Race Report R8 Winter Series 26th May 2013

[HOTSHOT III]

It looks like the holiday camp owner in Wales who threatened to sue the Met Office for pessimistic weather forecasts has had an effect as yesterday saw yet another Bank Holiday weekend with perfect weather, just like the previous round on May 5th. Blue skies, a light breeze and agreeable temperatures made for perfect race conditions and formed the backdrop for one of SCRCCC's best race days for quite a while.

In the 1/10th class Team Losi basically had a war against themselves. Heat one saw a great race-long battle between Stumpy, Mark D (both driving identical Losi Ten Ts) and Adrian (Losi Short Course) with Stumpy crossing the line first followed by Mark and then Adrian, all less than 11 seconds apart and all completing 8 laps. Heat two was a bit more complex with Stumpy retiring after 2 laps with drivetrain problems, leaving Mark and Adrian to have another excellent battle which culminated in winner Adrian finishing just over a second ahead of Mark. However, Mark D set FTD with a 37.852 in heat one and it wasn't going to be the last time he did this!

Ian R, Dave Rolls and Nick S were notable in their absence in the 1/8th class but there were still enough drivers to make up the usual two groups. In group one, Alex (HPI Vorza) and Mark D (Losi 8Te 2.0) duelled through heats one and two with Alex taking two wins and Mark two second places, but Mark again took 1/8th FTD in heat two with a 34.016, showing he can put it out there on the ragged edge with the best of them. Simon again came up with the goods with third place in heat one despite the continuing lack of Team Nick S technical support for the D8, helped by a ball end that was sourced from elsewhere to replace the one that had been glued from a previous incident and in heat two it was Nick C (Losi 8Be) who was chasing the leading pair to claim third spot. Heat three saw some others enter the fray with Dean taking second and having an excellent debut with the all-new HotBodies D812, whilst Stumpy (HotBodies D8T) knocked four seconds off his struggling heat one/two laptimes by tracing the problem to a rear shock that had dumped its oil. A seal set was sourced from a rival team and fitted allowing the truggy driver to come in third, under four seconds behind Dean.

Group two qualifying was equally interesting. Relative newcomer Adrian (Losi 8B 2.0 RTR) posted a faultless 3 x 8 lap combo to take three wins with Matt "Captain Carnage" (Losi 8B 2.0 EU) also doing well, taking second in heat one and third in heats two and three. Another Losi 8B 2.0 RTR driven by newcomer Marty T was also going well, clearing the Levon Double and always posting 6 or more laps to eventually come home second in heat three having figured out that the stock Losi/Pro-Line tyres are meant for dirt and borrowing some mini pins from Stumpy which got rid of some unwanted side grip and gave the car a more consistent feel. It would be great if Pro-Line were to take up the challenge of actually making some astroturf tyres for european tracks, after all there are parts of the USA and Canada where it rains more than it does here and where it probably isn't much fun to race on dirt (i.e mud) anyway, unlike in the dry southwestern states. Race controller Stu (Associated RC8Te) seems to be finding form lately, claiming third spot in heat one and an excellent second in heat two (in part due to showing the rest of us how to carry speed through the quad section), and Jordan (HPI Trophy Truggy 4.6) took a convincing fourth in heat one after 7 laps.

The 1/10th Final was mired in controversy, due to a first lap incident where winner Adrian decided owning a "Short Course" truck meant you can "shorten the course" when it suits you, like after the double for instance. It was eventually decided in a post-race discussion that it wasn't intentional meaning the result stood with Mark D second and Stumpy fighting all the way to take third. The Ten Ts and Short(er) Course trucks seem more suited to our track than the agile (and fragile) 1/10th buggies, it was another entertaining close race with lots of paint being traded, dogs barking, babies crying etc. but nothing was broken which is usually not the case in 1/10th when a buggy is involved.

In the 1/8th B Final Stumpy dominated, leading almost from start to finish to claim the bump up and put himself on the grid for the A final. Simon recovered from a lap 2 crash to come home second, missing an 8 lapper by 2 seconds but showing consistency nonetheless, and Matt was barely a second behind taking third spot. Stu again showed poise to claim fourth, followed by Jordan in fifth and Marty T finishing the day in a respectable sixth place.

The 1/8th A Final saw the top five drivers all posting 8 laps. Eventual winner Alex's driving deteriorated noticeably compared to qualifying and he had several big crashes, including a vicious highside just after race control which pitched the car clean over the catch fencing. Nick C led the race for several laps, posting a brilliant second place and personal best to date, showing that 2200kv of brushless power is more than enough to get a good result in the right hands, his lap times just keep coming down! It was also an excellent day for Dean who not only took third in the A and proved that a longtime truggy driver can adapt to buggies, but also clinched the Winter Series Constructor's Championship for HPI/HotBodies with help from son Jordan (see pics). Next across the line was bump up winner Stumpy finishing the day fourth overall, again his best result since the Autumn 2012 track revamp. In fifth place (but posting the third fastest lap time of the race) was Adrian, confirming that a nitro buggy can still give the brushless/truggy guys a run for their money.

It was great to be a part of yesterday, thanks to everyone present for a great day's racing and top-class wind-up merchant banter. As on previous occasions, special thanks to Jay who took over 150 pictures which can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...4971757&type=1

Man Of The Meeting this time is awarded to SCRCCC Chairman Matt, without whom yesterday's racing wouldn't have been possible. Less than two weeks after the rostrum floor was declared unsafe he pulled everyone together, organised and paid for the materials (with the help of Jay who worked us a fantastic deal on the decking boards) and convinced enough people to donate to the club funds so the entire 7.2 x 2.4 metre floor area could be replaced on Saturday in time to take advantage of Sunday's glorious weather. Thanks again Matt!

Yesterday was the final race day of our winter series, so keep an eye on here for our summer series race dates which will be posted up soon. Also this summer we'll be offering four rounds of qualifying instead of the usual three so the club continues to offer you more, and in the meantime the track will be open on Sundays and Wednesday evenings so see you soon!