A massive 44 car field faced the starters gun tonight for the first round of our Winter Championship Series.  15 Short Course Trucks, a crazy 10 Novices, 7 cars in 8th Big Banger, a healthy 5 touring cars and 7 tenth offroad buggies meant for a busy night of action.

We were delighted to welcome some first time racers tonight – with Mark Jones, Sam Bettz and Rob Wragg all making first time appearances. The school holidays also enabled some younger drivers to make an appearance and it was great to see Aimee Mackenzie, Riley and Mitchell Guyatt, Sam Bettz on track.

The new track layout proved a hit, with times steadily improving throughout the night as drivers got to grips with the new track.  The offroad guys enjoyed the new jumps, while the touring cars looked good with a mix of low and high speed corners, and seemingly an improved grip level.

Race wins tonight went to Jordan Turner (Novice), Sam Wells (10th Buggy), Steve Madziara (8th Buggy), Scott Guyatt (Short Course Truck) and Rodney Houghton (Touring Car) – but there were excellent performances all up and down the field.

Hit the full results here or read on for the story….

Novice Offroad

Great to see so many relatively new faces out tonight. 10 cars made for a busy time for drivers and marshalls alike, but there were plenty of smiling faces.  Jordan Turner took the opening heat win before a DNF in race two made room for Jade Chandler to pick up the win and a front row starting spot alongside Turner for the 10 minute final, with Aimee and Matthew on row two.

Turner got the holeshot to start the final, and but for one horrow lap midway through the race that momentarily cost him the lead was fast and consistent. Jordan is starting to show the benefits of a few months racing now, and looking more and more like he’ll be ready to step into the main Short Course class before too much longer.  Jade Chandler put in a persistent race-long pursuit and the fastest lap of the final to take second, while Aimee Mackenzie fought off a mid-race challenge by newcomer Rob Wragg before scooting away for third, ahead of Wragg and a throttle-control challenged Mitchell Guyatt.

1. Jordan Turner: 22:10.03 (HPI Blitz)
2. Jade Chandler: 22:10.09 (AE B4)
3. Aimee Mackenzie: 20:10.01 (AE SC10)
4. Rob Wragg: 16:8.13
5. Mitchell Guyatt: 16:9.59
6. Carl Taylor: 14:10.17
7. Sam Bettz: 14:10.29
8. Riley Guyatt: 10:10.26
9. Matthew Chandler: 8:4.15
10. Mark Jones: 6:8.53

Tenth Buggy

It was the Sam Wells show in qualifying tonight, taking a one lap win over Chris Brickwood in Q1, then improving by a further 3 seconds to defeat Paddy Hume in Q2.  Paddy would share the front row with Brickwood and Andrew Mackenzie on row two.  Two all new chassis in the hands of Alex John (Losi 22) and Damien Bettz (Durango DX410) together with the first Tenth Buggy appearance for Jarrod Painting added interest to a very competitive class.

Sam was dynamite in the 10 minute final, and though he might be hard on himself for a few small errors, it was an excellent performance, giving his rivals no chance, and pumping out ten minutes worth of fast lap times.  Chris Brickwood, Alex John, Paddy Hume and Andrew Mackenzie put on a ripper race behind Sam, with Brickwood for the most part just clear of a battle that raged behind him, AJ eventually getting the better of Paddy and Andrew and setting out after Chris, a pursuit that would fall just a couple of seconds short at the flag.  An excellent race this one.

1. Sam Wells: 30:10.01 (AE B4)
2. Chris Brickwood 28:10.01 (AE B4)
3. Alex John 28:10.06 (Losi 22)
4. Paddy Hume 27:10.17
5. Andrew Mackenzie 27:10.19
6. Damien Bettz 26:10.15
7. Jarrod Painting 24:10.14

Touring Car

While Rocket did his usual disappearing act up front, it seemed that his gap over the Touring field wasn’t as big tonight as it has been lately.  At least in part that was due to the biggest field we’ve seen in the class for a while, and also in part due to Peter Hutton’s all new XRAY T3R touring car – a car that Peter raved about all night with a grin from ear to ear.  Rocket would comfortably TQ from Peter, with Graham Viney  a handful of seconds away in third.

Rocket just gradually eased away up front, with Peter hanging on determinedly and putting in fast lap times. Graham and Peter staged the duel of the race – going toe-to-toe through the middle part of the race before Hutton’s consistency paid dividends and he gapped Graham in the closing minutes.  These two, together with Ian Scott will make the trip south to compete on the purpose build on-road track at STMCC (in Hobart) this Sunday. Good luck fellas!

1. Rodney Houghton 54:10.05 (AE TC5, or Yokomo….I don’t know!)
2. Peter Hutton 51:10.09 (XRAY T3R)
3. Graham Viney 48:10.07
4. James Atkinson 43:10.06
5. Ian Scott 34:10.10

Short Course Trucks

15 trucks, a new face in the shape of Derek Beresford stepping up from Novice into the main Short Course field, and the return of some old faces made for an interesting night.  Scott Guyatt was quickest to learn the track and picked up both qualifying round wins, while Adam Beresford and Josh Fogarty fought over the other front row starting spot – Josh getting the job done. Adam continues to impress as he gains in confidence each week and would start in P3 alongside the consistent Andrew Mackenzie.  Also impressing to make the 8 Truck A final were Alex John, Jason Turner and Chris Madziara, while Greenie was in the A final, but a little off his recent pace.  Derek Beresford would take the BQ spot to start the B final from pole position, and just miss out on an A final start first time in the class.

The B final looked like being a flag-to-flag win for James Atkinson. Atko got to the lead early and drive a steady and determined race – looking like a winner all the way.  Behind him however, the race was taking shape, Richard Green recovering from a horror start to battle his way through the field – dispatching first Sam Leeder, then Beresford before setting out after Atkinson. He made the pass with just a couple of minutes to run and went on to a deserved win, Atkinson second and Beresford third.

1. Richard Green 25:10.17 (HPI Blitz)
2. James Atkinson 25:10.29 (Traxxas Slash)
3. Derek Beresford 23:10.14 (Traxxas Slash)
4. Sam Leeder 23:10.17
5. Ian Scott 20:10.23
6. Philip Ferguson 17:10.22
7. John Scott 9:4.25

The A final was split into two five minute races after computer operator error (oops…I did it again!). Scott Guyatt dominated the first, with Josh Fogarty second ahead of Alex John and then a tight battle between Andrew Mackenzie and Andrew Green (split by just 0.7 at the flag).  The second part saw more of the same from Guyatt but this time it was Mackenzie second from Green, with Fogarty pushed hard by Jason Turner.  When the two race results were added together, Guyatt did enough, with Josh Fogarty only just easing past Andrew Mackenzie for second, Greenie fourth and an excellent fifth for Jason Turner.

1. Scott Guyatt: 30:10.03 (HPI Blitz)
2. Josh Fogarty: 28:10.20 (Kyosho Ultima SC)
3. Andrew Mackenzie: 28:10.22 (AE SC10)
4. Andrew Green: 28:10.32
5. Jason Turner: 28:10.39
6. Alex John: 27:10.11
7. Adam Beresford 26:10.10
8. Chris Madziara 26:10.14

8th Big Bangers

A good field tonight headlined by Rocket and Steve Madziara, with a cameo appearance (but not lap counting) by Josh Fogarty and a welcome return for Bec Philips and Darren Walters.  Madziara took Q1, with Rocket winning Q2 – but in a time that was 0.8 slower than Madziara meaning Steve would start the 10 minute final from pole position.  Fogarty was manually counted for one of the heats and would start from 3rd alongside the consistently improving Ben Wilson.

Rocket led early and was very fast and consistent…..but Madziara was right there, never letting Rodney get away. When a mid-race tangle for Rocket delayed him momentarily, Madziara pounced and then made the pass really count with a string of fast laps, while Rocket slipped back.  Steve went on to a big win over Rocket, with Ben Wilson’s third place run ending early with a DNF and allowing Darren Walters through to complete the podium.

1. Steve Madziara: 30:10.02 (Kyosho MP777-e)
2. Rocket Houghton: 29:10.15 (LRP S8 BXe)
3. Darren Walters: 24:10.18 (AE RC8e)
4. Ben Wilson: 21:8.40
5. Troy Taylor: 21:10.28
6. Bec Philips: 19:10.01
7. Josh Fogarty

An excellent, and busy night…with temperatures low but liveable. Hope we can say the same over the next few weeks!