BEN RILEY GETS A HEAD START

The first round of the 2003 4WD series was held at Nissan Sports and Social Club, the home of Durham City Model Car Club. After some head scratching and staring into the grey skies above the Nissan factory, the race director chose round by round for qualifying as there was a chance it would rain later in the day. In fact even though it became very cold it didn't rain, and even in the early rounds, most drivers were using yellow compound Schumachers to find grip on what was a very bumpy track..

Last years 4WD champion, Paul Bradby was preparing for a trip to Tampa, Florida with fellow racing colleague Neil Cragg. Both were attending the Reedy WinterNationals, and a low attendance from a few other regular F1/F2 drivers meant that plenty of points were available. It's fair to say that one or two drivers would have been happy finishing with a place in the B, let alone the A, So it was an unfamiliar mix of drivers that made up the top ten, but it didn't make the racing any less exciting though. Ben Riley was not going to let this opportunity go by without taking maximum points. Once he got his car set up Ben dominated qualifying, winning 3 rounds and setting fastest time in round 3 to get the extra point, and finished by winning two of the three legged finals.

Thanks to Bill Allison, Steve Dunn, George Stoker, Tony Snee and the rest of the Durham crew for an excellent meeting!

A Final
1. Ben Riley
2 Kevin Kitchen
3. David Bailey