Wales was given the honour to host the first BARCS SlopeGlide Championship. The inception of this event was by Martin Newnham who has been working tirelessly over the past 18 months to promote F3F as well as further his own F3F ambitions.
With our currently wonderful British weather the question was going to be if we could get enough rounds in for a competition even with it being a two day event. On the eve of the event there was a real worry that we would get any rounds in on Saturday with only a slightly better forecast for Sunday.
On the drive up to the slope on Saturday morning it wasn’t looking to good, because as I past one of my local slopes which is much lower than the Bwlch and this was covered in clag. The good news was as I rounded the corner to approach the Bwlch the sky was brightening up.
A quick check on the top of the Wrecker was suggesting we would be either on the back of the Wrecker or on most southerly facing slope on Mickey’s. Martin and I had a quick checked on Mickey’s which confirmed that we would set up on the Back of the Wrecker.
Mick Walsh had the pleasure of get this new event underway. Phil Taylor was next up and posted a 43.20 to win the round being closely followed by Martin Newnham with a 43.32 and Adam Richardson took third with a 45.70.
Round two would take a bit of a northern turn with Mark Redsell taking first place with a 41.85. Mark Abbotts was hot on his heals with a 43.39 for second and Dave Wright taking a well deserved third with 44.13.
Joel West has been taking his parental duties seriously of late, which has meant we haven’t seen as much of him, but this hadn’t blunted any of his speed and he posted 44.63 to take round three. Another northerner in from also came to fore and Frank Hulton clocked a 45.88 for second with Mark Redsell just behind him with a 47.16.
Joel had found a bit of momentum now and posted the first sub 40 run of the competition with a 38.20. Adam was in the mix again and took second place with 42.29 and Paul Garnett taking third with 43.38.
The fifth and final round of the day was taken by Paul with the fastest time of the competition with a blistering 35.73, Adam also clocked a sub 40 with a 39.82 and Phil Taylor was back in the mix again with a well flown 41.50.
The plan was to hold an Aerobatic competition for the rest of the afternoon but the wind shifting to the west and was dropping so it was called a day.
So after five rounds it was Joel in the lead but closely followed Mark, Paul, Adam and Martin and the stage was set for great climax.
On arriving on the slope on the Sunday morning the first problem was little or no wind. After hanging about for an hour the wind was starting to building but was all over the place with one minute on the Crest, the next on Mickey’s and then on the back of the Wrecker. At this point it was still not a legal wind speed but was starting to settle on the Back of the Wrecker again so we set the course up here.
Once the wind speed became leagal Adam Richardson got round six underway and was rewarded with 47.05 and took the round. Mark Redsell was closely behind with 47.42 with Phil Taylor in third with a 50.59.
Mark took round seven with a 45.27 with Mike Evens was just behind him with a 45.37 and Paul Garnett taking third 46.59.
We started round eight but the rain we had dodged so much all weekend finally caught up with us and boy and did it catch up with us. In the next hour we had thunder, lightning and hail as well as rain. By the time it eased the only concern was to get off the slope safely.
Had Mark, Adam and Paul done enough to pull Joel back?
Before the final result thanks to everyone who helped over the two days Ian Mason for collecting the money Adam and John Treble for organising the buzzer men so well and not to forget Clayton who pulled most of the course down in a torrent of rain. Finally big thanks to Martin, not only for organising this great event but also helping myself out in the centre.
So who was to be the first BARCS SlopeGlide Champion? Overnight leader Joel West held onto his lead to be crowned BARCS SlopeGlide Champion 2012, despite challenges from Mark who finished runner up and Adam taking Third place.
The full results are below and I look forward to see you all soon, all the best
Andrzej
With our currently wonderful British weather the question was going to be if we could get enough rounds in for a competition even with it being a two day event. On the eve of the event there was a real worry that we would get any rounds in on Saturday with only a slightly better forecast for Sunday.
On the drive up to the slope on Saturday morning it wasn’t looking to good, because as I past one of my local slopes which is much lower than the Bwlch and this was covered in clag. The good news was as I rounded the corner to approach the Bwlch the sky was brightening up.
A quick check on the top of the Wrecker was suggesting we would be either on the back of the Wrecker or on most southerly facing slope on Mickey’s. Martin and I had a quick checked on Mickey’s which confirmed that we would set up on the Back of the Wrecker.
Mick Walsh had the pleasure of get this new event underway. Phil Taylor was next up and posted a 43.20 to win the round being closely followed by Martin Newnham with a 43.32 and Adam Richardson took third with a 45.70.
Round two would take a bit of a northern turn with Mark Redsell taking first place with a 41.85. Mark Abbotts was hot on his heals with a 43.39 for second and Dave Wright taking a well deserved third with 44.13.
Joel West has been taking his parental duties seriously of late, which has meant we haven’t seen as much of him, but this hadn’t blunted any of his speed and he posted 44.63 to take round three. Another northerner in from also came to fore and Frank Hulton clocked a 45.88 for second with Mark Redsell just behind him with a 47.16.
Joel had found a bit of momentum now and posted the first sub 40 run of the competition with a 38.20. Adam was in the mix again and took second place with 42.29 and Paul Garnett taking third with 43.38.
The fifth and final round of the day was taken by Paul with the fastest time of the competition with a blistering 35.73, Adam also clocked a sub 40 with a 39.82 and Phil Taylor was back in the mix again with a well flown 41.50.
The plan was to hold an Aerobatic competition for the rest of the afternoon but the wind shifting to the west and was dropping so it was called a day.
So after five rounds it was Joel in the lead but closely followed Mark, Paul, Adam and Martin and the stage was set for great climax.
On arriving on the slope on the Sunday morning the first problem was little or no wind. After hanging about for an hour the wind was starting to building but was all over the place with one minute on the Crest, the next on Mickey’s and then on the back of the Wrecker. At this point it was still not a legal wind speed but was starting to settle on the Back of the Wrecker again so we set the course up here.
Once the wind speed became leagal Adam Richardson got round six underway and was rewarded with 47.05 and took the round. Mark Redsell was closely behind with 47.42 with Phil Taylor in third with a 50.59.
Mark took round seven with a 45.27 with Mike Evens was just behind him with a 45.37 and Paul Garnett taking third 46.59.
We started round eight but the rain we had dodged so much all weekend finally caught up with us and boy and did it catch up with us. In the next hour we had thunder, lightning and hail as well as rain. By the time it eased the only concern was to get off the slope safely.
Had Mark, Adam and Paul done enough to pull Joel back?
Before the final result thanks to everyone who helped over the two days Ian Mason for collecting the money Adam and John Treble for organising the buzzer men so well and not to forget Clayton who pulled most of the course down in a torrent of rain. Finally big thanks to Martin, not only for organising this great event but also helping myself out in the centre.
So who was to be the first BARCS SlopeGlide Champion? Overnight leader Joel West held onto his lead to be crowned BARCS SlopeGlide Champion 2012, despite challenges from Mark who finished runner up and Adam taking Third place.
The full results are below and I look forward to see you all soon, all the best
Andrzej