A long weekend (public holidays), dreadful financial conditions, family responsibilities, work…all of these contributed to a poorly attended nitro on road race this month. Throw a couple of apron strings (I don’t know what voorskoot bande are called in English, maybe umbilical cord?) in the works, and you get an even worse scenario. But hey, the seven 8^th scale GT drivers and the seven 10^th scale drivers had a good day at the track, all the same!

The day started with quite a chill in the air, but it soon became warmer and it turned out a beautiful day. There was a calm and relaxing atmosphere and the day ended with the prize giving at around 14h00. Some left after that to spend half a day at home and some stayed on longer to enjoy more track time.

Award for Best Presented RC Body:  Wayne Smith Congrats!

Heat 1 – 200mm Nitro Touring:

Round 1 was won by Stephen Smith.  Best lap – 15.92 sec

Jason had a 16.14 sec lap

Round 2 was won by Jason Landsberg.  Best lap – 16.18 sec

Bjorn had a 16.25 sec lap

Round 3 was won by Stephen Smith. Best lap – 14.27 sec

Jason had a 16.03sec lap

30 minute Final Race – 200mm :

Extremely exciting!!  Jason had a bit of a late start and had to make up for it. But as you can imagine, catching up on drivers that are every inch your equivalent, is easier said than done. Bjorn Boogaard took the lead and Jason only took it away from him far into the course of the race. Witnessing the overtaking was quite a thrill, because there were spectators that are also good friends of the Landsbergs, standing outside of the driver stand. They are new to this game and their excitement was contagious. Jason’s winning streak however did not last for more than about 10 minutes, because the battery on his car or radio went flat after 84 laps. Obviously Bjorn moved into the lead again and boasts a well deserved victory. Bjorn, also claiming that he has encountered some mechanical problems, drove 92 laps. NB: I can see from his lap times that he indeed had 30 much slower laps to the end of the race. But ‘nursing’ his car to the end paid off. Well done, the both of you. And thank you for entertaining us. It was great watching you! Stephen Smith (74 laps) ended 3^rd, after having several flame outs. Piet du Toit completed 72 laps, Ewald 69, Lucas 66 and Kevin Gates retired after 25 laps.

 

Heat 2 – 1/8 Nitro GT:

Round 1 was won by Wayne Smith.  Best lap – 16.90 sec

George Symes had a 16.94 sec lap

Round 2 was won by Jacques Brits.  Best lap – 17.52 sec

Wayne Smith had a 17.19 sec lap

Round 3 was won by George Symes. Best lap – 17.22 sec

Wayne had a 17.48 sec lap

30 minute Final Race – GT’s

Another very exciting race. Let’s start from the bottom upwards. Henry completed 64 laps. I noticed that he was out of the race for almost 5 minutes. Andre had 66. He retired 6 minutes too early. Charmaine got 77. She quit the race 3 minutes before the end. Jacques completed 83 laps. Jakkie Landsberg ended in 3^rd place with 84 laps. If I am not mistaken, this was his first GT race ever. Well done!! Wayne showed off 97 very fast laps, of which the fastest one was 17.03 seconds. Average 18.5 seconds.  But although it was touch-and-go, there could be only one winner, and on this day it was George Symes. George, congratulations with your 98 laps, average 18.4 and best one 17.16sec. You were a true star!

Please guys and lady drivers, I sincerely hope that all the reasons that I mentioned in my opening paragraph will disappear or get sorted out, so that we can have a nice, big Meyerton Raceway Nitro race again next month!