35 cars tonight made for a busy, but very enjoyable night of racing at Launceston R/C. Highlights include Adam Beresford’s superb performance in Novice class, Paddy’s domination of the 10th Offroad final, and Rocket’s near track record 8th Big Bangers A final run.

With the Autumn Series entering it’s final race meeting next fortnight, there is plenty to play for. We’ll upload current points in the next 24 hours.

Tonight’s full results are here, or read on for the full story.

Tenth Buggy

Some incredible racing tonight in 10th buggy, including one cracking qualifier with Paddy Hume, Sam Wells and Chris Brickwood split by milliseconds all race long.  At the end  of the three-heat qualifying session it was Paddy who took the top qualifier spot, with Wells alongside while Brickwood and Andrew McKenzie shared the second row of the grip.  Steve Madziara was consistent, with Damien Betts enjoying his first night with the RC10B4.1 and first-timer Tom West enjoying his night out.

Come the final and Paddy bolted, driving away to a big win.  Behind him, Sam Wells recovered from a slow start to get into a big battle with Chris Brickwood and Andrew McKenzie – the order eventually resolving in that order – but not before each took a turn up front.

1. Paddy Hume (B44): 17:5.06
2. Sam Wells (B4.1): 17:5.16
3. Chris Brickwood (B4.1): 16:5.04
4. Andrew McKenzie (B4.1): 16:5.07
5. Steve Madziara (Traxxas): 15:5.03
6. Damien Betts (B4.1): 11:5.30
7. Tom West (B4): 2:0.50

8th Big Bangers

Steve Madziara and Rocket Houghton went at it in qualifying splitting the race wins and putting on some memorable races.  Rocket was quickest when it counted to ensure he would start from Pole Position, Madziara alongside him and ahead of Graham Viney and Troy Taylor.

In the final, Rocket had just a little too much, skipping away early and going on to a comfortable win.  For a long time Rocket sat on track record pace in the final, only coming to grief on the very last lap when within striking distance of taking Steve Madziara’s track record away from him.  Madz finished second from Viney, with Taylor out early.

1. Rocket Houghton (LRP): 18:5.15
2. Steve Madziara (Kyosho): 17:5.07
3. Graham Viney (??): 14:5.08
4. Troy Taylor (Kyosho): 4:1.41

Novice:

Adam Beresford had the field on a string tonight, putting a big 9-car Novice field to the sword with three wins from three starts. Adam wrapped up the TQ position, with fellow young gun Jordan Turner alongside. Second-time racer Ben Jordan and Derek Beresford would be on row two.  Welcome to Tom West, first time racer tonight.

The final was a bit of everything.  Speed to burn up front from Adam, smashing in a fastest time of the night, and plenty of close battles throughout the field.  Jordan Turner got to second early, after getting by the fast starting Ben Jordan and from there was never headed, while Ben saw off the challenge of both Jarrod Painting and Derek Beresford to take teh final podium spot.

1. Adam Beresford (Slash): 15:5.11
2. Jordan Turner (Blitz): 14:5.14
3. Ben Jordan (Blitz): 13:5.17
4. Jarrod Painting (B4?): 13:5.24
5. Derek Beresford (Slash): 12:5.03
6. Matthew Chandler (?): 10:5.21
7. Philip Ferguson (Slash): 10:5.22
8. Carl Taylor (Strike): 9:5.19
9. Tom West (B4): 5:2.40

Tourers:

Four touring cars tonight, putting on a good show. Rocket was quickest all through qualifying, demonstrating the style that makes him one of our quickest drivers. Graham Viney returned to the tourer having recently been running the mini and would join Rocket on the front row from Peter Hutton and Ian Scott.

While Rocket disappeared at the front of the Final field, Peter Hutton turned qualifying form upside down to run easily his best race of the night, and put Viney into a world of hurt. Time and again Graham would come back from the dead, before Hutton would again skip away. The pattern continued until time ran out, Hutton still holding down that second spot.

1. Rocket Houghton (Team Associated): 23:5.11
2. Peter Hutton (XRAY): 20:5.06
3. Graham Viney (XRAY): 20:5.13
4. Ian Scott (Sakura): 17:5.10

Short Course Truck

11 trucks in the Short Course class tonight meant the top 8 would progress to the A final.  Scott Guyatt had a lock on the TQ spot, with Andrew McKenzie strong throughout and starting on the front row alongside Scott.  Josh Fogarty made a promising debut with the Kyosho Ultima-SC (the first time we’ve seen Kyosho’s Short Course offering), with plenty of performance to come from the red machine in the weeks ahead. He would start P3 alongside Nathan Clark, and with Andrew Green having a trouble run through qualifying and in 5th.  Jason Turner, Richard Green and Aaron Peck would round out the A final field.

The B final went the way of Sam Leeder. Sam went half a lap quicker than he had all night to win comfortably from Alexander Wade and Ian Scott. All three drivers benefited from the reduced traffic of  a small field to go faster than they went all night.

The A final went the way of the very experienced Scott Guyatt, but with Andrew Green on fire in the final and staying within striking distance of Scott throughout to finish a strong second.  Andrew McKenzie took a deserved podium spot after a consistently fast night, but only just clear of Fogarty (keep an eye on that Kyosho over the next few weeks). Nathan Clark snuck home for fifth in a thriller, just knocking off Jason Turner.

1. Scott Guyatt (Blitz): 17:5.07
2. Andrew Green (Blitz): 17:5.18
3. Andrew McKenzie (SC10): 16:5.09
4. Josh Fogarty (Ultima SC): 16:5.11
5. Nathan Clark (Blitz): 15:5.13
6. Jason Turner (Blitz): 15:5.13
7. Richard Green (Blitz): 14:5.15
8. Aaron Peck (Slash): 13:5.05

There was a lot to like about tonight’s race meeting (not least that we finished right on time!).  I want to nominate Adam Beresford as the driver of the night. Adam has been on a tear in the Novice class, and tonight’s final drive was first class. On pure lap times, Adam might have finished mid-field in the Open Short Course class, and that only in about his third or fourth race meeting, and with the Traxxas Slash.  I can’t wait to see what Adam can do in the months ahead.

More racing next fortnight at Rutherglen – see you on Thursday 28th April.

One reminder….if you want to order a transponder (which will be essential for lap counting once we install the system at the end of May), please contact Scott.  Payment for transponders is due on the 28th so that we can place our order and ensure the transponders are delivered in plenty of time.