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A great result for Muchmore Racing and HB - Andy Moore TQs and Wins both 19T and 5 Cell Modified classes at the Much-More UK GP! Chris Kerswell takes the 6 cell modified class - results and more pictures here
The Much-More UK GP was held over the weekend of 8th, 9th and 10th June at the superb Stonehaven facility, just south of Aberdeen. Although a long drive for some of the competitors, the track’s proximity to an excellent road, rail and air network meant competitors from all over the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia were in attendance!
The Stonehaven Committee members had done a first class job with preparation and track facilities included electric power, an air compressor for cleaning the cars, on-site hot food facilities, on-site camping and a huge marquee provided under cover pitting for the visitors – the circuit really was as sharp as the freshly cut grass that finished the site of nicely.
The BBC, Radio and other local press were out in force and the amazing pictures quickly got to print for all to see the following day. This really was NEWS. Over half of the large field of competitors got some early practice in on the Friday with current World and European Champion Andy Moore arriving late Friday the question was, ‘would this jeopardise his results’?
Following a comprehensive racers briefing, the 19 turn Super Pole system required all competitors to sort themselves into heats by putting in 3 of their fastest laps first thing on Saturday morning. The Muchmore Sweep 32 control tyre saw some extremely fast times with Team Associated driver Craig Drescher taking the car 1 sticker in Heat 9 of qualifying followed closely by Andy Moore, Chris Grainger and Luke Hobson (who was to have a great weekend’s racing and make a 16.33 lap in his Super Pole practice on Sunday!)
19 turn qualifying saw Andy Moore’s HB Cyclone take pole position in the 2 leg finals and the two wins followed to give the current World and European TC champion the Much-More UK Grand Prix 2007 19T title. Chris Grainger’s two second places secured the number 2 spot on the rostrum with Schumacher’s Jimmy Maddison just pushing Alan Bickerstaff down to 4th place and taking the number 3 spot.
Dutch Serpent driver Niels Koenekoop left his usual modified racing for the day to join in the 19T class and just missed out on the A final by qualifying 1st in the B. Some bad luck in leg 1 saw him slip to 5th overall with Muchmore’s Jang Ji-Hyun making the long trip from Seoul to Stonehaven and taking the B final 19T. Local driver Kevin Falconer pulled his car from 7th on the grid to take a consistent 4th place in both legs of the B final and enjoyed a Korean sandwich on the rostrum with Ryan Lee taking 3rd place overall in the B!
Local driver, Gareth Hunt, took top Junior in 19T with 7th overall in the C final, an amazing 50+ places above some good senior drivers. Gareth’s smooth driving is certainly one to watch in the future.
All the results for 19T can be seen here.
Sunday’s modified racing saw the field split into 6 Cell modified class and 5 cell modified class with Chris Kerswell’s RDX Phi showing consistency in both leg finals and taking the overall 1st place. Chris would also hold onto a 15.98 sec lap record he set in Rd 2. Another consistent drive by John Simpson resulted in 2nd place whilst club Chairman George Haining improved his car 6 grid position in both legs to take overall 3rd place.
5 Cell rewarded us with some amazing speeds on the huge Stonehaven circuit and the star drivers showed their quality and consistency with Andy, Chris, Craig and Neils all taking 1,2,3,4 respectively in both legs of the finals. Leg 2 saw Chris Grainger briefly take the lead from Andy Moore but Andy’s power pulled him through. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th place drivers will be all over Andy Moore next year though!
Further down in the A final 5 cell, there were some excellent drives by John Pape who had made the long journey up to Aberdeen with the Yokomo BD, Ryan Lee’s speed in the 2nd leg gave him 6th place overall and some great driving from Northern Ireland’s Alan Bickerstaff and England’s James Hart gave them 7th and 9th respectively. Stephen Creswell improved his grid position in leg 1 and held his ground in leg 2 to give Scotland an 8th place in the A final – well done Stephen.
The B final in 5 Cell modified saw a 1,2,3 for HB and Muchmore drivers Olly Jefferies, Stew Noble and Jang Ji-Hyun. Closeley followed by the guys making the long trip from the Shetland Isles - Steven Gifford (4th), Collwyn Goodlad (6th) and Jonathan Gifford (8th). 
The weekend belonged to Andy Moore though! Dipping his Sweep 32 tyres into 19T class was a breeze and the power of the HB Cyclone secured a worthy double - well done Andy. Another double next year? Andy also smashed both single lap records at the weekend, in 19T a 16.36 second lap in Rd 1 of qualifying and in Modified a 15.65 second lap in Rd 3 of qualifying.
All the results for Modified can be seen here.
As the local piper lunged out the tunes of ‘Flower of Scotland’ and ‘Scotland the Brave’, the competitors collected their smart trophies to accompany them back home.
Regardless of whether it would be a short trip or a long trip, many will return to the Highlands for 2008.
A big thank you goes to all the racers who took part and also to Dan Rowlands and everyone from the Stonehaven Team, Ruth, John, Chris and Much-More UK, Ryan Lee and Jang Ji-Hyun from Muchmore Korea, Novak USA, Microtech Racing, MHP, Radio Control Racer, Chris Delves and Chris Kerswell and all at Horizon, Mirage, BBK Timing Systems, RC Racechat, SPEC Racing, Tony Hobson, Collwyn and the guys from the Shetlands, Adrian Jefferies and Alice, PI Asset Intelligence and Deans of Huntley.
We hope to see you all in 2008! View the picture gallery slideshow here.
Much-More Racing (UK). |
