BCCC Round 2 Radnor.

Radnor is a traditional home of the Cross Country Championship – its fast gravel roads and gnarly off-road sections have often proved to be a bit of a favourite, as well as a millstone, with the competitors. It offers a combination of high-speed, masochistic beating and wildy variable grip. A real classic. Round two of Britparts 2009 British Cross Country Championship was touted as being at Radnor, whilst being based on neighbouring farmland at Bleddfa – now that set some alarm bells ringing.

Last year, the round at Tiverton was also held on farmland, and with the sodden weather the course was horrific, especially considering the control tyres used. Expectations for the Radnor round were therefore low. However, the final course was a heady, 6-mile mix of open pasture, twisting and devious wooded sections and the blisteringly fast gravel roads that folk seem to approve of. Since following the BCCC, and several other cross-country series, in my guise as ‘faithful family pet’ I’ve seen many a course. This one was destined to be an absolute cracker. I can’t speak for the competitors but for me, this was one of the best courses I’ve seen. Ample trees, plenty of interesting smells, small rodents to chase, birds to shout at and more sheep droppings to roll in than you could shake a poo-covered stick at. A few more competitors made the journey too – always a good sign. They weren’t going to be disappointed.

On a more personal note, it would seem that the light of my life, Lexie (yeah, I know she’s a Shepherd but there’s nothing wrong with inter-racial relationships in this day and age, and she does have the cutest accent) has collected a new beau. I was less than impressed. Bitch! Still, I put on a social front but was at least able to take out frustrations on the occasional stick when the owners weren’t looking.

Friday was spent following the herd of humans, armed with hammers, staple guns and tape, laying out the course. For much of the first half of the course, this also involved keeping out of the wind, which when combined with the frequent showers made life a bit nippy. There were a lot of sheep still on the loose, so I kinda just hid in the Landcruiser and watched brightly coloured people dashing about hitting things. This must be what management feels like. I contemplated this as I cleaned my teeth with an unused stake. Despite much of the second half of the course being in the trees there was little heavy-carpentry involved this time aside from the removal of loose sticks and a bit of light trimming. Friday night was spent wondering where the competitors were. Some of the usual suspects had arrived but hell, it looked thin on the ground. Pickings at Xtreme OrganiX were going to be meagre tonight. In light of a lack of ear-rubs and table scraps I returned to the owners at the far end of the service field. It was still trying to rain, too.

On Saturday morning I was rudely awakened by birds scratching about and chirping on the roof the truck, where it turns out some joker had tossed a slice of bread last night. Needless to say, that whilst appreciative of humour, I have a spectacular array of (now clean) teeth awaiting a brief meeting with someone’s arse. That aside, I’m not one to begrudge the tweets an easy snack. Any road, I peered out of the back window of the truck to be met with a service park that was bristling compared to the night before. I had a warm feeling about today and just to ice the cake, the sun was out! This had some potential.

I headed across to the XoX stand and bullied some of the weaker looking people into giving up the odd snippet of bacon before taking a leisurely stroll around the course. The opening quarter mile was an uphill trawl on a fast gravel track. It was still damp with dew and had the potential for catching out the unwary and tossing them down a savage gully to the left. There was fast bend near the top with a hollow on the inside that looked just right for unsettling an errant race car. Following this was a slight downhill section, again on the rapid cat 1 track before the track threw a narrow right through a gate and onto a lengthy section of open field. Again it was damp and the pasture would offer little grip, especially as it featured some evil off-camber sections and plenty of opportunity to gain some serious air-time. Some of the rollers however were pretty vicious, so care would be required to prevent anything catastrophic happening. After the open grasslands (with its ‘interesting cambers) the course dived into the trees for a mile or so of thin twisting ruts before finally hitting the hideously quick cat 1 of Radnor-actual. The cars would now have a real opportunity to stretch their muscles and for drivers to test their mettle before taking the plunge through another heavily wooded section and a daunting ski-run into the final field. A hard right on damp grass would take the competitors up slope, around a copse and back down to the fields edge and a hard left into the short and desperate scrabble across the finishing line. Too far to the left here, and the timing boards were in deep doo-doo. Too far to the right here, and it was the competitors in deep doo-doo as a very large tree would arrest any forward motion. I sat here and watched for a while.

Richards Kershaws 4ltr Pug-a-like was the first car off the line and howled up the track in spectacular fashion, showering the start crew with damp gravel. He was followed 1 minute later by Dan Lofthouse in the re-powered and bellowing LD4 proto. Another minute passed and Tim Dilworth lit up the valley with the familiar banshee wail of his scooby-powered Pug-a-like. Richard, and co driver Graham Broadbest, set a good time – 8.37, which for 6 miles of varied and often gripless terrain was ‘giving it some’. However, Tim did better by 9 seconds – he had spent the time since the last round getting his thoughts together and taking driving advice from out-side the sport, and it seemed to pay off. Richard threw down the challenge and Tim had answered – loudly and clearly. This round wasn’t going to be Richards for the taking – if he wanted the win then he’d have to earn and Tim was going to make it bloody hard work for the current champion. The scene was set and as the day wore on the track dried and times came down, but every time Richard made a statement, Tim could counter it (on all but run 6). Richard was clean and considerably faster than the attitude of his car would have you believe – a statement of considered driving and raw speed. Tim was a demonstration of controlled spectacle, and this was most apparent when he roared out of the final bend in a tight drift and held it for two hundred metres before crossing the finish-line sideways. He did this time after time. Usually he’s fast but wild, now he was blindingly fast and very much in control.

Run four saw things really heating up. Tim didn’t just beat the eight minute barrier, but took it ‘round the back and kicked seven bells out of it’. I assume his co-driver, Anthony was holding the time down while Tim laid in. 7.51 – brilliant effort. Kershaw also stuck the boot in and kicked eight-minutes whilst it was down. 7.53 – equally brilliant effort. Two different driving styles, two subtly different cars, two very different engines. Two very small seconds. Come the end of the day however and run eight, Tim nailed an astonishing 7.42 to sit at the top of the list with a cumulative time of 56.46. Richard sat in second spot with a hard-earned 57.02. It was a sizeable margin, gained bit by small bit throughout the day. However, there was less than a driving error, or a puncture, or a miss-fire separating the pair of them.

Dan Lofthouse set off in fine form with Johnny Koonja taking Tom-Tom duties. Despite an increase in horsepower though, he couldn’t settle into his usual groove and he languished in sixth after the first run. He’d given himself an uphill fight for the rest of the day. Still Dan’s never one to turn down a challenge and he set about laying waste to those above him in the standings. He really had the bit between his teeth and his absolutely heroic drive on run 6 saw him reward the fastest run time of 7.47. Dan then repeated the effort on run 7 (when it had rained and grip had vanished) and again got fastest time of the run. He couldn’t quite maintain the advantage for run 8 (joint second fastest), but by then he had secured third with a cumulative 57.25.

Settling for forth by close of day 1 was Ian Rochelle in the scarab-like and fire-spitting Millington powered Mattseratti. Ian (with resident co-driver Rob Pugh) was setting some brilliant times and more importantly he was keeping the car together. He is fast, no doubt, but his progress up the leader board is often scuppered by the seeming fragility of his lightweight racer. It just seems to be wanting of a certain ‘survivability’. Ian doesn’t seem to compromise his speed to protect the car, and this time it seemed to be paying off. However, he was starting to find some engine gremlims creeping in on the last run and this cost him at least one place in the standing. But tomorrow was another day, and Messers Rochelle and Pugh would be competing in it. They had a good chance to prove what they can be capable of.

Sitting fifth by close of Saturday was the likeable Labrador-owner Chris Hammond in his improving Milner R5 Pro-truck (with his usual co-driver and queen-of-the-ear-rubs, Amanda). Don’t let Dans climb up the ladder trick you – Chris put in a damned strong performance proving the capability of himself, the car, and his unique engine philosophy (that motor sounds so wrong but goes so right). Runs 1 and 7 were Chris’s stumbling blocks, maybe he is still coming to terms with the cars behaviour in low grip conditions, but anyhoo, he forms a stronger package than fourth place makes it sound. He couldn’t rest easy though – Colin Gould was snapping at his heels, only 3 seconds behind in the gruff sounding, rock-throwing Mattseratti.

Saturday didn’t go entirely to plan for everyone though. Brian Farmer suffered the fright of his life when his steering failed. Remember that savage gully I mentioned earlier? Despite Brian’s best efforts to control his wayward car on the first uphill stretch, he careered off the track and was left hanging down the ravine by a few strands of barbed wire. The recovery of the car, and its occupants was expedient and careful, and ultimately successful. The intact car was recovered to service. The build quality of the car was such that there was no doubt that had the fence not stopped the Porsche powered Warrrior that Brian and his co-driver would have come away from the bottom of the gully unscathed. The journey however would have been catastrophic for the car and terrifying for those involved. After an hour of tinkering in the pits, and a chance to regain composure, Brian had his racer back out on the course. Well done, gents.

Nick Forsyth was making a welcome return as a clubman entrant and was out on his first run of the day. He’d powered up the first hill and made quality progress across the grasslands, no doubt having an absolute hoot. It was those rollers that caught him out and a very heavy landing flipped the car. Within moments the Doctor and recovery crews were on the scene. The cars structure did it’s job and Nick was shaken but unharmed. His co-driver, Ruiz however was suffering from significant neck pain and the decision was immediately reached to scramble her to hospital for a thorough analysis. The course ambulance headed out with Ruiz to meet the county ambulance who promptly assessed the situation and felt it most prudent to call-in the air-ambulance for the journey to hospital. It was just shy of two hours before racing could restart but no-one complained - one of their own was potentially in trouble and that was all that mattered. The sense of unity was humbling – a real pack instinct you rarely feel around people.

Later that evening however, there was a bit of a cheer as Nick and Ruiz returned to camp. All checks had been completed all was well. The sense of relief was palpable. Like I said, humbling stuff. The biggest gripe was that it had been her first helicopter ride as she wasn’t able to look out the window! Saturday night closed with a party atmosphere – every one was well, cars were running well and the weather was good. What more could you ask for?

Sunday dawned (this time thankfully free of pecking birds) with again dry weather – two consecutive events and both of them have been dry despite of the weather forecast. Ma’am nature was really smiling on us so far this year!

Tim and Anthony were the first to launch and threw the little Pug-a-like around the course in an astonishing 7.42. Where the hell did he pull that from?? Richard and Graham were nearly 30 seconds slower. Run 9 and again Tim placed a time that Richard just couldn’t answer – by now Tim had nearly a minutes lead. Tim was now faced with a choice – should be back off slightly and use his minute to preserve the car and his lead? Should he hell. One puncture and it would second place – he had to hang in there. Richard however now had the bit between his teeth, being aware that it wasn’t a colossal gap twixt himself and first place. He had four runs to make up 60 sixty seconds and whilst being a big ask, he knew he was capable of some extraordinary performances. On run ten. Richard started the process and clawed by 2 seconds on Tim. Run 11 saw Richard carve an awesome 12 seconds off of Tims lead with an incredible run of 7.41.

Tim was giving it his all but recognised the threat the Richard now posed. He dug deep and from somewhere he pieced together a 7.39. Superlatives just don’t describe it – simply immense. But it still wasn’t over and on the final run Richard nailed another spectacular time – 7.40. It was good, and better than Tim on that run, but it wasn’t going to be enough, Tim took final victory with a cumulative 1.35.33, with Richard some 49 seconds behind for a very hard fought second place. The battle between the two was nothing short of spectacular. Very well done gents, very well done.

Dan and Johnny started the day in third spot and a serious of uncannily consistent times saw them nail a very well earned third spot, with a cumulative time of 1.45.12. Dan is good. No, that’s not fair, Dan is brilliant behind the wheel and the car is virtually bombproof, but I think it’s more an endurance type machine (reffering to his staggering performance on the Baja-lite a couple of years back. However, for the shorter sprint events, such as the BCCC I don’t think the car is quite the package it could be. Having said that engineering guru and Lofthouse-family patriarch Alec is developing a new car. If the last one was anything to go by it will be a vehicle to watch. In Dans capable paws, it could also be a vehicle to beat. Watch this space, as they say.

The team of Chris and Amanda put in a strong performance throughout Sunday and were rewarded with fourth overall (1.46.31). The expected battle between themselves and the Rochelle/Pugh partnership never quite transpired as Ians Millington engine was plagued with niggles for the first few runs, running on less than it’s usual four cylinders. This dropped Ian down to seventh overall. Whilst it was a little galling for Ian (he again was unable to prove his full potential) he proved that the car could have the robustness to complete a full weekend – and in some style too. Another package to keep an eye on over the next few events.

Ians misfortune combined with some really committed driving (check out the air-time in the photographs!) saw Colin Gould and co-driver Simon Kerfoot leap up the leader board in the rock-hurling Mattseratti. Some of his times were definitely top-two material and his driving lines were, at times, a master class in the ancient art of drift-fu. For sheer entertainment, Colin and Si were the team to watch on Sunday – utter class.

Sandwiched between Colin and Ian in sixth was James Webb in his R4 Milner. He’d been quietly doing his thing throughout Saturday and Sunday and was putting in some very, very strong times. His spot was well earned and well deserved, and I think with a bit more time to get used to a car which is floppy on all four corners, he will develop into an even stronger competitor (back in the era of live axles, James was devastating in his GM Proto). The R4 is an immensely tough cookie, so I’m reckoning on good stuff from James and his wagon on some of the tougher events, and they won’t come much tougher than the season finale at Driffield.

Welcome returners to the Championship Ben Gott and Steve Hare in the silver TMC made a good show and were rewarded for their efforts with eighth overall. Bens was a performance made more interesting by the fact that he was suffering with the worlds worst case of tennis elbow (courtesy of several weeks pounding across the Sahara in a lorry) and was unsure himself of how long he’d be able to, say, keep hold of the wheel, for example.

How things have changed. Just a few years ago, people were saying we would now see the rise and rise of the independently sprung cars. Proof of the pudding now is that most cars entered in the BCCC are independents, and the highest placed car on solid axles was Martin Cox, v6 powered Tornado – you know the car, it’s the white one that looks like an ice-cream van. Two places back from Martin was Mike Moran who put in a good performance in his Wildcat 100 to finish one place ahead of Dave Marsh in one of his own Wildcat 200s. Mike enters for ‘shits and giggles’ but I’ll bet he raised a wry smile about beating a younger man in the latest evolution of his car.

At prize giving, the location of the next round was promised to be announced within the next few days. Two weeks later and the location was finally revealed - Dumfries and Galloways. So the BCCC will again make to journey to Scotland (which makes a change for the competitors who travel to the BCCC from Scotland). It promises wooded tracks and midges the size of pelicans. But if the first two rounds of 2009 have been anything to go by, it should be a bloody good fight!

Thanks to Debbie Difflock for the candid shots.

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