The Nosram brushless system is a popular choice for many top racers in the Off-Road class and the reason for this was demonstrated throughout the event. In 2wd, Nosram team drivers Tom Yardy and former world champion Neil Cragg would top the timesheets throughout using Nosram Storm Evolution Brushless motors and Matrix 2007 edition speed controllers.

After rounds 1 & 2, clear leader was Tom Yardy scoring 1st in both rounds, followed by Neil Cragg with two 2nd's. The field stretched out a little below these two, with myself the closest on 8 points (5+3). Nosram top 3 at this point.
Round 3 saw Neil Cragg take the round with the fastest time (2 seconds faster than Tom's best) This gave the possibility that Neil could take TQ from Tom in the fourth round. Round 3 also saw Ellis Stafford (factory Nosram) put together a great run to move up to 3rd overall. Now a Nosram top 4!

The final round of qualifying and Neil Cragg laid down another fastest time. This left Tom, who ran in the heat after, a good marker to aim at to confirm his TQ spot. Tom was flying in his final run and was on to beat Neil's time, but one small mistake took the time away from him. Overall qualifying finished with Neil on TQ followed by Tom, Ellis and Me all using Nosrams latest 4600 cells in their vehicles.
Nosram Brushless motors and speedo's filled the front 2 rows of the 2wd A final!

1. Neil Cragg - Nosram/Reedy
2. Tom Yardy - Nosram/Nosram
3. Ellis Stafford - Nosram/Nosram
4. Phil Sleigh - Nosram/Nosram

Finals just got under way as the rain started to lightly fall. A final leg 1 saw a well mannered start in the slightly damp conditions. Most drivers negotiated the first few laps OK. First major casualty was Tom Yardy who got tangled with Ellis and dropped the top back of the field. I too failed to keep it on all 4 wheels and dropped back to the mid pack, eventually fighting back to 4th (almost 3rd) Finishing order was Neil Cragg, Paul Bradby, Mark Stanley, Me.

Second leg and the continued rain meant the track had become quite slippery. Again another clean start and I managed to pass Ellis in the first few corners and latch on the back of Tom. By about lap 3 it was pretty close between Neil, Tom and myself. I don't remember exactly how, but Tom made a small error and I slipped past into second and set about keeping with Neil. To my surprise only about 4 laps later Neil made an uncharacteristic mistake coming onto the main straight and I got past with a 1-2 second gap. (OMG how did I get into the lead) I settled quickly and still had a second on the chasing pack for the next few laps. Neil did start to gain on me, but another sideways moment and Paul Bradby got past. We crossed the line in that order. (Me, Paul, Neil, Ellis)

The final leg and by now the rain had been falling for over an hour and small areas of standing water were appearing. The astro-turf was actually giving more grip, but the paved sections were akin to ice. Before the leg got under way, the commentator announced that the fight for overall winner was between Neil, Paul and myself (no pressure). Everyone got away clean(ish) with the first 3-4 laps being a procession, all in starting order. It pretty much stayed that way for the whole race, leaving the finishing order (Neil, Tom, Ellis, Me)

This final leg win gave Neil the overall win (well done Neil), Paul Bradby was second with two 2's and I came in third (1+4).

4wd Report

In the 4wd class, the new look larger Hot Bodies team would make their debut at National level with Tom Yardy and Phil Sleigh joining Tony Truman and Adam Skelding driving the Hot Bodies D4 WCE.

In qualifying Tom put up a couple of solid drives to finish 2nd in two rounds and would grid up in 2nd position for the A final. Phil Sleigh had a consistent day, and round scores of a 3rd and a 5th would see him grid up in 6th position for the A final. Tony Truman showed strong pace but could not quite put in the times when it mattered and had to be content with 12th position in qualifying, and 2nd in the B final. Adam Skelding struggled all day and discovered later that his problems stemmed from a poor quality set of tyres which had a negative impact on his car's handling leaving him down in 41st.

Leg 1 was a fast and furious affair and the slightest mistake was punished heavily. Tom fell victim to this factor early on with an error that dropped him down to 5th place. He later recovered to finish up in 4th. Leg 2 again saw an early error but another solid recovery drive saw Tom finish 3rd.

Heading into leg 3, 2nd place in the meeting was still possible but a leg win was needed. Tom went for it from the tone and hung onto the back of TQ man and meeting winner Lee Martin for the whole run pushing hard, despite ooh's and ahh's from the crowd, Tom could not quite make the pass and had to settle for 2nd in the leg, which would leave him 3rd in the event - a solid start to his new season with his new Hot Bodies car. Phil Sleigh suffered from some aggressive mid pack moves during the 3 legs of the final but consistent leg finishes left him finishing up in 8th place.

The 2nd round of the national series comes from Oswestry in May where the team will be hoping for another strong showing.

With thanks to Terry Atkinson from Tels Shells for the Images