The UK representatives of Xpress recently scored some very good results in the 2nd round of their BRCA MTC Clubmans series. Sweeping the top spot in both rubber classes in the M-Chassis division.  Taking home the wins in the 2wd class with our Execute FM1 and the Execute XM1 in the 4wd class! Here's the round by round report from the team on the event:

It was a long drive to round 2 of the BRCA MTC Clubmans series, it took a whole 20mins to cross the bay from my home in Brixham , but I thought what the heck as It was home turf for us this time, but we had made some track adjustments and although it was home we hadn't really raced with the changes so practice day would be important to get our eyes in.

Saturday practice. 

We had a few racers take advantage of the open practice session and the track was busy all day. The fastest in foam 4wd class was Shaun Batt with his Awesomatix conversion, the car was dialled and he was easily setting a 7.3 sec lap on each run. Rubber class was very close with local talent Mark Parnell just edging me on fastest lap, but I'm used to that lol, top laps were Mark setting a 7.61 with mine 5 hundredths off with 7.66. 2wd was also very close with again Mark Parnell edging it again with a lap of 8.31 and mine 8.34, tomorrow was gonna be close! 

Race Day.

PRACTICE ROUND

Practice in 4wd was tricky,  I hadn't really found a nice balance for my car and Conrad commented "how's your car feeling mine feels odd". I had to agree. I took the win, but Mark took fastest lap with a 7.56 my best 7.79 with Conrad close behind with a 7.87.

2wd mini on the other hand felt good,  and the increasing grip made it easier to drive hard. 

Mini times looked competitive with me taking the win, but Marks fastest lap best at 8.24 mine a 8.34, Conrad managing an 8.58.

Racing carpet can be damaging to the chassis with wooden barriers, so it's good to have two cars instead of rushing to repair things between rounds.

Qualifying 


Round 1 


Mini 2wd


Round 1 was close, but Mark took the win his best a 8.30, I finished 2nd with a couple of errors my best a 8.40, Conrad finishing 3 tenths behind me with a best lap of 8.53.


4wd Rubber


Round one didn't quite go to plan with to many errors which after came down to a rear tyre debonding. Mark took the win and fastest lap 7.61, with me finishing 2nd with a lap of 7.72, Conrad finishing 3rd with an 8.01.


Round 2


Mini 2wd


This round was much closer and all improving, Mark again took the win and fastest lap with a 8.29, I finished 2nd 2 seconds behind, best lap an 8.32. Conrad finishing 3rd his best effort an 8.53.


4wd Rubber 


Round 2 needed to be good,  but another rear tyre debonding struck me down, I improved, but the car was tricky to drive fast. Mark took the win again his best a 7.61, I finished 2nd with a lap of 7.79, Conrad 3rd with a 7.99. John Renton finished 4th with his best time of the day, his best lap was 8.18.


Last chance Round 3


Mini 2wd


I think we all tried to hard with nobody improving Mark took the win with best lap a 8 31 with me 2nd my best 8.40, Conrad 3rd his best 8.61. 


4wd Rubber


This one needed to be a clean run for me, but I had 2 issues costing me probably a lap,  but I got back into the groove and improved, finally the rear tyres stayed glued, but Mark hit the jackpot with his fastest time of the day his best lap 7.46 ouch! I finished 2nd my best 7.74, Conrad was still struggling finishing 4th behind John Renton, John's best lap 8.11, Conrads best 7.92.


Qualifying over and I finished 2nd overall in both classes not a bad result, Conrad finishing 3rd in mini and 4th in 4wd.

A Final leg 1 mini 2wd

Starting 2nd on the grid at Torbay is tricky as getting  the line right into turn one is tight , but I got away nicely and held position. It soon became a two way fight between me and Mark,  but Mark took a hit on lap 12 ending his run, I kept a clean race and took the win ahead of Conrad Ashton in 2nd and Bryan White 3rd.

1st Malcolm Shears 35 laps best 8.27

2nd Conrad Ashton 33 laps best 8.57

3rd Bryan White 33 laps 8.64

A Final leg 1 4wd Rubber 

These results are missing, I'll try and get them and add as a picture of the print off 

A Final leg 2 mini 2wd

Mark was now starting at the back of the grid so I had the easier 1st place start, with a clean start I got away , but Mark soon cleared the field and caught up, we were at it again. I clipped a corner and went wide,  through he went and that's how it finished. Close, but 2nd was enough as Mark now needed me to dnf.

1st Mark Parnell 35 laps best 8 31

2nd Malcolm Shears 35 laps best 8.29

3rd Conrad Ashton 35 laps best 8.54

A Final leg 2 4wd Rubber 

This was a difficult final, early on I got a tap on the rear which caused the body to tuck under the rear wheel, so I was put into last position. I quickly got back into the groove and started taking back places, on lap 13 I heard the shout for "car on the straight" and unfortunately that was the end for Mark as his driveshaft had failed  two laps on then another failure,  this time Jack with another cvd. Now in 2nd with only Conrad in front I thought that'll do,  but poor Conrad clipped  "Scary" corner and went off leaving me out in front with a clear track. At the buzzer the final results were. 

1st Malcolm Shears 37 laps best 7.86

2nd Conrad Ashton best 36 laps best 7.94

3rd Brendan Lee 31 laps best 8.28

A Final leg 3 mini 2wd 

This race was the closest of the day with Mark taking the win from me just 2 secs behind, Conrad finished 3rd and Bryan 4th. I was happy with the result and just enjoyed the end laps knowing that the 1st place trophy was mine!  That FM1 chassis is really impressive.

A Final leg 3 4wd Rubber 

I just had to finish in the top few spots to win the day so pressure was slightly lower than usual,  but a dnf would pass the win back to Mark.  I got a clean start,  but Mark soon cleared the pack and was on my tail,  I clipped a corner and went wide letting him through. I stayed with him for the whole race, but he rarely makes a mistake so finished 2nd just a second off. Conrad didn't fair so well finishing 4th behind Jack Walker-Bowles, but ahead of Brendan Lee .

1st Mark Parnell 39/310.22 best 7.55

2nd Malcolm Shears 38/301.58 best 7.74

3rd Jack Walker-Bowles 37/310.56 best 7.81

Overall results  

Mini 2wd

1st Malcom Shears 

2nd Mark Parnell 

3rd Conrad Ashton 

4wd Rubber 

1st Malcolm Shears 

2nd Mark Parnell 

3rd Conrad Ashton 

So Team Xpress UK took a clean sweep in the Rubber classes and Xpress cars took all the top spots in rubber, proper good result and my first double win. Well chuffed!

Now onto Gloucester for round 3.