the fight. However I still couldn’t get past Stuart and spent the last few minutes of the race a few centimetres off his rear bumper unable to make a pass and we both narrowly missed overtaking Colin as he recovered from another moment while Kevin swept away to take the leg win with Colin, Stuart and myself taking very close 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. The rest of the guys behind seemed to be having an equally close race.

Ross in action racing Jeff during the third leg of the finals. Ross eventually cruising home behind Jeff in the leg for 3rd but taking 2nd overall

Into the second leg and the first corner went well this time but then for some reason Stuart dived across the track to take me out at turn 2 and drop me back to 8th or 9th which I thought was pretty harsh after I’d spent the entire last race being very clean with him. Luckily for me a few of the other guys were getting each other sideways during the midfield for the first few laps so I was able to pick my way through the carnage to fourth place pretty quickly. I could see Stuart a second or two ahead in third and I was desperately trying to catch him but I could only maintain the gap. Then we had some luck kick in as Colin and Jeff both made mistakes at the front and I just edged past them both and after a few laps with them close behind me they had small errors which gave me a little breathing space. All this had let Stuart get away though and I thought I’d have to settle for second but in the last minute Stuart got into a tussle with a backmarker and allowed me to cut the gap a little, he then overshot one of the infield corners and did a little grass tracking which let me sneak through into the lead and coast round the final few laps to take the leg win, justice was done in my view ;-)

Entering the third and final leg there were still 4 or 5 drivers in with a very realistic chance of taking the win which was great. To my immense relief I got through the first lap in one piece this time behind Colin while Stuart had been nudged out of third and I had a very fast looking Jeff closing in on me.
	'B' Final on the grid with Ross on the front row

My car didn’t feel too great in this one, pretty loose at speed due to the temperature I think so I decided to let Jeff through and avoid the risk of a possible collision. I knew even if he won the leg he still wouldn’t beat me overall if I stayed third. And I knew no-one else would catch me, I was kind of hoping Jeff might catch Colin and start fighting for the lead which would let me catch Colin but it wasn’t to be and Colin drove a great error free race to take the leg win and overall ‘B’ Final win. Congrats Colin! I finished the leg in 3rd to take 2nd overall with Stuart 4th in the leg and 3rd overall.

Championship

We're now upto ninth place in the stock championship which has had 91 different drivers comete so far during the season. This means we will definatly be starting in the top qualifying group again at Milton Keynes so once again i'll be trying to stay with them and get into an 'A' Final! Amusingly my club (TRAK) are upto 15th place in the club championship out of 31 despite the fact i'm the only driver doing the series ;-)

Videos

You can see some vides of the Bashley meeting on the Official Clubmans Cup Website - visit their excellent site here - www.clubmanscup.co.uk

So then, a very eventful meeting and for once we were home in time for dinner! Next stop is Milton Keynes on the 31st July. Dad’s got the National Hot Rods World Qualifying Round 1 at Ipswich on Saturday night so we’ll be in the pits with a full size race car too!

See you there!

(Thanks as ever to Barry Hughes for all the pictures of me and my car)

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