BRCA LSOR National 2025 Round 1 Race Report

After what felt like the longest winter off season since covid, partly due to the loss of the indoor masters from the race calendar this year, the Large Scale Off Road season got underway over the last weekend of March, coinciding with British Summer, the weather was set fair and the track dry all weekend set up what would be a fantastic opening round as the LSOR Nationals returned to Notts and Derby Raceway (NDOR) after a 10 year absence.

The NDOR crew presented a tough but rewarding track layout supported by fantastic venue facilities. I for one can recommend the sausage and bacon rolls from the onsite cafe.

On to the racing and after a winter period, open practice was extremely busy as 65 drivers looked to dial in their cars at the new venue. With 7 heats, our usual format of 2 rounds of qualification started at 2:30pm on Saturday, with one round of qualification Sunday morning followed by single sided bump up finals.

4WD Buggy

With over 30 drivers entering this class, the competition was going to be tough. Last years National Champion, Dave Ashton lined up with his 2024 rival Tommy Chung but was joined by 2024 Short Course Champion, Ian Oddie, 8 times 2WD champion Karl Norris and the returning Leon Satchell to name but a few. After 3 round of qualification, Ian Oddie claimed TQ, with Leon Satchell P2 and Tommy Chung P3 with the surprise package of Harry Middleton returning from 2WD in 2024 placing his car P4. Karl Norris rounding up the top 5.

With 4 finals scheduled, the D final was dominated by Andy Spence, taking the win by 1 lap, bumping up to the C final with Neil Griffin and Kevin Sexton. The C final saw Neil Griffin take the win from P9 on the grid after 15mins to bump up again along with Andy Knight and junior racer Jake Faulkner who returned to 4WD buggy class this season.

The B final was a 4 way battle for 3 bump up spots and after 20 mins, Craig Orman took the win with Luke Gower and Neil Young also securing A final places. Jake Faulkner was the one to miss out by just 0.7 seconds after 20 mins of racing. 

And so the A final, 10 cars, well over 50 RC racing titles across the grid and 30 mins of racing ahead of us. In the end it became a 2 way battle for the win between Ian and Tommy with Ian coming out on top. Karl Norris squeezed out Harry Middleton for the final podium position on the final lap with Dave Ashton completing the top 5.

Short Course

The weekend started as most expected with the 2 young guns of Alfie-Jack Shilcock and Zach Whittleston battling it out for TQ. After 2 rounds they both had a win and a 2nd place each, securing the front row between them. It would be Alfie who would take TQ after another great battle on Sunday morning with Jack Keatley the best of the rest to complete the top 3.

The B final saw Jake Humphries line up on pole after a strong qualifying which he converted into a horn to flag drive for the win. Andrew Stephenson and Gavin Kettlety completed the top 3 to secure A final positions. The 10 cars for the A final lined up, everyone expecting a close race between Alfie and Zach, but Jack and Taylor Letchford were ready to punish any mistakes the young juniors made. After a few laps of very close racing between the top 2, they had pulled a small gap on the field and were pushing each other, the lead changing frequently then disaster struck for Zach on lap 7 when he caught a track marking blowing a tyre. After a quick pit stop for a new wheel he rejoined in 5th and set about looking to recover his race. In the meantime, Alfie continued to set a blistering pace at the front and ultimately was too far ahead for anyone to catch him as he secured the win. Zach drove an exceptional recovery drive to finish 2nd and Talyer completed the podium. Jack retired after 22mins from 4th position.

2WD Buggy

Qualification was dominated by Oliver Whittleston, winning every round and taking TQ with 3 very strong runs with Craig Chilvers and Mark Higgins completing the top 3. Old hand Martin Ftizpatrick returned to 2WD after a few seasons in other classes to secure a top 5 finish.

In the B final, John Darby started on pole and after a shaky start where he dropped to as low as 4th, managed to fine his rhythm and climb back to the front to take the win after 20 mins with Mick Auty in 2nd and class newcomer Paul Wadman securing the final bump up spot.

The A final started and it looked like Oliver would continue his weekend of dominance as he built a lead in the first few laps until he lost drive due a loose wheel square ending his race, This opened the door for everyone behind and several more faulted with Craig Chilvers, Paul Wadman, Mick Auty, and Darren Moon also retiring or requiring lengthy pit stops. In the end Mark Higgins drove a solid race to take the win from Andy Blackburn with Mindy Klenauskas completing the podium.

Regional Championship

This season saw the reintroduction of our regional championships after over a decade and round 1 was part of the northern championship. Jake Humphries took the win in Short Course, Martin Fitzpatrick in 2WD buggy and Leon Satchell in 4WD buggy.

Finally on Saturday evening, we crowned our 2024 champions

We look forward to seeing you all at round 2 over Easter Bank Holiday weekend at MMR Raceway. This will also be round 1 of the Southern Region Championship.

Here's a few pics of our Round 1 and 2024 season winners.