Race Results R6 Winter Series 21st April 2013

[HOTSHOT III]

In contrast to the hurricane force winds of the first Wednesday evening of this year, Sunday gave us some fantastic weather, a beautiful sunny day with the best temperatures so far in 2013. Even the wind was kind to us, a slight breeze which directed the dust of the adjacent banger race meeting away from the track and pit area. Just like the previous round on April 7th the favourable conditions drew in plenty of competitors including both some drivers not seen since last summer and a few new guys. It did turn cold near the end of the day but by this time racing had finished anyway so no worries.

The 1/10th class was as competitive as ever, heat 1 saw a great battle between the ever-present Nick S (Durango DEX410) who eventually won and former 1/8th regular Shaun M, who showed great ingenuity by converting an XRay XB4 to 2WD in order to run 1/10th 2WD and 4WD classes elsewhere on the same day whilst only needing one load of spares. This car also sported a touring car ESC which changed the timing on the straights, allowing the installed 8.5 turn motor to perform more like a 5.5, taking the win in heat 2. Also in heat 2 Dave "Block" R (Schumacher CAT SX3) took second place and posted the 1/10th FTD (fastest time of the day) with a 36.082 which would have been the 5th best lap time in the 1/8th A Final! Heat 3 saw another excellent race between Stumpy (Losi Ten Te) and the ever-improving Mark R (Losi SCTe) who came home 1st and 2nd respectively. Mark D (Losi Ten Te) also put in a strong showing with a solid three 3rd places.

In 1/8th group 1 the usual suspects fought it out with Mark D (Losi 8Te 2.0) posting the FTD of 33.331 in heat 1, 42/1000 of a second outside the outright lap record of 33.289 set in arctic conditions on 24th February. Alex (HPI Vorza) took the win with Ian R (Losi 8Te 2.0) 2nd, Mark 3rd and Nick C taking advantage of his Losi 8Be 2.0's ever increasing number of alloy upgrades to power across the line in fourth place. Heat 2 saw a reversal of fortunes with an Ian, Alex, Nick C 1,2,3, another improvement for the Losi buggy driver and another fastest lap time of the heat for Mark D (who finished 5th), if the Crewkerne man sorts out the jitters and builds consistency no-one will be able to get near him! Heat 3 was reminscent of the knock-down-drag-out duel between Ian and Nick S (Durango DEX408) on April 7th, but this time it was Alex who chased Ian all the way to the finish line where the truggy driver was heard to proclaim it to be the "closest race i've ever had".

1/8th group 2 was, if anything, more interesting. Stumpy (HotBodies D8Te) was absolutely on fire, taking 1st place in heats 1 and 2 but new guy Adrian (Losi 8B 2.0) really made people sit up and pay attention finishing 3rd in heat 1, 2nd in heat 2 and finally showing he's not going to go away by winning heat 3 after an 8 lap "all-out war" with Stumpy, putting himself on the grid in the A final in his debut meeting! We should invite the North Koreans to our next race day, they might learn something! Other notable drives included Stu (Associated RC8Te) posting a 2nd, 3rd, 4th combo and Jordan (HPI Trophy Truggy 4.6) improving as the day went on to eventually take 4th in heat 3 and earn his first ever A Final grid position as a result. Purcy P (another newcomer campaigning an FTX Frenzy RTR nitro buggy) was seen to be driving well, clearing the tricky Levon Double several times despite only getting the car 2 weeks previously, but was cruelly sidelined with a succession of mechanical problems. However, we at SCRC think this is someone else we'll be seeing better results from in future. Dean (HPI Trophy Truggy Flux) took 4th in heat 1 but this all looks set to change now it's been revealed that his secret project was in fact a perfectly built HotBodies D812 buggy, complete with Novarossi P5 race engine/pipe combo and Savox 1256/1258 servos. After racing finished the running in process started, the verdict on the car being it was unbelievably nimble and agile. The established stars had better watch out as it appears this is the car to have, offering unmatched build quality and much more adjustability than even the previous D8 Atsushi Hara Edition.

The 1/10th final saw Mark R in his first ever pole position due to being consistent in the heats (a lesson we could all do well to remember), and it was a good day all round for Adrian (Losi SCTe) who started on P2, led the race twice and finished third but the real star was Shaun M. To not only come to an unfamiliar track and race a 2WD buggy against a field of 4WDs, but come back from being half a lap down on lap one to eventually win takes some doing. Mark D also did well, finishing second with Stumpy coming home fourth, and Mark R fifth.

In the 1/8th B Final it was Nick S who dominated, hardly surprising really as the only reason the regular A finalist was there in the first place was due to a stripped plastic servo arm ruling him out of heat 1 earlier in the day which no-one could have foreseen. Dean Put in another strong showing with a consistent 8 lapper to finish second with Stu third and a great final result for Jay (Ansmann X8e), taking fourth in only his second final after 7 laps. Chairman Matt R (Losi 8B EU) was dogged by flameouts and other engine problems all day but despite this and being brutally rammed on the startline made the best of it and drove well to come home fifth. Purcy is another driver that would have done well, posting four good laps before his hastily-repaired front hub carrier let him down.

In the 1/8th A Final pole man Alex narrowly avoided hitting the rostrum after jumping the tabletop at the wrong angle to end up third on lap one with Ian R in the lead followed by the ever-threatening Mark D, who held on to third for the duration to claim another 98 points in the title chase. Bump up winner Nick S put in an outstanding drive to come from last on the grid to finish second and from time to time was challenging the leaders, a good example of how taking it easy on the first lap pays dividends even (or perhaps especially) in a short 5-minute race. Due to there being a total of 10 cars on the track there was plenty of traffic everywhere, spicing things up even more as the leaders sought to put backmarkers between themselves and their respective challengers and eventual winner Alex had to fight hard to get past Ian R who led for most of the race and finished the day in fourth place. Nick C showed further improvement by finishing fifth overall, chased all the way by Simon F (Team Nick S HotBodies D8) who crossed the line less than 2 seconds after Nick C to come home 6th. Stumpy and Adrian took their emerging rivalry to the main event of the day to take 7th and 8th positions respectively, again less than 2 seconds apart. Looks like we have another great double act in time for the summer! Jordan looked promising in the early stages but was ruled out early on with engine problems, however just making the A is an achievement and if he's made the grid once, he'll be able to do it again.

Man Of The Meeting can only be Adrian. To turn up for your first ever race meeting, race two different classes, finish third in one and make the A Final in the other is something I don't think the club has ever seen before. That's how to go racing!!

As always thanks to all involved for a great day's racing.

Huge thanks to Dave G who took plenty of photos that can be seen here:

http://s1064.photobucket.com/user/so...20april%202013

He also got some truly outstanding video footage of the finals:

1/0th Final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=s5ahbSwPC3s
1/8th (B) Final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=A6k4ARvMQlw
1/8th (A) Final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=nyA-Kzt6iZU

Next race day is in 2 weeks time on May 5th, in between times the track is of course open on Wednesday evenings (and the weather is looking good for this Wednesday) and next Sunday (28/04). Hope to see you all soon!