After a well deserved weekend away from home the previous weekend, it was once again a pleasure   for Henry and I to host an enjoyable club race for all you nice people. We catered for three nitro classes, namely 200mm touring, which we sommer call the 10^th scale, then we had the 8^th scale GT’s as well as the 8^th scale Pan cars. The 10^th scale cars were a nice full group of 10 drivers. But although the 10^th scale was the biggest, it is obviously that the ‘heart’ of these nitro cars is those GT’s. Eish, that is what you call Beautiful Noise.

After the sweet taste of victory in October, George Symes was back for another round of it this month with his GT. The same goes for Jonathan Wilken in the 200mm nitro touring. Fred Cannon was also here for some On Road fun, although he is better known for Off Road racing. I also appreciate it when kids like James Boogaard attend our races, when he could as well stayed home and slept in, especially as they came from afar, which means that he probably had to get out of bed at about 5am. Kevin and co from Nigel, Jacques Brits from Klerksdorp; thanks for driving so far to come and spend your Sunday with us, once again. That said, we appreciate all our regular locals just as much! We also say welcome and thank you to the spectators that popped in throughout the day.

There were no hold-up’s and the race started shortly after 9. Because we still had a 6 month series as well as the end-of-the-year prize giving on top of the monthly prize giving ceremony planned for after the races, Henry thought it wise to keep to two qualifiers rounds only, but because things went so smooth, we quickly added a third qualifier to the race.

Highlights of the day…oops…. more like Low Lights!...

Jason Landsberg lost a wheel in one of the 10^th scale qualifiers. And if that wasn’t enough, he had major trouble with the receiver battery on the same car, which obviously impacted badly on his scores. At one stage he even went right through the fencing!

On his pan car, the front belt broke and had a devastating effect on the outcome of his Final race, taking in consideration that the computer estimated that he was going to complete 110 laps in 30 minutes. Sorry man!

Jacques Brits also had more than a fair share of car trouble.

He had a run-away with his pan car in the 1^st qualifier. He suffered TWO stripped spur gears on his GT in the qualies and in the Final he was plagued by flame outs. On top of that, he had a MAJOR collision with Kobus Griesel, which caused such damage that he was completely out of the race. He did however allowed Kobus to utilize some of the spares that was left unbroken on his car. Excellent sportsmanship!!!

Lucas Dillschnitter also had a much interrupted racing day in the 10^th scale class. But his consistent driving through the year still guaranteed him some well deserved trophies and podium positions later in the day.

Best Presented RC  body this month:Congratulations to Bjorn Boogaard!

THE RACE

Heat I  - 200mm Nitro Touring:

What a mixture of successes we’ve seen!

In Round 1 we saw Jonathan Wilken in the lead, with Kevin Gates in 2^nd and Johnny Claes in 3^rd place. In Round two none of them re appeared! Now it was Bjorn in the lead, with Fred 2^nd and Piet in 3^rd. In round 3 Bjorn led again, with Jonathan now back in the picture(2^nd) and Fred in 3^rd.

The fastest lap through the qualies belongs to Jonathan - 16.28 seconds. And for his achievement in the Final – 101 laps - he deserves a drum roll: best lap 15.77 sec!!

Jason Landsberg boasts an equally brilliant 16.07 second lap in the Final.

 Marika Claes also raced her fastest lap in the finals – 22.06 sec – well done!

Piet du Toit can feel totally happy with his own performance; He went from 22 second laps to a beautiful 17.89 sec best lap…Nice!!!!

Overall results:

1. Jonathan Wilken
2. Bjorn Boogaard
3. Piet du Toit

 

Heat 2 -  1/8^th Nitro GT:

Kevin Bann won the 1^st qualie. George Symes had faster lap times, but he also had two flame outs that caused him to end in 2^nd place, with Schalk Vorster in 3^rd.

George won the 2^nd qualie, with André Steenekamp now in 2^nd and Schalk again in 3^rd.

The 3^rd qualifier had the same results. I hope Kevin Bann wasn’t purposefully holding back AGAIN??!!

 I’ve seen the laps of low 17’s that you did, Kevin…?! Stop that foolishness…  I’ll take my belt off for you…watch it!

Charmaine Wright and Henry Ogden had better than average races. Charmaine had several laps of 18 seconds and that is commendable. Well done, Girl! Henry couldn’t break through the 20 second barrier in the qualies, but he did achieve that goal in the Finals. Lekker man, lekker!

Fastest lap in qualifiers – George’s 17.07sec lap

Fastest lap in Final – George 17.06 sec  Great stuff!!

Overall results:

                1      George Symes

                2      Kevin Bann

                3       André Steenekamp

 

 

Heat 3 – 1/8^th nitro pan cars:

Kevin Bann entered, but never raced…and I never asked why not. Jacques had two late starts and even a DNS in the qualies. I think it was in the 2^nd qualifier when that NASTY accident between Jacques and Kobus took place, because after that Jacques never returned to the race with his (wrecked) GT. Kobus, with the aid of that wreck’s spares, re appeared in the Finals for 33 laps.

Jason won all 3 qualifier rounds as well as the Final race. His best lap in the qualies was 15.16 seconds and an astounding 14.80 seconds in the Final. I herewith extend an invitation to TRAP on road guys to visit us for a friendly race again next year. Kobus, your best lap of 18.56 was not too shabby at all. And Schalk was doing fine with multiple laps of 19.-something seconds.

Overall results

         1.     Jason Landsberg

         2.    Schalk Vorster

         3.    Kobus Griesel

A really nice day was had by all. Great weather was the cherry on top. And finishing the comprehensive prize giving ceremony long before dark was a bonus!