Results from the F3/F4 Finals 2001

	Results from F3/F4/F5 Finals - 8th/9th September 2001 10th Electric Off Road

	BRCA NATIONAL F3 / F4 / F5 FINALS WORCESTER
	Race Data 4WD 2WD
	North East Region 2 - The Rest 0 (Almost decided on penalties!) After many years of Southern domination, the North East Region's drivers took both Regional Trophies at Worcester. Report by Brian Hopps

This was the first time that most of us had been to the Worcester track and there were worries Friday evening about the bomb hole that led onto the main straight, and the steep banked corners at the back of the track. Although some drivers did experience duration problems on Sunday in 4WD, those concerns were dispelled as no-one found those sections too difficult. The straight looks like a long sweeping corner in the picture above, but in fact it could be taken flat and meant you arrived at the hairpin on full power. This did cause a few problems in qualifying, but was the source of a few controversial decisions from the referee in the finals. The Worcester Club put on a good meeting, the weather was fine, and everyone I spoke to over the weekend said they had enjoyed the event.

Saturday 8th September - 2WD
The overnight rain had left the ground slightly damp, but with a strong wind and a clear sky we were soon using Yellow compound Schumachers (The control tyres were Schumacher and TR32's). Round by Round was chosen for the day as rain was forecast and the track was known to provide fast times in rounds 1 and 2. Everyone drove well in the heats, although due to interference problems Richard Lowe left it late to string a pair of fast times in rounds 3 and 4 to make it to the A Final. The real excitement came in the finals though as Kevin Kitchen had taken 1st in the second leg and was running a strong second in the 3rd when the officials gave him a 10 second penalty for running into the back of the leader just after the hairpin, at the end of the straight. This meant that 3rd placed Richard Evdoka took the meeting as he had a win from round 1. Richard had been fast all day and did well to win, but the team was disappointed with the decision as it was felt that the leader had brake tested Kevin and got away with it, a warning in this instance would have continued to make the A final a "down to the wire" affair, and we were not the only region that made this comment. However in all types of sports you have to respect the decisions that officials make and this one was quickly forgotten when Brian Harris told us that the North East Region had won the 2WD Regional Trophy. As I said, all drivers attending the meeting drove well, but particularly Emily Shields in the J Final who succumbed to the many first corner tragedies and ended up a distant last. She didn't lose her cool and gradually picked off everyone up to third, well done Emily.

F3’s	Name	Heat	Qualified	Final Position
1	Kevin Kitchen	11	A4	4
2	Andy Fox	10	A6	10
3	David Crowther	9	C10	6
4	Andy Mitton	8	C8	7
5	Carl Hopps	7	D5	2
F4/5’s	Name	Heat	Qualified	Final Position
1	Richard Lowe	5	A7	5
2	James Dixon	6	B4	6
3	Dave Grunhill	5	C2	8
4	Tom Cockerill	4	6D	8
5	James Sykes	4	E6	1
6	Darren Batty	3	C6	4
7	Craig Stephenson	1	F1	3
8	John Hirst	2	G3	10
9	Andy Amos	1	G8	9
10	Emily Shields	1	J1	3

Above - Another one to sort out at the first corner.

Above - Andrew Amos and Craig Stephenson not pictured.

Pictured left the glorious 2WD NE Team and below "Psycho" in the pits, living up to his nickname.

Sunday 9th September - 4WD
No rain overnight so most drivers went out on the well worn track on yellow Schumachers, even in practice. The weather was fine, but could the boy's from the North East do the double? The story of the day had to be Tom Cockerill, he was using his brother's T-Tech and right from the start set the pace, he had duration problems, but his performance overall assured him of a place in the A Final by round 3. He didn't turn his qualifying position into a result on this occasion due to first corner mayhem and gearbox problems, but the experience will surely have given him confidence for the Junior Finals in two weeks time. Carl Hopps was also turning in A final times in round 4 when he too fell foul of an unfortunate incident at the end of the rostrum straight. As you can see from the team table below all drivers performed exceptionally well and I must say that the team spirit was excellent on both days, everyone helped each other out with set-ups, parts etc, and I hope that next year we can repeat the success of 2001.

F3’s	Name	Heat	Qualifying Position	Final Position
1	David Crowther	8	B10	10
2	Richard Harper	7	B1	1
3	Kevin Kitchen	6	A10	9
4	Andy Fox	6	A9	6
5	Carl Hopps	4	C8	6
F4/5’s	Name	Heat	Qualifying	Final Position
1	Darren Batty	4	B3	5
2	Tom Cockerill	3	A3	10
3	Dave Grunhill	2	C9	10
4	James Sykes	1	D1	7

Watch out, low flying car experiencing severe understeer whilst another driver tries an alternative braking method for the first corner.

Above - The North East 4WD Team (James Sykes not pictured)
Left - This is the picture you might see in Racer Magazine, Tom receiving the 4WD Regional Trophy from The Mayor of Worcester. (Is the lad behind from the Mid West Region ?)

The Regional Championship (My apologies if the numbers are not exact.)

Regional Championship 2WD
North East	557
Mid West	549
Mid South	420
South West	398
Mid East	349
Wales	?
North West	290
Home East	251
South East	237

Regional Championship 4WD
North East	381
Mid West	377
Mid South	340
Mid East	275
Wales	191
Home East	190
South East	136
South West	135
North West	74