Meyerton Raceway saw 25 entries for the start of a new racing year. We missed some of our regular electric On-Road guys, like the Landsberg father-and-son team and the Wright couple, Tiny and Charmaine. Here and there we were informed of people that quit RC altogether, but we also met a couple of families that are showing a genuine interest in joining the club. We will just have to wait and see what will come of it.

Beginner Class:

Although he was the uncontested champ in this class today, Johnrique Claes  showed mixed results throughout the two Qualifiers and two Final legs. His quickest lap of 23.94s and his slowest lap of 36 seconds , with all the uneven ones in between, were too inconsistent. We are aware that he is a very young driver, not even 7 yet,  but with more than a year’s experience, he should by now be more consistent. It is probably due to the long Christmas recess and the playful nature of a boy as young as he is. By the middle of this year, I am sure that he will be driving in the’ proper’ racing classes. We will keep an eye on him, but with the encouragement of his parents, who are both very competent drivers, I am sure that he will regain his competitive spirit soon.

Victor Fourie only competed for two months in 2016 and then disappeared from the scene. But he is now back at the track. He also, after several months of non-racing, did not perform as well as he did last year. What counted in his favour is that he improved in every round. That is good enough for now. Let us see what is going to happen next time…

Then we had a new lady driver, Lauren. Lauren was bullied into taking part by me and her husband. She really has very little driving experience…! Her experience can be counted in minutes only, during the December holidays, when she handled a RC radio for the first time.  In every race she improved drastically. She started off with a minute around the track and ended the day with a lap of only 33 seconds. That’s the spirit, Girl! See you again in March (they will be on holiday when we have our next race meeting in February)

Below:

1. Johnrique Claes
2. Victor Fourie
3. Lauren Winiecki

 

 

 Electric Mini Class:

In the absence of two of our club’s best Mini drivers, Jakkie and Jason Landsberg, the rest of the guys were engaged in a battle of their own.  Paul Langenhoven had a hard time fighting off guys like Piet du Toit, Ewald van der Neut and Jannie Holtzhausen. But he managed to do so effectively in all four rounds. Paul won every race in this class for the day and he also boasts the fastest lap time for the day – 21.52 s. Well done! Janu Lombard is a promising new driver who stood his ground efficiently and Henry Ogden joined this class again after more than a year.

Below:

1. Paul Langenhoven
2. Jannie Holtzhausen
3. Ewald vd Neut

 

540 Stock Touring:

 When the cat is away, the mouse comes out to play…or something like that. Haha.  In the absence of Jakkie Landsberg in this class, the rest of us have a chance to win. This month it was Artur Winickie who best made use of this opportunity. Since he joined us in the middle of last year, Artur gained much more self confidence on the driver stand and as he himself admitted; he got his car tuned and set up much better. The results were evident. He won all four rounds on this day and his lap times had improved tremendously! His best lap time today – 20.02sec . Great job, Artur!!

Anzea Pretorius, Dana Cato and Jannie Holtzhausen took turns to be runner up and at the same time, they took turns to being the one with the most car troubles! But I think that “honor” belongs to me: In the 1^st round, I blew a motor. Henry had to quickly put in another (spare) motor. In the 1^st leg of the Final I suffered from broken steering linkages. In the final leg I succeeded in doing 16 laps at last and ended 3^rd.  But by then Jannie and Anzea both quit the race after only one lap each.

Below:

1. Artur Winiecki
2. Dan Cato
3. Anzea Pretorius

 

TTO1 :

Rolan Ferreira did not get much competition from Janu and Henry. He in fact overlapped them many times..! This class is where Rolan excels in since 2016 already.  He repeated his excellent performance of last year by improving on every round he raced – and subsequently won – today.  He started with a best lap of 20.67 and ended with a 20.07s lap. Well done, Rolan!

Below:

1. Rolan Ferreira
2. Janu Lombard
3. Henry Ogden

 

 

21.5 Touring:

We’ve had 6 very enthusiastic and skilled drivers in this class. Rolan Ferreira had the quickest lap, 18.86s,  but he unfortunately seized a diff on his car after 10 laps in the 1^st qualifier round. With him out of the picture, Piet du Toit smoothly slid into the lead and beat Johnny Claes, who ended 2^nd. Paul Langenhoven ended 3^rd. Ewald and Artur, respectively, followed Paul.

After fitting a new diff – twice- Rolan was back in the second round, which he won. We saw Johnny in 2^nd place again, but this time it was Piet in 3^rd  place. Paul ended 4^th  (with one very fast lap of only 19.02s) and Paul was followed by Artur and Ewald, respectively.  Rolan now improved to a 18.16 sec lap.

In the 1^st leg of the Finals, ) Rolan, Johnny, Piet as well as Ewald improved some more on their personal best lap times. Artur quit the race early on.

The last leg was again won by Rolan, with Johnny again in 2^nd and this time around with Paul in 3^rd place. Congrats with your nice 18.37s lap Johnny. Best lap of the day in this class: Rolan with 18.15s. Well done!

Below:

1. Rolan Ferreira
2. Johnny Claes
3. Paul Langenhoven

 

17.5 Touring:

Round 1 of qualifiers: JP sweeck 1^st, André Steenekamp 2^nd and Kevin Gates 3^rd, after having serious car trouble. Best lap: Jp  - 16.80sec

Round 2 of qualifiers:  JP improved on his previos best lap, André improved on his average lap time and got one more lap. Kevin started a minute late, but succeeded in doing 5 more laps than in the 1^st qualie.  JP’s best lap – 16.77s

Leg 1 of final:  All three drivers completed 20 laps. All three had best laps of 17.-something seconds and all three averaged 18.-something sec. JP was followed by Andre and Kevin, in that order.

Last leg of the Final:  Much more serious racing going on!! All three drivers averaged 17.-something seconds and completed 21 laps each!

This time it was Kevin who won the race. But his blowing in JP’s neck, forced JP to drive even faster than before; now achieving a fastest lap of only 16.54s. Well done, all three of  you!!

Below:

1. JP Sweeck
2. Kevin  Gates
3. André Steenekamp

Best Presented RC body award:

Rolan Ferreira – Congratulations!!