Days and days of continuous rain the week prior to the race had us worried. Then came two days of no rain and we could breathe again. A couple of guys planned to spend the day at the track on Saturday, running in their newly acquired motors, test some of the settings or changes they’ve made or just getting some practice .

But then came Saturday morning….. From 5 am until about 7, the day looked extremely promising. But all of a sudden the heavens opened up. The telephones lines went hot, the way the guys wanted to hear what the weather is like at the track. Then, after the rain subsided at about mid day, the eager drivers were at the track, but after an hour, the rain poured down again…

Fortunately, Sunday morning – race day - was beautiful and the track was pumped dry and sawdust was strewn to suck up the last wetness. From then on everything went well. So much so that most drivers went home with a more than mild sun tan!

After the race, I noticed someone commenting on Facebook that it was a nice, relaxing day. Definitely not for all: If for example your name was Kevin Bann, things were hectic for you! When he was having car problems, like a failed steering servo or later again, a throttle servo, he couldn’t get it replaced in time, because he had to fulfill pit crew duties and race in the electric buggy class as well.  He had a very busy day, but he apparently is one of those people who thrive on these mad situations.

The squatting list was printed at three minutes past 9 and we were ready for racing! The nitro buggies were divided into two groups: One heat for the 6 drivers with little or no experience and another heat for those with more experience. There also was a heat for the 7 nitro truggy drivers and one heat for the electric buggy guys.

TRUGGY:

Heat 1 Round 1 Truggy:

Henry won the race with Kobus in 2^nd position. The both of them had 6 laps. In 3^rd place was Johan Barnard with 5 laps and Ronel Bann in 4^th with 4 laps. Logan Burger ended 5^th with only 3 laps and James Boogaard did not start. I think Kevin did start, but if I’m not mistaken, he had a runaway car in his first lap.

Heat 1 Round 2 Truggy:

Logan recovered and raced with full force. He won the race with Ronel in 2^nd place and Henry in 3^rd. James Boogaard joined the race just before it was over and completed two laps, while Johan Barnard started, but failed to complete a lap, due to car trouble. This time both Kevin and Kobus did not start.

Heat 1 Round 3 Truggy: :

Kobus and Kevin were ready for action after their absence in round two. Kobus took the lead with Kevin behind him; both completed 6 laps in this round. Johan Barnard apparently has also sorted out his troubles, and came 3^rd. Henry came 4^th and Logan 5^th Both of them, as well as Johan, completed 5 laps. Ronel now was the one who was plagued by flame outs and James did not start.

Truggy Final:

30 minute race. Kevin did 26 laps and ended 1^st. James and Kobus both were bothered by flame outs, but James succeeded in finishing 2^nd, with his 20 laps, while Kobus had to be satisfied with the 3^rd place, after completing 19 laps. James lost about 10 minutes of racing time, but managed to catch up when Kobus retired one lap sooner than he did. Kobus boasts the fastest lap in this class for the day, namely 60.86 seconds. Henry also lost about 4 minutes of racing time, before quitted just over half way through the race. Johan retired early on in the race, while Ronel and Logan did not start.

 

NITRO BUGGY:

Heat 2 Round 1 nitro Buggy:

These were the less experienced group of drivers. Jason Landsberg however is not new to RC racing, he is only new to off-road racing, and it showed! Jason won this heat with a lap over Schalk Vorster and his sister-in -law, Ronel Bann. Bjorn Boogaard had a late start and only completed 1 proper lap before the race was over. As far as I could gather, it was Brent Alexander’s first off road competition ever. Unfortunately, he did not compete in this round….. (We will however see more of him later in the day.)

Heat 2 Round 2 nitro Buggy:

A complete different scenario now: Bjorn, with a best lap of 59.5 seconds, won the race, with Schalk in 2^nd again. Jason came 3^rd and he thereby equaled the 6 laps of both Bjorn and Schalk . Ronel came 4^th with her 5 laps and Brent came 5^th with his 4 laps.  Tobie retired after 3 laps and numerous flame outs.

Heat 2 Round 3 nitro Buggies:

Bjorn in the lead again, with a brilliant average of 60 seconds and a fastest lap of 57.4 seconds.  Jason, with a very fast lap of 56.29 seconds, moved up one place and so did Ronel, and by doing so, they forced Schalk down to 4^th. Brent ended in 5^th with 4 laps, after having a two minute flame out.  Tobie struggled along, not achieving a complete lap.

Heat 3 Round 1 Nitro Buggy;

(I am missing Kevin Bann in this class, but he obviously has his reasons for not competing in this class today.)  Jacques Brits, Adriaan Johnsen and JP Sweek all drove beautifully and had equal chances to win this round. But at the end it was Jacques, with a best lap of 55.8 seconds (average 59.34) who has won the race. Adriaan’s average was 59.52 while JP’s average lap time was 59.97 seconds. Then came Kobus, Henry and Johan, in that order, with 6 laps each. Andre Steenekamp also broke the 60 seconds barrier, but he had to retire after only 4 laps…..what a pity!

Heat 3 Round 2 Nitro Buggy:

The top 3 remained the same. André now moved up into the 4^th place, with Henry behind him. All of the top 5 guys completed 6 laps. Kobus, after a very late start, ended 6^th and Johan Barnard, also after a late start, did 3 laps before he retired.

Heat 3 Round 3 Nitro Buggy:

JP decided that it was time for a change…he completely dominated this round by winning it with a lap more than his rivals and sommer a fastest lap of only 55.5 seconds! Well done, JP!  Adriaan and Jacques ended 2^nd and 3^rd, respectively. Kobus also played in that league of guys that does it in less than 60 seconds.. He managed a lap of just 58.8 seconds…mooi man! Henry ended 5^th, behind Kobus and then it was Johan Barnard, in front of André, that quitted again after only 3 laps.

The computer combined the two buggy groups after the end of the heats for their Final qualifying positions and race control decided to make two groups again for the Finals.

B  Final Buggy Results:

1. Brent Alexander
2. Johan Barnard
3. Tobie de Beer

 

A  Final Buggy Results:

An exciting race to watch! A race mostly between the local ‘better’ guys.  JPKillrad was in the lead for almost the entire race, but near the end of the race he had a very unfortunate flame out. And because Jacques Brits and Adriaan Johnsen were very, very close behind him, that one flame out cost him the 1^st place on the podium. Eventually he ended in 3rd place. Sorry man! Adriaan took the opportunity to use this misfortune in his favor and win the race. Although, I must admit, he wasn’t aware that he had won, until I told him about it, and he was almost blown away by the news. Jacques Brits was equally surprised and happy to learn that he ended 2^nd.

Let me elaborate a bit more on this top 3 guys’ performance:

Of JP’s 28 laps, 17 Laps were in less than 60 seconds.

Of Adriaan’s 29 laps, 10 were in less than 60 seconds.

Of Jacques’s 28 laps, 9 were in less than 60 seconds.

Well done, guys!!

Andre Steenekamp ended in 4^th place with 26 laps completed.

Jason Landsberg ended 5^th, also with 26 laps, after being out of the race for 12 minutes. Should he not been out of the race for so long, the end results of this race could have been much different.

Bjorn completed 24 laps, but was probably forced to retire too soon, due to car trouble.

Kobus, also plagued by more than a fair share of flame outs, also got 24 laps.

Henry only completed 19 laps and retired when his car flamed out for the umpteenth time.

Schalk completed 14 laps and I can just assume that he also struggled with his buggy.

 

ELECTRIC BUGGY:

Heat 4 Round 1 Electric Buggy:

Harry Wilesmith, new to off-road racing at Meyerton Raceway, won this round, with Andre Steenkamp behind him and Marius Burger in 3^rd place. Kevin was fourth. All of them averaged 62 to 64 second laps and they all completed 5 laps.

Heat 4 Round 2 Electric Buggy:

A totally new picture: Marius won, with Kevin 2^nd, Andre 3^rd and Harry 4^th. They speed things up considerably, because now Marius got 7 laps while the other three got 6.

Marius ‘s average lap time was 59 seconds…and that to me means very fast racing!

Heat 4 Round 3 Electric Buggy:

Again a different scenario: Kevin won the race. André ended 2^nd, Marius 3^rd and Harry fourth. They all completed 6 laps.

Electric Buggy Final leg 1:

Marius retired after only 1 lap. Harry and Andre both completed 6 laps, both had 61 sec averages and both had 57 sec best laps!! However, Harry took the 2^nd place on the podium with Andre 3^rd. . Kevin surprised us all (and probably himself) by winning the race, having completed 7 laps and boasting an average of 59 seconds. Well done, Kev, we are so proud of you!

Electric Buggy Final leg 2:

Marius took the lead back from Kevin, this time equaling Kevin’s 7 laps and a fastest lap of only 56.2 seconds. Andre ended in 2^nd and Kevin in 3^rd place, respectively. Harry retired sooner with 3 laps completed.

ELECTRIC BUGGY OVERALL:

1. Kevin Bann
2. Andre Steenekamp
3. Marius Burger
4. Harry Wilesmith

 

The day saw a couple of irregular transponder failures. It was of great concern to us in race control.  But after investigation it was evident that it was not due to a problem with the club transponders and we were very much relieved.

As track owners , I think it is safe to say that the day was once again a big success.