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Pontefract - Round 4 - 15 June
This year had a very high number of entries – 31 individual and 16 teams. This meant that pit space was at a premium. All the BSL regulars were there plus e few local drivers. Graham Burke, Ian Prout and Chris Morton from Pontefract plus Colin Jackson from Gainsborough. In spite of the threatened fuel shortage, we had six visitors from north of the border. From Highland we had Roddy Morrison, Richard Wallace, Murray Wallace and Andrew Hogg. Barton visitors were Keith Charles and Alan Lucas.
We had 5 entries in Super Production and 26 in Falcon. The low entry level in Super Production means that there are large gaps at times in the heats. It may be better to amalgamate the entry in future rounds to prevent organisers being faced with this problem.
Graham Burke set the early pace with a run of 28.82 on blue. This was the fastest run of all the first round of heats – including the Super Production cars! Martin Ellis broke 28 laps with 28.00 in heat 5. Paul Shepherd led Super Production with 28.03 on Red. In the second round, Charlie Gooding and Chris Thomas both set times of 29 laps with 29.05 and 29.04 respectively. They also were running in Falcon and consequently were faster than all the Super Production cars in round 2. In the 3rd round Shep spared the blushes of the Super production brigade by setting the fastest time of the day with 29.74 on green. If the falcon powered cars are still on a par with the super production cars on a power track like Pontefract, you have to ask if they really need to be run separately.
In falcon, the G final was won by Richard Wallace from his son Murray and Christopher Green. The F Final was a win for Colin Jackson from Matthew Siddall and Mike Ogden. The E final was very closely contested between Ralph Parker, John Gooding and Ernest Danyi. That was the finishing order with less than a lap covering all three of them and several changes of lead during the race. Johns performance is particularly noteworthy as he was probably the youngest driver attending on the day. Sandy Parker won the D final by a lap from Alan Lucas, local driver Chris Morton driving in his first BSL round and Roddy Morrison. The C final was a win for Martin Jackson after a close race with Stephen Siddall. Martin was also the highest placed novice on the day. The B final saw Martin Ellis take a well deserved win by a lap and a half from Paul Bucknell. Graham Thomas was third and Mike Harrison fourth.
The A final was very close with Chris Thomas leading home a trio of local drivers led by Charlie Gooding. Chris’s winning margin was 25 feet with Graham Burke less than a lap down in 3rd.
Super Production B was a win for David Sargent from Chris Cowan. The A final was a win for Paul Shepherd from Chas Keeling and Steve Sargent.
1/32nd Heat Results
| FALCON | BEST HEAT | GAP TO 1st | BEHIND NEXT | RACE POSITION |
| Chris Thomas | 29.58 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1st |
| Charlie Gooding | 29.05 | 0.53 | 0.53 | 2nd |
| Graham Burke | 28.95 | 0.63 | 0.10 | 3rd |
| Ian Prout | 28.02 | 1.56 | 0.93 | 4th |
| Martin Ellis | 28.00 | 1.58 | 0.02 | 5th |
| Graham Thomas | 27.85 | 1.73 | 0.15 | 6th |
| Mike Harrison | 27.62 | 1.96 | 0.23 | 7th |
| Paul Bucknell | 27.45 | 2.13 | 0.17 | 8th |
| Keith Charles | 27.39 | 2.19 | 0.06 | 9th |
| Stephen Siddall | 27.24 | 2.34 | 0.15 | 10th |
| Martin Jackson | 27.05 | 2.53 | 0.19 | 11th |
| Andy Brown Searle | 26.90 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12th |
| Chris Morton | 26.82 | 2.76 | 0.08 | 13th |
| Alan Lucas | 26.64 | 2.94 | 0.18 | 14th |
| Sandy Parker | 26.06 | 3.52 | 0.58 | 15th |
| Roddy Morrison | 26.03 | 3.55 | 0.03 | 16th |
| John Gooding | 25.93 | 3.65 | 0.10 | 17th |
| Ernest Danyi | 25.78 | 3.80 | 0.15 | 18th |
| Ralph Parker | 25.32 | 4.26 | 0.46 | 19th |
| Andrew Hogg | 25.28 | 4.30 | 0.04 | 20th |
| Matthew Siddall | 24.98 | 4.60 | 0.30 | 21st |
| Colin Jackson | 24.89 | 4.69 | 0.09 | 22nd |
| Mike Ogden | 24.67 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 23rd |
| Richard Wallace | 24.47 | 5.11 | 0.20 | 24th |
| Murray Wallace | 23.34 | 6.24 | 1.13 | 25th |
| Christopher Green | 22.81 | 6.77 | 0.53 | 26th |
| SUPER PRODUCTION | BEST HEAT | GAP TO 1st | BEHIND NEXT | RACE POSITION |
| Paul Shepherd | 29.74 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1st |
| Chas Keeling | 27.89 | 1.85 | 1.85 | 2nd |
| Steve Sargent | 26.49 | 3.25 | 1.40 | 3rd |
| David Sargent | 26.31 | 3.43 | 0.18 | 4th |
| Chris Cowan | 26.02 | 3.56 | 0.29 | 5th |
1/32nd Finals
Due to the very large entry, the team race was run with 10 minute segments. The most remarkable aspect of the race was that the falcon powered cars are already faster than the Super 16D cars we ran a couple of years ago. 100 laps in the segment was achieved no less than 10 times this year whereas the S16D cars only achieved this once or twice two years ago. The team race was dominated by local drivers with 4 out of the 5 top places filled by teams with at least one Pontefract member. The race was won by the incredibly close margin of just 20 feet by the CMG Slots Gainsborough team of Graham Burke and Colin Jackson from Charlie and John Gooding of CMG Slots. This was a great performance from young John Gooding who only gets to Pontefract occasionally during the school holidays. Chas Keeling and Paul Shepherd looked to be well placed for the win until controller problems intervened in the last segment and they finished 2 laps down. Baby and the Lad were the highest placed team without a Pontefract member in 4th and maintained their strong championship position. The Pontyslot team of Ian Prout and Chris Morton finished in a strong fifth place and was an excellent result.
Team Race
| Team Name | Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Heat 3 | Heat 4 | Total | Points |
| CMG Slots Gainsborough | 95.22 | 101.32 | 100.83 | 97.69 | 395.06 | 50 |
| CMG Slots | 106.51 | 89.50 | 103.35 | 95.50 | 394.86 | 47 |
| SCD Roadhogs | 101.36 | 100.13 | 104.44 | 86.48 | 392.41 | 45 |
| Baby & the Lad | 96.72 | 101.36 | 78.76 | 101.82 | 378.66 | 43 |
| Pontyslot | 96.42 | 91.91 | 96.94 | 92.55 | 377.82 | 41 |
| SDS | 98.66 | 99.20 | 83.85 | 93.85 | 375.56 | 39 |
| Morecambe Security | 107.00 | 91.89 | 76.07 | 95.67 | 370.63 | 37 |
| Grumpy Old Men | 95.89 | 97.21 | 90.04 | 81.29 | 364.43 | 35 |
| Symbolics | 89.08 | 91.38 | 92.88 | 89.46 | 362.80 | 33 |
| Ebee Gee Bees | 81.08 | 89.80 | 93.89 | 94.04 | 358.81 | 31 |
| Laurel & Hardy | 81.99 | 88.85 | 88.65 | 87.96 | 347.45 | 30 |
| Dads Taxi | 84.50 | 90.81 | 84.90 | 84.54 | 344.75 | 29 |
| A9 Run | 93.38 | 81.45 | 70.57 | 92.14 | 337.54 | 28 |
| Mean & Green | 84.20 | 80.58 | 85.03 | 87.31 | 337.12 | 27 |
| Tango Rats | 75.32 | 82.92 | 66.91 | 94.83 | 319.98 | 26 |
| Newcastle 1 | 96.38 | 93.38 | 39.00 | 91.05 | 319.81 | 25 |
| Team Name | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| CMG Slots Gainsborough | Graham Burke | Colin Jackson |
| CMG Slots | Charlie Gooding | John Gooding |
| SCD Roadhogs | Paul Shepherd | Chas Keeling |
| Baby & the Lad | Chris Thomas | Martin Jackson |
| Pontyslot | Ian Prout | Chris Morton |
| SDS | Steve Sargent | David Sargent |
| Morecambe Security | Martin Ellis | Ernest Danyi |
| Grumpy Old Men | Paul Bucknell | Mike Ogden |
| Symbolics | Graham Thomas | Sandy Parker |
| Ebee Gee Bees | Keith Charles | Alan Lucas |
| Laurel & Hardy | Andy Brown Searle | Ralph Parker |
| Dads Taxi | Stephen Siddall | Matthew Siddall |
| A9 Run | Roddy Morrison | Richard Wallace |
| Mean & Green | Christopher Green | Matthew Green |
| Tango Rats | Andrew Hogg | Murray Wallace |
| Newcastle 1 | Mike Harrison | Chris Cowan |
It was an excellent meeting and gave some fantastically close racing in a very friendly atmosphere. I’m certainly looking forward to running in a couple more rounds this year so I hope to see you there. Thanks from everyone at Pontyslot – Paul Bucknell.
Copyright © 2008 to Chris Thomas All rights reserved