The Union Square Grand Prix, the race not even a volcano could stop….  

After months of preparation, negotiation and frustration the Union Square Grand Prix took place in Aberdeen over the weekend of April 17 /18. The event that had been in the planning stage for six months finally materialised and those that made the trip to Aberdeen enjoyed a unique racing experience, for the organisers a great feeling of satisfaction and in some cases relief that they had pulled off something many thought was beyond the realms of possibility and budget, there are so many aspects to this race but I will try and cover them all in this full race report.

1:10 Touring cars were on the menu	There was also a small entry of 1:12 cars, the crowds loved the speed
A tight technical track was the order of the day	Dan Rowlands invites questions from the crowd
The rostrum was a proper job !	Plenty of time to chill out, here Mark and Fran Burgess enjoy a discounted Costa coffee

Anyone who knows anything about race organisation will know the potential pit falls of planning a big race, in this case the possibilities of slip ups were massive, holding an event in a public place presented a nightmare scenario with regards to heath and safety, another major factor was budget, this race was probably the biggest funded event ever put together in the UK, and with that sort of financial backing comes a pressure to deliver, so did the organisers pull it off, well read on and draw your own conclusions.

Even before drivers started to arrive in Aberdeen it looked like the gods were not smiling on the event, the volcanic eruption in Iceland forced flights to be cancelled, drivers travelling from England who managed to get time off on Friday changed their flight plans to driving plans, but before the event had even kicked off it had lost top drivers Juho Levanen and Olly Jefferies.

The small but technical track was built overnight on Friday / Saturday, a power point in the floor needed to power race control was not in the exact position the site drawing showed it to be so an alternative track layout had to be hastily arranged. Tired organisers and helpers crawled into their bed in the early hours wondering what Saturday morning would bring; little did they know that from this point it was relatively plain sailing. 

The event was self contained within the Union Square shopping complex, drivers arriving for the race had no need to leave the centre, food, accommodation and entertainment was all close at hand. Pitting for the 80 drivers was in the fantastic facility of the Jury’s Inn Hotel, one of the event sponsors and host for the two day meeting, three conference rooms were converted to pitting rooms for the event, drivers enjoying a little luxury and comfort rather than a drafty gazebo. Drivers briefing on Saturday morning was a little different to usual, this venue and its interaction with public required drivers to be a little more thoughtful with regards to their surroundings.

X-Ray drivers Ryan Edwards and Adam Meakin	Kris and Mark Stiles
The free Grand Prix bus was on stand by, but due to cancelled flights the bus stayed in the depot all weeekend	Chris Clark had a great weekend in 1:12

Practise got underway at nine o’clock as the doors of Union Square opened for business, some of the organisers looked down from the balcony and watched the first few cars carry out their exploratory laps, I can tell you from experience they watched with a tremendous sense of pride and relief.

In between rounds of practise and qualifying the public were invited to “have a go”, organised sessions had been planned for the public using five Carisma ready to run 1:10 touring cars supplied by CML and five 3 Racing F1 cars supplied by Muchmore UK, these cars were logo’d up in the colours of the retailers backing the event who were resident in the centre, these includes such names as Pizza Hut, Jury’s Inn, Nandos, Cineworld and Swatch, all these companies had made a massive financial contribution to the event and the cars looked fantastic emblazed in their corporate colours.

Public "have a go cars" F1's from Muchmore UK	Carisma's 1:10 tourers, donatated by CML
The crowds were big and interested in what was happening on track	Drivers are greeted by the public, how many races do you know where you have to go down an escalator to get the track

The public sessions were an integral part of this meeting, the overall aim was take RC racing to the masses and as massive crowds gathered around the track the public sessions filled up very quickly, a top gear style power lap board was on site and the fastest driver from each day would win a ready to fly helicopter supplied by Schumacher Racing.

On track in round one of qualifying it was Andy Moore setting the pace with his new prototype Cyclone, but he was not having an easy time of it as right on his heels was Phil Chambers, also looking good early on was Johnny Aird, Adam Meakin and Stefan Chodzynski, all drivers adapting to the technical layout very quickly. 

In the 1:12 class Mark Stiles the pre event favourite was missing and assumed to be a victim on the cancelled flights, in his absence it was Andy Sawyer who made the most of the absent V-Dezign driver setting FTD in round one with his Corally, behind Andy Sawyer Chris Clark and Tom Jefferies were shaping up to be the main contenders for the front of the A final.

Union Square retailer Cotswold Outdoor backed one of the public cars	The Nandos car, tasty
The Stonehaven girls were kept busy giving out goodie bags to the puplic	Trish, on her box and on the pace in 1:12

Between rounds of qualifying the public queued up for a chance to have a go on the ready to run cars, it has to be said that if ever we needed a showman to galvanises the public interest it was now, step up to the plate Mr Kris Kennedy, on the mike from round one of practise Kris worked the crowd in his usual motor mouth style, Kris gave us the final piece in the PR puzzle. 

As the day progressed Andy Moore continued to dominate the touring car class while in the 1:12 class Andy Sawyer was disappointed to see Mark Stiles walking across from the railway station, Mark had made a real effort to get here and was on track for round three of qualifying using this round to familiarise himself with the track and set up his car, by the final round of qualifying on Saturday Mark hit the front with a quick time demoting Andy Sawyer to second. 

This way to the race track, the hotel was something else and really looked after the racers, their families and the organisers, hats off to Jurys Inn	The official notice boards situated in the lobby of the hotel

Trackside and an appearance by “The Stig” caused a real stir and had Kris Kennedy in overdrive, anyone who witnessed this part of “the show” could not have failed to be impressed, as the public jostled for a chance to have their photo taken with the Stig while Kris offered up some very one sided interviews with the silent celebrity. It had to happen, the Stig driving an RC car, I could go on but to be honest you had to be there, sensational stuff that really whipped the crowd up and added so much to the event.

There were so many smiling faces, people who had never seen RC cars before walking round with our goodie bags, asking about the sport, asking about local clubs, it seemed that what this event set out to do had been well and truly delivered, but also delivered in a professional way, the BRCA had backed this event since its conception, the pay back will hopefully be on a massive scale north of the border. 

The Stig helps out in Race Control	Happy with his free race cap ? I think so
Top heat of touring cars	The Stig drops in to one of the event sponsors Swatch for a chat, wellperhaps not

End of play on Saturday and Andy Moore continued to dominate the tin tops but Andy was constantly having to look over his shoulder as Phil Chambers and Johnny Aird got closer to his pace with every round.

Normally at this part of the race drivers pack up and go their separate ways for the evening, not at the this event, by virtue of the fact nearly everyone was staying at the host hotel it gave the opportunity to put on a special evening. 108 drivers attended the grand prix ball, an incredible meal was provided along with games and entertainment for everyone, Jury’s Inn did us proud and everyone commented on the friendliness of the staff and the high quality of the food. Look out on YouTube in the next few weeks for the hilarious Yokohama Tyre changing competition which took place along with a quiz, from memory I think it was the team from Falkirk model car club that won, but please correct me if I am wrong, my memory of the evening is slightly distorted due to some excellent malt whisky.

Venue for the GP ball, Jurys Inn did us Proud	Tasty
1:12 drivers and organisers	Doris rep Fran Burgess
Tom waits for his meal while Mark gets excited about the prospect	Comet RC table

The Yokohama tyre changing competition proved popular and good laugh

As late evening approached some of the younger drivers decided to taste Aberdeen’s night life, having seen some of the photos this will provide many amusing photos and comments for drivers Facebook accounts for many months to come, for the rest of the drivers it was a free night at the movies courtesy of Cineworld, the biggest multi screen cinema in Aberdeen provided drivers the opportunity to watch the American made Carpet Racers movie, this was all part of their contribution towards to the event, they also covered the cost of hiring the three conference rooms for two days in the hotel, I will let you work out the cost of that for yourselves, I can tell you it wasn’t cheap.

Pitting room 1	Pitting room 2
Pitting room 3	The GP cake, very nice

Slightly blurry eyed on Sunday morning drivers got back to the serious business of improving their times, Andy Moore had a scare in the last round of qualifying as Phil Chambers put in a last gasp attempt to take pole, but as the clock stopped it was the ex world champ that would line up on pole for the touring car A final. Mark Stiles looked in control of 1:12 and he also delivered a good final run to seal his place at the front of the grid ahead of Andy Sawyer, Chris Clark, Tom Jefferies and Mark Jewitt.

Dan shows off one of the 3 Racing F1 cars	Kris chats to Mark Stiles track side

Lunchtime on Sunday and the mangers race, all the have a go cars logo’d up would be raced by the manager of each retail outlet involved in sponsoring the meeting, this event provided the noisiest race of the weekend as staff from the shops joined in with the crowds to cheer on their driver, add in one of Kris’s best race commentaries and you have a memorable event for all concerned. Some people have asked me if this race will happen again, my answer was always the same, I watched the marketing manager of the centre Penny Godfrey jumping up and down and waving a banner while the commercial manager of Union Square’s name on it, she took note of the enthusiasm and the buzz everyone was getting, so if we do get asked to run this again I think we can count on support from the very top.

The management race was a big hit, here the Pizza Hut staff cheer on their car	Some supporters really got in to it, cheering on the Union Sqaure car
Cineworld and Union Square go head to head	Swatch F1 car on pole for the management race
Nandos staff get a little carried away	Some of the retailers were better racers than others

At this point it would be good to offer a big thank you to Penny Godfrey and her marketing partner at Union Square Katherine Fair, they were the first point of call when this idea was conceived, during the build up to the event it was these two people who worked with us and provided a lot of the budget to shape the event, it would be fair to say a project of this size requires compromise on both sides and that builds relationships, I think we can say the end result was something that surpassed the expectations on both sides

Schumacher top lady driver Judy Walker came all the way from Gloucester to Aberdeen just to chat to Kris	Touring cars, ready to qualify
The BRCA pace car takes a rest between runs..	Smiles all round

While the fun was taking place on track drivers chilled out in the hotel conference rooms, drinking discounted Costa Coffee and getting their cars ready for the finals, one final treat for them, 45 large pizzas delivered free of charge from Pizza Hut put a smile on everyone’s face as they tucked in to the selection of toppings on offer.

Organisers grab a well earned drink after day one	Free grub, even for the guys on race control

Finals time and for Andy Moore a chance to convert pole into a win, Andy delivered with a win in both the first and second legs of the A final, a DNF in the final leg was not a problem for the Cyclone driver with title already in his pocket, a well deserved second place went to Phil Chambers with Johnny Aird completing the podium.

Mark Stiles made hard work of his A final win, the V-Dezign car looked slightly second hand in all three legs of the A final as Mark had to battle all the way in legs one and two, going into the last leg Mark needed a win and got it securing the top place on the podium ahead of Andy Sawyer and Chris Clark.

Star of the future and top junior at the Union Square Grand prix, Alexander Robertson	Top three in the 1:12
Top three in the touring car class	Nice pots for the winners, glass provided by Union Square for A the final, other trophies provided courtesy of  Muchmore UK
The top two girls in touring got watches courtesy of Swatch,  and Jocelyn Judy had a nice momento of the meeting

Prize giving and a full compliment of drivers came down to the atrium to see the drivers get their awards, and very nice awards they were too, the first three received solid crystal trophies courtesy of the centre, Muchmore UK donated prizes for the top three in all the final with the exception of the A finals, Swatch donated two top notch watches to the first two in each class, and the top two ladies in the touring car class also had some tasty time pieces to take home. Top Scottish drivers had tickets for the Knockhill race track and top junior Alexander Robertson had a ready to run Magic drift car as part of his prize, big smiles all round as everyone started to drift away and pack up.

Top Scottish drivers got tickets for Knockhill as part of their prize	Dan, Andy and the winning Cyclone

At the end of the event it was very rewarding to get such positive feed back from the drivers, sponsors and the Union Square centre itself, the drivers conducted themselves in a professional and polite way and interacted well with the interested public, this event has opened many doors for our section, working with such large organisations I see as fundamental to our future, proving we have a commercial value that can use to benefit our sport in general.

Now the thank you’s, first the people, Dan Rowlands from Stonehaven who worked his butt off for this race, before and during event, hats of to him for his persistence and vision, to his fellow Stonehaven club members who helped build the track, run the public cars and generally did anything that was asked of them a very big thank you. This event was BRCA backed so what some of the committee contributed could be seen as just doing their job, but what they did was beyond that, so thanks to Kris Kennedy for his none stop and entertaining commentary and for Roger Cosgrove for a slick race programme that ran to time with out a hiccup, behind the scenes Jim Spencer and Chris Hardisty for their input, experience and support.

Listed below in no particular order are the events sponsors, all these companies

contributed either financially of gave us goods generously towards the event, a big thank you from the organising team.

Union Square

Muchmore UK

Dunlop Motorsport

CML Distribution

Racer Magazine

Swatch

Schumacher Racing

3 in 1 / WD40

Cotswold Outdoor

Radio Race Car

SS Auotovalet

Toyo Tyres

Pizza Hut

Jury’s Inn

Comet RC

Cineworld

RC Disco

Nandos

Yokohama

Horizon Hobbies

Costa Coffee

TimeAttacks (Knockhill Circuit)

Stagecoach

West Surrey Racing

LRP

Finally I don’t want to hear the terms, health and safety, risk assessment or PAT testing for a very long time….. 

It was a great race	and a great social event
	A really big thank you to all the competitors, sponsors, families and spectators who made this event so very special, hopefully we will see you all next year
Union Square GP: Overall Final Results Best 2 Rounds To Count Tie Break: Qualifying Position Touring Car - H Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 19987 Peter Don Scotland 2 1 1 1 2 2 14873 Ewen Spence Scotland 4 2 2 2 3 5 14350 Alistair Davidson Scotland 7 3 6 4 4 3 18425 Matthew Low Scotland 8 5 5 3 5 6 21455 Brad Cahoon England 8 4 4 5 6 4 465 Gavin Reid Scotland 9 6 3 6 Touring Car - G Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 10629 Shane Walker England 2 2 1 1 2 3 9970 Ben Bowring Scotland 3 1 2 3 3 4 0 David Scott Scotland 5 7 3 2 4 2 21433 Spencer Stoke England 7 3 4 6 5 5 0 Peter Eagles Scotland 9 4 5 8 6 6 13979 Steve Harley Scotland 9 5 6 4 7 8 19252 Ian Hughes Scotland 11 6 7 5 8 7 0 Mark Ross Scotland 15 8 8 7 Touring Car - F Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 14432 Jason Lowe Scotland 2 1 1 6 2 2 3386 Joycelyn Meadowcroft Scotland 3 2 5 1 3 3 11762 Colin McCaffery Scotland 5 3 2 5 4 5 12848 Bryan Duffus Scotland 7 5 4 3 5 6 12061 Judy Walker England 7 4 3 8 6 7 18947 Mete Faks England 8 8 6 2 7 8 10378 Kevin McDowall Scotland 11 7 7 4 8 4 12002 Mikey Dunn Scotland 13 6 8 7 Touring Car - E Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 4559 Gordon Dempsey Scotland 2 1 3 1 2 3 0 Marc Baynham Scotland 3 2 1 3 3 4 17667 Stephen Burnett Scotland 5 3 2 5 4 2 20927 Graeme Robin Scotland 6 7 4 2 5 7 10328 Stevie Dow Scotland 8 4 5 4 6 5 0 Paul Davidson Scotland 12 6 6 6 7 6 20133 Darren Brodie Scotland 13 5 8 8 8 8 0 Kieran Smart Scotland 14 8 7 7 Touring Car - D Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 12576 Scott Meichan Scotland 2 1 3 1 2 2 20928 Neal Radwell Scotland 4 3 2 2 3 7 124 Mark Burgess England 6 2 4 7 4 6 14571 Stephen Whyte Scotland 7 6 1 6 5 4 0 Gareth Hunt Scotland 8 8 5 3 6 5 15974 William Stuart England 8 4 8 4 7 3 17355 Matthew Litton Scotland 10 5 7 5 8 8 20599 Kyle Gardner England 13 7 6 8 Touring Car - C Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 3 15973 Adam Mullock England 2 4 1 1 2 4 15524 Chris Bosomworth England 3 1 2 4 3 1 19657 Alexander Robertson Scotland 4 2 8 2 4 5 8937 Kenny Clark Scotland 6 3 3 8 5 6 3170 Andrew Cottom England 7 8 4 3 6 7 0 Chris Mitchell Scotland 10 5 5 7 7 2 0 James Collins Scotland 11 7 6 5 8 8 4099 Cameron McDonald England 12 6 7 6 Touring Car - B Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 2 1438 Dewi Jones Wales 2 1 1 2 2 3 15270 Markus Askell England 3 2 2 1 3 4 8325 Graham Kenny Ireland 7 4 3 4 4 1 2326 Tom Jeffries England 8 3 7 5 5 6 10165 Adam Howe England 8 5 5 3 6 7 3014 Niall Cochran Scotland 10 6 4 7 7 8 2847 Allan Lindsay Scotland 13 7 6 8 8 5 2922 Scott Kenny Ireland 14 8 8 6 Touring Car - A Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 8694 Andy Moore England 2 1 1 8 2 2 12318 Phil Chambers England 3 2 4 1 3 3 9748 Jonny Aird England 5 3 2 3 4 4 1444 Stefan Chodzynski England 8 5 3 7 5 5 9144 Andy Murray England 9 4 7 5 6 6 394 Adam Meakin England 10 8 8 2 7 7 18107 Chris Clark England 10 6 6 4 8 8 15971 Ryan Edwards England 11 7 5 6 1/12th Scale - B Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 1975 Andrew Edwards Scotland 2 1 1 3 2 2 4407 Kenneth Rogers Scotland 3 2 2 1 3 3 11807 Marty Kenny Ireland 5 3 3 2 1/12th Scale - A Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 457 Mark Stiles England 3 2 2 1 2 2 18107 Chris Clark England 3 1 3 2 3 3 0 Andy Sawyer England 4 3 1 7 4 5 0 Mark Jewitt England 9 5 4 8 5 6 1326 Leigh Burton England 9 6 8 3 6 8 1483 Tricia Whitley England 9 7 5 4 7 4 2326 Tom Jeffries England 10 4 7 6 8 7 4099 Cameron McDonald England 11 8 6 5 Public TC - A Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 1 0 Much-More UK Public 2 5 1 1 2 2 0 CML Public 4 6 2 2 3 3 0 SS Autovalet Public 4 1 3 3 4 4 0 Costa Coffee Public 7 3 4 4 5 6 0 Nandos   8 2 6 6 6 5 0 Cotswold Outdoor Public 9 4 5 5 Formula 1 - A Final Pos Car BRCA Name Member Type Points R1 R2 R3 1 2 0 Union Square Public 3 1 4 2 2 1 0 Swatch Public 4 6 3 1 3 3 0 Jury's Inn Public 4 5 1 3 4 6 0 Cineworld Public 4 2 2 6 5 4 0 Stagecoach Public 8 4 5 4 6 5 0 Pizza Hut Public 8 3 6 5 Produced by RC-Timing 2008. www.RC-Timing.com