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On this page, I'll post brief details of how the Team fared at the race meetings we attend, keep checking back for updates!
BRCA Northern Area Regional, Sunday 21st August 2005, York off road car club, Haxby.
The last road-trip of 2005 was for the final round of the BRCA Northern championship, at Haxby just outside York. The track was flat grass, spiced up with a few wooden ramps, but very, very fast. Some of the big names were missing, having recently been busy racing at the European and World championships, but there was still a sizeable and high quality entry of 66 drivers.
Curtis had a few problems in practice with radio interference (as did a number of other drivers), so switched to Allen's Losi car which was trouble free. Curtis's first round was a little scrappy as he adjusted to the different car and the high speed layout, but as the day progressed he got quicker and quicker. The fact that he improved his time in each of the rounds says it all. Curtis did well to qualify for the F final, starting 10th and finishing 8th to claim 58th on the day.
Rob put in his best performance of the year, with the B4 set up perfectly by Allen and the new electronics working a treat. The high speed track suited Rob, and he maintained a position around the top 25 all day. Eventually Rob qualified 6th in the C final, and enjoyed a nip and tuck race, finishing 4th to claim 24th on the day.
Allen chose to be pit crew again, keeping the team running smoothly, for which Rob and Curtis are very grateful.
The final championship standings revealed that 123 drivers had scored points during 2005, with Curtis in 64th place and Rob in 37th. Bring on 2006!!
BRCA Northern area Regional, Saturday 2nd July, Batley Buggy Club, West Yorks.
Another week, another road-trip for Hatcliffe Racing, this time to Batley Buggy Club on the outskirts of Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. Batley have a track similar in many ways to our own at Bury, in that there are a variety of surfaces and a good number of integral jumps to contend with. The track was technical and complex, but enjoyable to drive. The weather was good and there was plenty of Bury members amongst the big 74 car turn out.
Curtis enjoyed his best performance to date on the Regional stage, driving with consistancy and maturity even though he was thrust into a qualifying heat with must faster cars. Curtis drove well all day and qualified an excellent 5th in the G final. The final itself was very rough for the first couple of laps, with Curtis unfortunate to be left in 10th place at one stage, but he fought back to finish a very creditable 7th, 67th overall.
Rob endured a dreadful day, with 4 non-finishes to his name after a succession of problems during qualifying, with massive radio interference being the main issue. Rob "qualified" for the H final, but with the other paricipants unwilling or unable to race Rob was given the win, trophy and points by default (71st overall).
Allen again chose to mechanic, and sadly spent much of the day puzzling over Rob's problematic car. Allen will be competing at Batley at the end of July with Rob switching to mechanic for the day.
Batley Buggy Club's excellent track
Tom Cockerill in full flight over the Batley "double"
BRCA Northern area Regional, Sunday 26th June, Durham Radio Car Club, Sunderland
A long trip up to Sunderland for the the second regional of 2005. After setting of at 5.30am we arrived at the track at 7.30am, to find that we were the first ones there - keen or what!!
The circuit was very different to our track at Bury, this was very flat and all grass, with the grass being rather long at the start of the meeting but soon flattened with a bit of use. The club had added 4 man made features to add interest:- 2 old school style wooden ramps which could be taken at speed, a section of 3 small whoops which were tricky, and a vicious table-top jump right in front of the rostrum.
61 cars were in attendance, mainly local drivers and Yorkshiremen, we were the only Bury Metro members present. Rob was troubled by radio gremlins again, with the car having a mind of it's own for much of the day. Some of the electrics will be replaced before the next round at Batley to try and cure the problem. Rob finished the day 37th overall (7th in the D final)
Curtis took a little time to adjust to the different style of circuit, and also suffered a little with the low rostrum giving him a poor view of the far side of the track - cue an empty beer crate for him to stand on. What a difference the improved vision made, as he drove brilliantly to win the F final by a good margin, giving him 51st overall and Hatcliffe Racing it's first trophy of 2005!!
Allen again opted not to race, and dedicated his efforts into being mechanic, and as ever, proved very valuable to the team's efforts.
The flat, grass circuit of Durham RCC
Winner of the F final - a good day's work.
BRCA Northern area Regional, Sunday 5th June, Bury Metro, Manchester
The team's first BIG meeting, and it was a great experience. It was probably a bonus that our first regional meeting was at our home club, it gave us a sense of security as we were all very nervous. The day began with a bit of drizzle which made the track very slippery, but the weather cleared up and the track became very fast later on.
77 cars competed on the day, with competitors from all over the North of England, along with some visiting drivers from the Mid West region.
Curtis had some ups and downs during the day, a leaking shock absorber caused some handling difficulties and a broken ball stud cut one race short, but the youngster recovered and gained great experience, finishing a very creditable 67th overall (7th place in the G final)
Rob suffered with radio problems during practice, so had to line up for the first race without any knowledge of the track. A steady day, without drama saw Rob finish 38th overall (8th place in the D final)
Allen did not race, as he was mechanic for Curtis and Rob, absolutely vital to the team as usual, keeping things running smoothly.
The overall winner of the meeting was Bury Metro driver Stuart Wood, seen here coming in to land after a big jump. Congratulations to Stuart, he is a great friend of the team and we were all delighted for him.
