2019 GB International NDC R8

Round 8 of the 2019 MPBA Multi National Drivers Championship is also the MPBA Nationals and the 2019 MPBA iMBRA International, so a very prestigious event.
This year, we were delighted to have use of the rowing lake at the National Water Sports Centre, Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. This allowed us to lay out a full international sized course.
It really was a challenge putting this event on, so congratulations go to the Multi Section Committee for pulling it off and our sincere thanks to all the overseas competitors who attended. We also must thank the volunteer contribution of the iMBRA qualified judges, without whom the racing could not take place and the many UK racers who helped out over the weekend. Thanks also to the BMPRS RYA qualified rescue crew – Stuart Rothwell, Luke Bramwell and Mark Wild, again without whom there would have been no racing. Special thanks to James Taylor who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend and still managed a win in 27cc! Our thanks also go to Linda Buonaiuto and Jan Taylor for a superb job running the lapcounting, allowing us to publish results online within minutes of a race finishing. Secretary Andrew Aykroyd again sourced some fantastic trophies worthy of an International event and chief judge Vince Taylor was ever present on the pontoon managing the races.
What can we say about the ‘Banquet’ on Saturday? Well when I saw them using the smoke alarm as a timer, I started to get worried. Really though, we were fed like Gods – Every meal was a burnt offering and it seemed like the cook’s speciality was indigestion. The banquet was actually supposed to be a surprise but the fire engines unfortunately gave it away. And seriously, if the bread was gluten-free, why was it so expensive?
The weather was a bit windy on the Saturday, but only really affected the early races. Sunday saw perfect racing conditions.

Full Detailed Results | All Photos | Back to Race Hub


3.5cc

Round 1 Heat 1
Unsurprisingly, the early 3.5 heats were relatively low-scoring as the windy conditions made life difficult for the small and lightweight boats. Richard den Hartog of the Netherlands lead the way in heat 1 with 49 laps with Dave Clay his only serious challenger. Best lap – Keith Burgess (GB) 21.023






Round 1 Heat 2
We had a surprise winner of heat 2 – Andy Payne (GB) with 40 laps after 2019 double European Champion Zack Humphries (GB) had an uncharacteristic stop. Julian Waumsley was 2nd with 36 laps. Best lap – Julian Waumsley (GB) 21.119





Round 2 Heat 1
With much better conditions meaning the finalists would all be from the 2nd round, iMBRA 15cc World Champion Christian Hof from Germany won heat 1 with 57 laps. Hot on his heels with 56 was Keith Burgess (GB) with an eye on the drivers championship and a GB Team place for iMBRA 2020. Best lap (And all 10 fastest) – Dave Marles (GB) 18.565





Round 2 Heat 2
Heat 2 was dominated by Zack Humphries (GB) with 59 laps, 7 in front of Phill Fields (GB) and Dennis Willimsky from Germany. Best lap (And all 10 fastest) – Zack Humphries 18.906





Dennis Willimsky and Thomas Clements clash in Round 2

3.5cc Final

A closely fought final saw Zack Humphries (GB) finish just 7 seconds in front of Christian Hof (DE), with Richard den Hartog (NL) in 3rd. Zack has pretty much dominated the 3.5cc class for the last 4 years and whilst the result was not really surprising, it was good to see him pushed by Chris right up to the final lap. Keith Burgess (GB) could only manage 5th place, but this is enough to assure him of the best 5 results in the Drivers Championship and a GB Team place for iMBRA 2020 in Italy, as Dave Hole trails Keith by 15 (Best 5) and can only make a 13 point net gain at Brentwood even if Keith has a DNS. A lesson to learn from this race is that fair communication of race position should be made available to all racers. Best lap – Zack Humphries 17.766

3.5cc Finalists


3.5cc podium – 1st Zack Humphries (GB), 2nd Christian Hof (DE), 3rd Richard den Hartog (NL)

Top Junior, Thomas


7.5cc

Round 1 Heat 1
Mick Fields (GB) brought along his new Jekyll, the 2nd version of the hull designed by son Martin, and just edged out Ludo Smeets from Belgium on the same lap for the heat win. Not bad for his first race with the new boat! Ludo drives his own design hull. Best lap – Andrew Aykroyd (GB) 18.370






Round 1 Heat 2
Martijn Wolfs from Holland takes the heat win comfortably from nearest challenger Dave Humphries, who continues to defy the odds in the 7.5cc class, competing with an Ikarus and OS.28 Truggy engine. Dave is building a proper 7.5 boat for next year, having conceded that he’s never going to win with this setup. Best lap – Martin Fields 18.378





Round 2 Heat 1
A measured drive from Dave Marles (GB) with his new Drakkon, ensured qualification with 60 laps and earned him top qualifier for the final. Ludo Smeets (BE) improved on his first round score by 5 laps earning him 3rd qualifying spot in the final. Best lap – Julian Waumsley (GB) 18.846





Round 2 Heat 2
Robert Daniel (GB) takes a comfortable heat win and earns himself 2nd qualifying spot for the final. Martin Fields (GB) takes 2nd place with 56 laps but can’t out-qualify his dad’s 1st round score of 58 this time. Best lap – Robert Daniel 18.055





R2H2 Produced also this spectacular crash involving Dave Pillman and Martin Fields

7.5cc Final

A fast start from Dave Marles (GB) saw him lead the first 5 laps until he was passed by Martin Fields (GB). A good battle followed between Dave and Martin – Dave passed Martin at lap 23 but then had a spin, allowing Martin to extended his lead. Martin looked nailed on for the win until he stopped and was overtaken by eventual winner Mark van Ieperen (NL) on lap 72. Mark finished with 91 laps, 4 clear of Ludo Smeets (BE) in 2nd and 10 laps clear of Mick Fields (GB) in 3rd. A lot of attrition in the final meant only 4 boats finished the race. Julian Waumsley finished as 4th placed Brit, which gave him a net 17 point gain in the Drivers Championship over Robert Daniel, which means the GB Team Place is going down to the wire at Brentwood on 29th. Fastest lap – Dave Marles 17.048 | Positions by lap

7.5 Finalists


7.5cc podium – 1st Mark van Ieperen, 2nd Ludo Smeets, 3rd Mick Fields

Podium boats








15cc

Round 1 Heat 1
Phill Fields (GB) got his usual lightning start and led from hooter to hooter, finishing on 66 laps which earned him top qualifying spot for the final. An unfortunate engine breakage for Dave Marles (GB) on lap 16 allowed Richard den Hartog to gain 2nd place and keep it to the end Richard would go on to improve his score by one lap in round 2. Best lap – Dave Marles 16.287






Ludo uses Aad as a takeoff ramp in round 1


Round 1 Heat 2
Zack Humphries (GB) won the heat with 64 laps, 1 lap in front of Dieter Smeets (BE). However, this was only enough to earn them 4th and 6th qualifying spots respectively as neither were able to improve their scores in round 2. Best lap – Zack Humphries 16.940





Jeroen Irving must have been feeling the effects of the special Dutch ‘tobacco’, as when I showed him this crash, he said “When did that happen?”

Round 2 Heat 1
Richard den Hartog (NL) improves on his 1st round score by a lap to earn 5th qualifying spot. Ludo Smeets (BE) takes 2nd place and 7th qualifying spot, 1 lap down on son Dieter. Best lap – Dave Marles (GB) 16.821

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Round 2 Heat 2
Evert de Ronde jr (NL) edges out James Taylor (GB) for the heat win to earn 2nd qualifying spot for the final. Best lap – Dieter Smeets (BE) 16.456

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15cc Final

15cc Final Full Results

Zack Humphries (GB) got a quick start and led the race until lap 71 when he was passed by Evert de Ronde jr (NL) who went on to take the win. Unfortunately there was some confusion over a missed buoy which was not communicated in a timely fashion and the blue flag announcements had indicated Zack was in the lead. Both Zack and Evert were naturally disappointed that a great race turned out to be overshadowed by these events. Zack can take some consolation with the performance of his Tornado 7.4 which won him the iMBRA European Championships in Konapiska, Poland in August. Evert is now in with a chance of the 2019 15cc iMBRA League with a good performance at his home race in Putten. Best lap – James Taylor 15.256
15cc Finalists

15cc podium – 1st Evert de Ronde Jr, 2nd Zack Humphries, 3rd Dieter Smeets


27cc

The 27cc class was run as 2 finals, best score to count.
Final 1
Mick Pain (GB) drove steadily in the windy conditions to win the first final with 80 laps, 2 in front of Mark van Ieperen (NL). Sunday was predicted to be much better weather and this score would most likely be beaten.
Best lap – James Taylor 15.881


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Final 2
Christian Hof (DE) led the whole race almost from the start and only an agonisingly late stop on lap 96, handed James Taylor (GB) the win by 1 lap and the overall 27cc win. Christian was understandably upset, especially since this apparently wasn’t the first time this had happened. At least I had the opportunity to learn some new German swear words!
Best lap – Mark van Ieperen (NE) 16.067


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27cc Finalists


27cc podium – 1st James Taylor, 2nd Christian Hof, 3rd Terry Holmes


Summary

We saw some great performances by MPBA members with 2 wins and 5 overall podium places out of a possible 12. The racing was excellent over the 2 days and was superbly organised by the committee.


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