EPR National 2012

The third round of the BRCA National Championship was held at the Eden Park Raceway in Bekenham, Kent over the Jubilee weekend. Despite some stunning weather since the last national, the weekend's forecast was less than desirable with Saturday being dry but overcast and Sunday predicted heavy rain that threatened the running of the meeting; luckily though Sunday whilst being wet the biblical rain forecast didn't arrive and the meeting went ahead. The EPR team had put in some serious time at the track on the run up to the national to ensure the track looked its best for the racers; all the work paid off as many commented on how good the track looked as well as how good the track was to race on.

The HHUK/TLR team driver line up was a little different for this national, with Simon Reeves absent due to expecting his first born and Andy Carter being away on a family holiday. Despite those members being absent for this meeting, team members Oliver Crew, Chris Brooke, Matt Varah (more known for his abilities behind the wheel of a 12th Pan car) and Richard Thorpe were present with Matt only competing in 2WD and Richard filling Matt's place in the team in 4WD on the Sunday. For Matt and Richard this was their first Off Road National and both enjoyed the meeting very much even if the result wasn't representative of their abilities. Oliver Crew had a mixed weekend, with a good drive on the Saturday to put him in the H-Final, but the 4WD event would prove to be a character building day for him with lots of small problems preventing him from showing his true ability. Christopher Brooke put in a consistent performance placing his 22 in the E-final and his XXX4 in the F-Final which he drove to a solid 2nd place. Chris Delves managed to put his 22 in the E final and his XX4 3rd in the G and starting to feel like he is getting to grips with Off Road racing in general. Stu Wood placed his rides in the C-Finals both days, which was a creditable result considering he hadn't been to the technical EPR circuit. Lead driver, Darren Bloomfield, put in an excellent effort on both days qualifying 3rd and with a stunning drive finished second in 2WD behind a dominant Lee Martin. On Sunday he placed his XX4 5th on the grid amongst more current 4wd platforms showing there is life in the old girl yet. The finals were a mixed affair due to the weather situation with the 3rd leg suffering due to a downpour that saw only 2 cars finish the B final! Lee took the overall win after the first 2 legs and chose to sit out the final leg leaving the opportunity for certain drivers to make up places in the final standings; Darren was 2nd going into the final leg, but Danny McGee put his Tamiya 511 on the top spot to tie on points with Darren thus awarding Danny the number 2 spot on the podium and Darren 3rd.

Once again thanks to the EPR club for putting on a brilliant event and congratulations to Lee on his double victory. The next round of the series moves up to the grass venue of Oswestry at the end of the month, where we are sure to see more close racing as per previous rounds.