This was supposed to be the 1^st leg of the Nitro Shootout, but due to a current lack of interest, we abandoned the idea. Or should I say; we’ve put it on ice, until further notice. The truth is, we were requested to arrange this kind of race, but the very same people that made the suggestion and were very excited about the prospect, never pitched up…   So we ran it as a normal club race. Ag ja……….

Anyway, 6 drivers showed up for the 200mm nitro touring race and 5 for the 8^th scale GT class. We were spoilt with good weather and spent an enjoyable race day at the track.

200mm Touring:

Car 1 – Bjorn Boogaard has proven his excellent RC skills over and over in the past. On this day he just emphasized it.  It however did not come easy, with drivers of the caliber of Lucas, George and Stephen and the likes in the same race.  He was beaten by Stephen in the 3^rd qualifier round.  And when he missed 4 minutes of racing time in the Final, due to flameouts,  he was beaten again, this time by George in a nail biting race. Phew, it was exhilarating to have watched them!! Your comeback was remarkable! Congratulations, Bjorn…you ALMOST took the race back from George. Bjorn’s fastest lap for the day – 15.97 sec.

Car 2 – Ewald van der Neut had a successful day. Nothing much went wrong for him.  He completed 14 laps in all three his quallies and another 50 laps in the Final race, before he retired from the race 4 minutes too early. (I can’t remember what went wrong)  Sorry about that 7 minutes of racing time that you missed out on in the Finals, Ewald. It was probably caused by flameouts. His best lap for the day – 18.58 sec.  I am happy that your day went relatively smooth, Ewald!

Car 3 – George  Symes is well-known here by us for his performance in the GT class. This month however we saw him competing in the 10^th scale class. He had more than a fare share of car trouble in the qualies, but he made up for that when he beat Bjorn to the finishing line in the Final race.  He drove very well and went from last to qualify to 1^st place on the podium. 17 second lap seemed like his MO for the day. Well done! 

Car 4 - Lucas Dillschnitter started off with the fastest lap of them all, but immediately after his 1^st lap, he started to encounter flameouts. He did come back for some more seriously fast laps, but after 12 laps he was forced to quit the race. That was round 1 of the quallies. In Round 2 he ended 2^nd.  Round 3 his troubles re-emerged. He raced for another 20 minutes in the Final before he was forced to quit. Sorry about that.

Car 5 – Stephen Smith boasts the fastest lap in the 1^st round. He repeated that in the 2^nd round, now with a best lap of 15.98 seconds. He improved some more in round 3 and won the race. His fastest lap of 15.86 is also the fastest lap of the day. He unfortunately could not complete more than one third of the Final. Better luck next month, Stephen!!

Car 6 – Jannie Holtzhausen once again showed us what he is capable of. After a long absence, due to a variety of circumstances, he comfortable took charge of his remote radio.  Laps of 17. something seconds was a common phenomenon. He ended 3^rd in the Final and deserved his place on the podium. Mooi man!!

Below: 

200mm champs for April 2016

1/8^th GT

Car 1- Wayne Smith was out of the race for a quite a while in the 1^st qualifier. But with multiple laps of less than 17 seconds, it was just a matter of time before he would come back and live up to his own (and our) expectations. Round 2 he won hands down. His car let him down again in Round 3. The Final race was extremely exhilarating. Wayne was comfortably in the lead when he decided to change tyres during the course of the race. That decision made it possible for Charmaine to take over the lead for a while. And with Jannie so close to Charmaine, anything was still possible. But then Wayne joined the race again and slowly crept back, closer and closer to the 1^st place. He indeed succeeded in taking back the lead. At the end of this 30 minute race, he had beaten Charmaine with 6 laps. Well done. We look forward to see you achieving your goal of racing laps of 5.something second laps, next month.

Car 2 – André Steenekamp won the 1^st round when he beat runner up Henry with 3 laps. But for the rest of the day he could not keep up his performance. Things did not go well at all for him in the Finals this month.  If I am not mistaken, he took the overall 1^st place last month. But a set of new tyres in his Christmas stocking will certainly be highly appreciated.  hehehe

  

Car 3 – Charmaine Wright is currently our champion lady driver in the club. Today she ended 2^nd in every race she competed in. Well done, Charmaine.

Car 4 – Jannie Holtzhausen was the only driver to compete in both classes. At first he didn’t have much luck in this class. But he won Round 3 and gave a hell of a performance in the Final race, where he completed 83 beautiful laps. Well done, Jannie. Jy MAG maar ry!

Car 5 – Henry Ogden had a flawless day. No flameouts that I am aware of. That usually makes him very happy. He also reached his personal goals, so for his it had been a perfect racing day. 

April 2016 8th scale GT champs:

Best presented Car of the Day:

 Stephen Smith. Congrats!!