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RRCi / HPI Challenge - Rd8 @ Mitsubishi Motors.
Round 8 of the HPI Challenge 2002 takes us to a totally different venue, one that I very much doubt has been used before for a model car race, and was certainly the first time we've taken the HPI Challenge too... Mitsubishi Motors down in Cirencester, well to be more accurate, Colt Cars but I think pretty much everyone attending was referring the venue as "Mitsubishi" rather than anything else, I guess that's because of all the Mitsubishi Cars around the place!!
This is the Day
I ought to try and set the scene a little bit better as this day was more about the 'event' than the outright racing (although there was plenty of excellent racing too). The track was laid on the (fairly smooth) car park at the back of the Training Workshop facility, and with the well oiled skills of Stephen Fabray and his able assistants a tight and technical circuit was laid along with catch fencing and plenty of banners from HPI, Mitsubishi and the Chippenham Model Car Club to brighten everything up...
By the side of the track was as I say the Training Facility which for this weekend we took control of for indoor pitting and transponders and most importantly, the Technical Inspection area, to me and you that would be the scrutineering bay!!!
Outside the Training centre and by the side of the circuit was a beautiful Mitsubishi Evo 6 World Rally Car on display and we were allowed to sit inside this and basically get real close to equipment and facilities we would normally never be allowed near, it was just great!!
But it didn't stop there (I've not forgotten there was some racing as well) because as part of our little arrangement Nick Spratley (my insider at Mitsubishi and now complete RC fanatic!!) kindly arranged free food and drink vouchers for everyone racing and discounted food prices as well!!! Annnnd, on top of all this, at around 11.45am we had a private air-display from the Mitsubishi Aerobatic Display Team who were taking part in a Air Display just a few miles down the road, very special indeed!!!
 The scene is set |
 The first UK Challenge car park race |
 Plenty big enough |
 Steve did another great job |
On with the Racing
Well of course we were in for a special day all the same but there was still the important issue of the racing to commence, with the usual Classes present and a excellent turn out of drivers we were set for an interesting day.
The track proved tricky to learn a consistent line as the surface was fairly slippy until the 3rd round really as a mixture of Nitro fuel and rubber got laid down onto the racing line and the times came tumbling down. In the Sport class the usual double act of Richard Gorringe and Darren Wilkinson vying for the Top Spot again, a position that Richard retained with an impressive 18 lap qualifying time. The Pro Class was again pretty close in qualifying, well maybe not from the Pole Man Robin Lucas who seemed to have a well sorted car and driving it equally well just ahead of myself who was less than 0.5 second ahead of my mate Luke Hawkins in third.
The Stock Nitro Class is one of the closest classes this year with the top 5 drivers all capable of snatching the overall Championship position away from each other, I'm keeping my eyes on this class!! Today thou, Ian 'Gripper' Hallworth stole TQ spot and he was really thrilled with his result, reminding me several times during the day!! He was closely followed by Stephen Wright and current Championship point leader, Peter Stefanski third... The Nitro Modified Class was a ittle more open at the top with Jon Dobney and Dominic Carter on 18 lap pace then third place went to Luke Hawkins on 16 laps, a little way off the ultimate speed required to win, but Luke suffered problems during qualifying today so maybe the race would be closer than qualifying suggested. The last Class to take to the track in qualifying is the Super Nitro Modified cars and it was the first time the cars didn't look absolutely awesome cause this track was a little tight for these cars to really get upto speed, all the same Darren Wilkinson confirmed his late charge in this class to easily take pole position followed by Daniel Fallows and James Hart.
 The Mitsubishi rostrum |
 Some tight corners |
 A real tyre wall |
 Pro class pole man Robin Lucas |
Mitsubishi Sponsored Concourse Competition
This was by far the best concourse line up we'd seen this year, it seemed as we were at a 'special' venue, the racers pulled out all the stops to paint new bodies and a couple of special models in the form of replica Mitsubishi rally cars and a couple of very cool Micro cars complete with 'Micro sized Caravan's attached... check the photo's out, words don't do these models justice!!
I did decide that I wouldn't include the Micro cars in the actual concourse competition as there weren't racing but they do get a special mention as the girls and boys from PL Modelsport did put a lot of effort into them. Andy Bowkett pulled a marvously looking Saleen model out with working headlights and a very impressive paint scheme all the same, very deserving of the Mitsubishi Watch set and £20 HPI / Team Orion vouchers.
 Line Up |
 Finalists |
 The cars |
 The winning Saleen and co |
The PL Modelsport Micros:
 Quite Comical |
 Complete with crosser |
 Micros look very small next to a Super... |
 ... Then again the Super looks small next to the real thing! |
Finals Time
So after a short break we were off into the Finals and the usual line up here with the Electric Sport Class onto the track first with the B Final and a great battle unfolded between Kristy Rosenburg, Andrew Bowkett and Peter Emery all ending up tying on points, split only by their qualifying order.
Electric Sports - B Final
1. Andrew Bowkett
2. Peter Emery
3. Kristy Rosenburg
4. Michael Creasey (Mini / GTI Class)
5. David Williams
6. Simon Biles
7. Steven Studley
8. Thomas Daley
9. Daniel Ainsworth
10. Martin Smith
The A Final sorted themselves out to commence battle with Richard looking strong up front was going to be a hard man to beat today, his car really looks sorted, and has already reserved his space on the team going to Greece for the European Finals. Richard made light work of the charging pack and cruised to victory in both Legs of the Finals from James Payne and Ian Pullman 3rd.
Electric Sport - A Final
1. Richard Gorringe
2. James Payne
3. Ian Pullman
4. Jay Collison
5. Joe Cook
6. Darren Wilkinson
7. Keith Lock
8. Ray Cockman
9. Martin White
10. Jake Heard
The Electric Pro B Final had the usual unlucky drivers in it, this time James Hart suffering with appalling luck throughout qualifying ending up starting 7th in the B Final, but this didn't stop him coming through the field to end up 2nd in the first leg and winning the 2nd leg to take 1st overall from Kristy Rosenburg and Paul Mercer 3rd.
Electric Pro - B Final
1. James Hart
2. Kristy Rosenburg
3. Paul Mercer
4. Andy Hodkinson
5. Ben Powell
6. Jeff Wheelers
7. Chris Drury
8. Andrew Bowkett
9. Andy Hill
10. Jake Heard
The fastest boys at the track today took to the track with Robin Lucas looking extremely difficult to catch as he proved in the first leg winning by a massive 9 seconds from myself. Into the second leg and this is where the problems occurred as for the second time in a day, Robin Lucas's motor seized up on him, immediately ruining any chance he had of winning the 2 leg final. The overall results were a surprise as I ended up stealing the victory from Luke and Ricky third.
Electric Pro - A Final
1. Greg Hill
2. Luke Hawkins
3. Ricky Copsey
4. Mark Cox
5. Dominic Carter
6. Robin Lucas
7. Jon Dobney
8. Justin Griffiths
9. Chris Hughes
10. Daniel Mercer
There were again only 4 starters in the Nitro Stock B Final, there was a bit of controversy with the results of this final as Daniel Ellis's Transponder seemed not to work for the first half of the race and afterwards attempted to claim those laps back, unfortunately I did not see this a fair way of resolving the result and had to 'dock him' the 13 laps he missed, sorry Daniel!! With that in mind this was the result.
Nitro Stock B Final
1. David Hindes
2. Paul Rosenburg
3. Paul Wise
4. Daniel Ellis
The Nitro Stock A Final was a race full of mistakes and crashes and stalls all which had an effect on the final results. The early leader was Simon Smith but he suffered the wrath of a backmarker and a tight track layout and lost several laps while trying to make repairs, Ian Gripper Hallworth was another to suffer a similar outcome and lost his pole position early on and Peter Stefanski, Championship leader also had a poor final. At the end it was a Father / Son lockout at the top, here are the results.
Nitro Stock - A Final
1. David Wright
2. Stephen Wright
3. Ian Gripper Hallworth
4. Robert Renshaw
5. Michael Randall
6. Simon Smith
7. Dean Burden
8. Peter Stefanski
9. Jamie Field
10. Stephen Fallows
The Nitro Modified A Finalists were running on a track basically too small for them, these cars often have too much power for the size of the track and this round was one of those rounds. Saying that, it comes back to the same old saying which quiet simply is that it is the same for everyone, so who can complain. Well not Jon Dobney as yet again he stormed to victory in the Mod Class by a cool 2 laps from Dominic Carter who just can't seem to get things right in the finals with a stale late into the 10 minute Final. Young gun Daniel Fallows borrowed his dad's car and ended up 3rd today, again picking up valuable points to try to qualify for Europe.
Overall result of Nitro Modified A Final
1. Jonathan Dobney
2. Dominic Carter
3. Daniel Fallows
4. Luke Hawkins
5. Stuart Cuthill
6. Tristan Boddice
7. Steve Brunsden
8. Bruce Poole
9. Paul Rosenburg
10. Shawn Walford
The Super Nitro A Final took to the track for the last race of the day before we cleared up and announced all the winners. There were again only a handful of drivers choosing this class today which probably helped as there wasn't really enough room on this temporary track to race 10 Super Sized cars!! Darren Wilkinson again calmly raced round to take the victory and seizing the opportunity since Championship Leade Kris Ritchie couldn't make the race today... Again young Daniel Fallows ended up second and James Hart had a better run to finish a respectable 3rd.
Super Nitro Modified A Final.
1. Darren Wilkinson
2. Daniel Fallows
3. James Hart
4. Tristan Boddice
5. Peter Spratley
 Nitro Mods get away |
 Racing action from the Nitro Mods |
 Racing proves too much for Jon |
 The winners! - Unfortunatly the car wasn't the prize :( |
The Presentations
The first thing I wanted to do was give a huge thank you to Stephen Fabray from the Chippenham Model Car Club for all his and his teams effort in setting up a RC Track on what was simply a Car Park the day before and for his professionalism on the day, and of course everyone from Mitsubishi, with a particular mention for Nick Spratley for arranging a great deal of what made this day special and different to the normal days racing we're so used to. It was nice to make a change, thanks guys, I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say it was a great day and enjoyed by everyone. You never know this might become an annual event!!
The prizes were given out in the usual manner apart from as well as the normal HPI / Team Orion money vouchers we have a HPI / Mitsubishi embroided hat to give away to every Final winner, a nice memento to take home and keep reminding you of the day....
So from all of us and the guys at Mitsubishi, thanks very much, hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, maybe we'll see you at Rockingham for Rd9 and a bit of Ascar racing round 'the Rock'.....
Anyway until the next time,
Seeya - Greg
