Fresh from its success in the shakedown event prior to last weekends (15/16 June) Super One round at Glan Y Gors, the RL Racing Department team was again a potent force in rural Wales.
Hugo Bentley-Ellis had won the preceding club events Mini Max final and so travelled to Cerrig Y Drudion in buoyant mood. Similarly, Junior Max front-runners Luke Knott and Ollie Pidgely were feeling confident after taking 2nd and 6th at the warm-up meeting.
Bentley-Ellis channelled his earlier form into a positive showing in timed qualifying by setting the 3rd-fastest lap. Team-mates Sandy Mitchell, Jack Martin, Tushar Vivekanandan and new signing Jordan Cane experienced differing fortunes but would fare much better in the coming heats. So much so, that Sandy qualified on p4 of the grid for the first final, with Hugo going from the sixth row. On his Super One debut, Jordan was delighted to make the cut for the finals and started from 22nd.
Due to dramas in their heats, Jack Martin and Tushar would attempt to join the grid via the repecharge but sadly were not able to progress further.
Brilliant drives in the first final netted Sandy 2nd and Hugo 3rd at the chequered flag. Jordan finished where he started, gaining valuable experience.
A close and hard-fought second final saw Mitchell maintain his title aspirations by bagging 4th, with Bentley-Ellis also keeping himself in the title hunt with 5th. Another battling performance from the inexperienced Cane earned him 23rd.
Sandy did the lions share of the leading but due to the nature of the circuit, his speed advantage was negated in the infield section, because his pursuers were able to take advantage of the slipstream effect, whereas he had no one to work with. This prevented his planned breakaway, but he fought back brilliantly to 2nd, having been demoted to 5th at one stage, said RL Racing Department team owner, Steve Armstrong. He added: Hugo scythed his way through to 3rd from p12, showing the speed hed had in the heats. All in all it was a great show from the lads.
Final 2 proved harder and with everyone equalising on set-up throughout the day, it was a much more static affair and once positions were settled after 8-10 laps the order remained pretty much the same. On the whole it was a cat and mouse affair, rather than a spectacle.
Luke Knott emphasised his pace and potential by setting the second-fastest time in Junior Max qualifying. Ollie Pidgely was 7th-quickest overall and would go on to take a brace of top ten finishes in his heats.
Knotts 3rd and 2nd place results in his heats put him on the front row of the first final, with Ollie starting from 11th spot. A bruising and, at times, chaotic race concluded with Luke pushed down to 15th at the chequered flag and Ollie out on the opening tour.
A storming performance in the second final saw Knott claim vital championship points for 8th place with Ollie also making a decent fist of it, rising from almost last place on the grid to 14th, as Steve explains: Despite neither of the Junior RL drivers able to attend official testing on Friday due to exams, their pace in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning was good enough to place them 3rd and 10th overall. In all fairness to Ollie, he didnt get a real shot at showing his true speed due to an incident in Heat 1, he came back to 7th but was shunted off again in the two races after that. In the second final 2 he had to come from P30! Luke was also denied a podium, after starting from the outside row in Final 1 he was shoved backwards at the start and finished 15th. In the next final he did a great job getting back up the order thanks to a prolific drive.
