British National Championships 2003 - FAI T/R Event

Following the loss of Barkston Heath for the 2003 Nationals the event was split by discipline with the Control Line events being held at Oakington over the Sunday and Monday of the bank holiday weekend.

 There were 14 entries in F2C with one fully international team turning up – that being Bondarenko/Lerner from the Ukraine (Current World and European Champions) – and the Team of Wallik/Worgan being a GBR/USA mix. We had been expecting a few French teams to turn up but they had to cancel due to a family bereavement for Jean Paul Perret.

 Weather was good compared with may of our Nationals weekends but a fairly stiff breeze meant good concentration was needed by teams with third choice of segment

 The first round was held on the Sunday – starting at 12:00 midday and the first race of the event was to set the standard for the top teams. Smith/Brown were flying against Fitzgerald/Thomason and both pairs had a perfect start with Smith/Brown having a slight airspeed advantage. At the first stop, however, Colin had to hold the model down under Mike’s landing model and lost about 2 seconds as a result. At the end of the race it was Fitzgerald/Thomason who came out on top with a 3:17.9 – Smith/Brown finishing in 3:18.5. Bondarenko/Lerner then put in an excellent flight to record a 3:16.8. Another notable performance in the first round was a personal best of 3:28.7 from Barker/North but no other teams were able to get under 3:30. Holmes/Robson were pleased with their 3:40.0.

 The second round began at 10:30 on the Monday morning but very few pairs were able to get things together. Fry/Whorton put in a 3:31.6 and this turned out to be the fastest time of the round with Bondarenko/Lerner and Smith/Brown opting not to fly. A good time of 3:34.6 was then recorded by the new international pairing of Wallik/Worgan and Langworth/Broadhead put in a 3:34.8 to guarantee themselves a semi final slot. The scratch pairing of Ross/Devenish then put in a 3:40.6 using new Profi equipment that Joe had purchased.

 In the first round of semis Smith/Brown led the way with a perfect 3:16.2 – Bondarenko/Lerner missed a catch and also had to glide a lap at the end but still (amazingly) recorded a 3:25.4 to put them in second place. Langworth/Broadhead put in a 3:29.2 to claim third place and in fourth place were Wallik/Worgan with another decent time of 3:36.6.

 The second round of semis was to see no change to the placings but Bondarenko/Lerner put in a 3:18.6 (despite another slipped catch) and Langworth/Broadhead chopped 1.3 seconds off there time with a 3:27.9. The last race saw Fitzgerald/Thomason and Fry/Whorton having a go to beat the 3:27.9 cut-off and both teams looking good up to the first stop. Fry/Whorton were just in the lead and the motor started first flick but the model travelled just 4 feet as the motor stopped again. Retrieval of the model proved to be a waste of time as the filler valve had stuck fully in and nothing could be done. Fitzgerald/Thomason had a line snag and withdrew.

 The final proved to be a good race to watch with all three teams away well at the start. Bondarenko/Lerner had a slight airspeed advantage over Smith/Brown who had a greater speed advantage over Langworth/Broadhead. As the race progressed both Smith/Brown and Langworth/Broadhead had to make adjustments and the Ukrainian team slipped a catch (yet again) but it was Bondarenko/Lerner who came home first with a 6:50.5. Smith/Brown finished in 7:08.4 with Langworth/Broadhead just 2 laps behind on 7:11.2.

 Thanks to Andy Daglish for running the event, Ted Horne for controlling Line Check and to Derek Heaton for lending his experience to help as Judge/Circle Marshal.

  F2C - Team Race Results                          
                             
      Heat 1 Heat 2 Heat 3 Semi 1 Semi 2 Final
                             
1 Bondarenko/Lerner UKR 3 16.8 dnf       3 25.4 3 18.6 6 50.5
2 Smith/Brown GBR 3 18.5 dnf       3 16.2 dnf   7 08.4
3 Langworth/Broadhead GBR 5 27.6 3 34.8     3 29.2 3 27.9 7 11.2
4 Wallik/Worgan INT 4 09.0 3 34.6     3 36.6 4 02.5    
5 Ross/Devenish GBR dq   3 40.6     3 45.4 4 29.8    
6 Fry/Whorton GBR 3 45.8 3 31.6     3 52.1 ret 37.0    
7 Fitzgerald/Thomason GBR 3 17.9 3 48.2     3 52.7 ret 34.0    
8 Holmes/Robson GBR 3 40.0 ret 34.0     3 56.9 4 44.5    
9 Barker/North GBR 3 28.7 ret 23.0     ret 98.0 3 57.5    
10 Brewin/Haycock GBR ret 54.0 4 11.0     dnf   ret 64.0    
11 Miles/Yeldham GBR dq   3 58.9     dnf   dnf      
12 Tribe/Bollen GBR ret 67.0 4 14.2                
13 Walker/Peart GBR 4 17.0 4 26.9                
14 Wiseman/Bellamy GBR ret 32.0 dnf                  

League Points were awarded as follows :-

Ent

Plc

Fin

Imp

Tot

Smith/Brown

1

6

2

0

9

Langworth/Broadhead

1

5

2

0

8

Ross/Devenish

1

4

0

0

5

Fry/Whorton

1

3

0

0

4

Fitzgerald/Thomason

1

2

0

0

3

Holmes/Robson

1

1

0

0

2

Barker/North

1

0

0

2

3

Brewin/Haycock

1

0

0

0

1

Miles/Yeldham

1

0

0

0

1

Tribe/Bollen

1

0

0

0

1

Walker/Peart

1

0

0

0

1

Wiseman/Bellamy

1

0

0

0

1