2016/17 Rug Racers Rd6 – Report

The 2016/17 Rug Racers series recently concluded with the sixth and final round of the season. The track selected for the final meeting had been used in one of the earlier rounds and proved to be a good choice with a nice flow to it. In Touring 13.5 Open again it was the series’ winner Ashley Wiffen that was looking to finish out at the very top. He would take FTQ from team mate Paul Pinkney to line up pole with Jon Seals lining up 3rd.

Leg 1 and for all attending witnessed one of those great finals, Ashley and Paul raced each other hard on full attack for 5 minutes, with no daylight between either of them the skill to keep from hitting each other and superb fair racing was a joy to watch, Ashley brought the win home with 2/10th the separation. Leg 2 was looking to be more of the same but with Paul seeming to have a little more pace a mistake saw Ash up on two wheels and Paul through to the lead with Chris Lovely up to 2nd. Chris and Ashley battled on for 2nd allowing Paul to get away and take the 2nd leg win.

Touring 13.5T Open final results:
1. Paul Pinkney
2. Ashley Wiffen
3. Chris Lovely
4. Jon Seals
5. Damian Giddins
6. Joseph Cocking
7. Jason Coe
8. Matthew White

In Touring 17.5 Blinky Colin Jackson, the champion elect, was out to make sure there his lead would not be caught but the big battle was from 2nd to 5th with most eyes on Billy Fletcher as this was the round he needed to qualify for the championship. With Colin top after each round he would set his best FTQ time in round 2 with Billy doing the same in round 3. The battle for 3rd was on between Worton, Foster and Hall. Leg 1 with Colin on pole and off he went with Billy, despite the early pressure he held firm with Billy aware that 2nd was good enough still produced the drive required to keep the pressure off from behind while pushing for the win. Leg 2 and again a similar affair with Colin off and Billy close behind, the battle behind for 3rd allowed them to pull away with Jakub moving up to 3rd.

Touring 17.5T blinky final results:
1. Colin Jackson
2. Billy Fletcher
3. Jakub Plechac
4. Leyton Foster
5. Matthew Worton
6. Malc Hall
7. Luke Hobson
8. Dani Young
9. Lisa Keen
10.Mark Young

Overall in the championship Colin Jackson would bring home the title from Billy Fletcher and Matt Worton.

Formula would see the field robbed of the Champion Luke Lee on National duty, but as there were still podium places to play for it made the racing interesting. Martin Southall would take FTQ from Shaun Batt with the returning Vince looking very good. The battle for 3rd place would be between Remo and Michael. Leg 1 would see Martin take the win from pole, but leg 2 was more interesting with a stricken Michael Cook nursing a finished spur gear to the flag it made for an interesting watch to see if the car would make it. The final lap saw Martin and Vince pushing the stricken car to the finish line to great applause.

Formula final results:
1. Martin Southall
2. Vince Coleman
3. Remo Casadei
4. Mark Southgate
5. Michael Cook
6. Shaun Batt

In the overall championship the spots behind champion Luke Lee would be filled by Martin Southall in second and Remo Casadei third.

In GT12 with Tim Hancock having already secured the title the closest battle for 2nd would be between Neil Mottram and Owen Smith with Owen doing what he needed to do and taking FTQ to put his car on pole. Leg 1 would see a superb battle between Owen and Tim at the front, despite huge pressure and excellent driving from both Owen held firm to take the win from Tim. Leg 2 was a similar affair but with Tim seeming to have a little more pace he made his way through to the top a few laps from home to take the win.

GT12 final results:
1. Owen Smith
2. Tim Hancock
3. Chris Wilkinson
4. Neil Mottram
5. Stewart Wilcox
6. Stuart Dye
7. Alan Chipolina
8. Tom Evans
9. Carl Beecroft
10.Malcolm Mclanachan
11.Alex Carter

The championship overall top 3 would be made up by Tim Hancock, Owen Smith and Neil Mottram.

Source: The RC Racer [thercracer.com]