We were nervously keeping an eye on the online entries to see whether the drivers will back out because of the rain - lots and lots of it – that fell during the week prior to this race. But it seems like they had full confidence in the Meyerton Raceway team to deal with water on the track.

It is a well-known fact that we are jacked-up to get rid of track water, because of the numerous times in the past that we had to deal with it before a race meeting. And this time it was no different. I noticed that Henry (hubby and track owner) left the house way before 6am already…! Apparently he was busy sweeping the track, when the first drivers started to arrive, just before 7.  Although I only arrived at the track an hour later, I trust they assisted Henry, or even took the job over from him. Anyway, some of the other drivers and I and even the hired marshals all lend a hand to clear the last stubborn puddles before 8h30. Shall we call the vacuum cleaner that we used a tool or an assistant??  We eventually got the track dry and the rain fortunately stayed away for the rest of the day. It actually became a very hot day and we all picked up a mild sun burn.

L U N C H  T I M E

Some of the drivers that entered online did not show up, but on the other hand we were privileged to welcome a couple of newcomers in our midst.  When the squatting list was printed, there were 27 names on it, divided into 6 classes.

Winner of Best Presented RC body award:

Giovanni Toldo  Congratulations! 

Beginner Class:

Leon Kapp joined this group, but it soon became evident that he is either not a novice, or he is blessed with extra-ordinary driving skills! He kicked off with lap times that we only get to see from drivers with at least six months experience!  And by the way; On this day, I’ve noticed that all the Beginners did lap times much faster than we are used to in this class.

Janu Lombard’s quickest lap for the day in this class is 21.14 sec. A vast improvement since last month.  Congratulations!

Charlie Colby’s best lap – 23.84 sec. Well done!

Nathan Steyn’s fastest lap – 23.6 sec.  He says he is now ready to move on to a ‘real’ class in 2017. Good for you!

Chae-mari’s best lap – 26.19 She improved from a 31 seconds to this,  You Go, Girl!

Leon Kapp’s best lap of 20.72 sec belongs in classes like the 21.5 turn Touring. We will probably see him there next month?  

Still, as usual, the driver with the least car trouble is the one who wins the race.

Overall Results:

1. Nathan Steyn
2. Leon Kapp
3. Janu Lombard

TTO1 Stock Touring:

 Rolan Ferreira, Henry Ogden and Duncan van der Merwe were the three competitors in this class. Rolan was the undeniable champ of TTO1. He outperformed his two rivals in every race and just kept on improving on his own fastest lap times. Henry and Duncan’s best lap were in the region of 23 seconds. Rolan started the day with a 21.15 and ended the day with a 20.03 sec. Well done!

Overall Results:

1. Rolan Ferreira
2. Duncan van der Merwe
3. Henry Ogden

 

Electric Mini :

From the start it was obvious that it was unlikely that Jakkie Landsberg was going to be beaten by anybody else in this class. His son, Jason is definitely a worthy opponent, but Jason did not take part in the 1^st qualifier. In the three remaining races, he still couldn’t beat his dad, although it was close calls. Paul Langenhoven was ready to take the lead over, at the slightest mistake or bad luck on the part of either of them. Piet du Toit was blowing in Paul’s neck and so was Ewald van der Neut.  Henry was driving his very old Mini and he was advised to replace the engine, because it was evident that his car was much, much slower than the others.                 Jakkies best lap – 20.92 sec.

Overall  Results:

1. Jakkie Landsberg
2. Paul Langenhoven
3. Jason Landsberg

 

540 Stock Touring:

Jakkie took an early lead as usual. He had three awesome races with not much competition from the other 6 competitors in this class. But things went terribly wrong for him in the 2^nd leg of the Finals when, after about 4 laps, he realized he was driving without a transponder. Catastrophe!!  At the time when a transponder was fitted onto his car, he already missed six or more laps. Ah man, that was such a bummer! Behind him was a queue of eager drivers to take advantage of his misfortune.  Dana Cato had been in the best position to take the lead over from him, because Anzea and Anette had inconsistent measures of success on this day that counted against them (us).              

Artur Winiecki certainly fared better than last month. He managed to end 3^rd at some point.        Artur brought an acquaintance, Giovanni Toldo with him.  Giovanni  is an old hand at RC racing, who claims that he never raced for the past 8 or more years. This was plain to see when he started the day with a best lap of almost 26 seconds in the morning and ended with a 2^nd place in the afternoon and a best lap of only 21.39 sec.  Best lap for the day in this class: Jakkie  - 19.34 sec. Way to go, Jakkie!

Overall results:

1. Dana Cato
2. Giovannni Toldo
3. Jakkie Landsberg

 

21.5  Electric Touring:

The six drivers in this class are all very dedicated drivers that we often see them competing in quite a few classes. Michael Glaus kicked off with a win in the 1^st qualifier round, Kevin Gates won the 2^nd quali, Rolan Ferreira won the 1^st leg of the final legs and Michael succeeded in winning again in the last leg. Unfortunately this performance still could not secure him a 1^st place on the podium. It seems like an accident in the 2^nd qualifier caused Michael to lose valuable time.    Michael’s best lap for the day – 17.81s                                

 Kevin’s consistency is his secret to victory and this was evident by his performance in the 2^nd qualifier: His average lap time over 19 laps in Round Two was 19.6s and best lap 19.13s. Great job!

And according to the race results, his best lap for the day in this class is 16.80 seconds. Wow!  If there was no corner cutting – intentionally or accidently – this is awesome!

Rolan’s frequent 18 and 19 sec laps throughout the day speak for itself. You can’t hold a good man down!

Paul Langenhoven  - Most of his laps were either  19.something  or 20.something, with an oopsie here and there.  Mmmmmm, too much staying away and too little practice. More into diving these days, ne?

Piet du Toit – Piet started the day with an averga lap time of 21.54s and ended 20.08s. His quickest lap was a very satisfying 18.5s . Mooi so!

Ewald van der Neut improved from 20.29 in the morning to 19.2 in the Final. Still very good, but maybe his car wasn’t up to scratch this month?

Final Results:

1.  Kevin Gates
2. Michael Glaus
3. Rolan Ferreira

 

17.5 Electric Touring:

JP Sweeck desperately tried to catch up with Jason Landsberg, but couldn’t succeed, though it was very, very close! In the last race of the day he did however got a faster lap time than Jason.

Jason won both the qualifier round as well as the two final legs.  Good for you, Jason!

André Steenekamp completed 20 laps in every race. All his best laps were 17.something and his average throughout the day was 18.something. Very consistent, well done!

Jakkie Landsberg had a problematic day in this class, which I am sure he would rather forget about..

JP’s best lap – 16.78s

Jason’s best lap – 16.80s

Overall Results:

1. Jason Landsberg
2. JP Sweeck
3. André Steenekamp

 

This was our last Electric On Road race meeting for this year. The series results are already available on our website. Prize giving for this discipline will take place early in 2017, at the 1^st competition for the year.

Thanks for participating. Love you all. Keep safe during the Christmas holidays.