South Downs ProAm

Round 1 South Downs 31 January

Photo gallery from Ian Howard, report to follow.

PRO AM 2016

Home BSCRA
South Downs Luton
Raceway 81 Oaklands Park
N. London Pinewood
Championship Rules

Round 1 of the revamped championship got off to a cracking start in the excellent facilities at Richardsons South Downs Holiday Village. Round 1 of the BOC took place just 7 days before at the venue, so the high speed track was in excellent condition with a recently cleaned and gooped surface with a highly consistent braid bed.

Round 1 attracted an excellent entry with 17 starters including, Joe Morgans, Troy Mason Roe, Keith Gibson, Jack Cheshire, Toby & Ant Hawkes as well as a lone lady racer Alice Howard from the Midlands. It was also great to see the usual North London crew with Paul Harwood, John Ovens and Cliff Bicknell sin attendance.

32 Sports.

Heat 1 got under way with John Ovens taking an early lead which he didn’t relinquish despite the efforts of Cliff Bicknell to stay on his tail. The battle for 3rd and 4th between Father and Daughter, Ian and Alice Howard was compelling with less than a quarter of a lap between them throughout all 8 segments. Alice skilfully managed to squeeze her old man out in the last segment to take third spot on the podium.

Heat 1 Results: 1st John Ovens (10th O/A), 2nd Cliff Bicknell (11th O/A), 3rd Alice Howard (14th O/A), 4th Ian Howard (15th O/A), 5th Graham Mason (16th O/A), 6th Bill Jenner (17th O/A).

Heat 2 was a good mixture of youth and experience. Enjoying a small “home advantage” Ant Hawkes won the heat by 6 laps from a hard charging Keith Gibson. But, it was great to see young Jack Cheshire and Harry Rowett taking 3rd and 4th respectively with some mature and well-paced racing throughout the 8 segments.

Heat 2 Results: 1st Ant Hawkes (3rd O/A), 2nd Keith Gibson (5th O/A), 3rd Jack Cheshire (8th O/A), 4th Harry Rowett (9th O/A), 5th Alan Bevan (12th O/A), 6th Keith Edgar (13th O/A).

Heat 3 once again saw a good mixture of young racers and more “mature” racers. Joe Morgans took a dominant heat win and 1st overall by nearly 2 laps from Toby Hawkes who looked quick and unflappable. Phil Mitchell took a solid and unassailable 3rd place whilst Troy Mason-Roe finished in 4th place, keeping Paul Harwood honest back in 5th place.

Heat 3 Results: 1st Joe Morgans (1st O/A), 2nd Toby Hawkes (2nd O/A), 3rd Phil Mitchell (4th O/A), 4th Troy Mason-Roe (6th O/A), 5th Paul Harwood (7th O/A).

Formula 1.

Heat 1, Ian Howard took a dominant win by 3 laps from Graham Mason followed by Bill Jenner back in 3rd place. Alice Howard didn’t really gel with her F1 after trying both a Mack and SCD F1 chassis in practice. Nevertheless she persevered to take 4th place 3 laps ahead of Keith Edgar. Alan Bevan retired after 12 laps, reason unknown.

Heat 1 Results: 1st Ian Howard (11th O/A), 2nd Graham Mason (12th O/A), 3rd Bill Jenner (13th O/A), 4th Alice Howard (14th O/A), 5th Keith Edgar (15th O/A), Rtd Alan Bevan (Reason unknown).

Heat 2 gave spectators a “ding Dong” battle to watch between Troy Mason-Roe and Paul Harwood. Troy took the win after 18 minutes of racing by just 21/100ths. It was a good clean race between the both of them and a joy to watch when Paul lost ground, then regained it, only to lose ground again and regain it once more. In fact spectators and marshals were spoiled for choice as Jack Cheshire, Harry Rowett and John Ovens were locked in a similar battle for 3rd place in the heat. Young Harry took 3rd with a superb drive and displaying a maturity beyond his years.

Heat 2 Results: 1st Troy Mason-Roe (4TH O/A), 2nd Paul Harwood (5th O/A), 3rd Harry Rowett (8th O/A), 4th Jack Cheshire (9th O/A), 5th John Ovens (10th O/A), Rtd Cliff Bicknell (Motor).

Heat 3 was dominated by Joe Morgans who at one point looked to be racing on another planet let alone the same circuit as everyone else. But inexplicably he lost numerous (predicted) laps in the last segment to take the win by 6 laps from Toby Hawkes. The battle for 2nd between Toby and Keith Gibson was a nail biter to the flag with just over a lap between them at the end of 8 segments.

Heat 3 Results: 1st Joe Morgans (1st O/A), 2nd Toby Hawkes (2nd O/A), 3rd Keith Gibson (3rd O/A), 4th Ant Hawkes (6th O/A) 5th Phil Mitchell (7th O/A).

24 Sports Team Race

The 24 Sports class has been changed to a “Team Race” format for Pro-AM 2016 which meant each team faced 48 minutes of flat out racing. 9 teams took the start with Toby Hawkes making up the driving partnership for 2 teams.

Pro Race - Despite the first segment being a very close run affair the Morgans/Gibson pairing took a crushing win by over 32 laps from Mitchell/T Hawkes. The Morgans Slot Products entry looked unbeatable with the pairing racing in smooth consistent style. The Harwood/Mason-Roe team certainly looked like a team to watch for in Pro-AM 2016, with some very quick lap times coming from both racers. Unfortunately the father and son Hawkes duo were forced to retire halfway through the 7th segment; the reason for their retirement is unknown.

AM Race – The Rowett/Cheshire pairing took a popular win in the AM category and an encouraging 4th O/A. The Howard team were running as high as 3rd O/A at one point until young Alice was involved in a shunt with a de-slotted racer under the bridge and out of sight. A bent guide tab raised the front ground clearance to some 5-6mm and relegated the pairing to disappointing 7th O/A.

Team Race Results: 1st Morgans/Gibson (Pro), 2nd Mitchell/T Hawkes (Pro), 3rd Harwood/Mason Roe (Pro), 4th Rowett/Cheshire (AM), 5th Jenner/Mason (AM), 6th Bicknell/Ovens (AM), 7th A Howard/I Howard (AM), Rtd A Hawkes/T Hawkes (Pro) (8th Segment/Reason Unknown). Rtd Bevan/Edgar (AM) (4th Segment/Reason Unknown).

Once again many thanks to Ant Hawkes and everyone at Richardsons South Downs Holiday Village for making everyone so welcome, throughout the weekend

Joe Morgans leads all three categories after Round 1 with some dominant performances across the range for Formulae. But, there is a good mix of “speedway” and “street-fighting” tracks in the Pro-AM 2016 calendar, so will things change when the Championship moves on to Luton on Sunday 2nd April 2016? Look out for championship table updates in BSCRA/SCRN/Facebook/Slotforum for the latest news and views.

Ian Howard