Sunday saw the first round of the Boughton Raceway Summer Series 2012 supported by Ballistic Buggy take place. This meeting was rescheduled after torrential rain put a holt on proceedings the week earlier.
This time round we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine, although it was rather windy making the jump sections a little tricky with the cars catching a little extra air!
The race format used was round by round qualifying, which consisted of three rounds with the best two to count, and three leg finals, again with the best two results to count. Control tyre for the series is the Ballistic Buggy spike, which provides excellent performance in both dry and wet conditions on the superb new astro track in Norfolk.
In 2wd David Evans had his speed passion powered RB5 Vega dialled as he took the top spot in all three rounds of qualifying, and was the only 2wd driver to break into the 11 laps. Simon Watson took second spot, with two quick 10 lap runs, squeezing young Thomas Watkins into third.
Likewise in 4wd the old dog John Myall was immaculate in all three rounds, putting his Orion powered Durango on pole, closely followed by Barry Abbott, using his LRP/Durango combo to good effect. Another Durango took third on the grid, Luke Allen being satisfied with his new Dualsky set up.
The Vintage class provided some great entertainment, with cars ranging from an early Kyosho Optima, to a Tamiya Hornet, and even a Tamiya Lunchbox! The vintage class created great interest, and will hopefully encourage more drivers to break out some old school gear, with many commenting at the presentation that they were going to sort out there old Hotshots/Mini Mustangs etc for the next round.
On to the finals, and in the 2wd A final David Evans had a battle on his hands, with Simon Watson and Dave taking a win each in the first two legs. In the third leg the two swapped the lead position several times during the first half of the race, but at around the 3 minute mark Simon made a few small errors, allowing Dave to pull out a 5 second lead he would not lose. Young Thomas Watkins is clearly a star of the future, taking a superb third place overall.
In 4wd John Myall cruised to the win in the first leg, with Barry taking second and Luke third. On to the second leg and after a scrappy start it was John and Barry who broke away out in front, with Barry trying to pressure John into a mistake, however, it was Barry who made the mistake, crashing on the triple section breaking a turnbuckle and retiring. This allowed John to easily take win, and the overall win, meaning he would sit out of the third and final leg. Luke Allen held off a hard charging Colin Parsfield to take second, with Colin third. In the final Leg Barry inherited Pole position, and after coming under pressure in the opening laps from Colin, he would comfortably convert it into a win, resulting in second overall. Luke Allen chased Colin hard , but had to be satisfied with third place, and third overall.
The day was rounded off nicely with a presentation and delicious chocolate cake kindly provided by Darren Brady. His cooking cleary being better than his driving!
Round 2 takes place on 22nd July, entry is now open. See
www.facebook.com/boughton.raceway for more details!