BRCA R1 – Kidderminster – 4wd A Finals

The 4wd A Finals at Round 1 of the 2022 BRCA 1/10th Offroad Nationals have been high paced, intense and cruel to some.

I spoke to the our host and organiser of the Kidderminster venue, Tony Meredith, about the track. He explained that the track was originally built as a grass track in 1994 with concrete islands and a tarmac banked corner. The track was regularly rolled with a garden roller and over the proceeding years “nature took over” and lumps and bumps started to form. The track is always immaculately presented and every driver will come away this Sunday evening better for the challenge.

4wd A Final Grid

1	Tommy Hall	13/ 302.03	0 [(2) (2) 0 0]	23.23
2	Neil Cragg	13/ 302.00	2 [0 (6) 2 (6)]	23.23
3	Michal Orlowski	13/ 303.06	3 [3 0 (3) (5)]	23.31
4	Paul Crompton	13/ 303.45	5 [(7) 3 (4) 2]	23.34
5	Jamie Hall	13/ 303.57	7 [(6) 4 (9) 3]	23.35
6	Ben Smith	13/ 303.70	9 [5 (7) (5) 4]	23.36
7	Josh Holdsworth	13/ 304.33	9 [4 5 (13) (9)]	23.41
8	Luke Holdsworth	13/ 306.95	15 [9 (50) 6 (15)]	23.61
9	Edward Callan	13/ 309.25	15 [(16) (10) 7 8]	23.79
10	Phil Sleigh	13/ 309.15	16 [(17) 9 (10) 7]	23.78

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4wd A Final Leg 1

The general consensus around the track before the A Final was that any of the top 3 or maybe 4 could win it as they all had plenty of experience leading A Finals with world class drivers behind them. Tommy Hall scored big at last year’s SOOM Series, 2005 World Champion Neil Cragg needs no explanation, and 1/12th European Champion Michal Orlowski doesn’t either. You get the picture.

At the start of the race Tommy led the field through the first lap with everyone tightly bunched. The only change from starting order was Crompton getting the jump on Orlowski into turn one to pinch third in the running order. Tommy drove in a very controlled and mature fashion, dictating the pace. Neil could only get so close and not close enough to make a move. The cars formed a procession for several laps with the only overtaking being caused by bobbles and errors further back the field. At the mid-point Cragg was starting to increase the pressure on Hall. Coming down the straight a move felt imminent when Cragg started to grip roll into turn one – he caught it, but went wide clipping the concrete on the outside of the corner.

As Neil rejoined the racing line he tried to close the door on an advancing Paul Crompton, but Paul was already in the gap and even though he paused to allow Neil room, it was too late and Neil was flipped onto his roof. requiring the marshal. Tommy made a break as Orlowski and Crompton fought for second place. Crompton misjudging a corner on the far right side of the track and ending up on top of an island as Orlowski breezed through. Crompton recovered to third with a hard charging Cragg behind him, another mistake from Crompton later that lap let Cragg through for third. Final result: Hall, Orlowski, Crompton.

4wd A Final Leg 1 results

Pos	Car	Name	Result	Avrg Lap	Best Lap	BRCA #
1	1	Tommy Hall	13/ 302.81	23.29	22.80 (11)	16446
2	3	Michal Orlowski	13/ 303.78	23.37	22.43 (11)	161808
3	2	Neil Cragg	13/ 305.54	23.50	22.68 (10)	12
4	7	Josh Holdsworth	13/ 307.97	23.69	23.23 (12)	21528
5	6	Ben Smith	13/ 309.69	23.82	23.09 (8)	151466
6	4	Paul Crompton	13/ 310.42	23.88	23.03 (6)	151307
7	5	Jamie Hall	13/ 311.42	23.96	23.04 (13)	5791
8	10	Phil Sleigh	13/ 316.75	24.37	23.41 (7)	7862
9	9	Edward Callan	13/ 323.53	24.89	23.67 (4)	151972
10	8	Luke Holdsworth	12/ 304.68	25.39	23.47 (6)	6320

2wd A Final Leg 2

Apart from Tommy Hall it seems like none of the competitors were particularly happy with their Leg 1 performances, so we were expecting big things in Leg 2.

The second leg started in chaotic fashion. After the first couple of corners, Niel Cragg in second touch off a concrete curb and forcing him to kill a wheelie resulting on contact with Orloswki who couldn’t hang onto the out of control car and collected Paul Crompton. Somehow, both cars ended up on their wheels and pointing the right direction – Crompton remaining in third, Orlowski rejoining in sixth. Things settled down and Tommy Hall started to put in very pacey laps with a blessed Neil Cragg in tow. Cragg was able to draw up to back on Hall on a couple of occasions but there wasn’t enough speed in reserve to get by him. Finishing order: Hall, Cragg, Crompton. The second leg win secured the 4wd meeting for Tommy Hall. Michal Orlowski in 8th, would now need a second in Leg 3 to secure 2nd overall.

2wd A Final Leg 2 results.

Pos	Car	Name	Result	Avrg Lap	Best Lap	BRCA #
1	1	Tommy Hall	13/ 300.84	23.14	22.87 (3)	16446
2	2	Neil Cragg	13/ 300.94	23.15	22.70 (4)	12
3	4	Paul Crompton	13/ 305.76	23.52	22.81 (4)	151307
4	5	Jamie Hall	13/ 309.85	23.83	23.16 (7)	5791
5	7	Josh Holdsworth	13/ 310.27	23.87	23.01 (10)	21528
6	6	Ben Smith	13/ 313.16	24.09	23.13 (13)	151466
7	9	Edward Callan	13/ 314.11	24.16	23.21 (4)	151972
8	3	Michal Orlowski	13/ 314.96	24.23	22.67 (4)	161808
9	10	Phil Sleigh	13/ 321.88	24.76	23.32 (2)	7862
10	8	Luke Holdsworth	12/ 303.36	25.28	22.84 (11)	6320

2wd A Final Leg 3

Thing calmed down considerably for round 3. Tommy Hall from pole lead the field away and the first lap was incident free. At the start of lap two, Neil Cragg made a small error which was enough to let Michal Orlowski though to second. Orlowski would then go on to make and error himself – just glancing a track marking – but held Cragg at bay. The battle for second gave Tommy Hall the opportunity to check out at the front of the field. Cragg in third putting Orlowski under major pressure for a couple of laps. Unfortunately, Neil’s challenge was cut sort when he cartwheeled off the circuit at the end of the straight breaking his car. Orlowski was now secure in second. Tommy and Michal delivered the roughly the same lap times times lap after laps so the notion that a battle for the lead was going to develop was unrealistic. Tommy held the lead all the way to the finish making it three from three.

Final classification – 4wd

Pos	Car	Name	Result	Avrg Lap	Best Lap	BRCA #
1	1	Tommy Hall	2 [ 1 1 1 – 13/ 300.34 ]	23.10	0.00 (0)	16446
2	3	Michal Orlowski	4 [ 2 8 2 – 13/ 303.78 ]	23.37	0.00 (0)	161808
3	2	Neil Cragg	5 [ 3 2 10 – 13/ 300.94 ]	23.15	0.00 (0)	12
4	4	Paul Crompton	6 [ 6 3 3 – 13/ 305.76 ]	23.52	0.00 (0)	151307
5	5	Jamie Hall	8 [ 7 4 4 – 13/ 308.46 ]	23.73	0.00 (0)	5791
6	7	Josh Holdsworth	9 [ 4 5 6 – 13/ 307.97 ]	23.69	0.00 (0)	21528
7	6	Ben Smith	10 [ 5 6 5 – 13/ 308.67 ]	23.74	0.00 (0)	151466
8	9	Edward Callan	14 [ 9 7 7 – 13/ 314.11 ]	24.16	0.00 (0)	151972
9	10	Phil Sleigh	16 [ 8 9 8 – 13/ 316.75 ]	24.37	0.00 (0)	7862
10	8	Luke Holdsworth	19 [ 10 10 9 – 12/ 301.38 ]	25.12	0.00 (0)	6320

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