Stiles makes promising debut with S120L

Serpent driver Mark Stiles made a promising debut with his new S120L last weekend when he contested the final round of the AMC Summer Shootout Series in the UK. This meeting is treated as a warm-up for the nationals that start in October, so there were several top drivers in attendance including Mark’s Serpent team mate Chris Kerswell and reigning British Champion Andy Griffiths.

Mark used the early qualifying runs to familiarise himself with the car and to get back into the 1/12^th scale groove, having raced electric touring cars over the summer. In round 5 Mark was right on the pace and set a time that whilst only good enough for 3^rd overall, left him less than 1 second from the TQ time set by Matthew Varah. Chris Kerswell struggled somewhat, but would line up 9^th on the grid for the 8 minute A final.

At the start of the final, Mark got away cleanly and moved up to 2^nd within the first 2 minutes of the race. Chris also made good progress and was running 5^th until a problem forced him to retire. Whilst challenging Matt Varah for the race lead, Mark made a mistake and lost 5 seconds being marshalled. This dropped him down the field, but a spirited drive saw him move back up to 2^nd by the end, just 3 seconds behind eventual race winner Andy Griffiths.

Mark was satisfied with the result and had this to say following the event;

“Today has given me a real confidence boost as we get closer to the start of the British championships. I haven’t driven a 1/12^th scale car since March, so to come here out of practice and with a brand new car could have made for a difficult experience. However, the S120L was quick straight away and once I’d got used to the feeling of the car I was setting competitive times. Without a couple of silly errors I could have fought for victory today, so it looks promising moving forward.”

A Final Result