Round two of our Autumn series took place tonight, with 30 cars facing the starters gun, and some of our best racing ever.  Josh Fogarty (8th Big Bangers), Ben Jordan (Novice), Steve Madziara (10th Buggy), Rocket Houghton (Tourers) and Scott Guyatt (Short Course) took the wins.

Full results are online here, or read on for all the details.

8th Big Bangers

Qualifying for the big 8th buggies was all action, all the time.  Ben Wilson, Steve Madziara and Josh Fogarty all took turns running at the front, but Fogarty was the man who went fastest to sit on pole position for the final.  Good to see James Atkinson out running his new HPI Vorza in this class tonight. The car looks good.

On the surface, Fogarty won the final easily, leading every lap and going to the line just under two seconds clear of Steve Madziara. That’s the simple version.  In truth both Madziara and Wilson pushed hard early, with Steve keeping sustained pressure on Fogarty right through the five minute final.  With the guys taking it easy over the big double jump in accordance with new safety guidelines, both were consistently quick. Fogarty though, was just that little stronger and took the win, his second in a row. Now he’s broken through, the question is who can stop him?

1. Josh Fogarty (Kyosho)
2. Steve Madziara (Kyosho)
3. Ben Wilson (Hyper)
4. John Silczak (Mugen)
5. James Atkinson (HPI)

Novice

Five starters in our novice class tonight, with junior Amy McKenzie taking on all the boys.  Ben Jordan made his first appearance at Launceston R/C and was straight on the pace, dominating qualifying to grab pole position for the final, with Amy alongside.

The final was all Jordan, he eased away steadily to take the Novice win in a time that would have placed him right at the front of the Short Course B final field. Amy was steady in second and well on the way to her fastest time of the night before a last minute stoppage slowed her progress…but not before she did enough to claim second.  Carl Taylor won the battle of the Taylors with Troy finish fourth and Philip Ferguson having an early mark with a broken steering servo.

1. Ben Jordan (HPI Blitz)
2. Amy McKenzie (Team Associated SC10)
3. Carl Taylor (Losi Strike)
4. Troy Taylor (HSP Rocket)
5. Philip Ferguson (Traxxas Slash)

Short Course Trucks

A big, strong 15 truck field faced the starters gun tonight, with battles all up and down the field throughout qualifying. At the front Rocket started fast before Scott Guyatt overhauled him to take pole. Alex Dadson was fast in the Fogarty SC10 to stake his A final spot, Andrew McKenzie and Chris Madziara also doing well to make the A final. Aaron Meyman had his first Launceston R/C race tonight…welcome Aaron!

Aaron Peck drove a stellar five minute race to secure a big win in the B final, getting to the lead mid-race when early leader James Atkinson faltered. A troubled final lap was the only glitch. Alexander Wade took the wheel of a borrowed truck when his own truck had motor troubles just before race start, and made the most of it to finish second, with Graham Viney a welcome addition to the SC truck field in third.

1. Aaron Peck (Traxxas Slash)
2. Alexander Wade (Slash / Blitz)
3. Graham Viney (Traxxas Slash)
4. Sam Leeder (Traxxas Slash)
5. James Atkinson (Traxxas Slash)
6. Ian Scott (HPI Blitz)
7. Arron Meyman (Team Associated SC10)

The A final was a ripper. When Guyatt and Rocket tangled in turn one, Greenie (Andrew) jumped into the lead and let rip with some fast lap times to stretch away. Meanwhile Guyatt and Rocket set about recovery from the rear of the field, getting into the top three on the fourth lap. Guyatt got past Greenie and eased away, while Rocket and Greenie went at it in unholy warfare. Positions changed more than once, but Greenie was too strong in the run to the line, getting home three seconds clear of Rocket.

1. Scott Guyatt (HPI Blitz)
2. Andrew Green (HPI Blitz)
3. Rocket Houghton (HPI Blitz)
4. Nathan Clark (HPI Blitz)
5. Richard Green (HPI Blitz)
6. Andrew McKenzie (Team Associated SC10)
7. Alex Dadson (Team Associated SC10)
8. Chris Madziara (HPI Blitz)

10th Buggy

Six two wheel drive buggies lined up tonight, and the result was some truly excellent racing.  The guys are getting the RC10B4’s dialled in, and tonight the 2010 front-runner Steve Madziara struck back against the new guys. Sam Wells went fastest in qualifying….just….with Madziara just one second away and Paddy Hume picking up speed quickly.

The final was an absolute cracker, probably one of the best races we’ve yet seen at Rutherglen.  Madziara grabbed the early lead before quickly slipping back – a lap two crashing dropping him to the rear of the field while Chris Brickwood took up the front-running, looking fast.  Wells hovered nearby and took the lead on lap five, Hume also slipping past a stranded Brickwood as Madziara’s recovery drive was in full swing.  When Steve got to second just past half-distance he set his sights on a steady Wells, while McKenzie closed in on hume – the race quickly turning into a pair of nose-to-tail duels. It was hard to know where to look – but with Madziara closing inexorably the battle for the lead drew most attention. On the penultime tour Madz got by, leaving Sam with one final desperate lunge up the inside on the last corner of the race…..but a touch of the corner rope for Sam left Steve to claim a fantastic back-from-the-dead win.

1. Steve Madziara (Traxxas Bandit)
2. Sam Wells (Team Associated RC10B4.1)
3. Paddy Hume(Team Associated RC10B4.1)
4. Andrew McKenzie (Team Associated RC10B4)
5. Ben Wilson (Traxxas Bandit)
6. Chris Brickwood (Team Associated RC10B4.1)

Tourers

Four cars faced the starter tonight, with regulars Peter Hutton and Graham Viney joined by TC legend Rocket Houghton, and Ian Scott with his new ride (the Sakura Zero-S).  Rocket let the field on a merry dance throughout qualifying, while while Viney and Hutton continued their perennial battle, split by mere seconds.

Rocket ran away at the front, with Hutton putting together a solid A final drive to see off the challenge of Viney. So good was Peter’s drive that he went almost two laps quicker than his previous best race of the night.

1. Rocket Houghton (Team Associated)
2. Peter Hutton (XRAY)
3. Graham Viney (XRAY)
4. Ian Scott (Sakura)

We’ll be back on line in two weeks as the Autumn season continues. Look for a couple of visiting Queenslanders, in Tassie for the 2011 EP Touring Tasmanian Championships, to be on track in the SC class.

Now that we’re a couple of weeks into the season I’ll work on getting the points up to date and uploaded in the next few days.