So, 2023, start of a new year or racing, over 60 race entrants, interesting track. All spelt a recipe of a great days racing to come. And we certainly had that today. Great to start the year with such a fantastic turnout so a thank you to you all. And as always to the comittee for its continued hard work behind the scenes to make this series possible and to the continued support from the series sponsors who are all helping towards giving us an end of series raffle worth being in for. So now, the racing itself.
17.5 Qualifying.
Who would have expected nearly 60 racers in this event to start the year and 9 heats to go with. Due to the arrival of Chris Lovely and his wife Beths beautiful baby boy, chris would today sit this round out. So, championship leader Alex Brocklebank with his Schumacher mi8 would look to contine the form that has made him champion elect, but the return of Guy Thornton to action would make the rounds very interesting and as expected very close and competitive. On this occasion, Guy would take his xray X4 and narrowly take TQ with the finest of margins from Alex who would have to settle for 2nd this time round. Pressing along next with a very strong showing would be Matt Cook and his Mugen. Another team Schumacher driver in Daniel Burks takes 4th spot with his own mi8. Dan Leonard comes next with a 5th place finish with Team Vulcan RC youngster Callum Chapman consistent again with 6th and Peter Craig rouding out the final slot for the A final 7th.
RWYB Qualifying.
As from end of last year the Mardave mini gang continue to flourish with a full heat today. Richard Howells would TQ the class today with the Babb family of Andrew Babb and Simon Babb taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. They are followed by the Greenfield family with Dave Greenfield 4th and Harvey Greenfield 5th and an unlucky day for Stu H Harrison round out the qualifiers in 6th.
So, onto the 9 finals of the day, starting with RWYB
The final would end up with 5 and a close and competitive run would see the grid mixed come the chequered flag with Simon taking the win, Dave moving through to 2nd and Rick having to settle for 3rd this time. Andy would have to settle for 4th and Harvey rounding out the final in 5th.
17.5 H Final
As already stated today, the standards of our junior competitors go from strength to strength and more of them moving up into higher heats as each round goes by. H Finals winner today would be Jack Meggitt, with Jack Lawson 2nd and a returning racer Marc Spencer in 3rd. Unlucky for Lucy Dabb having led the race for such a long time would have to settle for 4th this time round. Our clubs own Pete Collins would follow in 5th, with Oliver Jaine 6th and Mark Satchwell 7th
G Final
After a difficult day in the qualifiers, Stu Harrison would show the pace his car has and take a decent win , Alan Smith would have a decent final to take 2nd and Craig Cumberworth rouding out the podium 3rd. Next along would be Christiaan Meggitt 4th and young James Colebrook 5th. John Dabb follows next In 6th and returning club Legend Ed Turrell 7th and finally young Lewis Chapman rounding out the final today 8th
F Final
Certainly a very close and competitve final here where anyone had a shout of winning, but the Final win today would go to Paul Rees , 2nd going to Luke Pepper and 3rd to our own Robin Lake. Trevor Welbourn runs next over the line in 4th, with Chaz Blake 5th, Simon Babb 6th and Chris Holgeth coming home 7th
E Final
Another very closely competed final would see Kevin Dabb take the win by an exact second from Scott West who takes 2nd today after a difficult qualifying day. 3rd place would be taken by Ian Craig. Andrew Reid follows next in 4th and barely a breath between Adrian Hensby and Joshua Carlton in 5th and 6th respectively. Newarks Matt Dutfield rounds out the final in 7th
D Final
Another closely competed final would see Newarks Jamie Wicks and very fast youngster Lewis Horden swapping the lead through the race, Jamie would hold on to take the win and Lewis 2nd. As an added bonus, Lewis taking the top junior driver for the day for his efforts. Richard Howells enjoys a better final to take 3rd, with Ross Smythe and Martin Lawson barely anything separating them in 4th and 5th. Steve Jones again barely a second behind those 2 rounds out the final in 6th
C Final
Gotta be the closest final of the day with just over 10 seconds separating the entire final so clearly one any of them could of won today.. but the man at the flag first today was Jason Crossland. Ian Barnard would have to settle for 2nd and Vulcan RCs Nathan Dearn taking the final podium place in 3rd. Eddie Burks crosses next 4th and vulcan head man Lee Ward RC 5th. Andy Babb follows next in 6th and louths photographer Peter Covell rounding out the C final in 7th
B Final
Another very contested final as we get towards the business end of the finals and Paul Sleight takes the B final win followed very closely by Lisa Louise Keen in 2nd. Louths own “Jesus” Joseph Cocking rounds out the final in 3rd, with Gareth Jaine just missing the podium in 4th. The final is completed by Shaun Hensby 5th and Schumachers Wayne Ash 6th
A Final.
As closely contested in the final as it was in the qualifying between Guy and Alex would see an epic 5 minutes run between the 2. Guy would taken the win today by just 6 tenths from Alex. Great to see the 2 drivers acknowledge each others efforts when they crossed the line. Matt would end his strong day with final podium place in 3rd. Dan Burks follows next in 4th. Peter Craig next in 5th, Callum 6th and an early end to the final for Dan Leonard in 7th.
So as we head into the final round on the 12th of February we are near the end of a successful series With Alex Brocklebank champion elect. Still plenty to play for up and down the standings. Don’t forget booking in opens tomorrow evening so look out for that. Hope you all enjoyed your return to racing after the new year and we see you all again soon for the final round of the Schumacher Winter Series 🙂👍
Written By Scott West
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