Some good racing tonight as we gave thanks once again for an indoor venue while the rain fell steadily outside.  Wins tonight went to Adam Beresford (Novice), Paddy Hume (10th Buggy), Steve Madziara (8th Buggy), Rocket Houghton (Tourer) and Scott Guyatt (Short Course Trucks).

Full results are online here.

or click through for the full story….

Novice Buggy

Another good field of seven in Novice buggy tonight, with some first time racers.  Great to have you with us, and definitely enjoyed watching you guys go at it tonight.  Adam Beresford was the man to watch tonight, pushing his Traxxas Slash to lap times that would place him comfortably in the mid-field of the main SC truck class.  Adam set the fastest time of the night in the third round of qualifying, with Jordan Turner next quickest. Jade Chandler & Derek Beresford would start on row two.

Come finals time, and it was Turner who jumped to an early lead, before Adam pounced on lap four, getting back to the front and putting together a race that was fast and classy from that point onward.  His time of 14:5.03 is a very respectable race time, and it was a well deserved win.  Jordan continued to pump in strong laps himself to run second throughout, with Ian Scott a fine third  (after graciously agreeing to run in the novice class tonight to ease a race scheduling issue – thanks Ian) in easily his quickest run of the night.

1. Adam Beresford (Slash): 14:5.03
2. Jordan Turner (Blitz): 13:5.02
3. Ian Scott (Blitz): 13:5.18
4. Jade Chandler: 12:5.10
5. Derek Beresford: 11:5.02
6. Jarrod Painting: 11:5.06
7. Matthew Chandler: 10:5.12

Tenth Buggy

The Tenth Buggy class tonight was a ripper, with an event-long battle between Sam Wells and Paddy Hume.  Wells opened up with a win before Paddy found some tyres with grip, to pick up two qualifying wins and the fastest run to secure TQ.  Behind the front two, Chris Brickwood and John Silczak were both looking speedy and driving well.  I have to once more point out the great effort of Damien Bettz, driving the classic Kyosho Optima Mid, an ’80s buggy that once ruled the offroad world.  Looks fantastic Damien, and we’re glad to have you with us.

Come finals time and we were treated to an absolute cracker between Hume and Wells.  The twosome quickly skipped away at the front, running practically nose to tail throughout.  The pair changed places more than once as lapped traffic played a part. Finally it seemed over when Wells got caught up, letting Paddy skip away.  Hume then returned the favour, a last lap roll letting Sam right back into the picture. The two went side-by-side into the crows-foot section, Sam unfortunate to hook a pipe with his front wheel, and Paddy excited to get home for a narrow win.  Madziara was a comfortable third, while Chris Brickwood got the better of a long duel with John Silczak for fourth.

1. Paddy Hume (AE B44): 17:5.05
2. Sam wells (AE B4.1): 17:5.07
3. Steve Madziara (Traxxas): 16:5.05
4. Chris Brickwood: 16:5.13
5. Andrew McKenzie: 14:5.16
6. Ben Wilson: 13:5.17
7. John Silczak: 13:5.25
8. Damien Bettz: 8.5.08

Short Course Trucks:

Up front Scott Guyatt looked comfortable, setting quickest times for the top qualifier position.  Behind him it was a good battle, Nathan Clark fast, and exchanging race results with Andrew Green, Andrew McKenzie and Josh Fogarty (driving the borrowed Sam Wells Blitz for the night).  Jason Turner also did a good job in his first night in the Short Course class.

Josh Fogarty put his best foot forward in the final, running easily his best time of the night…..but Guyatt just had a little too much and ran a flag-to-flag victory, with Josh similarly unchallenged in second.  Andrew Green and Nathan Clark put on a good battle, swapping places on several occasions before Greenie edged away in the closing minute. Clark was fourth from Andrew McKenzie, with Graham Viney the best placed of the Slash brigade.

1. Scott Guyatt (Blitz ESE): 17:5.03
2. Josh Fogarty (Blitz): 16:5.06
3. Andrew Green (Blitz): 16:5.11
4. Nathan Clark: 16:5.16
5. Andrew McKenzie: 15:5.15
6. Graham Viney: 14:5.14
7. Aaron Peck 13:5.05
8. Chris Madziara: 13:5.14
9. Jason Turner: 11:5.01
10. James Atkinson DNS

8th Scale “Big Bangers”

Steve Madziara was on fire tonight, looking unstoppable.  Early on Rocket was pushing hard, but once Madziara got going, he looked good, taking two wins and the TQ position in qualifying. Rocket was quick in Q3 and would start in P2, with Josh Fogarty having an uncharacterstically up and down night to be third alongside John Silczak.

The final started well, with a beautiful outside pass by Rocket through turn 1, and Rocket, Madziara and Fogarty all starting quickly.  When Josh made an early (and costly) mistake, and Rocket’s steering servo started to fail, the promise of a close final evaporated, Madziara gifted a huge lead. He went right on with the job, putting together the fastest run of the night to take a well deserved win, while Fogarty was quick after his early indescretions for second. Ben Wilson had a tidy run for third, Rocket fourth and Troy Taylor continuing to enjoy his time in the fast class in fifth.

1. Steve Madziara (Kyosho): 18:5.10
2. Josh Fogarty (Kyosho): 17:5.02
3. Ben Wilson (Hyper): 14:5.01
4. Rocket Houghton: 11:5.12
5. Troy Taylor: DNF
6. John Silczak: DNS

Touring Cars

Rocket was on a tear tonight in the tourer, banging in fast times, and giving his rivals no chance.  Peter Hutton was consistently next best and built in pace throughout the night, while Ian Scott and Graham Viney put on a number of entertaining battles.

Rocket showed the benefit of his vast experience to vanish at the front of the field, while Peter put together a promising run before running out of grip part way through and having to settle back and get safely home.  Viney and Scott went at it again, Graham edging slowly away for third.

1. Rocket Houghton (AE TC5): 22:5.10
2. Peter Hutton (XRAY): 20:5.07
3. Graham Viney (Tamiya Mini): 17:5.00
4. Ian Scott (Sakura): 17:5.13

Thanks to all for another enjoyable night’s racing. We’ll gather again NEXT WEEK for an open practice night…more details in the next couple of days.