The 2010 XRAY Australia South Australian state titles were held for the first time at the new AERCCC track. And for a club that has only been up and running for under 12 months they did an excellent job of promoting the event to a standard that was worthy of the XRAY name.
There were over 100 entrants spread across the classes quite evenly with some of the hottest names in Australian RC in attendance.
(click to enlarge)
Modified
In the premier class of Modified it was going to be hotly contested with Simon Nicholson, Ryan Maker and Jordan Cullis just recently back from their worlds experience in Germany. Add to that some of the other big names as well as the new up and coming drivers and we were set for some close and exciting racing.
(click to enlarge)
Qualifying didnâ™t disappoint and it was a tight battle between Simon Nicholson and local XRAY driver Antoni Carretti. It was everything we hoped it would be and ended up going down to the wire for the coveted T.Q spot. With the best 3 rounds to count it was tied for points between Simon and Antoni with the T.Q spot going to Simon on count back due to having the fastest qualifying time. Qualifying in third place was Ryan Maker who was set to make sure the guys in front were going to have to work hard for it in the finals.
(click to enlarge)
The finals saw Simon Nicholson dominate all three finals in fine fashion and take the title, showing why he is so highly rated not only in Australia but also the worldâ™s stage. The remaining positions was where it really hotted up with racing so close at times that if you blinked you missed a passing move. In the end it was Ryan Maker taking second place in front of the young XRAY driver Antoni Carretti in third place.
(click to enlarge)
Final results modified
1. Simon Nicholson
2. Ryan Maker 3. Antoni Caretti â“ XRAY T3
4. Sandy Iavazzo
5. Andrew Abbott 6. Anthony Attack â“ XRAY T3
7. Jordan Cullis 8. Corey Broadstock â“ XRAY T3
9. Justin Vergunst 10. Darrell Khemlani â“ XRAY T3
10.5 Super Stock
The 10.5 Super Stock class was looking more like a Nationals field than a state titles one with all the known names of this class in attendance. There were 20 or more potential A main finalists all vying for the 10 positions available, so qualifying was going to be a tight battle and down to those who took their opportunities when they came around.
(click to enlarge)
In the end the qualifying battle was won by Troy Laughlin and followed closely by XRAY drivers Christian Silva and Grant Mount. For the finals it followed the modified pattern with the T.Q man Troy jumping out of the blocks and taking the first two finals and the title. The fight for second and third positions was exciting and came down to the wire between Christian, Grant and Joe Ghiringelli with all putting on an excellent display of driving. In the end it was Grant taking second place and Joe driving an XRAY taking third place.
(click to enlarge)
Final results stock
1. Troy Laughlin 2. Grant Mount â“ XRAY T3
3. Joe Ghiringhelli â“ XRAY T3
4. Cristian Silva â“ XRAY T2009
5. Oscar Piastri â“ XRAY T3
6. Craig McPhee 7. Matthew Guidotto â“ XRAY T3
8. Chris Piastri â“ XRAY T3
9. Scott Cameron
10. Tom Huggan
17.5 Stock
This class was the biggest of the event and saw some very close battles during qualifying; however there was one standout driver and that was young Queenslander Chris Sturdy. Chris put on a dominating display of clean and consistent driving through out Qualifying on his way to the T.Q spot.
In the Finals it was again the T.Q man that went on to dominate the class with a three from three results for Chris. The fight for second and third was fought out between a number of drivers and in the end it was in Alex Illeivski in second place followed closely by Rob Caprille in third place.
1. Chris Sturdy
2. Alex Illievski
3. Rob Capirle
..... 10. Ben Kleinshmidt â“ XRAY T3
