Round 3 - Dudley

One very happy young man replaced the two grumpy old men so we had 23 racers for the individual event at Dudley. The young man in question was Martin Jackson’s younger brother Luke who set a very good score in the first heat with 28.30 laps on Red lane. This was good enough to give him the heat victory by 6 laps from John Gooding with Mathew Green another lap back. Only Charlie Gooding was to better this in the first round of heats and that includes the super production runners! In heat2 a very close race eventually saw Andrew Hogg (23.95) beat Christopher Green by just 1 part. Sandy Parker was again showing good form to win heat 3 by over two laps from Roddy, Dave Homer and her Dad Ralph. Martin Ellis has actually had more club nights at Dudley than at Oakland’s during his time working in the Midlands and put the experience to good use in setting a winning run of 27.02 laps in heat 4 but was still over a lap short of Luke’s score. Heat 5 had the top Falcon runners and Charlie set the new top score with 28.50 laps on Blue lane. Chris Thomas moved into third overall with Martin Jackson fourth overall and Graham Thomas sixth overall. Paul Shepherd once again easily won the production heat by over two laps from Steve with David third. Luke was saving his best car for the final, Matthew green improved by 2 laps to put himself above John Gooding. Matthew Siddall improved by 3 laps in-group 2 but Andrew Hogg still managed to beat him by 2 parts. Sandy won again but was slower than her first run in-group 3 however the other three all improved. Roddy Morrison added 2 laps to his first score and was still ahead of track owner Dave Homer. Everyone improved in-group 4 with the race being won by Martin Ellis on 27.56 laps. The top Falcon group were next with Graham Thomas moving into first place in Falcon with 28.53 laps on Yellow just 3 parts more than Charlie’s first run. Martin Jackson’s score was half a lap better than his first run but still nearly a lap short of his brother. Chris Thomas was even slower than on his first run and was sitting in sixth place and facing missing the A final. All four of the Super production drivers improved on their first runs and David moved above Steve into second place. There were no more improvements in-group 1 but Matthew Siddall improved by over a lap in-group 2 and put himself into the B final. Sandy won group 3 and set her best score, which was just 1 part, more than Matthew Siddall. Dave Homer also added over a lap to his score but still missed out on a place in the B Final. Steve Siddall improved by over a lap in-group 4 but was still a lap short of his sons score. Going into the last Falcon heat Graham Thomas was top Falcon with Charlie second, Luke third and Martin Ellis fourth. Chris Thomas had been suffering with a controller problem after the wiper had fallen off. He borrowed a controller from Dave Homer and set the best run of the day with 29.01 laps on Red lane. Martin Jackson moved up to second in Falcon with 28.55 laps on Blue just 2 parts more than Graham Thomas. This was the second time in two days that Martin had beaten someone by 2 parts. This meant that Martin Ellis dropped to 6^th and most significantly Luke dropped to fifth missing the A final on his BSL debut by just 20 parts to Charlie Gooding.

Finals
In the E final Steve Smith had car problems leaving Matthew Green to beat John Gooding by a lap. Ernest Danyi drove well in the D final to win by a lap from Ralph Parker. Stephen Siddall won a close C final with Dave Homer just 38 parts behind and Andrew Hogg another 4 parts back in third place. In the B final Luke was again quick but suffered a few offs and only finished third. The B final win went to Martin Ellis with Saturday’s joint Falcon winner Sandy taking second place. In the A final Charlie had an off on lap one but quickly passed Martin to get into third place. Chris slowly drove off into a lead of about half a lap, which he maintained, to the end. The battle was for second place with Charlie slowly catching up with Graham who then stayed level for a few laps till he had an off. Graham was well in front of Martin so set off after Charlie and almost caught up before almost losing it and dropping a few feet back again. In the end Charlie took second by just 4 parts, which made up for the previous year when Graham by a very small margin had beaten him by rolling past after the power had gone off. Paul again won the super production final but he was a lap short of the first three in Falcon. David this time took second ahead of Steve.

Team Race
With Luke having done so well in the morning it was a shame that he didn’t have a partner for the team race. We did however have a father and son team from Dudley’s Saturday club so we again had 12 teams. The Saturday lads did not have the dream debut that Luke had achieved in the morning. After a first run in which the rear axle had to be replaced young Alex was a little bit upset and his dad thought it best to take him home. His dad returned to take the last three runs but could not count his last score. Charlie again won the first heat for CMG but did raise the question of seeding for the team race. Please see the item at the bottom of this report. SDS won heat two but was three laps short of the CMG score. Next up were the top four seeds and three of them moved into the top three places with Laurel and Hardy taking 5^th overall just half a lap behind CMG. Martin Ellis used his track knowledge to beat Chris Thomas by just 2 parts with Graham Thomas third some six laps back. In second round of heats John took over for CMG and despite only being 7 laps down on his dads score they dropped from 4^th to 7^th overall. Meanwhile Paul had replaced Chas for the SCD team and his score of 122.32 moved them from 7^th to fourth. The rest of the top seven remained unaltered. In round three Baby and the Lad increased their lead and Morecombe security consolidated second place. With Paul taking his second run SCD moved into third place with Symbolics dropping to fourth. SDS and CMG improved by one place as Laurel and Hardy dropped down to 7^th. In the last round of heats Laurel and Hardy recovered to take sixth from CMG. SDS remained in fifth but Chas failed to match Pauls scores and SCD dropped to fourth. Symbolics had their best run but could only move up to third. Morecombe kept second by nearly 2 laps. It would have been more had they not suffered car damage when Steve Sergeant dropped their car while marshalling. Steve did have the blood marks to prove that the body pin had gone into his hand. Baby and the lad with Chris driving had their lowest score of just 119.49 laps but still secured victory by over 26 laps. So it was a double team victory for Chris and Martin and with their second place at Newcastle they are now well clear at the top of the championship. Thanks to everyone who came to make the weekend as enjoyable as it was. Thanks to Dave for the food and to everyone who helped run the weekend. Hope to see you all at Pontefract.

The criteria for the seeding of the groups for the team race were questioned. It was agreed some years ago that the regular top scorers would be seeded and that teams with young junior racers would be kept separate where possible. Just where to place a team with a young driver and a national champion is very difficult and I can understand Charlie’s complaint. I suppose with hindsight Dads Taxi should have been in the bottom group instead but they had scores from two rounds this year and CMG only had one so they were higher in the championship and also Matthew had gone very well in the morning’s individual event. CMG had finished second overall last year but that was with Glynn and Charlie. Later in the series the groups are based on championship position but early on it is a case of placing people on known form. To try to keep everyone happy I suggest that the below list is used for seeding the teams at Pontefract. If anyone does not agree then please email Chris. If you don’t agree with my ranking then why not try predicting the finishing order and see if you are more accurate than my list.

Note CMG appear twice as their position will depend on driver line-up

Team ranking and reason
1 CMG - Charlie and Glynn ranked 1 because they won at Pontefract last year. Charlie with John would move down to 7 (below Symbolics who would then be 6^th)

Based on best two rounds this year Charlie and John are currently 7^th.
2 Scd Roadhogs - Paul and Chas have already had two 4^th places and Chas on his own track should give Paul even better backing.

3 Baby and the Lad - Chris and Martin are championship leaders but Martin has never been to Pontefract.
4 Morcombe Security - Martin and Ernest currently second in championship
5 SDS - Steve and David have been 5^th at each round this year.
6 Laurel and Hardy - Ralph and Andy. Currently third placed team but have used driver changes to give them home track advantage.

7 Symbolics - Graham and Sandy Currently 4^th in championship after two home rounds, but only finished 8^th at Newcastle. Sandy is to replace Dave who is not able to race so I think a ranking of 7^th is about correct.

8 A9 run The teams ranked 8^th, 9^th and 10^th have all beaten each other this year so really could have been put in any order.

9 Mean and Green
10 Dads Taxi
11 Pirelli – Norman and Katie finished last at Newcastle

CMG ranking depends on who is driving with Charlie
Other new teams to be put into the appropriate place

Team Race

Pos Team Red White Blue Yellow Total Points

1 Baby and the Lad 123.52 119.45 125.06 124.72 492.75 50

2 Morecombe Security 113.73 123.54 114.56 116.52 468.35 47

3 Symbolics 113.78 115.54 120.06 117.28 466.66 45

4 SCD Roadhogs 109.11 117.71 110.34 122.32 459.48 43

5 SDS 112.83 112.27 114.41 115.25 454.76 41

6 Laurel And Hardy 112.73 108.72 115.11 116.72 453.28 39

7 CMG Slots 118.00 107.26 108.52 115.68 449.46 37

8 A9 Run 107.59 109.58 107.48 102.06 426.71 35

9 Dads Taxi 101.95 105.08 105.56 103.40 415.99 33

10 Mean and Green 103.43 101.40 104.01 97.59 406.43 31

11 Tango Rats 48.33 97.84 89.61 95.96 331.74 30

12 Saturday Lads 82.07 0.00 106.58 111.96 300.61 29

FALCON	BEST HEAT	GAP TO 1st	BEHIND NEXT	RACE POSITION
Chris Thomas	29.01	0.00	0.00	1st
Martin Jackson	28.55	0.46	0.46	2nd
Graham Thomas	28.53	0.48	0.02	3rd
Charlie Gooding	28.50	0.51	0.03	4th
Luke Jackson	28.30	0.71	0.20	5th
Martin Ellis	27.56	1.45	0.74	6th
Sandy Parker	26.56	2.45	1.00	7th
Matthew Siddall	26.55	2.46	0.01	8th
Dave Homer	26.07	2.94	0.48	9th
Roddy Morrison	25.89	3.12	0.18	10th
Stephen Siddall	25.56	3.45	0.33	11th
Andrew Hogg	25.30	3.71	0.26	12th
Ralph Parker	24.69	4.32	0.61	13th
Ernest Danyi	24.37	4.64	0.32	14th
Christopher Green	23.94	5.07	0.43	15th
Richard Wallace	23.72	5.29	0.22	16th
Matthew Green	23.07	5.94	0.65	17th
Steve Smith	22.92	6.09	0.15	18th
John Gooding	22.31	6.70	0.61	19th
-	0.00	29.01	22.31	20th

SUPER PRODUCTION	BEST HEAT	GAP TO 1st	BEHIND NEXT	RACE POSITION
Paul Shepherd	28.94	0.00	0.00	1st
David Sargent	26.51	2.43	2.43	2nd
Steve Sargent	26.06	2.88	0.45	3rd
Chas Keeling	24.52	4.42	1.54	4th

	A FINAL	FINAL LAPS	POSITIONS	OPEN	NOVICE
A FINAL	Chris Thomas	47.94	1st A.final	50
A FINAL	Charlie Gooding	47.54	2nd	47
A FINAL	Graham Thomas	47.50	3rd	45
A FINAL	Martin Jackson	45.50	4th	43	50
	B FINAL	FINAL LAPS	POSITIONS	OPEN	NOVICE
B FINAL	Martin Ellis	46.00	1st B.final	41
B FINAL	Sandy Parker	44.95	2nd	39
B FINAL	Luke Jackson	44.59	3rd	37	47
B FINAL	Matthew Siddall	39.00	4th	35	45
	C FINAL	FINAL LAPS	POSITIONS	OPEN	NOVICE
C FINAL	Stephen Siddall	42.98	1st C.final	33
C FINAL	Dave Homer	42.60	2nd	31
C FINAL	Andrew Hogg	42.56	3rd	30	43
C FINAL	Roddy Morrison	38.90	4th	29
	D FINAL	FINAL LAPS	POSITIONS	OPEN	NOVICE
D FINAL	Ernest Danyi	41.00	1st D.final	28
D FINAL	Ralph Parker	40.00	2nd	27
D FINAL	Richard Wallace	34.00	3rd	26
D FINAL	Christopher Green	13.00	4th	25	41
	E FINAL	FINAL LAPS	POSITIONS	OPEN	NOVICE
E FINAL	Matthew Green	35.00	1st E.final	24	39
E FINAL	John Gooding	34.00	2nd	23	37
E FINAL	Steve Smith	22.00	3rd	22	35
E FINAL	-	0.00	4th	21
	SUPER PROD FINAL	FINAL LAPS	POSITIONS	POINTS
A FINAL	Paul Shepherd	46.00	1st A.final	50
A FINAL	David Sargent	44.00	2nd	47
A FINAL	Steve Sargent	42.00	3rd	45
A FINAL	Chas Keeling	40.00	4th	43

Pos	Team	Red	White	Blue	Yellow	Total	Points
1	Baby and the Lad	123.52	119.45	125.06	124.72	492.75	50
2	Morecombe Security	113.73	123.54	114.56	116.52	468.35	47
3	Symbolics	113.78	115.54	120.06	117.28	466.66	45
4	SCD Roadhogs	109.11	117.71	110.34	122.32	459.48	43
5	SDS	112.83	112.27	114.41	115.25	454.76	41
6	Laurel And Hardy	112.73	108.72	115.11	116.72	453.28	39
7	CMG Slots	118.00	107.26	108.52	115.68	449.46	37
8	A9 Run	107.59	109.58	107.48	102.06	426.71	35
9	Dads Taxi	101.95	105.08	105.56	103.40	415.99	33
10	Mean and Green	103.43	101.40	104.01	97.59	406.43	31
11	Tango Rats	48.33	97.84	89.61	95.96	331.74	30
12	Saturday Lads	82.07	0.00	106.58	111.96	300.61	29