The final round of the Essex Winter Series took place last weekend at the usual venue in the south-east of the UK.
LRP Modified
In the LRP Modified class, the championship battle saw a one-point separation at the top, with Elliott Harper narrowly ahead of Kyle Branson, so we were expecting a shoot-out between these two for the championship. However, Alex Thurston hadn’t read the script and set the fastest time in the opening qualifiers. Alex, now running for Mugen Seiki UK, really gave Elliott and Kyle something to think about. Elliott then managed to find some more pace and took the third and fourth rounds, with the best times as well, to wrap up the overall pole position for Schumacher, and place a firm hand on the championship trophy. Alex would line up second, with Kyle third on the grid with his Xray and now with a lot of work to do in the final. Stefan Chodzynski, running a privately entered Mugen, had a great qualifying and sat fourth on the grid, with Xray’s Harley Eldridge rounding out the top five.
In the final, Elliott demonstrated that the title was his, opening up a gap on Alex in the early laps and continuing to extend this throughout the entire five minute run. It was a great fight between Alex and Kyle for second and third, demonstrating exactly how you can race nose-to-tail for the entire race, both drivers showing each other the respect needed and treating the crowd to a fantastic race. Alex soaked up the pressure and kept Kyle behind him, whilst Harley was able to get past Stefan early in the run and had a quiet run to fourth place overall.
LRP MODIFIED A FINAL RESULT
- 1 Elliott Harper – Schumacher/Hobbywing
- 2 Alex Thurston – Mugen/Hobbywing
- 3 Kyle Branson – Xray/Hobbywing
- 4 Harley Eldridge – Xray/Hobbywing
- 5 Stefan Chodzynski – Mugen/LRP
- 6 Dan Robins – Schumacher/Hobbywing
- 7 Mark Buonaiuto – Awesomatix/Hobbywing
- 8 Matthew White – Schumacher/Hobbywing
- 9 Matthieu Dambrine – Schumacher/ORCA
- 10 Adam Southgate – Iris/LRP
- 11 Bailey Graves – Schumacher/Hobbywing
This result secured Elliott the overall championship, with Kyle taking second and Alex’s podium finish moving him up to third overall. Harley Eldridge had another strong season to take fourth (along with her first EWS win earlier in the season), and Stefan taking fifth overall.
Rush Stock
In the Rush Stock class, Zak Finlay already had the title wrapped up, but continued to show his strength in the stock class by setting TQ for Xray, lining up ahead of fellow Zombie driver Tony Broad. Andy Murray was the top Schumacher in third on the grid, with team-mate Billy Fletcher in fourth. Ricky Copsey and Martyn Ross, both looking to make the top five in the series points, rounded out the top six on the grid.
Zak dominated the A Final, leading from start to finish to notch up yet another win at the famous EWS series. Tony Broad looked good for second place, but after one and a half minutes, a mistake saw him drop behind the Schumacher pair of Andy and Billy. Billy kept the pressure on his car’s designer, and at the half way point managed to find a way past and into second place. That remained the order to the finish, with Sam Nicholls coming through to take fifth ahead of Ricky, who had dropped to last on the opening lap and had a great fight back up the field.
In terms of the overall championship, Tony’s results earlier in the season had secured him second place, with Billy now confirmed in third overall. Andy took fourth with Martyn having done just enough for fifth overall.
Ride/MB Models Front Wheel
Ben Moorey had been totally dominant in the Ride/MB Models Front Wheel Drive class this season, taking four TQs and four Wins so far. He continued that domination at the final event, sewing up the pole position and taking another comfortable win in the final. Nathan Parker lined up second on the grid and kept Ben honest for the first minute or two of the final, before Ben pulled away and Nathan had to settle for second place. Andy Faulkes lined up third on the grid ahead of Stuart Collard and Mark Caton. It was these three drivers who provided a great race in the final, once again proving the controlled electronics, RPM limit and fixed gearing can produce some of the closest racing possible. After multiple position changes, Stuart took third at the flag ahead of Mark and Andy.
In the final championship standings, this netted Nathan second overall, with Andrew Cooper taking third place. Stuart just missed the podium with fourth overall, and Andy taking fifth.
Whilst the series has now concluded, the EWS team are already underway with preparations for next year’s twelfth edition of the UK’s popular championship.
