Mmmm, a day so NOT what we anticipated..

In the first instance, we expected a much bigger turnout. I, for one, expected a race with at least 40 entries. But it was actually a small race with only 19 entries. (My next paragraph may be the answer to this matter…) 

And as the weekend of 26 January draw closer; all the weather apps assured us that there is an 80 to 100% chance of rain, throughout the weekend.

We did not have any significant rain on Saturday, so, when Sunday morning came and it was like in 100% overcast, we thought that this was it; serious rain was on its way. But strangely enough; after an hour or two the clouds subsided and the day turned out to be almost uncomfortably hot.

 

 

The van Rooyen family showed up in full force..Leon and his two sons all entered for the day’s race.

 

Big tjommas, Shaun Hards and Garth Nofal paid us a visit again. This time Shaun persuaded his son, Ryan Hards, to come along. Young Ryan is actually an off road driver, but he did splendid on the tar track on this day. The rest were all ‘regulars’. (Which we appreciate)

We missed Louis Nortje, who had to work. His friend Tyronne Visser was just MIA.

Artur Winiecki, the guy from Yeah Racing, who always bring along a couple of Pretoria drivers, promised to come race, but never pitched…

Others might have been at home, rethinking how they can squeeze RC racing expenses into their budget. Strongs with that . .

 

Best Presented RC Body of the Day:

Francois Geyser Congrats!

 

The Race

(With only two Mini class entries, two beginners and one TTO1, we decided to put them in one race and just split their points afterwards. I sincerely hope André remembered to do it..)

540 Touring:

Piet du Toit won the 1^st round convincingly. And the 2^nd round, and the 1^st qualifier AND the final leg!

Best lap – 18.89sec. Well done!

Francois Geyser secured himself two 2^nd places, but never pitched for the Finals. His radio failed to bind with his car..

Marchel van Rooyen started slow (ish) in the qualies, but revved up his performance in the final legs. Quickest lap – 20.89s Good job!

James Theron did well by completing all the qualies and the final legs without ant hassles. 3^rd overall on the podium. Just another proof that you and/or your car don’t have to be the fastest to get a podium position.

Henry Ogden had some up’s and downs..

Overall:

1. Piet du Toit
2. Marchel van rooyen
3. James Theron

21.5 Touring:

Piet du Toit won (yet again) 3 out of the four races in this class. Something that must have happened in the 1^st leg of the Finals, jeopardized his podium position. So sorry about that. Fastest lap – 19.14s. Whoop whoop!!

Leon van Rooyen took three 2^nd places, and won that race when Piet had an accident. Leon’s best lap – 20.22s Great stuff

Henry Ogden boasts one 2^nd place and three 3^rd places.

Esmarie Geyser had a successful racing day. She completed several 20 second laps, of which she can be very proud of. You go, Girl!

James Theron , again, did well. He completed all the races in this class, but with a bit of car trouble in his 2^nd qualifier leg.

Overall:

1. Leon van Rooyen
2. Henry Ogden
3. Piet du Toit

TTO1 /mixed class:

Young Ryan Hards won this race, with Leon in 2^nd place. Leon, with his Mini, equaled the young boy’s laps (15 each) but he managed to race the fastest lap in this round – 23.93sec.

Leon’s son, Erich, with a TTO1, who just started high school, ended 3^rd.

Francois (mini) and Ruan Visagie (beginner) had car trouble.

In the 2^nd round, Leon beat Ryan to the starting line. Both improved on their previous best lap time. Now it was Ryan’s turn to boast the quickest lap – 22.31Erich ended 3^rd again.

In the 1^st leg of the Finals, Ryan repeated his victory over Leon. Almost all of Ryan’s laps were 21 seconds, with a best lap of just 20.89s.

Ryan also won the last leg of the day - best lap – 20.065. WOW!!!

(To be totally honest: I don’t consider this young driver – with his off road experience – a novice at all..)

Overall: 

Below: Erich van Rooyen  - TTO1

 Below:  Francois Geyser & Leon van Rooyen

Below: Ryan Hards

 

13.5 Touring:

As usual, Freddie Kotze won all of the day’s races in this fast class. His quickest lap – 17.51 sec

Shaun Hards came 2^nd all along. His fastest lap – 18.05s

Garth Nofal had a bumpy start, but from then on things went better for him. Garth is not a very experienced driver, but oh gosh, he’s got courage! It normally takes years of experience to participate in this fast car class. Garth started with laps of around 33 seconds and improved to more than adequate laps of 22 seconds. Well done! Do come and race again next month?

Overall:

1. Freddie Kotze
2. Shaun Hards
3. Garth Nofal