Round
1 – Eastbourne 18th May
The first round of the 2008
Tamiya Cup UK was held at the Eastbourne track on the 18th of
June. The track conditions were brilliant from the outset and Mark and Ryan
did well in qualifying. Mark managed to place 3rd on the grid
with Ryan making his first A final in 10th. The first final was
quickly on its way and the debate on which rubber to run was on everyone’s
mind. Both Mark and Ryan chose the softer A compound slick. These ran well
until around the 4-minute mark where they were generating too much and
couldn’t keep up with the pace. Mark placed a comfortable third with his
overheated tyres. Ryan did well and managed to move up a place into 9th.
The second final was again all about rubber. The top two ran the harder
compound B slicks but used tyre warmers to bring them up to temperature.
Mark and Ryan again chose the softer compound hoping the cooling track
would benefit them. Their tyres held on and were very quick for the first 3
laps until the top two’s tyres got-up to temperature. The results were a
mirror of the first run. Mark managed a comfortable 3rd with
Ryan again doing well and moving up a position, even after technical
problems hindered his progress. Overall the weekend was very good for both
racers. The track was nice and the weather was brilliant. Keep watching for the
report from round 2 at Wrexham on the 1st of June.
