This race meeting was scheduled for March 22^nd, and although it was quite wet, the computer was loaded with 19 entries. Water was swept off the track and the race started. Then the rain returned and the drivers began to doubt whether they should continue to race. A couple of guys went on racing, but with more and more rain pouring down, we stopped the race after one round of qualifiers.We then arranged a re-run for March 29^th.

 

March 29^th : Some rain did fall on Saturday, but on Sunday we were blessed with good weather conditions. However, 5 of the previous week’s drivers couldn’t make it again, for which we were very sad about. On the other hand, 4 guys who couldn’t make it on the 22^nd were now able to come and race with us. And this time Henry and Ronel both entered with their 10 scales as well as their 8^th scales and we had a total of 20 entries. Again we had 3 nitro classes, namely the 8^th scale pan cars, the 8^th scale nitro GT class and the 10^th scale (also known as 200mm) nitro touring class.

Heat 1 Round 1 - 200mm Nitro Touring:

Brent Alexander won the race hands down. He completed 17 laps with a best lap time of 17.21 seconds. Wow, this guy is a pleasure to watch! I cannot remember what had happened to Bjorn Boogaard, but he retired from the race after 9 laps. That left Lucas Dillschnitter as Brent’s closest rival. Lucas ended 2^nd with 3 laps less than Brent. Johan Barnard and Johnny Claes followed in close pursuit, but Johan beat Johnny with an average of .06 seconds. Johnny’s wife, Marika competed in her 1^st ever nitro race and she managed to complete 9 laps. Jannie Holtzhausen also took part and kicked off with better than average lap times, but he also left the race after only 6 laps, after someone smashed into him from behind. The impact was so severe it even cracked the fuel tank in the front of his car. All his rear control arms were also broken. James Boogaard, Henry Ogden and Colleen Vorster did not start.

Heat 1 Round 2 -   200mm Nitro Touring:

Bjorn was now back and won the race with 19 laps completed, while it was Brent’s turn to be bothered by car trouble. Brent retired after a mere 4 laps….. A terrible disappointment to him. Lucas ended 2^nd again, this time with two more laps than in the 1^st round. Johan ended 3^rd again, also with 2 more laps. Bjorn’s fastest lap was an amazing 16.99 seconds! The other 5 competitors were somewhat to the back and Colleen and Henry again did not start.

Heat 1 Round 3 - 200mm Nitro Touring:

Bjorn completed 18 laps and his best lap was 19.97 seconds. He ended 1^st. Behind him was Lucas with 17 laps and Johan Barnard in 3^rd with 16 laps. James did fine and ended 4^th. With an average lap time of 24 seconds, he can be proud of himself. Jannie did not have a good race, although he re-joined the race after being out of it for 3 and a half minutes. With the other 7 drivers, things went from bad to worse, all encountering different degrees of car trouble.

1/8^th Nitro GT :

Kobus won the 1^st round with Ronel Bann behind him and Johan Barnard in 3^rd place. Kevin Bann did a faster lap than Kobus, but he retired after only 3 laps.                                                                                                                                                                                                 Kobus won the 2^nd round as well. Now it was Kevin Bann in 2^nd and Johan again in 3^rd position.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Henry Ogden improved quite a bit on his own lap time when he came down from a 26 sec lap to 21.00 seconds. Kobus was the only driver that managed laps of less than 20 seconds in this round.

In the 3^rd round Charmaine Wright took revenge and with Kobus not racing in this round, she took the opportunity to lead the race. Ronel stood her man…pardon… her woman and ended close behind Charmaine in 2^nd place. Like in very, very close! Both had best laps of 20. something seconds, both achieved average lap times of 22. something and both complete 17 laps. Henry and Johan Barnard were also engaged in a small battle of their own, and the victor was…..drum roll……. Henry!

Their amount of laps completed and their fastest laps were almost similar, but Henry’s average lap times was about half a second faster. Kevin, after a late start, still managed to do 15 laps. He again boasts the best lap in this round.

1/8^th Nitro pan cars.

Not much completion this month, unfortunately. In the absence of guys like Jason Landsberg and Nelis du Plessis, Kevin and Kobus had only each other to race against. And if I understood correctly, Kobus’s car was not up to scratch, so Kevin was sort of all on his own. In the 1^st round Kevin raced 17 laps of which the fastest one was an impressive 17.77 seconds. In the 2^nd round Kobus joined him and Kobus did 13 laps and Kevin equaled his earlier 17 laps. No one raced in the 3^rd round.

THE FINALS:

A Final 10^th scale:

30 minute race – Bjorn Boogaard gave an outstanding performance. He completed 90 breathtaking laps of which the average lap time was only 20 seconds!!!! His best lap – 16.71 seconds…Well done!

In 2^nd place we saw Lucas Dillschnitter with 83 laps, also a driver to reckon with!

Brent Alexander was out of the race for 9 minutes after he broke a shock tower on his car, but he still returned for 7 more laps to the end of the race. Young James boasts 67 laps which include the 2 laps under the 20 seconds barrier. 9 of of his laps were less than 21 seconds. He also was out of the race for a couple of minutes, due to a flame out. So, after all, he raced very, very well. Good job, James!! Johan Barnard on the other hand did not have a good final race.

1st: Bjorn Boogaard

2nd: Lucas Dillschnitter

3rd: Brent Alexander

 

B Final 10^th scale:

These 5 competitors are either totally new or fairly new to this hobby. Well done to Schalk Vorster who won the race by completing 52 laps. In 2^nd place we had Marika Claes and 3^rd her husband Johnny Claes.

1st: Schalk Vorster

2nd : Marika Claes

3rd: Johnny Claes

 

Final 1/8^th Nitro GT:

André Steenekamp took the lead from the start and stayed there for 25 laps. (About one third of the race.) Then disaster struck and his car broke down. Slowly but surely Charmaine and Ronel crept closer and closer until they eventually took the top two positions.   For a long while Ronel clung tightly to the 2^nd place, but after a while Henry took it away from her. Then Charmaine retired from the race due to car trouble, Kobus came into the picture (after his VERY late start) and the race started to get very exciting. Ronel claimed the 2^nd place back and Kobus moved into the lead. Henry was pushed back into 3^rd place. Johan Barnard took a predictable 4^th place, while Kevin ended 5^th after an almost 5 minute late start and another 4 and a half minute flame out. (or broken something) Charmaine ended in 6^th place although she had retired from the race 9 minutes too early. Johnny Cleas completed 50 laps.

1st: Kobus Griesel

2nd: Ronel Bann

3rd: Henry Ogden

Final 1/8^th Nitro Pan Cars:

Because Kevin was aware that Kobus’s pan car was by no means in any condition for serious racing, he just fooled around and he spent 1, 225 seconds with stop-and –go games with Kobus, who tried his level best to keep his car on the tar.

Below: Kevin Bann with his 1/8th pan car

 

 

Our monthly winner for the best presented RC body was Bjorn Boogaard. Congratulations!