Hall Clenches 2wd and 4wd 2024 BRCA Championships

Press Release From RacewayOne:
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Round 6 of the BRCA 1/10th Offroad Championship, for this year, is the final round and took place at Boughton Raceway in Norfolk. The 2024 season has been a vintage year for the series. Tommy Hall has taken the 4wd championship in just four rounds whilst the 2wd title has gone all the way to the final round and is a tight contest between three drivers with an outside chance for a fourth. The series has successfully visited a new venue this year and the stalwart venues of the series have upped their game even further. Some Mid-A Final regulars have made their way to the front and we have had lots of new A finalists and several first time podium finishers. The series is very proud of the accomplishments of Neil Cragg and Lee Martin, but are equally proud of the continually improving standard of the drivers who are lining up to challenge these two who have been so dominant for the last decade. Tommy Hall and Ben Smith have now fully established themselves at the front of the field and can be considered the top seeds along with Cragg for either class at any venue domestically. Lee Martin’s form has returned in flourishes as he recovers from a period of less than typical results – luck appears to be back on his side. Thomas Phipps, Jamie Hall, Luke & Josh Holdsworth and Daniel Pole all shone very brightly at points over the season, and it is only a matter of time before we see Charlie Saunders, Lewis Hopkins and several others making their way towards the front of A Finals. All in all – a series finds itself in a very satisfactory position.

Visting Boughton present lots of unusual aspects for the series. The track is not in regular use and is behind closed gates at an air strip, so no practice in the weeks before the event is possible. Also, the surface is almost sandless meaning it is affected very easily by sunlight and cloud cover – the grip available is very volatile and generally loose and bumpy. Once again Barry Abbott and his small team put together a challenging track which was run one way for 2wd and the reverse for 4wd.

The drivers assembled for their briefing on Saturday morning in preparation for the 2wd section of the meeting. Before the main section of the briefing Tris Neal from Schumacher spoke to the group to acknowledge the recent passing of Schumacher designer and 1979 Onroad World Champion Phil Booth. Phil was one of only five British IFMAR World Champions and although retired for many years was an influential person in the sport as a whole. He was in attendance earlier in the year as a spectator at Robin Hood Raceway and he will be missed. Our condolences to his partner Christine. The group celebrated Phil’s memory with a minute of applause.

2wd practice got underway and from the word go Ben Smith made his intentions known. In the cool and relatively higher grip conditions his car looked very good, and he was fast! – setting the top time in practice ahead of Neil Cragg and Luke Holdsworth.

But a good performance was an indication of nothing as the sun came out and the grip levels wavered around and patchy clouds passed overhead. Overall the grip would be higher in the morning though rounds 1 & 2 – so a quick start was imperative. Leaving it to round 4 challenge for pole position was not a clever strategy.

Straight out of the blocks it was Tommy Hall who was fastest in Round 1 and Round 2 – both Ben Smith and Lee Martin were plenty fast enough to upset Hall’s run, they just couldn’t put in the near perfect performances like Hall. Both Smith and Martin upped the drama levels in qualifying with mistakes made very late on what would have been TQ runs. The sun came out after Round 2 and the weather heated all the way up to a pleasant 24°C. The track became loose and slick and it was Neil Cragg who used his experience to up his pace and he took Rounds 3 & 4. The tie was settled in Hall’s favour based on his fastest time earlier in the day.

2wd A Final leg started and the lead drivers spent no time waiting to settle in. Hall led them away over the triple jumps with Cragg behind followed by Smith. Smith’s car was very quick to get out of the air and land of the jump and he used the split second advantage to nip up the inside of Cragg on the proceeding right hander successfully taking second place. A lap went by as the drivers settled in. Hall out in front with about a one second lead over Smith, Cragg and Martin. The gap between Smith and Cragg was fluctuating. Cragg fastest through the start and finish of the lap, but Smith faster through the slaloms and chicanes in the middle of the circuit. When Cragg came close, Smith made his car very wide and drove defensively – which is slower. It did not take Cragg long to realise that if he challenged Smith in the middle stages of the lap and slowed Smith slightly there, he would have an overall advantage. At half race distance, Smith had the pressure relieved when Cragg got a bad landing off the single in the middle of the track. The bad landing slowed Cragg by only a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Smith to tighten up his driving and work on reeling in Hall out in front. But Cragg responded to Smith and by the end of the lap had drawn him back in – both now closer to Hall. Then Neil set up one of the best moves of the day. Cragg following Smith ran to the outside of the straight as Smith held the defensive position. They both braked hard at the end of the straight aiming for the hairpin corner marker but Cragg switched back and broad-slid up the inside of Smith to the apex. Neil had less than an inch on either side of the car to spare but made it work and was now back in second place. Hall now a couple of seconds out in front was completely insulted from the battle for second between Cragg, Smith & Martin. A couple of laps went by before Smith executed the second fantastic overtake of the race. Coming into the tabletop at the back left of the circuit, he got great forward traction and came alongside Cragg over the jump. At the next hairpin right, Smith had the inside line and reclaimed second place. With only a lap to go, Cragg was unable to setup his counter move in time. Leg result: Hall, Smith, Cragg.

With a TQ and a Leg win, this was a potentially title setting race. The 2wd A Final Leg 2 got off to a fast start. Straight way Cragg’s car looked really good. He had instantly closed the gap to Hall and now had him under pressure. Smith also going well was part of the lead trio and Cragg had to keep an eye on him too. Then at the start of lap 2 at the hairpin at the end of the straight, Hall’s car oversteered, and he found himself nearly facing the wrong way up the straight. Cragg was following so closely that he instantaneously tapped the front of Hall’s car which put him facing the right way to exit the corner. The top four fired out of the corner closely bunched but without a change to the order. Things settle down over the next couple of laps, but you could see that Hall was struggling with the first corner - his car lacking the balance to be able to slide into the first corner and then rotate at the apex when needed. At the race midpoint, Cragg in second clipped a hose though the chicane in the middle of the track and required marshalling, this allowed Tommy to claim a relatively comfortable lead of about 1.5 seconds over Smith who had inherited second. Ben Pugh running a third a little behind. Hall then put in some very fast laps at the front – taking it up a notch when it counted the most! Smith was nearly matching him, but could not draw him in. Then with a minute to go, Smith made a mistake over the triple which resulted in a cartwheel up the circuit and Hall was away clear. Tommy Hall then put in two smooth drama free laps to come home first, to take the 2wd meeting, and to take the 2024 2wd Championship. Smith finished second, Cragg third.

With this result, Tommy Hall collects and amazing amount of silverware. For 2wd he wins the Neil Cragg Trophy, for 4wd he wins the Phil Booth trophy and as the overall top scorer from both championships he retains the Paul Worley perpetual shield.

With the job done for this year, Tommy Hall sat out the third Leg of the 2wd A Final and left Cragg, Smith and Martin to settle who would be second. Cragg with a 128 point score to drop, and Smith with a 127 it was going to be a tall order for Cragg. At the start of Leg 3, Cragg wasted no time securing the lead in the first corner leaving two long parallel lines of wheel spin off the grid. With Smith close behind they took the triple in sequence and then in a carbon copy of his move in Leg 1, Smith tracked up the inside of the left hander on the inside and Cragg and snatched the lead. The two ran with a small gap between them for a couple of laps before Smith had a bed few corners, losing time with slow corner speed and oversteer, so that Cragg could now position himself on Smiths back bumper. As the sun started to set, the temperatures dipped and this really suited Smith’s car. Visually, he had a clear advantage and he started to gap Neil Cragg. The gap increased after a mistake from Cragg on the single where he beached the car on the hose. Smith now with a six second lead just had to bring it home, which he did. Leg 3 result: Smith, Cragg, Martin. The third position in enough for Neil Cragg to secure second place in the series with Smith third.

The final event podium matched the series podium this year. Testament to how hard the contenders where pushing. They all did a great job and showed their resilience under pressure. Hall showed that he is building on his early career successes and is turning into a dominant player domestically. It is understood that Cragg is still considered the European “lead” AE driver, but this cannot be the case for much longer if Hall continues his rate of progression. He will need to compete with Kaerup and Ongaro on the European stage to make the next leap. Cragg showed that he still has the benchmark skillset and is a contender on any given day but his decade of run-away dominance is over along with Martin. Smith, similarly to Hall, is on a step progression curve and he has had just moments of dominance as we saw from Hall a season or two ago. Next year is shaping up to be a competitive one.

The drivers gathered for 4wd on the Sunday morning in much cooler condition that the Saturday. The suncream and summer dresses were put away and everyone was back in hoodies and jackets. Normally this would not be welcome news, but at Boughton that means the grip will be up and racing will be pacey.

In practice there was a superb performance out of the box from Lee Martin. Visibly quicker than his closest rivals throughout the lap he made it look easy. Tommy Hall running second with Neil Cragg third. Thomas Phipps once again showed he is emerging as a leader of the chasing pack going fourth with 13 year old Daniel Pole doing a similar job.

4wd Qualifying got underway in overcast but pleasant conditions. Neil Cragg upped his game from practice and went fastest but the incredible performance of round 1 came from Daniel Pole going second – the 13 year old going at 105%, but looking very fast at most points on the track with Tommy Hall going third. Pole took it back to 100% for round 2 and went top of the pile. Cragg opened the taps in round 3 & 4 to secure pole position. Its worth noting that 6th on the overall points table had just six points as Smith, Phipps and Tommy Hall all had second in rounds and Lee Martin having two thirds in round.

Tommy Hall has already secured the 4wd Championship so the finals were all about the Championship podium. In 4wd A Final leg 1, Neil Cragg led the field away, but his start was a bit shakey. He selected the inside of the straight for his grid position which put his car offline for the first corner, then he oversteered at the second corners and then rode the corner dot at the third one. Pole gave Cragg room and he was able to maintain the lead, but it was thought that if it had been Hall or Martin in second the situation may have been different. Cragg led the field around for a couple of introductory laps with Pole close behind. Pole had reverted to his 105% driving style and his car was moving about far more than Cragg’s. However overall lap times were similar. Cragg was slowly starting to break away from Pole as Hall started to attack from the rear and then we saw the first major incident of the race when Pole tagged the apex coming off the banked corner and rolled his car over – losing three places. With three minutes down, Cragg had a 1.5 second lead over Hall who was a further 1.5 seconds ahead of Ben Smith with a recovering Daniel Pole close behind. The gaps grew a fraction as the race progressed, but the order did not change. Leg 1 result: Cragg, Hall, Smith.

In 4wd A Final Leg 2 got underway again with Neil Cragg leading the field away in smooth style. Behind him, Pole was showing lots of pace but in a wayward style as the car moves around a lot – Tommy Hall bidding his time behind looking for an overtaking opportunity. When Pole settles down and brings the car back under full control he is the fastest driver on track, but the urge to push on is strong and he will learn to ramp it up gently in the near future instead of overdoing it at 105%. With two minutes on the clock there was a mistake from Cragg as he came up short over the tabletop. In sympathy, Pole did the same and the two continued in the same order but now only running a metre apart. Over the next minute, Cragg slowly pulled away from Pole who was now feeling increased pressure from Tommy Hall in third. With a minute to go that pressure was further heightened when Pole tagged the hose though the chicane in the middle and although not losing a position was now in the jaws of Tommy Hall. The Pole showed his true potential - Instead of crumbling under the pressure, he neatened up and gapped Tommy Hall very quickly – perhaps 2 or 3 metres in half a lap. Pole then had several small errors over the final lap and half which allowed Tommy Hall catch back up. A final error at the chicane meant there was contact and a spin for both, but they continued to the line without a change of order. Leg 2 result: Cragg, Pole, Hall. The Leg 2 win means that Neil Cragg wins the 4wd meeting and leaves himself in the vary good position championship wise.

Leg 3 of the 4wd A Final was a highlight of the year. Neil Cragg did not start as he had already won the meeting, so Pole Position duties went to Daniel Pole. Pole led the field away and Hall was quick to sit on his back bumper. After the single jump, Pole tagged the hose on the apex and immediately rear ended by Hall who rebounded backwards out into traffic and was collected by Phipps. Pole and Hall got away with it and Smith was promoted to third upon taking the tabletop. Over the next couple of laps Pole started to build a lead with Hall and now Martin in hot pursuit. With two minutes down Pole had a bad couple of corners which allowed Hall to reel him in. Then Pole hit the apex of the right hander at the end of the middle chicane and he spun allowing Hall through. Then the most notable moments of the race – Pole took a couple of laps to settle down and was able to draw up to the back of Hall. Hall then tagged the hose at the hairpin before the straight and Pole had to run wide to avoid the accident. Hall got going again without losing a place, but the pressure was on. The duo continued to run very very closely for a couple of laps before a mistake from Hall at the same corner as Pole’s accident in Leg 2 created a position change and Pole was back in the lead. With only 30 seconds remaining Hall was running out of time and there was insult added to injury when he made two mistakes on the last lap letting Lee Martin through to second in the leg. Result: Pole, Martin, Hall.

So in 2024, Tommy Hall is the double BRCA 1/10th Offroad Champion. He now goes to the Europeans in Sweden in September on a high and backed by a fast team. He dominated 4wd this season and he will very hard to beat in either class next year. As already mentioned, Cragg is still the benchmark and will be there.