Articles | Slot.it Challenge - Pendle Report 2008

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By Paul Charlton.

The weekend of the 6th and 7th September 2008 saw the last round of the challenge to be held on the 109ft, 5 lane track at Pendle, but it was not all bad news a new track using the recently brought Preston track, which will be installed in the new Shop facility, with a couple of minor changes, can’t wait.

But anyway, onto the weekend. A good number of drivers turned up for the Saturday practice, plenty of 35k motors, plus a good mix of 29k’s and 25k’s, with a couple of Flat 6’s in the field as well. Also worth a note was the return of Junior driver, Nathaniel Rigg, with some help from Nick Hirst over the weekend, plus the loan of Dad’s car, Nathaniel was quickly back on the pace.

Onto the Sunday, a good turn out saw a field of 39 registered drivers, plus 3 guests and a healthy field of 6 juniors. Heats where seeded as normal, championship position so some close racing was to be expected during the day.
Quickest after the heats was Nick Hirst, using his 35k from the last round at Llantrisant, he was a good 6 laps clear of the 2nd placed qualifier Shaun Mitchell, using his impressive 25k Anglewinder Mclaren, which he scared us all with at North Staffs when he won that round ! A good solid 3rd was James Hunt, using his distinctive Hooters Jaguar, again powered by a 35k. Completing the top 5 where Neil Hirst and Mark Brandwood with some good run’s.

In the juniors, Nathaniel Rigg was in 1st place after the heats, with a result that would have put him 4th overall. Close behind was home driver Thomas Beckwith. They where followed by Lewis Gough, Toby Pawson, Elliott Alcock and James Lyons.

So onto the points paying Finals. A great drive saw Don Stanley who was 12th after the heats, win the C final, then finished 3rd in the B final to get 7th overall. Another good drive from Steve Hills in his trusted Sauber saw him claim 9th spot overall. Some other good drives on the day came from Mike Green, Roy Pritchards and Andy Tyrer.

But in the A final it was an Impressive win for Nick Hirst, making him the first driver to score top points this year. Keeping him honest with a good drive to 2nd was Neil Hirst, followed closely by Shaun Mitchell. A great drive from Mark Brandwood saw him claim 4th spot overall, with James Hunt finishing 5th spot.

In the juniors it was also a close run affair. Thomas Beckwith came though to win, closely followed by the returning Nathaniel. 3rd place went to the ever impressive Lewis Gough, followed home by Toby Pawson, who with his 4th place finish at Pendle mean’s he has won the 2008 Slot.it Junior Division, well done Toby. 5th place in the junior final was Elliott Alcock.
Pavel Skacel won the Guest Division on the day.

Well, what a way to sign off on the old Pendle track for the Slot.it Challenge, thanks must go to Sean Fothersgill and Nick Hirst for the weekend, along with the great tea, coffee, toastie's and bacon butties provided by the Ladies, Carole, Karen, Sunicha and (sorry forgot the names!!), even young Isabella lending a friendly smile and wave to all the customers!!
The Final round for the year will be at Wolves, another club on the move!! See you all there for what should be another great event.