STCC Rnd 8: Ipswich

Round 8: Ipswich and Season Overall Results.

We arrived at the CMCRC club track at Ipswich, after passing through rain on the A14 before Cambridge and then again at Bury, nice and early with an overcast sky and a damp track, but the track was already drying out, and I must say it looked fantastic. A lot of work had obviously been put in and it showed in its fresh blue and white livery. Practicing was already underway and by the time drivers briefing took place at 9:00am it was completely dry. It then proceeded to get warmer and warmer and warmer all day, until the finals were running in 24c air temps and brilliant sunshine - I'll bet there are plenty of sun-burnt faces around after the meeting!

After qualifying ended, the computer was set to make the random draw run for the winner of this rounds prize, an X-Ray T2-009. And the winner was number 49 on the overall FTQ list, who was Tony Watts, to the great delight and a huge cheer from his team mates of the West London club, he was also obviously very pleased with winning this. Congratulations and well done Tony.

TC3 Class
The most popular class, in entries, all through the year was the TC3 class - popular in numbers with every round fully booked or in reserve bar one, and it was very competitive at the top, with a year long battle taking place between the front runners and an epic one between Malcolm Hall and Tim Hancock, with the win going to Malc by 2 points over Tim, and 7 of the 8 possible 100pt scores between them. Steve Moore, 3rd overall, was consistently fast but just wasn't quite there. But today was Tim's day, his car looking fast, poised and well set up for the extremely challenging circuit that the Ipswich track is. After qualifying was over it was local driver Mark Woods heading up the FTQ list, and Mark also took the first final, but Tim and Mark Trinder were hot on his boot. It was a tale of 3 drivers in the finals, Mark, Tim and Mark, each one winning one final each, but the day was to be Tims, with a 2,1,3, while MarkW having a 1,2,5 and MarkT a 3,5,1. Also close was Steve Moore, who ended up 4th, while Malcolm seemed to be having a tough day this time, but he will probably say he was just relaxing

So it was Malcolm Hall who took the 2009 TC3 Championship with his 598 points, dropping only 2 in this very competitive class, followed by Tim Hancock on 596 and Steve Moore in third. Well done guys, your cars were amazing.

TC2 Class
The cream of this class was Mark Fuller, Chris Barrett and Ricky Copsey with Andy Robson, Richard King and Jon Holloway all in very close company........ the FTQ went to Mark, with Chris, only 4/100th average lap time behind, in second, and a brilliant run from a very promising 12yr old Ben Mannell in 3rd. Keep an eye on Ben, he has a promising future and I have watched his progress through the years with a lot of respect, not forgetting his biggest fan, father and supporter, Adrian! However in the finals Mark was on fire, taking yet another 1,1,1 giving him the meeting win, Chris was second with a 3,3,2 having been squeezed out by Ben in the 1st final with his 2nd place, and Andy in the second final with his 2nd place. Ricky was 3rd, while fast was just not clean enough on this track to avoid the kerbs and lost time each run by hitting them, literally!

The TC2 2009 Championship was the same result, with 1st: Mark, 2nd: Chris and 3rd: Ricky. Mark again taking an STCC championship, his 6th championship win out of 7 years, having won the 19T, Modified, TC1 and TC2 classes over this time. Due to "other interests" Mark has announced that he may not be able to make a serious attack on the championship in 2010, but may be able to do some meetings - so it looks like there will be an opportunity for someone else to step up and take the crown......I will watch what develops with great interest! Mark started the STCC when he was 12yrs old and I have watched him develop every year. It has been a privilege to have supported and helped him through all this time in one way or another.

TC1 Class
In the TC1 class it was yet another classic tussle between Ashley Wiffen and Paul Pinkney and David Reece, with Chris Kerswell having already won the championship with his 597pts, he was at a warmup meeting for the 1/12 scale in preparation for the nationals. All year long it has been a close race between these drivers, with all four having taken a meeting win. It has been so close, at the end it was Ashley who took the win with a 1,2,1, followed by David with a 2,1,2 and Paul with a 3,3,3 One has to admire these guys who can drive cars like these around some of the tracks we use, with such speed and accuracy, lap after lap, often I watch mesmerized at their skill. Well done to all of these brave TC1 drivers, many have tried but only a few can exploit the performance of these beasts to such levels, truly brilliant stuff.

So, overall the 2009 TC1 Championship results were 1st: Chris Kerswell, 2nd: Paul Pinkney and 3rd: Ashley Wiffen.

2009 Championship:
What a finalé to the 2009 Championship, with 107 drivers entered into 6 or more rounds (the minimum scoring), out of 110 maximum possible what can I say but WOW - the most highly contested championship ever - that is 97.23% support, absolutely phenomenal!

With the club champs almost decided, the teams had organized themselves for a last ditch go for the 2009 Club Championship, and it was a well run and driven result by the West London Racing Centre that secured the 2009 Championship, well done to all the club, it was an excellent result. Runners up Maritime, in second were really close all year but just couldn't quite match the WLRC team, hard luck guys, best of luck next year. Southend, previous club champs were short of TC1 class drivers and despite not scoring any TC1 points came in a very creditable 3rd place. Well done to all the clubs on a great club competition overall.

Finally we had 3 additional prizes to give away, more Trakpower lipo batteries of the latest and new 40C Dark Series kind! Two for the most promising 2009 Juniors, in TC3: Robert Smith (but had left before his prize was announced so no pic) who came 20th overall, and in TC2: Ben Mannell who was a creditable 8th overall in this fast and very challenging class, and finally one for the most senior driver in the championship - and someone who has been doing the STCC championship since it first started and been a mentor to many others - Ray Cockman. Congratulations to all.

The 2009 STCC has been a fantastic and well supported championship, as I have already said, the competition is fierce, but the friendliness at the meetings is legendary with hard nosed competitors willingly helping each other with advice and support, you really could not ask for more in a series. So hats off to everyone you are all a credit to the sport. I would also like to thank all the clubs for their continuing support of the series, the tracks have been awesome and well presented all round, so thank you once again. Finally one for the wispering giant who toils in the back office running each and every meeting, handling all the timekeeping with his normal quiet efficiency - thank you Andy. See you all at the 2010 STCC, and I may have one surprise in store for you all, but more on that later...........

Regards - Mike Smith
STCC Organiser

And finally a small example of why you keep clear of the kerbs at Ipswich, especially the ski jump!