Class wins went to Chris West (Novice), Andrew Mackenzie (Tourer), Jarrod Painting (Tenth Buggy), Scott Guyatt (Short Course A), Chris Murray (Short Course B) and Steve Madziara (8th Big Bangers).

Full results from tonight are online here, or read on for some reflections on tonight’s action.

Novice: Team West go to War

All night long it was a battle of the West boys – Chris and Andrew going at it, sharing the wins during qualifying and then engaging in a race-long duel that also included rapid newcomer Matt Bonham in the final.  When the final flag dropped Chris was the one who held the #1 spot to duly take his very first finals win at Launceston R/C. Andrew was equally excited with second while Bonham did a super job all night and should be delighted to podium first time out.  Michael Taylor was fourth, Kade Targett a welcome returnee in fifth, first-timer Nicolas Wade went quicker and quicker all night for 6th with Carl Taylor rounding out the field.

Tourers: Mackenzie Lights it Up!

Andrew Mackenzie was just too good all night in the tourers class, top qualifying comfortably and then running away to a huge win in the final.  Second, and looking very speedy in a class that is still relatively new to him was Jade Chandler, with Peter Hutton finding his way with a new car tonight for third. Graham Viney won the battle of the Mini brigade over Ian Scott and Matthew Chandler, with Brad Mitchell back for another run, and Gene Newell making a first (if shortened by some car issues) appearance in the class.

Tenth Buggy: 4wd Dominance

Jarrod Painting continues to show improvement in leaps and bounds, and has his 4wd Kyosho Lazer working beautifully. He made the most of a grip and handling advantage to dominate qualifying, and then get over a lost shock retaining nut to recover and win the final ahead of Tom West. Tom’s T4 stadium truck is looking very racy in this class and Tom was quick all night, with Jade and Matthew Chandler battling over 2wd bragging rights and finishing in that order.

Short Course: Young Guns Step Up!

The best stories from tonight’s short course action were not written at the very front of the Calvin James moved into open competition after ‘graduating’ from Novice, and all three looked fast and comfortable in the open class. It’s a measure of how well the novice system is working at Launceston R/C that the guys who move on into the open classes are usually instantly competitive. These three, together with Chris Murray are excellent examples of that.  Calvin did a brilliant job first time out in the main game to take an A final starting spot, and then put together a solid 10 minute A final to finish 6th for the night.

Elsewhere Adam Beresford returned after a long absence to be right back on the pace, and Alexander Wade did a fantastic job to put his truck into the A final.  It was a night full of great promise for the young guns.

Up front in the A final Scott Guyatt had a little edge over Andrew Green, with Andrew Mackenzie getting home in front of Chris Madziara and Andrew Green. Then it was James, Tom West, Derek and Adam Beresford and Alexander Wade (those last two both spending quality time in the pits during the A final).  Chris Murray was disappointed to miss the A but made amends with a comfortable B final win in a very rapid time ahead of a race-long duel between Mark Jones and Sam Leeder. Gene Newell, Ian Scott, James Atkinson and Philip Ferguson rounded out the field.

8th Big Bangers: A Small Affair

The biggest cars were the smallest class tonight, three starters turning into two finishers when Jarrod Painting stripped a gear in his DBX. Steve Madziara pushed his Kyosho hard all night in what would double as a warm-up for the upcoming Tasmanian Championships to take the win over Troy Taylor.

Drive of the Night?

For drive of the night tonight I can’t go past Calvin James. Calvin was fast, consistent and did a brilliant job first time out in the main Short Course field. Making the final was quite an effort, staying clean for 6th overall topped it. Congrats Calvin, job well done.

The End

We finish the night with a question before us. How did you like the reverse direction racing? There are a couple of track tweaks required if we were to run it again, but we’re very interested in your feedback. Did you like it? Should we run it again?

We’re now just two weeks away from our next race meeting (the first of our Autumn 2012 Championship Season) so stay tuned for all the news, get those cars ready and we’ll see you February 9th.  Good luck to Alex John, Sam Wells and Paddy Hume who are over in Melbourne this weekend racing at the Keilor Stock Shootout.

And if you’re looking for Tassie R/C action, there’s an offroad race meeting on at Latrobe (8th offroad Nitro plus 8th and 10th electric classes) and on-road (tourers and minis) on the all new track at Goodwood in Hobart. Both take place on Sunday.

We’re working up something special for this week’s race…so get down for a good time, and something just a little different.

It’s a non-points night, so that makes it ideal for testing and tuning.  And being school holidays, it’s an ideal time to drag the kids out for a race.

As usual, doors open by 6pm, and racing underway by 7. All the normal classes – Tourers, Short Course Trucks, Tenth and 8th Buggies and our Novice class.

Look forward to seeing you there.

I want to stress that this is for committee members only, so if you are on the committee, try and make the meeting if you can.  So get your thinking caps on and we will see you at the meeting.

Championship Season – don’t forget its Tasmanian Championship time for both 8th Offroa and 10th onroad over the next month.  See the post below for more information and links. You’ll need to pre-enter both these events so get cracking. Don’t forget that as both are championship events, they’ll be a little tighter on rules than we are at our regular club events – so check that your car and gear (motor, esc, battery, body etc) all fit within the rules for the class you’re planning on racing).

New Tracks for Hobart:  Both the EP On-Road and EP Off-Road clubs in Hobart have put down ripper new track layouts over the past couple of weeks in preparation for the new season.  The Off-road guys start their new season next Sunday (22nd Jan) and the on-road guys the week after (29th).  They’ll then alternate week-about. Both tracks are in the model park at Goodwood – just down the hill from the horse racing track towards the Goodwood bridge. Definitely worth a trip.

Big Weekend for Launnie boys heading to Melbourne: Next weekend (28/29 Jan( Paddy Hume, Sam Wells and Alex John (I think that’s all?) continue their mainland race assault at the annual Keillor Stock Shootout – with classes for 2wd, 4wd, Stadium Trucks and Short Course Trucks at the Keilor club’s brand new circuit. Good luck guys!

LRC Committee meeting:  It’s short notice but we’re needing to have a committee meeting to get plans for 2012 underway. Meeting for committee members is next Tuesday 24th Jan, 7pm at 10 Cameron St – the offices of Ritchie & Parker, Alfred Green & Co. Committee members please make it if you can.

Over the next two months, the Tasmanian Championships for 8th Off-road and 10th EP On-Road will take place.

8th Nitro buggy, Nitro truggy and EP Buggy classes will race at the 2012 Tasmanian 8th Offroad Championships at Latrobe on Feb 10-12. It’s a brilliant race track and should be an excellent race meeting. If you have a suitable car get there for an enjoyable Championship weekend…at a time when the race track is at its best. More info at the NWRCCC site here, and to enter online go here.

And four weeks later, 10-12 March, the EP Touring and Mini guys will go at it for the 2012 Tasmanian Championship at STMCC’s Goodwood (Hobart) track. The team from STMCC are hard at work putting down a brand new track layout that looks fantastic. Again, if you have a mini or a touring car, get there for this one. The Friday is optional open practice – so you don’t necessarily have to be there that day. Go here for more info and entry forms.

Big races like State Championships are not just for the elite. They’re races for everybody, celebrations of the sport, and a chance to race on tracks that are usually at their very best. That’s definitely the case for these two events.

Let us encourage you to give it a shot, and know that at both events there will be plenty of Launnie R/C guys there – so you’ll be among familiar faces.

These first two club events are designed to get back into the groove after the Christmas break, time to test new toys, and tweak the track a little. They’ll be non-points stand-alone club race nights.

The first points championship for 2012 will kick off in February (hit the 2012 dates link above for all the details).

As usual we’ll have the doors open by 6pm next Thursday night, with racing underway by 7.  See you there!

However you celebrate, enjoy it. Love your family, remember those around who are less fortunate than you, and come back to let us all know if Santa leaves something R/C in your stocking.

Thanks to all our regular and occasional racers for a super year at Launceston RC. We look forward to more great racing in 2012 (hit up the calendar in the menu above for race dates).

Merry Christmas.
Scott

It’s been a huge year for Launceston R/C, and it was fantastic to finish off the year with such a good night of racing.  Andrew Mackenzie (Tenth and Tourers), Sam Wells (Short Course A), Zander Wade (Short Course B), Gene Newell (Novice) and Justin Strickland (8th Big Bangers) took the final wins to carry Mark-Webber-like confidence into the off-season.

Racing resumes January 12th for a couple of non-championship events before the points series for 2011 kicks off in February. Stay tuned to the website for confirmation of race dates.

As for tonight’s action, hit the full results here or read on for the race report.

Short Course Trucks

A typically big 18 truck field tonight in a class that just continues to grow and grow in the level of competition.  Just making the 10-truck A final is quite a feat these days, and the battle for the front-running spots in the B final is just as fierce.  6 trucks finished on the lead lap in the A final to demonstrate just how deep the field is becoming.

Sam Wells is the quickest truck driver in the club right now, and after an initial scare from Chris Madziara and then pressure from Andrew Green, Wells went fastest in qualifying.  Greenie, Mark Rayner, Madziara, Rocket Houghton, Josh Fogarty, Shaun Whatley, Graham Viney, Chris Murray (fastest Slash in the club) and Damien Betts were the ten trucks to make the A final.

Zander Wade and Sam Leeder put on a cracking race in the B final.  Sam was out front early, with Zander chasing him down to hit the front two thirds of the way through the race, and drove a stellar final 3 minutes to run out a big winner – his first finals win – over Sam, with James Atkinson strong throughout for third.

1. Zander Wade 18 laps 10.09
2. Sam Leeder 18 10.32
3. James Atkinson 17 10.28
4. Ian Scott
5. Aaron Peck
6. Jordan Turner
7. Philip Ferguson
8. Dale Clark (DNS)

Sam Wells was put under serious pressure at the front of a tightly fought A final when Greenie went to the lead early and looked every inch the winner.  Eventually Wells consistency paid off and he rebounded to find the lead around the half-way mark and was flawless from there. Greenie was still quick but fighting off the attentions of Josh Fogarty, Mark Rayner, Chris Madziara and Rocket Houghton – all of whom spent time in the top three. Eventually Greenie and Fogarty broke away before a last lap wire breakage for Greenie handed the #2 spot to a delighted Fogarty, with Rayner, Houghton and Madziara still well in contention right to the end.

1. Sam Wells 22 laps 10.11
2. Josh Fogarty 22 10.25
3. Andrew Green 21 9.53
4. Mark Rayner
5. Rodney Houghton
6. Chris Madziara
7. Shaun Whatley
8. Damien Betts
9. Chris Murray
10. Graham Viney

10th Buggy

Paddy Hume proved the man to beat in qualifying, turning the only two 12-lap runs of the night to secure the TQ spot ahead of Andrew Mackenzie.

Come finals time, and Mackenzie just wouldn’t go away, hounding Paddy non-stop until eventually a popped front drive shaft rendered Paddy’s normally 4wd buggy nearly undriveable. Mackenzie took over the front running, pursued by Jarrod Painting but eased away over the last five minutes for a comfortable win, ahead of Painting and a recovering Jade Chandler (having spent quite a long time on his roof out of sight of marshalls on lap 1).

1. Andrew Mackenzie 23 10.25
2. Jarrod Painting 22 10.14
3. Jade Chandler 20 10.24
4. Paddy Hume
5. Darren Sheehan
6. Matthew Chandler
7. Damien Betts

Novice

With the Novice season championship on the line, there was some serious competition tonight. The front three or four drivers in the Novice class are just about ready to move on to move into the main classes, and there was plenty of speed on display. Gene Newell was fastest of all in qualifying to secure the front row starting spot, with Ben Jordan very quick in Q2 to start right behind him.

Newell simply had too much in the final, consistently running the fastest laps in the field on his way to a big win.  A collapsed front suspension in the final minute put a scare into him, but such was Gene’s lead that he could limp around and still find the line first. Ben Jordan put together his fastest night yet and second was deserved, with Calvin James his usual speedy self. Calvin was seen testing other trucks after the final….maybe Christmas is coming?

1. Gene Newell 19 10.18
2. Ben Jordan 18 10.03
3. Calvin James  17 10.28
4. Mark Jones
5. Sam Betts
6. Chloe Beresford
7. Michael Taylor
8. Carl Taylor
9. Kade Targett

Tourers

With Andrew Mackenzie fresh off a big last-start win over Rocket Houghton, we were expecting fireworks and got it. These two slugged it out mercilessly, taking one win each in qualifying but with Rocket slightly faster to get the pole spot.  Peter Hutton was close to his best with Derek Beresford not too far away and Jade Chandler getting faster and faster.

The final was mad. 10 tourers in a 10 second lap with such a big speed differential really is too much, and we’ll make sure we don’t run such a big field again (splitting them into two races next time we have those sort of numbers).  Rocket led early before the pursuing Mackenzie found a way by in heavy traffic. From there the gap ebbed and flowed as the front-runners found their way through traffic, Mackenzie running out the winner for the second meet in a row.  Jade Chandler drove a fast and consistent race to work his way forward and grab third, clear of a very tight mid-field battle between Graham Viney, Derek Beresford and Matthew Chandler.

1. Andrew Mackenzie 50 10.11
2. Rocket Houghton 49 10.03
3. Jade Chandler 44 10.12
4. Graham Viney
5. Derek Beresford
6. Matthew Chandler
7. Ian Scott
8. Kelly Viney
9. Peter Hutton
10. Jordan Richardson (DNS)

8th Big Bangers

After a season in which they’ve been locked together every race, we expected (and received) nothing less from Justin Strickland and Steve Madziara. The pair were practically joined at the bumper throughout qualifying – one win each but fastest time going to Strickland.  Great to welcome Michael Peck back to the fray and he was immediately on the pace to be third fastest.

Come finals time and Strickland and Madziara were at it again, putting on a thrilling first half of the race, swapping positions regularly. Justin it was who best settled mid-race, finding a great rhythm and throwing down a heap of very fast mistake free laps to open a lead and break the resistance of Madziara. Peck was again next quickest ahead of Troy Taylor, Darren Sheehan and James Atkinson.

1. Justin Strickland 24 10.08
2. Steve Madziara 24 10.27
3. Michael Peck 20 10.15
4. Troy Taylor
5. Darren Sheehan
6. James Atkinson

So that about wraps the year for Launceston R/C Inc.

Over the next few days we’ll post season points for the Spring 2011 season, and news about both the 8th Off-road and 10th On-Road Tasmanian Championship events – both of which come up in the first few months of the year.

In the meantime, enjoy the silly season, stay safe, and look out for friends and family.

And just one suggestion….if you can’t think of a good Christmas present for someone you care about, head over to the World Vision gift catalogue. A duck, chicken, toilet or fresh water pack for someone who has nothing is much more memorable than a pair of socks.

Enjoy your Christmas and we’ll see you in 2012.

Make sure you’re there for one last chance at some great R/C action for the year.

We’ll resume January 12th and 26th for two non-points rounds before kicking off our first 2012 Championship season early February.

All the usual classes this week – Short Course, Novice, Tenth Buggy, 8th Big Bangers and Tourers.  Come, race, enjoy.

Whilst I had hoped that a few more would show up on the day (and the over catering made that obvious), the bright conditions were at least conductive to some better photographs then the dim conditions that we get at Rutherglen.

As a photo says a thousand words, I’ll stop talking now and post some photos, except to say a big thankyou to my wife Rebecca for all her help getting the food ready for the day, and Greenie for helping sort out logistics of the day with me.

For all of the photos, Click here or check Launceston RC on facebook for the same collection.

Richard