Rug Racers 2015-2016 Round 1 Race Report

On a very foggy morning Wodson Park welcomed back all racers for Rug Racers round 1 at the home of HRCC. After the recent success of Rug Racers Reloaded more changes were seen this time around that made for an even better experience & one that the organisers want to continue to build on. With a record number of people booking in and some of the best drivers in all classes on display this promises to be a very fun & exciting series.

The day began with the controlled practice sessions for each heat then after drivers briefing straight into the heats. 1st up and a great sight to see was the GT12 heat filled with the kids who despite their age show great promise & the same competitive attitude as their adult counterparts. The cream of the field was young Darcie Smith who set about her business for the day early doors by setting FTQ in all 4 rounds, Jake Vincent & Shane Chipolina would continue to squabble over 2nd & 3rd as the day progressed to try and get closer to Darcie. Heat 2 GT12 Greg Parmenter headed home 1st ahead of Wayne Palmer before fortune would be reversed over the next 2 runs with 3rd being shared around. Heat 3 GT12 & Ben Vincent got on with the job in hand to keep Chris “Mr Mardave“ Wilkinson at arm’s length although the competition was close with top 3 changing each round.

Heat 4 17.5 Daniel Chilvers & Keith Tucker were top for 2 rounds each Ben Powles 3rd. Heat 5 17.5 was a mix between Alex Mortimer, Soteris Liasi & Andy Lees fighting for top spot with less than a few seconds between them. Heat 6 17.5 & David Usher broke into the 25 laps to lead home Matthew Prigmore, Prigmore taking the next 2 rounds ahead of Lisa for R4. Heat 7 17.5 Jimmy Maddison took all 4 rounds ahead of Colin Jackson & Malc Hall. Heat 8 WGT This year’s guest class was popular for RRR so was retained for the Series, Graham Eldridge lead around Chris Wilkinson & Tom Hampo for the day with the very close attention of young Owen Smith more from him later.

Heat 9 Open Mod – Q1 was a war of attrition with only 2 cars finishing the run, the rest were swept up in carrier bags & handed back to their bemused owners some laughing (Jason Coe) Once the ponies had been tamed Richard Barton pumped in 26 laps to lead the time sheets. Heat 10 Open Mod, Richard Thorpe & Aaron Rose shared 2 each with 3rd being contested closely. Heat 11 Open Mod, Kyle Branson took the opening round from Elliott Harper, with Andy taking R2, Elliott R3 & Andy blasting into 28 Laps for R4. Qualifying done the raffle progressed nicely with some excellent prizes from our fantastic sponsors this year.

C Final GT12, Leg 1 Shane Chipolina took the win from Daniel Robins with pole man Jake Vincent finishing 3rd, Leg 2 Jake converted pole to win heading home Daniel & Frazier Tucker all of the kids giving a fantastic account of themselves. The podium of Jake Vincent, Daniel Roles & Shane Chipolina doing their parents proud.

B Final GT12, Leg 1 Pole man Chris Pollard didn’t get off to the best of starts then tumbled down the field Ben Pedersen took advantage to come home ahead of Stuart Dye. Special Mention for 8 year old Darcie Smith who piloted her car up from 11th on the grid to finish 4th leaving many more experienced drivers in her wake. Leg 2 again a poor start for Chris saw him dead last by 5 corners in and a long way to come back, Ben took the win from Stuart & Remo, podium of Ben Pedersen, Stuart Dye & Mr Moody Fools himself Remo Casadei.

A Final GT12, Leg 1 Ben Vincent lead home a lights to flag run from 2nd placed Tim Hancock ahead of Niall Cochran, with the 2 swapping places for a few laps. With no one making too many places up

Owen Smith another young Protégé of HRCC & the Smith household brought his car home 6th form 8th. Leg 2 Ben did his best to mimic Houdini and scampered off to hide, Tim gave chase with the biggest loser being Niall from 3rd after crashing in the 1st corner found himself down the order. Chris Wilkinson need no second invite and grabbed 3rd place which would be held onto until the end. Podium, Ben Vincent, Tim Hancock, Chris Wilkinson.

2nd Tim Hancock, 1st Ben Vincent, 3rd Chris Wilkinson

D Final 17.5 Leg 1, with no sign of Ben Powles from Pole Daryll Roberts headed off into the sunset to take the win from Daniel Heyhoe & Adam Southgate. Leg 2 Daryll had a battle on with Mark for the win with Raymond Cockman in 3rd. Podium Darryl Roberts, Daniel Heyhoe, Mark Ratcliffe.

C Final 17.5 Leg1, Sam Jackson lead off from Pole ahead of Tony Watts, for positions that would stay the same, Anthony Adcock battled back from falling down the order to finish 3rd, Leg 2 would again see Sam Jackson leading the whole way through but Vince Coleman fought his way up to 2nd from 4th managing to hold off Rob Brighton. Podium Sam Jackson, Anthony Adcock, Rob Brighton.

B Final 17.5 Leg1, Dave Ringsell took the win from David Usher with barely daylight to spare with pole man Matthew Prigmore in 3rd 3secs a drift. Leg 2 was taken by Dave Ringsell with pole man Prigmores car departing the track forcing him to rejoin at the back, Spencer Jones came home 2nd ahead of Jan Pedersen Podium, Dave Ringsell, Spencer Jones, Jan Pedersen.

A Final 17.5 Leg 1, Jimmy Maddison lead them off from pole, an accident with a lapped car dropped him down to 4th but was able to battle back to 2nd behind 1st leg winner Colin Jackson who took advantage of the battle behind to open up a small gap, Malc Hall finished 3rd just behind Jimmy after a great fight for 2nd that was resolved with a few laps to spare, Leg 2 Jimmy didn’t seem to fancy hanging about and scampered early doors, the battle for 2nd between Colin & Malc allowing 1st to get away, a roll across the track for Colin allowed Malc upto 2nd with Mason Weston driving superbly upto 3rd from 6th to finish 1sed behind. Podium Jimmy Maddison, Malc Hall, Colin Jackson.

2nd Malc Hall, 1st Jimmy Maddison, 3rd Colin Jackson

WGT Leg 1, Pole man Tom Hampson lead them around for half the 1st lap before an incident with 2nd placed Graham Eldridge, good racing etiquette was adhered to with Graham waiting but putting them both far down the field, Graham was able to battle back to steal the lead from Martin Southall & Owen Smith who were fighting at the front who would come home 2nd & 3rd. Leg 2 Graham got the job done on lap 1 and scampered off into the distance to lead home Tom Hampo & another fine drive from young Owen Smith. Podium, Graham Eldridge, Tom Hampson, Owen Smith.

2nd Tom Hampson, 1st Graham Eldridge, 3rd Owen Smith

C Final open mod Leg 1, 4 cars took the grid after a few “breakages” retired cars earlier in the day but the man having most fun was Jason Coe who lead home pole man Mark Coates from the Mod drifter of Matthew White. Leg 2 Mark Coates had it all under control from pole and took the win ahead of Matthew & Darryl Osbourne. Podium, Mark Coates, Jason Coe, Matthew White,

B Final open mod Leg 1, Richard Thorpe lead them around and to the flag with Damian Giddins 2nd from Doug Campbell up from 5th, Leg 2 Richard made a mistake at the 1st corner allowing a number of cars through, Damien took advantage to lead home from Richard coming back through the field with Doug again up from 5th to take 3rd. Podium Richard Thorpe, Damian Giddins, Douglas Campbell.

A Final open mod Leg 1, Andy Moore lead them all on a clean start to leave the racing open an honest through the field. Andy took the win from Kyle Branson & a superb drive from Harley Eldridge upto 3rd to keep the family bragging rights. Leg 2 Andy & Elliott Harper broke from the pack early but a mistake on lap 9 allowed Elliott through to take a lead he would keep until the end ahead of Andy & Stefan Chodzynski in 3rd, Podium, Andy Moore, Kyle Branson, Stefan Chodzynski.

3rd Stefan Chodzynski, 1st Andy Moore, 2nd Kyle Branson

For Videos of all the finals please visit www.rcracetv.co.uk with our thanks and gratitude to Dan Howes.

Finally a big thanks to the team, all our sponsors & you the racers for all your support in the new look series this year.

Active Scale Models - http://www.activescalemodels.co.uk/
Mardave - http://mardave.co.uk/
Schumacher - http://www.racing-cars.com/
CML Distribution - http://www.cmldistribution.co.uk/
HPI Racing - http://www.hpiracing.co.uk/
Tonisport - http://www.fast-webshop.com/tonisport
Logic RC - http://www.logicrc.com/
RC Racing UK - http://www.rcracinguk.com/
Moody Fools - http://moodyfools.com/
Muchmore Racing UK - http://www.muchmoreracing.com/
Propel RC - http://www.propelrc.co.uk/
RC Racer Mag - http://www.rcracer.com/
The RC Racer - http://www.thercracer.com/

We hope you enjoyed the day and look forward to seeing you for Round 2 on 6th December.

Full results from Round 1 can be found here: http://goo.gl/dWeFWT

Finals videos thanks to Dan Howes of RC Race TV here.

For full details about Rug Racers 2015-2016 please visit http://rugracers.co.uk

Words - Martin Southall
Photos - Emma Conyers