The Xpress team in the UK headed to the final round of the M-TC series of the year! They managed to wrap up a few classes of racing, with a mix of Execute FM1S and Execute XM1S ! Check out below on their detailed report.





Thanks to the Xpress Team UK for the detailed race report below:

Round 8 BRCA M-TC CLUBMANS SERIES

So we headed to Newark RCCC for the final round of the series, fellow Xpress Team UK driver Conrad Ashton along with Mark Parnell,  Brendan Lee, Christopher Mills, Anthony Wills and Chris Staples all took the trip from Torbay. 

After a slightly late arrival to the club (while erecting the table) the 5mins for practice one was announced by Lisa, our host for the day, Doh! A moment later Lisa announced the rearranged listings and suddenly we had another 5mins to get ready, thank you! We all just managed to get out in time lol. 

PRACTICE 

2wd was exactly what I expected, slippery! So gentle throttle input and output was needed, but I soon got my eye in. I wouldn't need to change anything as the grip would soon pick up and we would be flying.

4wd now and with the added traction and the extra two heats of rubber laying down grip the track felt much better,  the XM1 felt very balanced so there was no need to change anything,  so I just needed to learn the limits for round 1.

Qualifying Round 1

2wd Rubber

Mark Parnell took off and looked unstoppable my car felt nervous and tricky to drive,  but managed 2nd with Carl Rowlands of Popalong RC fame bringing it home in 3rd.

1st Mark Parnell 24/309.91 best 12.28

2nd Malcolm Shears 23/308.01 best 12.79

3rd Carl Rowlands 20/301.34  best 13.42

4wd Rubber

This was a clean run and the car was feeling good, but Mark Parnell gapped me taking the win, leaving me with 2nd and Jaco Van Der Sterren 3rd with his XM1, this run bring his best for the day. 

1st Mark Parnell 26/300.50 best 11.20

2nd Malcom Shears 26/311.10 best 11.53

3rd Jaco Van Der Sterren 25/303.19 best 11.61

Qualifying Round 2

2wd Rubber

I managed to get closer to Mark on this run , and 2nd was the result, the car felt better after gluing the rear tyres back to the rims. You'll find that helps! Lol. Carl Rowlands had a great run finishing 3rd.

1st Mark Parnell 24/302.73 best 12.07

2nd Malcolm Shears 24/310.33 best 12.22

3rd Carl Rowlands 21/302.85  best 13.39

4wd Rubber

Mark Parnell got away well and showed the rest how to do it taking the win and his fastest qualifying run. I finished 2nd with my fastest round with Jaco Van Der Sterren taking 3rd.

1st Mark Parnell 27/307.47 best 11.09

2nd Malcolm Shears 26/308.40 best 11.45

3rd Jaco Van Der Sterren 24/301.69 best 11.54

Qualifying Round 3

2wd Rubber

Mark again took the win with my effort a tad scruffy allowing Conrad Ashton to take 2nd place with Conrad narrowly missing out on 2nd in the final by a second.

1st Mark Parnell 25/308.45 best 11.98

2nd Conrad Ashton 24/311.59 best 12.38

3rd Malcolm Shears 23/300.64 best 12.30

4wd Rubber

Mark Parnell was on fire again taking the win,  I managed 2nd with Jack Walker-Bowles finishing 3rd 

1st Mark Parnell 27/308.92 best 10.94

2nd Malcolm Shears 26/309 best 11.34

3rd Jack Walker-Bowles 25/317.92 best 11.64

A Final Leg 1

2wd Rubber

Mark Parnell got away and my car was just not quite as settled as I would have liked,  Anthony Wills had a great result taking 3rd .

1st Mark Parnell 25/305.90 best 11.79

2nd Malcolm Shears 24/300.86 best 12.26

3rd Anthony Wills 21/300.26 best 12.78

4th Carl Rowlands 21/312.30 best 13.39 

5th Conrad Ashton 18/236.64 best 12.43

6th Christopher Staples 18/303.81 best 13.82

4wd Rubber

After a clean start Mark managed to damage his car leaving me out in front with Jaco Van Der Sterren chasing hard to the line just beating Adam Burgess in 3rd. Mark would now struggle to get that win.

1st Malcolm Shears 26/304.89 best 11.33

2nd Jaco Van Der Sterren 26/309.06 best 11.53

3rd Adam Burgess 26/309.31 best 11.38

4th Conrad Ashton 26/313.63 best 11.33

5th Duncan Goodall 25/303.62 best 11.17

6th Mark Parnell 24/303.37 best 10.89

7th Lee Hodge 24/305.41 best 11.80

 A Final Leg 2

2wd Rubber

After a back marker incident Mark Parnell found himself 2nd I managed to scrap it out and take the win. My car was now starting to behave and i crossed the line with Mark 1.5 seconds behind. Conrad Ashton took 3rd a better result for him after his leg 1 accident.

1st Malcolm Shears 24/304.51 best 12.12

2nd Mark Parnell 24/305.96 best 11.89

3rd Conrad Ashton 23/310.29 best 12.49

4th Carl Rowlands 22/313.71 best 13.35

5th Anthony Wills 21/300.19 best 12.84

6th Christopher Staples 20/301.65  best 13.52

4wd Rubber

Mark made up for his leg 1 issues by taking the win, I had a scruffy one and dropped to 3rd leaving Adam Burgess in 2nd and now looking good for the overall win. Jaco Van Der Sterren chased me hard to the line just 3 tenths off in 4th.

1st Mark Parnell 27/309.02 best best 10.95

2nd Adam Burgess 26/308.59 best 11.29

3rd Malcolm Shears 26/310.32 best 11.24

4th Jaco Van Der Sterren 26/310.61 best 11.20

5th Lee Hodge 25/306.85  best 11.79

6th Duncan Goodall 25/311.74 best 11.24

7th Conrad Ashton DNS

A Final Leg 3 

2wd Rubber

So it was down to the last race with Mark Parnell and myself tied on points, winner takes 1st overall. Mark would start on poll as he set the faster time in the previous two finals. I drove the wheels off my FM1 and it finally seemed to get its rear tyres in the game. It was flying and I could push it to the limit, the gap would close and open , but I couldn't quite make it and as the buzzer sounded we crossed the line 7 tenths apart. A nice close race and I don't mind losing if you've had a great race. Conrad Ashton finished 3rd  grabbing him 3rd for the day a great result after a challenging day .

1st Mark Parnell 25/304.23 best 11.90

2nd Malcolm Shears 25/304.93 best 11.96

3rd Conrad Ashton 24/312.70 best 12.09

4th Carl Rowlands 21/302.27 best 13.39

5th Christopher Staples 21/311.83 best 13.12

6th Anthony Wills 4/53.90 best 13 12

4wd Rubber

So I started on pole but an accident put me behind Adam Burgess I soon caught him up , but I over cooked it and traction rolled off the circuit and lost a lot of time. I traction rolled again later allowing Duncan Goodall through and try a I may I couldn't find a way through, he was enjoying his Carten after a bit of help from myself earlier in the day.

1st Adam Burgess 27/311.40 best 11.27

2nd Mark Parnell 26/300.35  best 10.80

3rd Jaco Van Der Sterren 26/306.80 best 11.09

4th Duncan Goodall 26/308.28 best 11.42

5th Malcolm Shears 26/308.42 best 11.18

6th Conrad Ashton 24/301.39 best 11.24

7th Lee Hodge 24/307.62 best 11.64

Overall results. 

2wd Rubber 

1st Mark Parnell  4pts 1-2-1

2nd Malcolm Shears  5pts 2-1-2

3rd Conrad Ashton  11pts 5-3-5 

4th Carl Rowlands  12pts  4-4-4

5th Anthony Wills 14pts 3-5-6

6th Christopher Staples 17pts 6-6-5

4wd Rubber 

1st Adam Burgess 6pts  3-2-1

2nd Mark Parnell 9pts  6-1-2

3rd Malcolm Shears 9pts  1-3-5

4th Jaco Van Der Sterren 9pts 2-4-3

5th Duncan Goodall 15pts  5-6-4

6th Conrad Ashton 17pts  4-5-6

7th Lee Hodge 19pts  7-5-7

Well I didn't get that win, but it was a cracking day's racing, and it was great to see a new winner in 4wd Rubber with Adam Burgess,  I bet he's still smiling.

Thanks to Lisa and all the Newark RCCC for all their hard work in running the day and thanks to Andy Bause for all his efforts in organising this fantastic series. 

And big thanks to Conrad Ashton for getting us to all venues and back home safely , cheers mate. 

Check out the awesome videos on Popalong RCs YouTube channel and vids on the Clubmans Facebook page.

Signing off for this year Malcolm..