BRCA 2WD Mid-South 2019 Review

The BRCA Mid-South 2WD 2019 Championship drew to a close on the 21st of July, 2019, at SHRCCC.

The day began overcast and stayed that way for most of the day, but we were glad to have avoided the rain, which had flooded the track the day before.

Thanks go to all who helped to prep the track over two consecutive Saturdays. They included John Yarham Sr, John Yarham Jr, Dave Laycock, Dean Arnold, Richard Hamme, and Chris Ellis, who laid his very first regional track. Everyone loved the track layout with its fast and flowing sections intersected with some tricky technical chicanes. It rewarded clean and tidy driving with a pinch of risk for those who would chance trying to nibble a little bit closer to the edge.

After practice and heats had been completed, it was onto the finals and we were entertained throughout with excellent racing taking place all the way through the field.

Then came the A finals. With three legs to add up, it was to be a showdown between William Venables and Steve Brown for the Championship. We were given a fantastic display during the finals. Leg one would be taken by Steve Brown, so it was down to William Venables to step it up in Leg Two to stand a chance of taking the championship. But pressure on young shoulders told as Steve Brown drew on his many years of R/C racing talent to seal the final round of the Championship. It was then down to leg three to discover if Steve Brown would be claiming an individual Championship victory, or if it would be a tie. With the individual Championship out of William Venable’s grasp, he knew that nothing less than victory in the final leg would be good enough and from the start, William Venables was a man on a mission. Determination mixed with speed got him into the lead, but Steve Brown was right onto the back of him. William Venables managed to soak up the pressure and this time it would be Steve Brown who would crack first and he tumbled down the order. But now instead of Steve Brown, it was Yasir Mughal who would take up the fight and put huge pressure onto William Venables. Lap after lap, they circulated the track bumper to bumper, with Yasir Mughal literally pushing William Venables onto the main straight from the corner table top, nothing between them but atoms and race craft. As the minutes ticked by, they still couldn’t be separated, but then a slight overshoot from William Venables was all Yasir Mughal needed to seize his chance and we had a new leader. But not for long, as William Venables went for the inside line after the very next set of jumps and held on until a lap from home, where Yasir Mughal made an error that allowed William Venables the breathing room he was looking for and came home to win the final enthralling leg. Not only was this a well deserved and popular leg win, it also gave William Venables the joint championship victory alongside Steve Brown. It looks like there could be a changing of the guard next year, but who could bet against Steve Brown to cling onto the trophy for another championship in 2020? We look forward to finding out!

Many thanks to all of you racers who made the trip and a special thanks to all who helped throughout the day, including Richard Hamme in Race Control, Dave Laycock commentating the finals, John Yarham Jr and Dave Laycock on track maintenance and Scrutineering, and John Yarham Sr, John Yarham Jr, and Maisie Nevard in Scrutineering. 

We hope everyone had a fantastic day’s racing and a safe journey home.

All at SHRCCC.