We decided to drive down Sat afternoon to set up our Gazebo and have a quick look at the track and I must say the track looked AWESOME. However, after a good nights sleep we awoke on Sunday morning and it had been raining all night long. How was this going to affect the track I was wondering? Upon arrival I was shocked to see no puddles or standing water but the track was going to be muddy for a while. During drivers briefing Adrian announced that there was going to be 1 round of practice followed by 4 rounds of qualifying with your best two scores to count. With the rain still falling and the track getting muddy not many drivers took the option of going out for their practice. By the time round 1 qualifying started the rained had stopped but the track was going to take some time to dry out.

The new Kyosho Inferno MP9 was present at this event in the hands of the top UK Kyosho Drivers Karl Jackson and Tommy Chung, as well, some of the new AKA tyres which are very soon to be released. The City Blocks worked very well in the morning however as the track dried out the I-Beams became the AKA tyre of choice, the foams were not yet available so Proline or Ansman foams were used. The wear rate was fantastic, the tyres easily lasted the 20 minuet Semi-Final and the 30 minuet Main Final.

The track dried out progressively throughout the day and this was reflected by the lap times, the majority of the drivers getting quicker and quicker each round. For some drivers however, surprisingly, they seemed to be getting slower as the track dried out.

Afer the final rounds of qualifying the top 3 in each class looked as followed:

Buggy/Rally Cross:

1: Graham Alsop 8/5m 23.38 8/5m15.63 8/5m17.53 8/5m14.08
3: Elliott Boots 8/5m 35.45 8/5m 16.05 8/5m 16.81 8/5m 23.38
3: Jon Hazlewood 8/5m 33.16 8/5m 34.80 8/5m 20.51 8/5m 13.00

Truggy/Outlaw:

1: Simon Turner 7/5m 3.03 8/5m 28.46 8/5m 29.16 8/5m 24.94
2: Karl Jackson 7/ 5m 0.84 8/5m 39.38 8/5m 36.10 DNS
3: Julio Pittelli 7/5m 9.23 7/5m 34.73 7/5m 2.98 7/5m 7.11

Day 2 was all about the finals, there was enough of each class for the finals to be run in a ‘Christmas Tree’ style. The day started with the B 1/32 and A 1/32 rallycross finals and finished with the A final Truggy and Rallycross finals. Some people decided to camp over so that they would be at the track in time and in top condition for the days finals. This may have seemed like a good idea however the Slough Track (RWMCC) is located next to the busy M4 motorway and under the Heathrow flight path…

The Semi-Finals would work with TQ not needing to race, going straight into pole in the A-Final, top 6 in each semi going into the final and also the fastest 7th place would manage to steal a place. The truggy semi finals were first and Julio Pittelli, Simon Hunter, John Legg, Steve Martin, Lee Warren, Howard Elston, Karl Jackson, Simon Freeman, Marcus Mainwaring, Cameron Taylor, Adam Lewin, Tony Scott and Tony Scott managing to qualify into the final (in no particular order).

The rallycross semi-finals were next but these caused heart ache for young Elliot Boots. Due to a problem he only finished 8th missing out on any possibility of getting into the final. Simon Willetts, Craig Drescher, Raphael Robert, Mike Waller, Mark Dell, Kevin Brunsden, Jon Hazlewood, David Crompton, Tommy Chung, Jon Howells, Bruce Thompson, Brennan Ralls and Karl Jackson managed to qualify into the final (in no particular order).

The truggy final was ready and Karl Jackson took TQ Simon Turner on the first lap and this is where they stayed throughout the whole race. Simon Freeman also on the first lap got into 3rd place which is where he also stayed throughout the whole race. The top threes times were:

1: Karl Jackson 45/30m 24.66
2: Simon Turner 44/30m 25.35
3: Simon Freeman 42/30m 33.74

Graham Alsop started in pole and managed to keep the lead during the whole race apart from the first few laps where Jon Hazlewood managed to get into 1st on the 2nd lap. David Crompton and Jon Hazlewood were battling for 2nd and 3rd place and changed positions multiple times through the race, each driver would take it in turn to make a small mistake which would allow the other to get passed. On lap 35 Jon lost some time and David Crompton managed to pass him and hold onto 2nd place until the end. David Crompton started to catch Graham Alsop and was only 5 seconds of 1st place at the end. The final positions were:

1: Graham Alsop 46/30m 3.38
2: David Crompton 46/30m 8.89
3: Jon Hazlewood 46/30m 15.17

Detailed results can be found here…

Photos of the event can be found here…