A very nice day, although we (read: Johan Barnard) had to sweep a bit of water from the track, after we got a little -very welcome- rain on Saturday night. The drivers arrived through the gates in drips and drabs. Perhaps they left their homes only after making quite sure that there was no more rain expected soon.But after 8h30 there was a buzz of activity underneath the carports and we knew that it was going to be a hot, but GOOD day at the track.

We missed a couple of our regulars, who were at the Nationals in Middelburg and I have to admit; we felt more than just a bit proud when we realized that we have more 8^th scale GT’s at our club race than they had at the National event….

At our drivers’ briefing we mentioned club members Bjorn Boogaard and Kevin Gates and wished them well with the Nationals.

Okay, back to the race. We only started at a quarter to 10, but there was no rush, because there were just 3 classes to work through, namely 10^th scale(200mm) 8^th scale GT’s and 8^th scale pan cars.

200mm Nitro Touring:

Car 1: Jason Landsberg won the 1^st round with a fastest lap of 16.26 seconds. He completed 18 laps. He also won round 2 and now boasted a best lap of only 16.06 sec. Well done! The 3^rd round brought some bad luck with it and according to the results Jason retired from the race after 5 laps.

Car 2: Lucas Dillschnitter did not start due to a blown servo.  In round 2 he had one or two flame outs, but still managed to complete 15 laps, ending 3^rd.  Round 3 was a disaster again and he only completed 4 laps before his spur gear stripped.  Eish, that Serpent is giving him a hard time, although we all know that a Serpent is actually a good product.

Car 3: Johnny Claes ended 2^nd in round 1 with a best lap of 17.14 sec. Good for you! Round 2 saw Johnny is second again, but he did DNS in round 3.

Car 4: Marika Claes completed 13 laps, having had to endure a couple of flame outs. In round 2 she had one more lap after one less flame out. Round 3 saw her in the 1^st position, although she and everyone else were plagued by car trouble in a BIG way!!  

Car 5: Ewald van der Neut completed 14 laps in the 1^st round, 14 laps again in the 2^nd second round and did not start in the 3^rd qualifier round. His best lap  so far: 19.4 sec.

FINAL RESULTS – 200 mm nitro touring:

Lucas did not start. Remember the broken spur gear?

Jason in his (almost) regular 1^st spot. 88 laps behind his name and a fastest lap of …wait for it…. 15.93 seconds.

Johnny had an equally good race. He completed 83 laps with a best lap of 18.73 seconds.

Ewald, with 78 laps, ended 3^rd with a fastest lap of 19.29 seconds, an improvement on his qualies. Well done!

Marika completed 59 laps, after several flameouts that took almost 7 minutes of her racing time. I quickly made some calculations and it seems like she averaged 23.5 seconds during the time that she was actively racing. Better luck next time, Girl!.

 

 1/8 nitro GT :

Car 1 : Johan Barnard didn’t have a fantastic 1^st round, a better 2^nd round and a much better 3^rd round. His best lap for the qualies: 19.07 sec.  Lekker man!

          

Car 2 : Andre Steenekamp won the race. The fastest of his laps was a 17.5 sec. In round 2 he ended 2^nd and in round 3 he left the race after 7 laps. A big problem urged him to do that, I think it was the exhaust? He however improved on his best lap with .01 seconds in the 2^nd round.

Car 3 : Ronel Bann had the best results in her 3^rd qualifier round. Not only did she drive more laps, she also broke the 20 second barrier…..twice!  Congrats with that and well done!

Car 4: Kevin Bann ended 2^nd in round 1, 3^rd in round 2, but with better lap times and won the 3^rd round. Well done! Kevin’s fastest lap during the qualies – 18.00 sec.  He qualified 1^st for the Finals!

Car 5: Henry did his normal, average thing throughout the 3 qualifiers. He touched on the 20 seconds barrier, but could not break through it. I know he is happy with whatever position he gets, as long as his car didn’t flame out. Well, then he can be must be happy, because his car behaved extremely well.

Car 6: Charmaine Wright alias The Tamiya Lady, didn’t have a good 1^st   or 2^nd round, but she compensated by ending 3^rd in the 3^rd round. I know there was a problem with the exhaust coming lose somewhere during the day. And trying to fix a piping hot exhaust during a race is NOT recommended…!

Car 7: Jacques Brits achieved a best lap of only 18.4 sec in the 1^st round, again some pretty fast laps in round 2, but now with a flame out in between. In round 3 he picked up diff trouble and quit after 13 laps, but not after he got a 17.85 seconds lap. Mooi man!!!!!!!!!!

Car 8: Schalk Vorster, one of our club’s most versatile RC drivers, ended 3^rd in round 1, picked up trouble in round 2 but recovered his composure in round three. His fastest qualifier lap  – 19.07 sec.

Car 9 : George Symes..not a new guy altogether, but also not a regular here by us. We’ve seen him on the off road side a couple of times in the past. He came and purchased a brand new GT on Saturday before the race. He said that he was going to put a used motor into the new car for Sunday’s race, because there wasn’t enough time to run the new engine in. His 1^st qualifier round started better than average, he WON the 2^nd round and ended 2^nd in the 3^rd round. That gave him a second place starting position in the Finals. Fastest lap – 17.79 sec in 2^nd round. Awesome!!!!!!

GT FINAL RESULTS:

Andre did not start. Charmaine retired after 4 laps. Maybe THIS was where she had the exhaust trouble? Jacques completed 64 laps. Henry is happy with his 74 laps. Ronel boasts 79 laps. Best lap 19.35 seconds. Johan Barnard can be proud of his 84 laps. Fastest lap – 18.6 sec

Kevin was out of the race for about 3 minutes. I understood he changed tyres. I just hope that this was the true and legit reason…  and not him giving his opponents an advantage…..again….. or else..!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, he boasts the fastest lap in the Finals – 17.65 seconds and ended in 3^rd place.

Schalk drove well and ended 2^nd . He completed 86 laps of which the fastest was 18.51 seconds.

George raced his heart out and obviously enjoyed the adrenaline rush. I notice that he was out of the race for more than 2 minutes, but he nevertheless completed 89 beautiful laps and won the race. His best lap – 17.70 seconds. Great stuff! Come back soon!!

 

8^th Scale nitro pan cars:

Car 1: Jason Landsberg DNS for the 1^st round. He picked up car trouble in the 2^nd rouns after only 3 laps and again in round 3 after a mere 2 laps. Best lap in qualies: 18.06 seconds. I really need a sad face icon here…..

Car 2: Schalk Vorster, using his brother-in-law’s pan car, completed 15 laps in the 1^st round, DNS in the 2^nd round after his throttle servo decided to pack up. But he was back for more and got 10 laps in the last round. Best lap – 19.82 seconds.

Car 3: Our long lost ex club member and dear friend Nelis du Plessis returned for a day of exciting on road nitro racing. Although he popped in once in a while to say hello, he hasn’t actually competed here by us for a long time. On this day he showed the more recent club members exactly what we meant when we always referred to him and his abilities. Nelis won the 1^st round with several 16 second laps. He repeated his performance in the 2^nd round, still improving, now with a fastest lap of 15.96 seconds. And again in round 3, now boasting a best lap of 15.81 seconds. WOW!!!

PAN CAR RESULTS:

Nelis raced 98 beautiful laps with a perfectly tuned and set up car. I only see one very short flame out..or something, that stole 48 valuable seconds from him. Fastest lap – a brilliant 15.16 seconds. Schalk completed 76 laps. His best lap was 18.95 seconds. I also notice that the car must have been in a very good shape, because there were hardly any flame outs…Thanks to Kevin??

Jason…well, I don’t have words to express our – and obviously his- utter disappointment. He is a guy that is capable of doing 113 laps in half an hour, with extra ordinary fast lap times… but on this day we didn’t see any of that. Now I REALLY need an icon with a whole lot of tears flowing… Better luck next time, dear Jason!

 

Best presented RC car of the Day: Charmaine Wright with her GT. Congratulations!