It was once again a pleasant day at the track in all facets. The weather was excellent and the turnout - especially for the 8^th scale GT class – was very good. After many years, the 8^th scale nitro cars are still very popular amongst nitro fans at our track. I like to refer to these cars as the “Beautiful Noise Class”   What an absolute joy?!

Yes, there were times in the past that this class was a bit ‘quiet’ for a couple of months, but they always return to the scene, sooner or later.  Currently the 8^th scale pan cars are not so trendy here at Meyerton Raceway, but as soon as a couple of guys bring theirs on a regular base, the rest will slowly follow suit.  We are totally aware that there are other tracks/clubs in SA where 8^th scale Pan cars are also very popular, but those clubs are very far from us and we are privileged to host a monthly event for those drivers that stay close by. And if we get drivers from that part of Gauteng that chose to attend our race meetings, which we often do - we then welcome them with open arms…

A special welcome to the two new (local) GT drivers, Johan Korff and Piet du Toit. Both used to drive in the 200mm class. Charmaine Wright is an old hand at the GT class, but with a brand new car, that wasn’t yet sorted out for serious racing, we didn’t get to see a lot of her on the track today.

It had also been a great pleasure to see Lucas Dillschnitter again, after a long absence.

  Lucas Dillschnitter

Okay, let’s get to the race:

200mm nitro:

Round 1:

Jason Landsberg won the race and he also boasts the fastest lap in this round – 16.37s.

Stephen Smith –held up by flameouts- was in 2^nd place and Lucas in 3^rd.

Ewald van der Neut, Jannie Holtzhausen and Marika weren’t ready and did not start.

Round 2:

Jason repeated his victory and also improved some more, now doing a best lap of 16.20s.

Stephen in 2^nd again and he too improved on his fastest lap - 16.35s

Our lady driver, Marika Claes, expressed that she was battling with nerves, since she hasn’t competed in races for many months, but she did fine, ending in 3^rd place.

Lucas and Ewald still experiencing car trouble and Jannie did not start.

Round 3:

Not a very satisfying round for any of the drivers. Nobody drove faster and for almost the whole race, there were only three drivers on the driver stand. Oh, okay, Lucas’s car lasted for the full 6 minutes of the race. Jason stayed on his winning path, with Lucas in 2^nd and Marika again in 3^rd .

Final Results 200mm Nitro:

1. Jason Landsberg  - 95 laps Best lap 16.13s
2. Ewald vd Neut     - 71 laps Best lap 19.27s
3. Marika Claes        - 65 laps Best lap 19.73s
4. Stephen Smith     - 35 laps Best lap 16.26s  
5. Lucas Dillschnitter – 30 laps Best lap 16.95s

 

8^th scale GT class :

Summary of the qualifiers:

Car 1 – Wayne Smith: Wayne won the 1^st and 3^rd qualy and ended 2^nd in the 2^nd round. His quickest lap was the 11^th one in the 1^st round – 16.88sec. Mmmm that’s the Wayne we know… Well done!

Car 2 – Piet du Toit: With his brand new body on a very good 2^nd hand car, Piet joined this class for the very first time. Being an old hand at RC racing, on-road as well as off-road, Piet pulled this class off easily.  He achieved a best lap of 19 sec straight in the 3^rd qualy, and I know that he came down significantly in the final race. Welcome to this class Piet. We expect to see much more of you in future.

Car 3 – Henry Ogden: Henry didn’t have much success on this day. The 1^st round went well, but in the 2^nd round the steering server’s arm came loose. And in the 3^rd round he stripped the lock nuts on the gearbox. He tried to fix it for the finals, but to no avail.  

Car 4 – André Steenekamp:  I spoke to André just now to hear what his car trouble was all about, because I notice that he had been out of the race quite a bit in the 1^st and 2^nd rounds. His reply was: “The car has just stopped, for no reason at all!” He nevertheless recovered fully and ended 2^nd in the 3^rd qualifier round, with a fastest lap of 17.10 sec. Good for you!

Car 5 – Jacques Brits: Jacques got a 3^rd place in the 1^st round and a 4^th place in the 3^rd round. But his lap times were excellent right through the qualies! 17.70s, 17.74s and 17.27s respectively. That was good enough to secure him the 2^nd place for the Finals.

Car 6 – Jakkie Landsberg:  Jakkie kept on improving on his own best laps throughout the qualifier rounds. For some reason he had a late start in the 3^rd round, but other than that, he did just fine.

Car 7 – Charmaine Wright : As I’ve mentioned in my introduction paragraph, Charmaine hardly raced in the qualifiers. A brand new car that wasn’t sorted out yet, was the story behind that…

We hopefully will see her back in her rightful place next month..

Car 8 – Jannie Holtzhausen is one of those drivers; now you see him, now you don’t. But when he is on the driver stand, you have to take note of him. He ended 3^rd in the 2^nd qualifier round.

Car 9 – Johnny Claes: We know Johnny for quite some time now and have come to know him as a very skillful driver. He once again showed us that he is up to any challenge, by giving Wayne, our current GT king, a good run for his money. Johnny’s best lap during the qualies – 17.09s. Great job!!!!!

Car 10 – Johan Korff: Johan surprised all of us and even more so, himself, by finding himself amongst the top 4 drivers more than often. He even managed to make a notch on his tally for ending 3^rd in the third qually! Best lap – 18.21s.. We are happy for you, Johan.

Final Results – 1/8^th GT:

1. Wayne Smith – 98 laps Best lap 17.02s
2. Jacques Brits – 93 laps  Best lap 17.08s
3. Jakkie Landsberg – 88 laps Best lap 18.21s
4. Andre Steenekamp – 63 laps Best lap 17.74s
5. Jannie Holzhausen – 59 laps Best lap 19.33s

Best presented RC body award:

Piet du Toit – Congratulations!