A nice vroom -vroom (nitro) race with just the local club members for a chance. Not that we mind visitors- on the contrary – but it really feels like a family gathering when it is only the local drivers.  To top it all, it was a No Marshal Day, and the drivers subsequently had to marshal for one another. Guess who drove almost accident free, all day long? Haha, you see, you can do it if you have to, hey?   

Oh yes, we had a little help from one lady and one gentleman who paid us a visit. I asked them whether they were interested in doing some marshal duty and they eagerly agreed to. Unfortunately they had to leave before the 8^th scale GT’s final started. This experience made this guy (Ivan Raubenheimer) even more itchy to get his own RC car.. See Photo below: 

Below:  Winner of the Best Presented RC Body award:

Piet du Toit Congratulations!

Special of the Day :

Photo below:

Special: 1/10th ready to run electric RC car - charger incl R3,200 Only 4 left.

 

Heat  1 Round 1 - 200mm Nitro:

Car 1 – Stephen Smith had a flameout that impacted negatively on his average lap time

Car 2 – Piet du Toit also had a flameout that kept him out of the race for almost a minute

Car 3 – Jason Landsberg – had a flawless race. Best lap time – 16.29 sec and more laps than any of his rivals. He won this one hands down. Congrats!

Car 4 – Ewald van der Neut -  did not start

Car 5 – Johan Korff – After many months of practicing, he plucked up the courage to join the race. He did well, considering the flameout that lasted for more than two minutes.

Heat 1 Round 2 – 200mm Nitro:

 Stephen took the lead away from Jason, who left the race early. Jason nevertheless boasts a fastest lap of 16.01sec. Nice!!!

Stephen’s best lap – 16.33s

Piet ended 2^nd and improved considerable on his previous best lap.

Johan couldn’t improve on his performance in the 1^st round and Ewald was still missing in action.

Heat 1 Round 3 - 200mm Nitro:

Jason was on a roll and had no real competition, because everyone else had major car trouble.

He completed 17 beautiful laps quickest lap – 15.89 sec. Great stuff!!

200 Nitro Final:

Car 1 : Jason ‘s car just would not allow him to do his thing in this race. When he was on the track, he was fast. But being out of the race for half of the time was just not enough time to reflect his real potential. Sorry Jason, next time you can entertain us with your brilliant driving skills again, okay?

Car 2 : Stephen had  his fair share of car trouble ( a two-and-a – half minute flameout) but recovered sufficiently to won this race. He got 88 laps of which the best one was 15.71sec. Great job!

Car 3 : Piet du Toit retired early on after he broke a diff on his car.

Car 4: Johan Korff finally got his chance to properly compete in a 30 minute race.  He completed 68 laps, of which the fasted one was 19.06 sec. Well done!!

Car 5 : Ewald van der  Neut sorted out his car problems and ended in 2^nd place. His quickest lap – 19.654 sec.

Overall result:

1. Stephen Smith
2. Ewald van der Neut
3. Johan Korff

 

Heat 2  Round 1 - 8^th scale Nitro GT:

Car 1 : Wayne Smith, our ruling champion, had to spark to stay ahead of André Steenekamp. He did so and won this round with one lap ahead of André and a best lap of 16.26sec.

Car 2 : André got a well deserved 2^nd place.

Car  3: Jacques Brits is a good driver, but he had to quit the race after only 10 laps in this round.

Car 4 : Henry Ogden admitted that his car wasn’t prepped well, but he still managed to achieve 18 laps with a fastest lap of 19.66sc.

Car 5 : Jakkie Landsberg’s performance was up to scratch and he ended 3^rd with a best lap of 18.91 sec

Car 6 : Charmaine Wright, our only lady driver on this day, did not start.

Heat 2   Round 2 - 8^th scale Nitro GT:

This time around Wayne wasn’t so lucky. He had at least 3 major flameouts and lost his place in the top 3 positions, although his 16.65 sec lap is still the fastest one of all in this round.

André used this opportunity to win this race. He however did not get it on a silver plate; he had to work hard for it. Andre improved on his previous best lap and he also had Charmain blowing in his neck, to reckon with. His best lap in this round – 17.66sec.

Charmaine’s average lap time and best lap time – 19.86 and 18.75 sec respectively – earned her a well deserved 2^nd place. Well done!

Jakkie, as usual, performed better than average and ended 3^rd.

Jacques had a much more satisfying race and he completed 17 laps.

Henry quit the race just before the time was up, apparently his car’s breaks were faulty, or something..

Heat 2   Round 3 - 8^th scale Nitro GT:

Wayne recovered fully and was back in his famous 1^st place.

Charmaine improved on her previous best lap time and in the absence of André, who now retired after only 11 laps, ended 2^nd. You go Girl!

Jacques Brits improved vastly and was now boasting a best lap of only 17.68 sec. Good job, Jacques! He ended 3^rd.

Henry also improved on his own best lap so far today – 19.4 sec.

Jakkie also retired early on in the race.

8^th scale Nitro GT  Final: 

Wayne won the race, and a win is a win, he completed 97 laps!!, but I don’t think he was very comfortable with André so close behind him. At some stages of this 30 minutes race, there was only 1 lap between the two of them and that is not something that Wayne is used to at normal club events. He jokingly told André that he won’t be helping him with car set-up again, because he (Andre) is getting to good now..  However, I think he is really getting worried about that…and rightfully so!!

After 79 laps André still managed to pick up speed and lap 80 (out of 95) was his best lap in this Final race. 17.26seconds. Well done!!

Jakkie Landsberg got a well deserved 3^rd place, after we witnessed a neck to neck race between him and Charmaine for most of this half hour race.

 Charmaine unfortunately had a flameout in the latter part of this race. She was short of 1 lap to achieve 80 laps.

Henry had a relatively good race and only picked up a serious problem towards the end of the race, after completing 68 laps.

Jacques Brits wasn’t so lucky; he did some amazing fast lap times. …  His best lap of 17.76 still proofs that he is a really good driver. But to be out of the race for 414 seconds at a time, cost him dearly.

Overall GT results:

1. Wayne Smith
2. André Steenekamp
3. Jakkie Landsberg

There is one more club race on December 11^th. So, if there is anybody out there that wants to come and give these drivers some gas, you are welcome to join them.  We are going to have some electric on road guys on the track, too. Just for fun and to proof which discipline is best – electric or nitro.