Round five of the 2019/20 BRCA LMP12 nationals was hosted by Barley Mow club in Birtley in the North of England last weekend. A reduced entry compared to the last round didn’t detract from the excellent racing this championship has become known for. The event took place in a large hall with the club laying a flowing layout with a variety of corners requiring careful car setup and consistent driving to get the best time from the circuit.

Saturday would see drivers competing in 13.5 and 17.5 stock classes. In the 13.5 class there was a three way battle between David Spashett, current stock World Champion Andy Murray and Louis Parker for pole position. In round three Andy and Louis posted identical times after swapping first and second by a tenth or two throughout the eight minute run. At the end of qualifying it would be Andy who would claim the front spot from David Spashett and Louis Parker with Mark Stiles very close behind in fourth. In the final all cars would get away cleanly with Andy opening up an early lead with David giving chase. An early mistake by Louis would allow Mark through and having more pace he managed to gain a small lead over Louis. Andy would take a tone to tone win with pace that allowed him to be the only driver to make it on to the 39^th lap at the tone. David would finish in second with Mark Stiles in third place and Louis in fourth.

F1 13.5 Stock Result

1                   Andy Murray - Schumacher

2                   David Spashett – Zen Racing

3                   Mark Stiles - Roche

4                   Louis Parker - Schumacher

5                   Ben Vincent - Roche

6                   Adam Catchpole - Capricorn

7                   Adam Mackman - Schumacher

8                   Aaron Morley - Roche

9                   Nathanael Goodban – Schumacher

10                 Matthew Lax – Xray

The 13.5 class also contains a F2 championship.  Pole position would go to James Chappell who was trying his hand at 12^th circuit for the first time rather than his usual class of 10^th offroad. Mark Rogers would line up second from last round’s winner David Underwood.  James would take a tone to tone win with David keeping him honest but unable to challenge for the win. Mark Rogers would be involved in an early incident after making a mistake and would finish off the podium. James Eaves would complete the top three after racing from 5^th on the grid.

F1 13.5 Stock Result

1                   James Chappell - Schumacher

2                   David Underwood- Schumacher

3                   James Eaves- Schumacher

4                   Steve Donald- Schumacher

5                   Simon Pole- Schumacher

6                   Mark Rogers - Roche

7                   Tony Wade - - Schumacher

8                   Stuart Barber - CRC

9                   Kenneth Rogers- Schumacher

10                 Graham Dick- Schumacher

In 17.5 Mark Jewitt was the man to beat topping the time sheets in all four rounds of qualifying. He would line up ahead of Peter Craig and Gavin Clinch. In the final Mark had terrific pace and with a clean and consistent run he finished 2 laps clear of the rest of the field. Gavin Clinch would finish second with Andy Sawyer completing the top three from fifth on the grid.

17.5 Final Result

1                   Mark Jewitt- Schumacher

2                   Gavin Clinch - Destiny

3                   Andy Sawyer- Schumacher

4                   Adrian Thorpe - Xray

5                   Peter Craig- Schumacher

6                   Stan French

7                   Alex Curry- Schumacher

8                   Chris Hudson - Xray

9                   Peter Angus

10                 Glenn Atterton- Schumacher

Sunday would see the open modified class take to the track and there would be more 13.5 turn blinky racing in the Sports class.

In modified it was a battle for pole between Andy Murray and Louis Parker with Louis winning out to claim the front spot. Adam Catchpole would line up third. In the final the lead two cars would immediately gap the rest of the field with the two cars following each other closely until a mistake at two minutes from Louis would allow Andy through. Louis was immediately back onto the tail of Andy and capitalised on a mistake to then drive a clean and consistent race bringing his car home for his first BRCA national win. Andy would finish second with Adam finishing in third.

Modified Final Result

1                   Louis Parker - Schumacher

2                   Andy Murray- Schumacher

3                   Adam Catchpole - Capricorn

4                   Andy Sawyer- Schumacher

5                   Jonathan Simblet - Roche

6                   Graham Dick- Schumacher

7                   Barry Lynch- Schumacher

The current series leader Olly Jeffries was not able to attend this event but the result means that with one round remaining he was unable to be caught in the championship. Congratulations to Olly Jeffries, BRCA LMP12 Open Modified champion 2019/20.

In Sports David Spashett lined up on pole looking to wrap up the sports championship after having to settle for third at the last round. David was in commanding form leading all four rounds of qualifying. Mark Stiles would line up second with Mark Jewitt and Adam Mackman close behind. In the final David would pull a gap on Mark and maintain this throughout the eight minutes to take the win and the overall championship. Congratulations, David Spashett, BRCA LMP12 Sports Champion 2019/20. Mark Stiles would finish second but it was all change behind after an early mistake in the chicane by Mark Jewitt would shake the order up. Ben Vincent would be the one to take advantage of this and completed the podium from fifth on the grid.

Sports Final Result

1                   David Spashett – Zen Racing

2                   Mark Stiles - Roche

3                   Ben Vincent - Roche

4                   Mark Jewitt- Schumacher

5                   Nathanael Goodban- Schumacher

6                   Adam Mackman- Schumacher

7                   Aaron Morley - Roche

8                   Andrew Smith - CRC

9                   Matthew Lax - Xray

10                 David Sedgwick- Schumacher

The final round of the series will take place in Chesterfield in March.

Thank you to Kenneth Rogers 

Sunday would see the open modified class take to the track and there would be more 13.5 turn blinky racing in the Sports class.

In modified Olly Jeffries would take his second pole position of the weekend from Louis Parker and Andy Murray and Ollie Payne. This time Olly would have difficulty getting his car off the line and unfortunately Louis Parker would catch the back of his car and exit the circuit. Olly Jeffries would recover to a commanding victory finishing well clear of the chasing pack. Andy Murray would finish in second and Adam Catchpole completed the podium from fifth on the grid. Louis Parker would recover to fourth place and is surely a driver to watch for the remaining races this season.

Modified Result

1                   Olly Jefferies - Schumacher

2                   Andy Murray - Schumacher

3                   Adam Catchpole - Capricorn

4                   Louis Parker - Schumacher

5                   Daniel Robins - Schumacher

6                   Mark Rogers - Roche

7                   Andy Sawyer - Schumacher

8                   George Brewer - Schumacher

9                   Jonathan Simblet - Roche

10                 Ollie Payne - Roche

Saturday would see drivers competing in 13.5 and 17.5 stock classes. Winner of the first two rounds Olly Jeffries would be looking to complete the trio this weekend.  From the start it was clear who was the racer to beat with Olly topping the timesheets on all four rounds of qualifying. Mark Stiles would get the closest to Olly lining up second on the grid from David Spashett and Ollie Payne. Olly would get a clean start and after a first lap error from Mark Stiles that overturned the car of David Spashett would complete the race unchallenged taking his third win and securing the 13.5 Stock Championship. The early incident mixed up the field and in a fast and controlled drive Louis Parker who qualified fifth brought his car home in second place, a personal best finish in this class. Another great drive from futher down the field would see Matthew Varah claim the final step on the podium from 7^th on the grid. Congratulations Olly Jeffries, 2019/20 BRCA F1 13.5 Stock Champion.

F1 13.5 Final Result

1                         Olly Jefferies - Schumacher

2                         Louis Parker - Schumacher

3                         Matthew Varah - Roche

4                         David Spashett - Roche

5                         Andy Murray - Schumacher

6                         Mark Stiles - Roche

7                         Adam Mackman - Schumacher

8                         Ollie Payne - Roche

9                         Nathanael Goodban - Schumacher

10                       Aidan Ripley – Schumacher

The 13.5 class also contains a F2 championship. Current leader Morgan Williams was missing from this event so others were looking to capitalise and it was Steve Donald who would take pole position from David Underwood and Ashley King. A mistake off the line would drop Steve well down the order and that was all that David needed to head to the front and take the win showing great pace throughout the final. Steve would race back to second place and third would be taken by Kenneth Rogers who raced through the field from 9^th on the grid narrowly beating junior driver Sam Coult into fourth, who in his first LMP national is surely a name we will be seeing more of in the future.

F2 13.5 Final Result

1                   David Underwood - Schumacher

2                   Steve Donald - Schumacher

3                   Kenneth Rogers - Schumacher

4                   Samuel Coult - Schumacher

5                   Simon Pole - Schumacher

6                   James Eaves - Schumacher

7                   Peter Stockton - Schumacher

8                   Ashley King - Schumacher

9                   Stuart Barber - CRC

10                 Tony Wade – Schumacher

In 17.5 Marcus Askell was looking to secure the championship after winning the first two rounds. In qualifying he showed the form that he has had all season and lined up on pole half a lap clear of Mark Jewitt in second place. Niall Cochran would line up third just ahead of Andy Sawyer. Marcus and Mark would stretch an early lead over a three way battle for third between Niall, Andy and Adrian Thorpe.  Mark had found some extra pace from qualifying and in the second half of the race closed up on Marcus. Despite having the faster car and trying different lines to find a clean pass Mark would finish second after Marcus drove clean and defended well to take the win and secure the championship.  The battle for third would be won by Andy Sawyer with Niall in fourth. Congratulations Marcus Askell, 2019/20 BRCA 17.5 Stock Champion.

17.5 Final Result

1                   Marcus Askell - Schumacher

2                   Mark Jewitt- Schumacher

3                   Andy Sawyer- Schumacher

4                   Niall Cochran  - CRC

5                   Gavin Clinch - Destiny

6                   Adrian Thorpe - Xray

7                   Chris Hudson - Xray

8                   Alex Curry - - Schumacher

9                   Glenn Atterton - Schumacher

10                 Peter Winton – Zen Racing

In Sports David Spashett lined up on pole looking to secure the sports Championship after winning the first two rounds.  Qualifying was very close with Mark Stiles leading the times for the first two rounds before David took pole position by a second. Ben Vincent would line up third and Andrew Smith in fourth.  A clean start would see Mark in hot pursuit of David before an uncharacteristic early mistake would allow Mark to pass and take the lead. Another touch of the barriers would drop David further down the field. Mark was not going to waste this opportunity and drove a clean race to take the win. Ben Vincent would finish in second place and after an exciting battle with Andrew Smith, David would recover to third place. Third was not enough to secure the championship and we are sure to have some more great racing in the remaining rounds.

Sports Result

1                   Mark Stiles - Roche

2                   Ben Vincent- Roche

3                   David Spashett- Roche

4                   Nathanael Goodban - Schumacher

5                   Aidan Ripley- Schumacher

6                   Mark Jewitt- Schumacher

7                   Andrew Smith - CRC

8                   Adam Mackman- Schumacher

9                   Matt Rice – Team Associated

10                 Tim Wood- Roche

The next round will take place in Barley Mow in the North of England in February.

Thank you to kenneth rogers