Neil McRae
06-05-2011, 07:59
Over 100 people descended to the Truck Racing Mecca that is Herts Nitro Model Car Club - as expected - the HNMC guys and gals had gone out of their way to put together a fantastic but challenging track layout. "The track looks Mint" was a commonly heard line from many of the racers as the habitual walk around started early on very sunny Sunday morning. Team UKTruggyPro was back in town and proud to be part of a very special race meeting.
Meet TeamUKTruggyPro
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/team.jpg
It all kicked off in the usual manner, Round 1 of UKTP has been a 2 day event, this time opting to run 2 regular 1 day meetings with the points being totalled up to decide the overall winner. A round of practise, three 5 minute qualifying heats (2/3 for TQ) and then 30 minute finals for all runners.
In the practice heat Losi runner and new member to TeamUKTruggyPro Simon Reeves let know his intent with the fasted practice time. With regulars Ed Kerry, Mike and Matt Lewis also near the top. Next best was Team HertsNitroModels driver Jim Thompson.
Into the qualifying rounds and it was clear that the complex infield section was proving to be a challenge to all drivers, the combination of sharp left and rights and a couple of hairpins made the runners think hard about the best line in. Newcomer Duncan Neale got the first 7 lap run and after that some more of the Usual suspects of TeamUKTruggyPro started to put down the laptimes also, in the 7 lap club was Mark Gregory, Tony Drabble, Keith Harris, Scott Walker, Steve "Buy a Mugen" Johnson, Jim "Best of the Over 40s" Thompson, Simon Miller, Matt Lewis, Ed Kerry and finally Mike Lewis who took the best time of R1. R2 Ed Kerry took it with Mike Second place so going into the final qualifying round it was between Ed and Mike. Mike had a pretty bad round and Simon Miller took the best time in round three with Ed doing enough to take TQ for day 1. All in all a great day for TLR and Novarossi. John Geaves was the best placed clubman.
A happy Ed takes TQ
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/edkerry.jpg
Into the finals and it was clear quite a few of the semi-pro guys had not done so well in qualifying. No one more so than Kent's Tom Upson who had started off in the bottom final. He won the F final bumped to the G and fought a hard battle with Kayleigh Blackwood who also qualified out of position. Tom won and bumped all the way to the C final but mechanical problems hindered him and his day was over.
Tommo works with his pit crew after winning the D final.
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/tommobump.jpg
In the C final newcomer Winston Barnett won the race with UKTP Photographer, Ross Whitlock, Piers Pearson and Marky Hamlin bumping up to the B final. The B final had a bit of a coming together at the start which Keith Harris and Tony Drabble managed to avoid, this allowed them to build a bit of a lead on the rest of the field and enabled Tony to win the race and Keith to come third. Marky Hamlin looked all set for a bump up also but mechanical problems ended his hopes and this allowed Jimmy Tatlow and Michael Shorey to grab the last two spots into the A final.
The A final was also a bit of a ropey start and many drivers making Inspector Clouseau style mistakes - TQ man Ed suffered the most down to 7th place on the first lap. This let TLR's Simon Reeve's lead the race from lap 2 until the end. Ed fought back hard coming back to second place but was a couple of minutes short of the time needed to really challenge Simon.
1: Simon Reeves TLR
2: Ed Kerry TLR
3: Darren HaydenBall TLR
Simon wins the A final on day 1.
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/simon.jpg
Day 2 started in much the same manner as day 1. Ed Kerry, Matt and Mike Lewis fighting for TQ, but on a now higher speed track, Ed Kerry was in a world of his own taking 8 laps and the best time in all the qualifying heats. Darren HaydenBall was the only other runner to hit the 8 lap mark.
In the finals, young Rebecca Stone won the F final beating many seasoned racers in the process! The E and D finals were won by Piers Pearson who had suffered with mechanical problems all day. Michael Shorey won the C final and came second in the B final whilst Tony Drabble won the B final.
The A final kicked off and Ed made a good start initially, by the second lap he had dropped back and was well below the leaders. He fought back and by lap 9 he had taken the lead. After the second set of pitstops Ed was still in the lead and Matt Lewis was closing in on him but Ed running 10 minute fuel stops had the upper hand, Matt had to pit one more time and this gave Ed what looked like a comfortable lead going into the closing minutes of the race. Ed only had to beat Simon Miller to guarantee the overal round victory and Simon was well off the pace. Towards the last 5 minutes of the race Ed seemed to slow down this allowed Matt to overtake and take the race victory. Ed came second, and Mike Lewis third. This gave Ed enough to win the overal race weekend. Jim Thompson came fourth and John Geaves was the best placed clubman securing the clubman win for the whole round. Simon suffered a flame out in the race ending his hope of winning the round.
Day 2 A final.
1: Matt Lewis TLR
2: Ed Kerry TLR
3: Mike Lewis TLR
A final podium
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/2winners.jpg
Overal Round Result:
1: Ed Kerry
2: Mike Lewis
3: Jim Thompson
Overall Winner Ed Kerry
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/edoverall.jpg
Clubman Result:
1: John Geaves
2: Michael Shorey
3: Jimmy Tatlow
Clubmans Podium
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/clubmansover.jpg
Round 2 of the worlds number 1 Truck championship is at Deerdale on the 26th of June - for more details visit http://www.uktruggypro.com/
Full results are available at http://www.uktruggypro.com/2011/
Round 1 of BRCA UKTruggyPro 2012 will be at HNMC same time same place next year.
Thanks to Ross Whitlock for the photos. Massive thanks to HNMC especially Jim Thompson.
Meet TeamUKTruggyPro
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/team.jpg
It all kicked off in the usual manner, Round 1 of UKTP has been a 2 day event, this time opting to run 2 regular 1 day meetings with the points being totalled up to decide the overall winner. A round of practise, three 5 minute qualifying heats (2/3 for TQ) and then 30 minute finals for all runners.
In the practice heat Losi runner and new member to TeamUKTruggyPro Simon Reeves let know his intent with the fasted practice time. With regulars Ed Kerry, Mike and Matt Lewis also near the top. Next best was Team HertsNitroModels driver Jim Thompson.
Into the qualifying rounds and it was clear that the complex infield section was proving to be a challenge to all drivers, the combination of sharp left and rights and a couple of hairpins made the runners think hard about the best line in. Newcomer Duncan Neale got the first 7 lap run and after that some more of the Usual suspects of TeamUKTruggyPro started to put down the laptimes also, in the 7 lap club was Mark Gregory, Tony Drabble, Keith Harris, Scott Walker, Steve "Buy a Mugen" Johnson, Jim "Best of the Over 40s" Thompson, Simon Miller, Matt Lewis, Ed Kerry and finally Mike Lewis who took the best time of R1. R2 Ed Kerry took it with Mike Second place so going into the final qualifying round it was between Ed and Mike. Mike had a pretty bad round and Simon Miller took the best time in round three with Ed doing enough to take TQ for day 1. All in all a great day for TLR and Novarossi. John Geaves was the best placed clubman.
A happy Ed takes TQ
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/edkerry.jpg
Into the finals and it was clear quite a few of the semi-pro guys had not done so well in qualifying. No one more so than Kent's Tom Upson who had started off in the bottom final. He won the F final bumped to the G and fought a hard battle with Kayleigh Blackwood who also qualified out of position. Tom won and bumped all the way to the C final but mechanical problems hindered him and his day was over.
Tommo works with his pit crew after winning the D final.
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/tommobump.jpg
In the C final newcomer Winston Barnett won the race with UKTP Photographer, Ross Whitlock, Piers Pearson and Marky Hamlin bumping up to the B final. The B final had a bit of a coming together at the start which Keith Harris and Tony Drabble managed to avoid, this allowed them to build a bit of a lead on the rest of the field and enabled Tony to win the race and Keith to come third. Marky Hamlin looked all set for a bump up also but mechanical problems ended his hopes and this allowed Jimmy Tatlow and Michael Shorey to grab the last two spots into the A final.
The A final was also a bit of a ropey start and many drivers making Inspector Clouseau style mistakes - TQ man Ed suffered the most down to 7th place on the first lap. This let TLR's Simon Reeve's lead the race from lap 2 until the end. Ed fought back hard coming back to second place but was a couple of minutes short of the time needed to really challenge Simon.
1: Simon Reeves TLR
2: Ed Kerry TLR
3: Darren HaydenBall TLR
Simon wins the A final on day 1.
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/simon.jpg
Day 2 started in much the same manner as day 1. Ed Kerry, Matt and Mike Lewis fighting for TQ, but on a now higher speed track, Ed Kerry was in a world of his own taking 8 laps and the best time in all the qualifying heats. Darren HaydenBall was the only other runner to hit the 8 lap mark.
In the finals, young Rebecca Stone won the F final beating many seasoned racers in the process! The E and D finals were won by Piers Pearson who had suffered with mechanical problems all day. Michael Shorey won the C final and came second in the B final whilst Tony Drabble won the B final.
The A final kicked off and Ed made a good start initially, by the second lap he had dropped back and was well below the leaders. He fought back and by lap 9 he had taken the lead. After the second set of pitstops Ed was still in the lead and Matt Lewis was closing in on him but Ed running 10 minute fuel stops had the upper hand, Matt had to pit one more time and this gave Ed what looked like a comfortable lead going into the closing minutes of the race. Ed only had to beat Simon Miller to guarantee the overal round victory and Simon was well off the pace. Towards the last 5 minutes of the race Ed seemed to slow down this allowed Matt to overtake and take the race victory. Ed came second, and Mike Lewis third. This gave Ed enough to win the overal race weekend. Jim Thompson came fourth and John Geaves was the best placed clubman securing the clubman win for the whole round. Simon suffered a flame out in the race ending his hope of winning the round.
Day 2 A final.
1: Matt Lewis TLR
2: Ed Kerry TLR
3: Mike Lewis TLR
A final podium
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/2winners.jpg
Overal Round Result:
1: Ed Kerry
2: Mike Lewis
3: Jim Thompson
Overall Winner Ed Kerry
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/edoverall.jpg
Clubman Result:
1: John Geaves
2: Michael Shorey
3: Jimmy Tatlow
Clubmans Podium
http://results.uktruggypro.com/2011/clubmansover.jpg
Round 2 of the worlds number 1 Truck championship is at Deerdale on the 26th of June - for more details visit http://www.uktruggypro.com/
Full results are available at http://www.uktruggypro.com/2011/
Round 1 of BRCA UKTruggyPro 2012 will be at HNMC same time same place next year.
Thanks to Ross Whitlock for the photos. Massive thanks to HNMC especially Jim Thompson.
