It had been a particularly fine day for outdoor sport. But for some unknown reason, we had such a slow start?! Usually the cars are already lining up in front of the gates at 6 am. This weekend, the first cars only started to make their appearance at about 8am.

 

And then we’ve had a couple of REAL late comers. Late, but still in time for the start of the Qualifier rounds…. even if it was by a mere minute, hey Robert (and the 3 boys)?

The 27 drivers were taking part in four groups/classes, namely Beginners, 540 touring, TTO1 and 21.5 touring. I think it was the first time since…ever? … that we did not have a Mini class. There actually were three Minis, but one was not up to our specs (silver can or sport tuned motors) and subsequently the other two drivers decided to withdraw, due of a lack of competition. 

THE RACE:

Beginners:

 

Richard Botes did his mother and RC racing grandparents, Graham and Charmaine Wright, proud. He boasts two wins and two 2^nd places. Richard took 1^st place on the podium. Best lap – 24.53s Congratulations!

Robert Toldo from Pretoria region paid us a visit again, joining his brother Giovanni for a day of RC action. He was accompanied by his three (very) small sons, of which two of them also competed in this class. With limited RC experience, Robert soon got the hang of it and got all of his laps very consistent, which in turn contributed in his success. Robert advanced from 28.9s in the morning to 26.08s in the afternoon. He took the 2^nd place overall.

Erich van Rooyen, a very young boy, joined the beginner class for the first time, after competing on the off road track last Sunday. He performed surprisingly well. Erich boasts two 2^nd places and the 3^rd place on the podium. Quickest lap 24.65s. Well done, Erich!

Victor Fourie made one of his rare appearances at the track. Although he didn’t do too badly, it definitely was not one of his most successful racing days. A wheel came undone, a belt came off and another one or two things went wrong. But Victor, who mostly got laps of around 26 seconds, ended 4^th overall.

Allessandro Toldo, taking part in his 2^nd official race, completed all the qualifier rounds as well as the final rounds. His best lap – 27.25s

Vincenzo, his really small brother also completed all his races, although not all equally successfully..

I’ve noticed that he still is all over the track at times. Well, it IS the Beginner class, so we expect and tolerate this kind of driving… With time he can only improves.

Then we have James…ah James, you were NOT having a good day. James boasts the quickest lap of all in this class, 23.61s, but he has got only 12 laps to show for the day. He could easily have managed 50 laps, according to his true ability. Too many problems to tell… Sorry man! Let’s see next month?

Overall:

1. Richard Botes
2. Robert Toldo
3. Erich van Rooyen

 

540 Touring:

5 guys and three ladies competed in this class.

Before the start of the new year, our timing system was cleared of all duplications and other unnecessary info. Unfortunately a lot of info that we do still need, also disappeared. So with the start of every race so far, we had to double check that all the personal transponders are allocated correctly to the rightful drivers. Because both André and Henry were on the driver stand for this class and I was attending to customers at the canteen, nobody were available to do the necessary allocation and André, Henry and Piet du Toit drove with unallocated transponders and at the end of the race all the results were discarded by the computer. No score for the three of them were saved on the system.… Sorry guys, I can only be at one place at a time.

In the ‘absence’ of these three drivers, the first qualifier round was won by Charmaine. Anzea ended 2^nd and Giovanni Toldo 3^rd. Esmarie was doing very well, she achieved a best lap time of 22 seconds. You go Girl! Tine was having car trouble and retired from the race after 7 laps.

For the 2^nd qualifier, I was able to attend to the computer and there were no further hiccups.

Piet du Toit convincingly won this round. But now André’s car didn’t co-operate and Henry also had been out of the race for almost three minutes.

Giovanni moved up one place and Graham Wright (Tiny) ended 3^rd. Tiny achieved a couple of excellent laps, but not before his patience was tested after some terribly irregular ones. I didn’t see what caused those irregular laps, but he later uttered his frustration by saying that he should join the Beginner class again.. With lap times of 18.-something second laps, Tiny? I don’t think so!!

Charmaine retired early this time and so did Esmarie and Anzea. André’s DNS.

In the 1^st leg of the Final, André’s transponder acted up and the race was abandoned and restarted.

By then Charmaine and Tiny had left for a lunch date with one of their daughters in the city.

André won this leg convincingly, boasting a fastest lap of 18.89s.

Piet ended in 2^nd and Henry in 3^rd. Henry was followed by Giovanni. Well done with that 19 sec lap, Gio! Because of this already long race (9 minutes) and the re-start on top of it, Esmarie’s car’s battery went flat and she could no more get good lap times. Sorry! Anzea also had big trouble.

The last leg went pretty much similar than the first, although none of the drivers could improve anymore on their previous best laps.

Overall:

1. André Steenekamp
2. Piet du Toit
3. Henry Ogden

Electric 21.5 Touring:

7 (almost) equally skilled drivers competed in this class, but as usual, they didn’t all see their own capability reflected on the race results after each round. Due to a variety of reasons, all drivers didn’t achieve 18 laps in their 6 minute races, although I am convinced that they are all up to it.

Two guys that did succeed in doing so were Paul Langenhoven and Piet du Toit. Good job, you two!

Leon van Rooyen that recently returned to the RC scene did exceptionally well. In the Final legs he boasts laps of 18.88 s twice. Impressive!!

Henry did fairly well today with his 17 laps per round.

Janu improved from 16 to 17 laps per round.

Francois had variable results and Tiny didn't stay for the Finals, because he had to leave early for a dinner appointment.

Overall:

1. Paul Langenhoven
2. Leon van Rooyen
3. Piet du Toit

 

TTO1:
Charmaine Wright kicked off this class with a win. She was followed by Henk Boeree with Nathan Steyn in 3^rd place.

Janu Lombard was 4^th and James Theron ended 5^th.

For the 2^nd Qualifier round, Janu moved into the lead. Nathan took the 2^nd place and James moved into 3^rd .

Henk won the 1^st qualifier leg and we saw Janu Lombard back in the lead for the last and final leg of the day. The best lap time for the day in this class was driven by Henk – 22.26s.

Overall:

1. Nathan Steyn
2. Janu Lombard
3. Henk Boeree

 

Best presented RC body award went to Piet du Toit. Congratulations!