WSMCC Mardave open meeting

WSMCC Mardave open meeting

West Suffolk Model Car Club - Open Mardave National
18th December 2011

The first of many (we hope) Open Mardave Nationals was held at West Suffolk Model Car Club, with a very good attendance . Drives braved the weather (what weather?) and made the trip to the venue located just outside Bury St Edmunds at Risby village hall.

Once the hustle and bustle had all settled down, and the practice sessions had started, it was clear to see that the top boys had spent some time setting their cars up and getting them just right. We were privileged enough to see some very good speeds down the straight from both James Garret and Ben Lungley, along with Graham Oliver and top brushed car racer Jaik Gologhy .

Brushed Qualifying

First race off the line saw Jamie Oldman put his new chassis through its paces and take a very comfortable lead after a pile up at the first corner. He then went through the rest of the field to lap up to second place. He put in a good solid 27 laps with second place man Jaik Gologhy just missing out on the 27 laps. After them, with a fast 26 laps, came Miklos and Kevin Gologhy both still recovering from the earlier incident.
Second race saw Jamie having some big handling issues (thumb interface input errors?) and he had to retire early, allowing Jaik to take a very comfortable win with a solid 28 laps. Miklos brought home second place with Kevin down in third. However, as Kevin seemed to spend most of the race watching the other three drivers it was no surprise!
The third round of qualifying saw Jaik disappear off into the distance, massively improving his time and leaving all the others standing! Miklos put in a good run with 27 laps, but wasn’t quite fast enough to beat Jamie’s first 27 lap time. Jamie had been trying to get to grips with some handling issues with his car in this race and came home in third, with Kevin finishing the race in fourth.

Brushless Qualifying "both heats"

The races that everyone wanted to see and every one wondering who would take the first win and set the pace.
First heat up and Colin Thompson’s new CE chassis car was extremely quick through the in-field, and his grin showed that he was really enjoying his switch over from touring cars to Mardave! He was able to put in some impressive times. Michael Oldman, however, put in some solid 27 and 28 lap runs that were good enough to push him in the brushless A-Final. Some really hard battles were fought throughout these lower heats and not just between the drivers - Steven Scott was fighting with the barriers round the corners (but perfect in a straight line!), Mr. Martin Emmett put in some good 24 - 25 laps, along with Andy Oldman taking a break from Race Control *hurrah* to bring his car home in second. And this was all despite the fact that in one of the heats his battery tape came unstuck and he had to retire. Colin Thompson was really looking unbeatable though - his car just seemed to handle throughout out all of the track. However he was a tad to over aggressive and a Marshall not paying attention left Michael to take the overall win in these heats. The best junior by far was young Jack Lungley who drove smoothly and consistently all afternoon. He’ll be one to watch in the future, that is for sure!
Next, the top heat was up. These were the drivers who looked fast, were fast and were deemed unstoppable by lesser mortals. Unless of course they hit the barriers again! First run out saw Ben Lungley and James Garret fighting over first place, Ben ever so slightly pulling away and then James reeling him back in. It was a real game of cat and mouse with both drivers having some good runs. Ben just missed out on 30 laps in his first two qualifiers with James also bring home yet another 29 lap run. Graham Oliver was not at all far behind putting in some very fast 28 lap runs, these three were the three looking very quick indeed! Ben was finally able to break the magical 30 lap mark in his third and final run. This really was a superb run! Whilst he was busy setting that time, the rest of the field were battling it out in the lower positions - Graham put in an extremely good time to bag himself a 29 lap run (good enough for third overall in the A-Final) with James just ahead in second. David Studd and Michael Oldman made up the rest of the A-Final grid.

SuperDave Class

The rules were simple - run what you like as long as your ride height and weights were legal! So, with grins on their sweet little faces, they made their way to the track. James Garret was foolish enough to try taking part in two classes back to back (brushless and SuperDave) and this showed up with some very dodgy setups! One name stuck out though - Marcus Lungley running a 10.5 brushless CE chassis looked un-beatable. James gave him a good run for his money in the heats though, but, true to form, Marcus was both fast paced and extremely consistent through the in-field. Marcus made it look easy though and, thanks to Mr. Garret having a couple (understatement) bangs and knocks trying to keep with him, Marcus was able to walk away with the fastest times.
Taking up the rest of the places in this class were Stelios Bishop and John Hyde, both of who were able to drive fast and clean races.
So, as it stood, we now had Marcus in pole position and James in second. Third place was John with his incredibly built mixture of 1/12th and Mardave car (or as we like to call it the “Hyde-Special”) and Stelios bringing up the rear in fourth. What was so impressive was that all drivers looked really comfortable with their cars, even though each one was so different in their construction and power.

Finals Time

Brushed A-Final
Ok so the moment everyone was looking forward too, the time to transform qualifying positions into podium places. First up were the brushed guys so all eyes were on track, Jaik got a clean start from pole and was away and gone. The battle was between Miklos and Jamie was bumper to bumper with Miklos pulling out and then Jamie catching up again. This went on for many, many laps and was a joy to watch. Jaik did a great job with his race and when he came round to lap second and third place runners he saw that that these two were battling hard, did the honorable thing, kept back and let them get on with it. However Jamie was struck with some more handling problems half way through the race and had to pull off. This left Kevin to take third place. After the first leg standings were looking like this:-
Jaik in 1st Miklos in 2nd Kevin in 3rd Jamie in 4th
Second leg saw Jaik repeat his start from Round 1 and leap of in to the distance and never to be heard of again. And again, Jamie and Miklos battled it out to be the best of the rest. The spectators could almost hear Jamie’s prayers to the RCcar gods, begging them not to allow him to make a mistake, but they went unheeded - Miklos was right on Jamie’s rear bumper and pressured him into a basic mistake right on the three minute mark. Jamie clipped the first turn corner marker allowing Miklos a clean pass into second place. Jamie soon recovered though and was chasing Miklos down. Miklos made a few little mistakes in the tight in-field sections, allowing Jamie to catch him back up. Again they were bumper to bumper. With just 2 laps remaining Jamie was trying to take Miklos left right and center, but Miklos slammed the door firmly but fairly every time. On the very last lap Jamie got the inside line on the last corner on to the straight and they were side by side right down to the finish line. Miklos crossed less than a car length in front of Jamie to take the overall second position. Kevin had to pull off early stages of the race.
So, after the first two legs, the standings were Jaik 1st wrapping up his Open National meeting with two wins. Very well driven indeed and well deserved! Miklos was secure in second and Jamie in joint third with Kevin as both had a retirement and a third position.
Third and final leg. Once again, this saw Jaik happily running round the track and letting the rest of the drivers get on with their racing, so it was again down to Miklos and Jamie to provide entertainment for the crowd. In a carbon copy of Round 2 these two were fighting over second place with Jamie needing to beat Miklos to grab second spot overall (thanks to his better qualifying position) and Miklos having to defend hard off to retain the same second place. Unfortunately, in another carbon copy of Round 2, Kevin had to retire from the race early. So the race was on again between Jamie and Miklos and again it was bumper to bumper for many exciting laps. Then Jamie made a very silly mistake and clipped an in-field marker and stuck his car under it! He was very well marshaled though but the damage was done. Jamie was now a good half lap down on Miklos which gave Miklos his secure second place. Jaik could of stopped for coffee and still won the race! Very well done to him as he really did display some amazing driving in not fussing to overtake the two drivers who were battling it out for other places.

So overall A-Final Results
First - Jaik Gologhy [1, 1, 1]
Second - Miklos [ 2, 2, 2]
Third - Jamie Oldman [3, 3, 3]
Fourth - Kevin Gologhy [4, 4, 4]

B - Final Brushless

B-Final hit the line and they were off. Colin Thompson, who had looked incredibly fast all day, took an early lead but Jack Lungley was not even a second behind him. He was doing a great job of keeping Colin honest. The race was heating up between these two as Colin made an over aggressive mistake (yes, Colin it is a Mardave, not a touring car!) and did a clear 180’ spin in the track, allowing Jack through. His recovery also allowed Andy Oldman through who was having fun with his new CE conversion kit. Colin, however, was not to be out done and managed to put the pressure back on the rest of the field. Steven Scott went one way, but it was the wrong way, and it took out Andy, leaving Colin to regain second place. By this time though Jack had gained a good lead but Colin was in hot pursuit. With a clear field in front of him, Colin put some very impressive lap times in to catch Jack. With just 3 laps left Colin had actually caught up with Jack and finally managed to get past him with a nice clean move in the in-field to take a very well deserved win.
So, after the first leg of the B-Final standings looked like this:-
Colin in 1st, Jack in 2nd, Andy in 3rd, Martin Emmitt in 4th and Mr Scott bringing up the rear in 5th.
The second leg didn’t see Colin have a very good run at all. He made a very good start, and was even leading for a very good part of the race, but young Jack was homing in on him at a fast pace. Once again the spectators were treated to some extremely close racing - Jack managing to overtake Colin after Colin had made a mistake trying to overtake Steven Scott. By this time Jack had run away with the lead and Colin, even though he tried to catch him, he just didn’t have enough time left on the clock. Elsewhere on the track Andy Oldman and Martin Emmitt (making his debut in Mardave racing) were battling it out for third with more very close racing. Martin would overtake Andy, and then Andy would battle his way back to overtake Martin again, tit for tat for lap after lap! Even though Martin was slower than Andy in the in-field sections, Martin was a good bit faster than Andy down the main straight and neither driver really had an advantage over the lap. Both drivers were very civil to each other though and kept it clean and close. In the end the second leg the standings were like this.
Colin and Jack took joint first (both having a win and second each). Andy was in third, Martin Emmitt in fourth and, last but not least, Steven Scott.
Last leg of the finals and Colin had an amazing start and managed to go from fourth on the grid to first in the first lap! Jack followed him closely till around the mid way point in the race when he got stuck on the second corner allowing Colin to relax and drive his car home and for the win. This gave Colin the overall B-Final Win and Jack a secure second place. Again the battle down the field was between Martin and Andy, and yet again Andy pressuring Martin for most of the duration of the race. Martin eventually caved in and Andy got through for a comfortable overall third position.
So Final standings for the B-Final were as follows:

First - Colin Thompson [1, 2, 1]
Second - Jack Lungley [2, 1, 2]
Third - Andy Oldman [3, 4, 3]
Fourth - Martin Emmett [5, 3, 4]
Fifth - Steven Scott [4, 5, 5]

A - Final Brushless
All cars had lined up in a very tidy grid awaiting the buzzer, and they were off! Ben Lungley leading from James Garrett, both drivers extremely fast and closely matched over the first few laps. Michael Oldman down in fourth position kept third place man Graham Oliver very honest and at several parts during the race was putting real pressure on Graham for third. However, Graham managed to fend of Michael and even pull away slightly. By half way through the race Ben Lungley was long gone and had this race wrapped up and in the bag. James Garret was trying to chase him down but to no avail. With some open track now in front of him, Graham had actually caught James and was starting to put pressure back on James for second. At the horrid turn two Graham managed to get through as James made a mistake. But this was as far as Graham got due to the fact that Ben was almost up to lap second and third! Ben was very disappointed that he didn’t put in thirty laps but was happy with a clean race and a win. So, after the first leg of the A-Final the standings were like this - Ben Lungley in first, Graham in second, James Garret in third, David Studd in fourth and Michael Oldman in fifth.
The second leg began and again saw Ben pull away in his usual blistering fashion and would not be head of again for the rest of the race. It was clear that this race was between the rest of the field – Graham, James, David and Michael. For the first few laps, James was actually in a comfortable second place with a nice gap between him and Graham. Michael was also having a good race, chasing them both hard. Suddenly, David’s car froze mid track and he had to retire. James was just pulling away from Graham but let himself down with a case of ‘thumb interface input error’ and clipped the first corner. This pushed him wide enough to hit the entrance to turn two and allowing Graham through. Then James had another issue in to turn four (he swears that the corner actually jumped out, right in front of his car. Honest!) which allowed Michael through too. James really wasn’t having a good run! Graham started pulling away from Michael at a very fast pace once he had some open track in front of him and that is pretty much how it ended with Ben delighted to finally make the magical 30 laps. After leg two the standings had changed, but only at the lower end of the rankings - Ben out in first (and secured his Open National win), Graham with two seconds put him in second place so far and leaving him to defend against James Garret who was in third. Michael was in fourth and only one point behind James, and David in fifth position overall.
Leg three saw Ben Lungley taking off into the distance. Again! After a messy second round James needed a win to grab second place overall. He was able to keep ahead of Graham off the line but was not able to hang on to Ben. Graham had a very steady car under him and didn’t make any significant mistakes so kept the pressure on the other drivers. James managed to pull away just a tiny bit from Graham with some very close corner taking and very tight lines. With the cars so evenly matched, every inch mattered! Michael had had a bit of a messy start which allowed David through to grab fourth place and this is how the race finished. Overall standings at the end of the finals were:-

First - Ben Lungley [1, 1, 1]
Second - Graham Oliver [2, 2, 3]
Third - James Garrett [3, 4, 2]
Fourth - Mike Oldman [5, 3, 5]
Fifth - David Studd [4, 5, 4]

Super Dave A-Final
The two Drivers to watch in this race were Marcus Lungley and James Garret. Marcus was on pole followed by James and in third was John Hyde and in fourth Stelios Bishop. The Race began extremely cleanly and all drivers got away nicely. In fact for the first two or three laps it was grid order with Marcus pulling out a small lead over James. James was able to reel him back in a fraction through the middle part of the race, however Marcus had the overall edge and started to pull away. He bagged himself a very nice 30 lap to win the race. In fact, it was from start to finish how they qualified. Again the same happened in Leg 2, except James was able to get even closer to Marcus this time round
So, standings after the first two legs were as follows:
Marcus in first with two wins, James Garret in second with two seconds, John Hyde in third with two third places and Stelios Bishop in fourth with, erm, yes, four fourths.
Leg three was where all the action was as Marcus had a major problem getting his car off the line. It had been working fine on his warm up laps but when the gun went it simply refused to move off the grid! He was a sitting duck and was heavily hit by several of the other cars. Marcus was able to retrieve his car and get it going (there was a loose battery connection) but he was two laps down now. The carnage off the line had allowed John Hyde to sneak his way into the lead, closely followed by James, who was in turn very closely followed by Stelios. All three battled it out bumper to bumper, John’s ‘homemade special’ managed to defend against James’ custom chassis, and James in return was happy to put pressure on John whilst defending against Stelios. This was a pleasure for the spectators to watch as all three cars thrashing around the track in tandem. For the majority of the race there was around a second covering all three drivers! This did, however, take its toll on concentration though and eventually Stelios slipped off the pace a little and the other two pulled away. However, John and James were still battling hard for the lead – James was trying to pass in the in-field but John slammed the door shut each and every time. This continued all the way until the end of the race with John pulling of a very good win closely followed by James then Stelios and Marcus a couple of laps down.
So overall point standings are:

First - Marcus Lungley [1, 1, 4]
Second - James Garrett [2, 2, 2]
Third - John Hyde [3, 3, 1]
Fourth - Stelios Bishop [4, 4, 3]

We would all like to say a massive ‘thank you’ to James Garret for organizing the event, to our sponsors and Chris Wilkinson at Mardave for providing the prizes, to Ray Sturman for providing the trophies, to Mandy and Colin for providing food, hot snacks and drinks throughout the day and to Masaya for his duties at Race Control and commentary. Lastly, of course, a huge thank you to all the drivers who attended and made the event such very enjoyable one.
We are hoping to host another one in late spring / early summer so keep the May Bank Holiday weekends free...

lay out of this didnt go the way i wanted

I must say that was one of the best write ups I have read I tho ught I was at the actual race mdway through bloody cracking write up mate keep um coming like it loads

Great write up mate

thank you glad you all liked it pics to follow

Id like to give hugh thank you to Mr james Garret for proof reading my terrable grammer and spelling much apreceated and Miklos thanks for some really close racing between me and you really enjoyed that