The fact that we had less than 50% of our normal entries was a far cry from the norm. But the reasons for the absence of such a lot of our regulars are totally legit, so we couldn’t feel troubled for long. A few guys were attending the Nitro Nationals, some had family responsibilities and some admitted straight forward that their financial matters are a bit tight.

Seeing that we just had the Electric Shootout the weekend before and the Off road RCX coming the weekend after this one, we really understand and empathize with them. This is after all just a hobby and a person’s budget can only handle so much, especially in the feeble economic situation in our country. Those who were here; we were happy to have seen that you thoroughly enjoyed the day. The weather was good and everything went smoothly. Maybe you have noticed that Anette (that’s me) was feeling a bit weighed down by the heat, but after a good night's rest, I recovered 100%

 

It is with regret that we learnt that Yas Okauchi will be leaving for Japan at the end of this month. Apparently the contract that brought him to SA has come to an end. Sad to see you go, Yas!

THE RACE:

Henry decided to run the TTO1 and Beginners classes – 2 drivers each - together, but still keep their scores separate.

Elec Mini Class:

Yas Okauchi and Paul Langenhoven took turns to win in this class. Ewald van der Neut also had a good race day and was posing some stiff competition to Yas and Paul.  André’s Mini was not performing at the same level as the other 3. The fastest lap time in the Mini class: Yas - 20.45 sec

 

Joint TTO 1 & Beginner classes:

TTO 1 - Charmaine Wright started okay, but she quit after the second qualifier round. According to her it had been very tiring for her to take part in three classes, one after the other. Henk Boeree, one of our novices, was aiming for a lap of less than 25 seconds and he succeeded in doing just that in the last leg of the Finals. He willingly moved out of the Beginner class and enters for the TTO1’s and we admire him for his courage. Now he has proven to himself that it was a good decision.

Beginners - In the absence of the 5 year old Johnrique Cleas and Theresa Paulse, it was only Nathan and Anzea in the Beginner class. Anzea Pretorius, the brave young girl that we now often see at our electric on road races, performed excellent for a beginner. She completed 18 of her laps during the day in less than 25 seconds. Her fastest lap for the day – 22.55 sec. Well done! Nathan Steyn managed 4 laps of less than 25 seconds, but he had 14 lap of between 25 and 26 seconds. Quite an improvement on his previous best performance. His fastest lap for the day – 23.81 sec. This little guy will still go places, you just watch this space!

 

Electric 540 Touring:

Charmaine was the only driver to do lap times of less than 20 seconds in today’s race. Paul Langenhoven had a bit of trouble when he changed to new tyres during the day and needed to adapt his driving accordingly. Anette started with better personal best lap times than ever before, but unfortunately her car let her down when a grub screw on the pinion gear came loose and then became worn out.  Charmaine’s fastest lap – 19.93 seconds.

 

21.5 Touring:

Yas Okauchi didn’t take any  BS from his rivals. He won all four races in this class. Throughout the day he succeeded in keeping his average lap time at 19 seconds. Fastest lap for the day – 18.79 sec. Well done! Piet du Toit and Ewald vd Neut both had a satisfactory race day. They both did most of their laps in 20 seconds. Tiny had one or two late starts and his wife Charmaine found that her Schumacher was not to her liking and she decided to quit after her 1^st Final leg.

 

17.5 Touring:

At Meyerton this is a favorite class. Drivers like Marius Burger, Harry Wilesmith and André Steenekamp are known to enjoy it tremendously. (And Kevin Bann, I think..)   Lately we also see George Symes and Yas Okauchi enjoying this class. On this day, as many times before, we saw Harry in the lead more times than not. Fastest lap belongs to Marius – 16.62 seconds.

 

Best presented Car of the Day:

There was more than only one beautifully painted car present at the drivers’ briefing, but we asked a member of the public to choose a car and the lady chose a car that belongs to Yas Okauchi. Congratulations!