Rug Racers Round 4

The fourth round of Rug Racers was just as well attended as always. 10 heats of qualifying between 27t, 19t and Mod Tourer’s plus the Stock and Mod Recoil class would see a busy day for the HRCC team. Some trouble first thing in the morning meant that the race computer and printer wouldn’t make it to the track so the HRCC team worked hard and successfully got racing underway only 1 hour later than normal. Thanks to all the HRCC team that battled to get the meet up and running, you did an amazing job!


	With qualifying now only 3 rounds it was all to play for. The added benefit of the extra round taken away meant everyone had to get a good run in early to try and ‘bank’ a place in the top finals. With that in mind Paul Pickney put in his best run in round 2 to claim the 27t pole just ahead of Matt Pocknell and Alex Carter. In 19t Malcolm Hall would use round 2 to get the best from his car to sit on the pole with Phillip Randell a good 4 seconds back. These two where the only drivers to break 21 laps in 19t Jamie Hickin taking 3rd with the fastest of the 20 lappers. Olly Jeffries left it till his last run to put in his best to take the Mod pole just squeezing in front of Elliot Harper only half a second behind him with Chris Kerswell taking 3rd spot a couple of seconds back. Richard King - a regular in 19t - decided to have a go at Recoil Stock and with it he took pole position nearly 5 seconds clear of Mark Young with Malcolm Hall in third. In Recoil Mod Richard Thorpe was in a class of his own taking pole with the only 19 lap score. Matt Curtis would take up second spot in front of Keith Helmke. With no 12th heats today we went straight into the finals.


	27 Turn Finals In the 27t A final Paul Pickney would take leg 1 with a dominant run, never looking back from pole. The real race in this leg was for second place between Matt Pocknell and Alex Carter. Alex had the jump on Matt from the start but by lap 8 Matt was back in control. Some close clean racing ensued but Matt kept his cool taking himself over the line just over a second in front of Alex to secure second spot. Leg 2 was more of the same for Paul, again stealing the show and taking the win. Matt had a better start this time but he would be chased hard by a very quick Dave Ringsell late in the race. Matt kept it clean though and crossed the line just under a second in front of Dave. This meant Pickney took the overall win ahead of Matt Pocknell then Alex Carter third.

19 Turn Finals
Malcolm Hall would have a hard race with Philip Randell in the 19t A final leg 1. After making a small mistake on lap 3 Malcolm would have to battle past Tom Jeffries and then Phil to get back on top, and that he did taking control of the race on lap 11. Phil wasn’t willing to let this go though and some tight close racing took place with Phil trying to get back on top. Malcolm though would see it through to take leg one by just a second from Philip with Jamie Hickin taking third spot. Leg 2 was a different story. Malcolm went from pole and stayed out in front the entire race never looking back. Phil had been working his way round the track in second spot until a mistake left the door open for Richard King on lap 13. Richard took up second spot but this was short lived with Phil taking this back as quick as he’d given it away. As the 5 minutes ended Malcolm had taken the win again with Phil second and Richard King third. Overall Malcolm Hall had the win with Philip Randell second and Richard King third.

Modified Finals
Olly Jeffries had a comfortable leg 1 in the A final Mod. With Elliot Harper and Chris Kerswell battling it out behind him it left time to open a good lead which would not be challenged through the 5 minutes. The battle for second spot was fought between Elliot and Chris, Elliot getting the upper hand on Lap 11 to see himself home in second ahead of Chris in third just 3 seconds back. Leg 2 Saw Olly under a bit more pressure with Elliot putting in some quick laps to keep in touch with the leader. A Mistake by Olly on lap 11 would allow Elliot to get up close and personal on track but he would find no way through, Olly keeping tight clean lines around the twisting track. Olly would come home taking this leg win with Elliot just over a second behind him. Chris Kerswell would see off Phil Chambers in this leg to take third spot again. Overall Olly Jeffries would take the win, Elliot Harper second and Chris Kerswell third.

Recoil Finals
Recoil Stock pole man Richard King would pull away at the start of the A final leg 1. However mechanical failure put him out on lap 6 to gift the lead to Mark Young who would romp home lapping the field twice to take the win with Chris Fisher second a full 2 laps in front of Dani Young in third. Leg 2 saw a DNS for Richard King so this left Mark Young to battle this time with Chris Fisher. Mark seemed to always be in control though and took the win 7 seconds in front of Chris with Dani Young in third again 3 laps back. This meant Mark Young took the overall win, Chris Fisher second and Dani Young third.
In the Recoil Mod A final Leg 1 pole sitter Richard Thorpe would never look back. His car fast and consistent and able to take the win by 12 seconds from Garry Brace who came up from 5th on the grid to take second and Dave Ringsell in third from 6th on the grid. Leg 2 saw trouble for Richard though. By lap 5 he was down to third spot leaving Matt Curtis to take up the lead. Garry Brace was giving chase though as he didn’t want to settle for second spot. On the very last lap Garry got through past Matt’s slowing car to take a sensational win Garry keeping the car rolling to get second spot with Wayne Pratley taking third. Overall Garry Brace had done enough to take the overall win ahead of Richard Thorpe and Wayne Pratley third.

With 4 rounds down we now have Matt Pocknell 1st overall in the 27t championship a clear 10 points ahead of Dave Ringsell in second and Dave Ledger 3 points behind Dave in third. In 19t Malcolm Hall has a slender 4 point lead from Dave Saul second who in turn is just 2 points ahead of Philip Randell third. Chris Delves has top spot in Mod 7 points clear of Brian Eldridge who is 16 points clear of third spot man Richard Thorpe. The Young family have it so far wrapped up in Recoil Stock with Mark in first spot 10 points clear of daughter Dani in second, Malcolm Hall in third. Dave Ringsell is in top spot in Recoil Mod with a 5 points cushion over Garry Brace in second. Keith Helmke is just 4 points shy of Garry in third.

With the championships still to play for round 5 should be just as exciting !

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