The start of the 2013 racing season began with round 2 at Cotswolds 2 weeks ago. You must think there must be a typo error but we actually did start with round 2 since the scheduled first round at Wombwell had to be cancelled due to the snowy weather that hit the country in March. The entry for this round was lower than expected but still had a very competitive feeling which made for some close racing at all levels. Saturday was practice day and surprisingly the track was dry which enabled drivers to run their new engines in and also run their new cars for the first time. The lap times upfront are around the low 15 second bracket and if you can break consistently below this mark, then that is the golden ticket to having a good shot at TQ. The man to beat was Kyle Branson who was setting lap times consistently in the 14.7 second bracket and was clearly the class of the field with Mark Green being the next best. The remaining drivers of Wood, North, The Hastings duo, Dransfield, Thurston, Carr and Frost where in close pursuit.
Sunday arrived with a dry track but obviously with a lower ambient temperature. With one round of practice scheduled to shake down the cars, we were then into the racing format of 4 rounds of 5 minutes heats.
In heat 4, Round 1, Jason Frost set the pace with the first 20 Lap result of the day but in heat 5, Kyle Branson produced a 21 lap run with a best lap of 14.6 secs with Mark Green just 2 seconds behind on 20 laps. These two drivers were the class of the field and would fight it out for TQ throughout the remaining heats. Wood, North and Andy Hastings secured 20 lap results which put them in a good position to qualify for the main A final.
In round 2, the top drivers were securing 20 lap results on a regular basis and minor improvements would help sort out the remaining places in the A final. A notable improvement from Alex Thurston promoted him into the top 10 alongside Dransfield and Carr. In Heat 5, an improvement from Bancroft more or less secured a final place with Kyle, Pete Hastings and North hitting problems.
Round 3 witnessed a slight improvement for Thurston and in heat 5, Kyle produced another 21 lap result which was 2 seconds quicker than previous. Andy North and Tim Wood also made notable improvements to guarantee a final spot just behind the top two.
Round 4 and another improvement from Thurston who was now coming to grips with his new Serpent would mean a fifth place overall. In heat 5, Kyle yet again produced a 21 lap result but in a slightly slower time probably due to the rise in track temperature.
The top 10 as follows:
1. Kyle Branson – Mugen / IDM / Contact / Sanwa – 21 Laps 312 secs
2. Mark Green – Serpent / Novarossi / Sanwa / Xceed – 20 Laps 301 secs
3. Tim Wood – Serpent / Xceed – 20 Laps 305 secs
4. Andy North – Mugen / Sirio ABC 09/Contact – 20 Laps 307 secs
5. Alex Thurston – Serpent / IDM / Contact – 20 Laps 309 secs
6. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica / Vox – 20 Laps 310 secs
7. Andy Hastings – Shepherd / Sonic / Shepherd –20 Laps 312 secs
8. Jason Frost – Serpent / Novarossi / Xceed – 20 Laps 315 secs
9. Karl Dransfield – Shepherd / Sonic / Shepherd – 20 Laps 315 secs
10.John Carr– Serpent / Mega / Xceed – 20 Laps 315 secs
The main final blasted away in grid order but the first casualty was Andy North who went from 4th to last at the end of the first lap. Upfront Branson and Green were pulling way from Tim Wood and Thurston. The first retirement was North with a blown engine on lap 4, with Jason Frost being the next on lap 48. The race had settled down into a battle for the win and the last place on the podium. Kyle at mid race was comfortable in the lead when his pitman called for fuel and he went another lap at which point ran out of fuel. This then gave Green the lead of which he maintained to the flag with Kyle taking the runner up spot. Tim Wood then secured the last place on the podium after a close fight with Alex Thurston.
Full results are as follows:
1. Mark Green – Serpent / Novarossi / Sanwa / Xceed
2. Kyle Branson – Mugen / IDM / Contact / Sanwa
3. Tim Wood – Serpent / Xceed
4. Alex Thurston – Serpent / IDM / Contact
5. Karl Dransfield – Shepherd / Sonic / Shepherd
6. John Carr– Serpent / Mega / Xceed
7. Daniel Bancroft – Motonica / Vox
8. Andy Hastings – Shepherd / Sonic / Shepherd
9. Jason Frost – Serpent / Novarossi / Xceed
10.Andy North – Mugen / Sirio / Contact
Thanks to Andy North for the report.
