The day started slow and we began to doubt whether it would be worthwhile to hold a proper race. But to our delight, more and more drivers started to show up and by 9h15 we had 26 entries and we could print the seeding list. Only four classes appeared on the list, but at least we had enough competitors in each class. And however the day remained mainly cloudy, no rain interrupted our race.

 

During the course of the day we’ve had several visitors that showed interest in this hobby and we attended to all their questions. Hopefully some of them will indeed turn out to become loyal members in the near future…

Our supplier was late with the delivery of our Best Presents RC body of the Day trophy, so we skipped that award this month. In any case; all the nice cars present have already won the award before.

Electric Mini:                                                                                                                                                      

Last month we forfeit the Mini class, due to a lack of competitors. This month we gave 5 drivers the opportunity to compete for a place on the podium.

Giovanni Toldo dominated the race all day through, with André Steenekamp and Paul de Wit in short pursuit.

The two primary school Van Straaten brothers, Divan and Ruan, kicked off their “big racing” career in this class. They both had inconsistent levels of success. Sometimes one of them missed a whole race, but in the next race he performed quite satisfactory. And in the next race they changed places.

The fastest lap for the day in this class belongs to Giovanni - 21.47s

Overall results:

1. Giovanni Told
2. Paul de Wit
3. André Steenekamp

 

21.5 Touring:

5 drivers battled this one out: Piet du Toit(member), Tiny Wright (member) , Leon van Rooyen(non-member), Henry Ogden (member and boss-man) and Francois Geyser(member)

Graham, better known as Tiny, surprised us with a good temper for a change …haha.. and also his excellent performance. We actually know what he is capable of, but he seldom allows us to witness his (hidden) driving skills. On this day he displayed good sportsmanship and participated in all the rounds of the class that he entered for. This is just short of a miracle. Tiny boasts the quickest lap time in this class for the day - 19.49s Good job, Tiny!

Leon achieved several laps of just over 20 seconds and even one of 19.82s. Well done!

Piet was heading straight for the 1^st place on the podium, but then disaster struck in the last leg of the final. His radio apparently lost its signal and he had to quit the race. He subsequently fell back 2 places. Ah, sorry man..!

Henry was his usual average self with laps of around 20 seconds. As he always says; he just wants to complete the race without drama or incidents.

Francois was there to accompany Henry, so to speak. The stayed together, not too slow and not too fast. Standard performance with standard motors …wink wink…

Overall results:

1. Tiny Wright
2. Leon van Rooyen
3. Piet du Toit

 

Beginner class:

Richard Botes started out with a sure win in the first qualifier heat. I was just about to say that it is probably the last time that we will see him in the Beginners class, when he lost his upper hand over the rest of his rivals. Other boys like Erich van Rooyen and Divan van Straaten made things much too complicated for him.

Robert Toldo and two of his very young sons were also back in this class this month. It seems that they are getting more and more familiar with their cars, or shall I say radios? Sometimes the control over the radio is of more importance than the car’s ability when you are a novice….

The two van Straaten brothers are also gaining more confidence every time they participate. Ruan ‘s best lap – 25.26s and Divan’s best lap – 26 s. Taken in account that Divan’s average was lap time was27 seconds, is telling me that he is getting more consistent in his driving and that is a huge advantage. Divan succeeded in winning the last leg of the Finals. Way to go!

Erich van Rooyen proved to be a worthy champion of this class today. He has won two of the 4 races in this class and also boasts the fastest lap – 24.02s. Congrats!!!

 

Beginners Overall results:

1. Erich van Rooyen
2. Robert Toldo
3. Divan van Straaten

 

 

540 Electric Touring:

Charmaine won 3 of the 4 races. Although there were a few drivers with much faster lap times, she was the one who drove the most consistent laps.

André Steenkamp won the first qualifier round and this was also where he achieved his fastest lap – 18.49s. Sadly, for the rest of the day he experienced car trouble and could not repeat his smart performance.

Leon van Rooyen got two 2^nd places and one 3^rd place. Ha also boasts excellent lap times. His quickest lap – 18.70s. Great stuff!

Henry Ogden kept a steady pace with all his 20 second laps. Sadly for him, he was involved in a crash in the 1^st leg of the Finals and he could not complete the race thereafter.

Piet du Toit broke through the 20 seconds barrier in the 1^st leg of the Finals when he managed to do a 19.98s lap. Well done! He ended 3^rd overall.

Esmarie recently started competing in ‘proper’ classes, since she left the Beginner phase. . She had her best results in the 1^st leg of the final when she completed 16 beautiful laps. Best lap – 21.7s . You go, girl!

Tiny entered, but did not race much in this class today….

540 Overall: 

1. Charmaine Wright
2. Leon van Rooyen 
3. Piet du Toit

Hoping to have nice weather and a nice BIG turnout next month.