Not a particular busy day at the track, but who cares? After so many extremely busy weekends and another National event as well as a RC X challenge coming up soon, a relaxed day is always a blessing. Not that it was even close to boring; on the contrary!! That 30 minute final of the 8^th scale GT class was nerve wrecking!!

The day started with 7 200mm (10^th scale) nitro touring cars. Kevin Gates bagged the first round effortlessly.  Bjorn (2^nd)had a faster best lap, but unfortunately for him he couldn’t complete the race. Marika (3^rd)  and Henry (4^th) did okay while Johnny, Lucas and James were having trouble with their cars. In the second round Bjorn and Lucas were battling each other for the 1^st place. Johnny ended 3^rd.   In the last qualifying round Bjorn won yet again, doing one fastest lap of  just 16.26 seconds. Kevin Gates was 2^nd and Lucas 3^rd.  Congrats with your 17.9 sec lap, Kevin!  In the Final Bjorn raced even faster and got a best lap of 15.97 seconds. He completed 79 laps, although he lost more than 7 minutes of racing time. I can’t remember whether it was due to flame outs or a broken car.  Lucas also lost many, many precious minutes of racing, but still managed to do 67 laps, of which the best one was 16.98 seconds. Young James Boogaard (son of Bjorn) ended 3^rd. This young chap hasn’t been on the podium for a very long time now and he was sooooo worthy of this one. Marika was James’s closest rival and if it wasn’t for a stripped 1^st gear, things could have been totally different for James and her. Watch out, James, she is coming for you!

1st: Bjorn Boogaard

2nd : Lucas Dillschnitter

3rd: James Boogaard

 

The only entries that we had for this month’s 8^th scale pan cars were Kevin Bann and Schalk Vorster. Kevins, pan car started and even registered for the 1^st round, but then it stubbornly refused to start again. This left the whole track open for Schalk to enjoy. Schalk completed 11 laps of which the last one was the fastest – 18.89 sec.  Kevin returned for the 2^nd round and he did that with a BOOM!! He did his fastest lap ever, a brilliant 16.86 seconds! Kevin boasts 16 laps with no major car problems.  Now it was Schalk’s turn to encounter several flame outs. In the last qualifier round Schalk again had problems, but not before he improved on his own best lap, now a 17.45 seconds and completing at least 13 uninterrupted laps. Well done to you too.  The Final race for the day in this class was a short one, unfortunately. Schalk’s pan car broke down after about 6 minutes into the race. Kevin thought that if he also quits racing, we could save on some time by ending the race and starting the next one, but we in race control were not sure what effect it would have if we abandoned the race, so we left the computer to run out the 30 minutes. Oh, by the way;  Kevin got an even faster lap – 16.63 sec and now succeeded in doing an AVERAGE lap time of only18 seconds. Only a month or two back this was his aim to achieve for a BEST lap!! Well done!!!

 

The 8^th scale GT’s saw 6 entries only this month.  Charmaine Wright did enter on line, however on this day she was missing in action, probably due to some family matters. In the first round Kevin had a DNS. Kobus Griesel won the race with Johan Barnard sniffing at his heels. André Steenekamp ended 3rd.  In the 2^nd round Kevin participated and won the race, with Kobus in 2^nd place, one lap down on Kevin and Johan Barnard in 3^rd, one lap down on Kobus. In Round 3 Kevin won yet again, with André in 2^nd and Johan Barnard in3rd. Through all three rounds Henry Ogden and Jannie Holtzhausen were performing better than average, doing some very good laps.  The Final 30 minute race: This is where I was having heart palpitations…it was extremely exciting…no..it actually was nerve wrecking!

 Let’s start with Car 1  - Kevin Bann:

When the race started, Kevin was just nowhere to be seen!! I found him at the work bench and when asking why he wasn’t racing, I was told that the motor had seized. I walked away, very disappointed on his behalf. Back at race control and starting to commentate on the other drivers’ performance, much to my disbelief, there before my very eyes, was Kevin’s car active on the computer!! I would later learn that the fly wheel was stuck, but he released it with a screw driver and got it going. But by then 6 minutes had already passed… which were crucial when competing against drivers like Andre and Kobus. Nothing further went wrong and Kevin raced his heart out, doing most of his 90 laps under 18 seconds. Because of the late start, Kevin was obviously in the last position when he got onto the track. He steadily worked his way up to second place. It was during those last moments of the race that everyone's nerves were strung to the max; waiting in anticipation to see whether he was going to move to the very top. André was saved by the bell, literally and figuratively. Kevin ended 2^nd. Brilliantly done, Kev!

Car 2 – Kobus Griesel:

Kobus suffered three flame outs, which he couldn’t afford…not when racing against guys like André and Kevin. Kobus used to be a sure leader in this class, but the competition this month was just too stiff. Kobus ended 3^rd.

Car 3 – Johan Barnard:

Johan had an extremely good day. His car behaved well and apart from one 10 second penalty, he also behaved above board! Johan, you are sooooo close to lap times of less than 18 seconds. Maybe next month?

Car 4 – André Steenekamp:

André had a fabulous race day! He had a set of four new tyres on his car for testing, but it is not a fact cast in stone that it had a definite influence on the outcome on his success…. but it is a possibility.  There is just nothing more to say: Nothing went wrong for him, his car didn’t flame out, or maybe once only?  He drove well, completed 90 laps and won the race! Good job, André!

Car 5 – Jannie Hotzhausen:

Taking in consideration that this guy raced more than half of the race with a broken wing and then without a wing, he did very well! As every driver knows, it is difficult to handle a car without a wing. So Jannie, we have great respect for your endurance, staying in the race, to the very end. Well done!

Car 6 – Henry Ogden:

Henry had a better than usual day. He had only one very short flame out and he contributes his success to his very competent pit man, Lucas Dillschnitter. Henry completed 68 laps.

1st: André Steenekamp

2nd: Kevin Bann

3rd: Kobus Griesel

 

 

Best presented RC body: Congrats to Bjorn Boogaard