Club Team Championship
The Club Team Championship was run on Sunday 2nd July. The 12 teams each had 23 minutes on each lane - a total of just over 3 hours running. Each team had 4 drivers who took two lanes each. Thanks to chief race controller Rob Lees for keeping it all running so smoothly. In a race where not all the teams are on the track at the same time, it is certainly handy to have the up to date scores available on computer screens.
The early leaders were Newcastle and Ecurie Barnton, with Graeme Stephenson and Alan Lucas setting the pace with139laps. The reigning champions, Ipswich were next up with Keith Gibson on 237. Coulsdon were the first to hit major troubles with a guide plate off. The teams have just one car each and repairs have to be done in race time, so a five minute soldering job is a major problem.
The second segment was quite a bit slower for most teams, not least because most of them needed some time in the pits. Most teams needed tyre changes - team racing is a compromise between running big enough tyres to run a decent length of time before you loose time with a change, and not running too big so as to upset the handling of the car. The one team that did maintain their pace was Luton, Nick Thrower turning in 235 to take the lead, while 220 was good enough to give Ecurie Barnton second.
In the third segment Mike Crofts set fastest time of the day with 247, and was staring to recover Coulsdon's earlier delays. Neil Obee's 234 for Ipswich was enough to take the overall lead ahead of Luton and Leicester B and Leicester A. Leicester A's position was rather more promising than that sounds as they had got the slow red and white lanes behind them.
After 4 segments the top positions were closing up. Leaders Ipswich had a some time in the pits, which left them just 2 laps ahead of Luton at the half way point. Fastest in the segment was North London's Ian Fisher, his 228 moving the many times winners up to third just 9 laps off the lead.
North London were again fastest in segment 5, Bob Hallum's 229 taking them to within 5 laps of leaders Ipswich, while pit work dropped Luton to third 18 laps off the lead. Luton were setting the pace with 233 in segment 6, recovering second from North London and closing to within 12 laps of the leaders.
For the last quarter of the race, Ipswich's extended their lead - 228 in segment 7 extended theirr lead over Luton and North London (both having some delays). So Ipswich took a well deserved second title by 31 laps from Luton with North London 3rd, Ecurie Barnton 4th and a fast finishing Leicester a 5th.
Above - The winning Ipswich team Keith Gibson, Richard Mack,
Neil Obee and Paul Austin, and their car which was built by Richard Mack using
one of his own chassis and a BOW motor.
Below (from the left) Luton took runner up spot with James Cleave, Nick Thrower,
Stan Alton and Adam LeMastre. North London SME took third with John Ovens,
Franz Barillero, Bob Hallums and Ian Fisher.
Results
| Team | laps | Drivers (fastest single run for each team) | |
| 1 | Ipswich | 1803 | Keith Gibson(237), Paul Austin, Neil Obee, Paul Austin |
| 2 | Luton | 1772 | Adam le Maistre(235), Nick Thrower(235), Stan Alton, James Cleave |
| 3 | North London | 1744 | Franz Barrilaro, John Ovens, Ian Fisher, Bob Hallums (229) |
| 4 | Ecurie Barnton | 1727 | Alan Lucas (239), Neil Grogan, Pat Skene, Ross Grogan |
| 5 | Leicester A | 1692 | Brian Saunders, Kev Gray, Stewart Tennant, Graham Woodward(234) |
| 6 | Fylde | 1665 | Paul Shepherd, Martin Ellis(228), Steve Sargent, David Sargent |
| 7 | Roedale | 1641 | Ian Barker, Ben Tapp (220), Stuart Watson, Jody Symons |
| 8 | Newcastle | 1621 | Graeme Stephenson (239), Andy Brown-Searle, Chris Frost*, Mike Harrison |
| 9 | Coulsdon | 1596 | Nick Lake, Vince Lee, Michael Crofts (247), Tony Baldock |
| 10 | Leicester B | 1587 | Ben Woodward, Charlie Gooding (235), Sam Smith, Trev Tennant |
| 11 | Oaklands Park | 1538 | Sandy Parker, Ralph Parker(217), Chris Thomas, Graham Thomas |
| 12 | Wellingborough | 1519 | David Austin (206), Mick Kerr, David Copping, David Farrell |
Race distance 8 x 23min = 3 hrs 4 min
* Driver from another Area - Team not eligible for the overall Championship.
Copyright © 2006 British Slot Car Racing Association, all photos copyright C.Frost, All rights reserved