A slightly re-designed circuit greeted the team when they arrived at Pembrey, near Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, on Friday night. The circuit had been altered in recent years to be run in both directions - allowing clockwise competition on Saturday and anti-clockwise on Sunday. The racing was to be fierce - a strong Irish contingent, along with the return of Mike Dresser in his Honda powered Lotus were amongst the highlights of the supermodified entry list.
After getting used to the car and the track layout during Saturday morning practice and, setting the 2nd fastest time in the process, Todd made his way to the grid for heat 1. He won his race - but a slow start, a freshly watered track and traffic slowed him down to claim 4th overall. Heat 2 was unfortunately not as successful, with a broken CV joint causing a DNF.
After a driveshaft change, Todd started heat 3 from the back of the grid. Despite making it past most of his competitors in the first 2 laps, the Nova of Pat Ryan had already made his escape and a clear run in the other heat by 2 fellow competitors resulted in a second 4th place, resulting in a 4th place grid slot for the A Final.
After a driveshaft change, Todd started heat 3 from the back of the grid. Despite making it past most of his competitors in the first 2 laps, the Nova of Pat Ryan had already made his escape and a clear run in the other heat by 2 fellow competitors resulted in a second 4th place, resulting in a 4th place grid slot for the A Final.
Typical Welsh weather raised its head before the Supermodified final, sprinkling with enough water to turn the tarmac shiny and the loose to a sludge. The fast starting RWD Corsa of Alan Tapscott beat Crooks to the first corner and the Mini driver ran 5th until making a move on Tapscott late on in lap 1. During the move, contact was made between the two resulting in them both dropping down the order. Todd battled his way back up the field to 5th place, on the bumper of fellow 2101cc+ competitor Leigh-Anne Sedgewick, resulting in a 2nd in class.
After an overnight service, the team were ready to do it all over again on Sunday, on the better flowing Anti-Clockwise circuit. Practice resulted another fast time, so the team were aiming for a second successful day, but heat 1 did not oblige. A second CV joint failure, this time on the other side, was put down to a mixture of a damaging circuit and an underlying problem with the car’s differential not discovered until after heat 2. The car limped home and achieved 9th overall.
Not knowing about the differential issue, Todd knew he needed to make the most of his front row start in Heat 2. A clear and flat out run was rewarded with an overall win, 7 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed Corsa of Kieran Curran, and an even noisier differential. The team checked over the car, discovered there was nothing that could be done in the time frame available, so Todd got to the grid of heat 3 to nurse it home for 5th overall from the back of the grid.
The mix matched results earned the team a front row, 3rd place grid position in Sunday’s A final. Todd held that position through the first corners despite fast starting RWD cars behind, and caught the leading pair over the first 2 laps. Despite hassling the 2nd placed Vauxhall of Alan Crockett for half the race, he could not find a way past and had to settle for 3rd overall and 1st in the 2101cc+ class.
“It’s not been an easy weekend for me, and even harder for the team in the paddock.” commented Todd. “Despite this, we still came away with a class win on Sunday, a Second place on Saturday and the fastest lap of anyone from any category on Sunday. I think this really shows the capability of the car and team, being able to have success even when it’s really not our day. Returning to Blyton in June will really be a chance to stretch our legs.”
“It’s not been an easy weekend for me, and even harder for the team in the paddock.” commented Todd. “Despite this, we still came away with a class win on Sunday, a Second place on Saturday and the fastest lap of anyone from any category on Sunday. I think this really shows the capability of the car and team, being able to have success even when it’s really not our day. Returning to Blyton in June will really be a chance to stretch our legs.”
The team would like to extend our thanks to the organisers at BARC and the BTRDA and all our sponsors; Link ECU, ITG Air Filters, Woodford Trailers, Motul, Witham Motorsport, MJ Windscreens, Sunrise Signs, Equip Rasen and Muk Junkie Cleaner.
Our next race event is back at our home track Blyton Park, North Lincolnshire, for Round 4 of the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship on the 30th of June. The car will also be featuring at Coventry Motofest on the 1st and 2nd of June on the Radio Plus stand on Greyfriars Green.
The television coverage can now be found on the Motorsport TV website on the following links:
Round 2:
https://motorsport.tv/motorsporttv/video/round-2-pembrey-circuit/23578?autoplay&t=24m22s
Round 3:
https://motorsport.tv/motorsporttv/video/round-3-pembrey-circuit/23582?autoplay&t=31m41s
Our next race event is back at our home track Blyton Park, North Lincolnshire, for Round 4 of the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship on the 30th of June. The car will also be featuring at Coventry Motofest on the 1st and 2nd of June on the Radio Plus stand on Greyfriars Green.
The television coverage can now be found on the Motorsport TV website on the following links:
Round 2:
https://motorsport.tv/motorsporttv/video/round-2-pembrey-circuit/23578?autoplay&t=24m22s
Round 3:
https://motorsport.tv/motorsporttv/video/round-3-pembrey-circuit/23582?autoplay&t=31m41s
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