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| Race report by Ronald Maya |
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On Friday 5th of October Dad and I arrived at the Canberra Off Road Model Car Clubs Track in the ACT. I was a bit surprised at the brilliant weather they supplied. The track layout hadn't changed much from the ACT Buggy Titles held earlier this year. It is a tight clay track with a few bumps and jumps to keep us busy.
After a little open practice, and a couple of heats of controlled practice, a few guys were showing some good pace. A couple of local boys Nick Chatz (Xray XT8/RB), Nique Morris (Mugen MBX5-T/Sirio)and Stuart Smith (Xray XT8/RB) were showing us the way around. Dave Burgess (GS XUT/Rossi) from Queensland and me (Xray XT8/Boss) from Victoria was in the mix. |
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Ronald Maya XRAY XT8
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| Saturday had arrived and there were 6 rounds of qualifying to be raced. In round 1 and 2, the local boys were showing us how it was done. Nick Chatz topped the list in round 1 while Nique Morris topped round 2. In round 3, I was fastest, with the only 16 lap heat for the whole of qualifying. In round 4, Nique Morris hit back, and was on the way to a 16 lapper of his own until he ran out of fuel, but was still fast enough to be on top. In round 5, I scraped in the fastest time, leaving only 1 more round to see who TQ was. I could do it if I topped the charts in the final round. I must have put a bit of pressure on myself and crashed a few times. I still managed to get the 2nd fastest time, only one second behind Dave Burgess, for the round. I scored TQ by the skin of my teeth. Nique Morris and I were even on points but my 16 lapper in the 3rd round gave me the honours. In qualifying a few of us were able to do the whole 10 minute qualifiers without stopping for fuel. I was running the new Boss M28 Truggy engine and was a bit worried about fuel consumption ,but I got through every qualifier without doing a pit stop. |
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Ronald Maya XRAY XT8
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Sunday was here and it was time for the Semis to see who would make the Final. The top 4 from each Semi go straight into the Final and then the next fastest 2 from either Semi. The Even Semi went off first and Nique Morris looked like he was well on the way to the Final but about 15 minutes into the 20 minute Semi, he did some steering damage and was unable to continue. The local Xray pair of Nick Chatz and Stuart Smith got through followed by Steve Toon and Jason Salmon. Craig Fisher had the nervous wait. The Odd Semi was up and I had a bit of trouble at the start but managed to get back into the lead and was never headed. I was followed home by the 2 GS/Rossi drivers from Queensland, Dave Burgess and Brad Smith, and then came Mal McLeod. Dwayne Goodyer and Craig Fisher filled the top ten for the Final
During the break before the Final I decided to check my brakes, as they were playing up in the Semi, only to discover that I had killed the throttle servo. The bottom brake linkage was pushing against the fuel tank at full throttle so the servo decided enough was enough. I feverishly put in another servo. |
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Nick Chatz XRAY XT8
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The 45 minute main event was here and it was time to crown another State Champion. I got off to a good start and was out in front but noticed that my bottom end was getting a bit warm so I got Dad to richen it up in the first fuel stop, but I got him to adjust it again at second fuel stop. I feel the bung servo might have had something to do with the funny tune. With my minor dramas, Dave Burgess inherited the lead, but I was still lucky enough to be ahead of 3rd place driver. About 5 minute from the end I was hauling in Dave Burgess and a couple of minutes later I was only about 3 seconds behind him and catching. It was going to be a battle to the end, not quite, as my receiver pack went flat shortly after. With my servo drama, I had been testing the servo and stupidly put in the same pack I ran in the Semi. Considering I was probably lucky to get through the Semi.
Congratulations on Dave Burgess winning the title. Nick Chatz kept the Xray flag flying with a well deserved 2nd place after a messy start. 3rd was Brad Smith giving GS/ Rossi a 1 and 3 podium finish.
1 DAVID BURGESS
2 NICK CHATZ XRAY XT8
3 BRAD SMITH
4 RON MAYA XRAY XT8
5 DWAYNE GOODYER
6 STUART SMITH XRAY XT8
7 STEVE TOON
8 MAL McLEOD
9 JASON SALMON
10 CRAIG FISHER |
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| I would like to thank the Canberra Club for puting on a great event. Once again I would like to thank my Dad for travelling with me for support and pitting duties. Thank you to my sponsors XRAY, Custom Model Cars, Hunter Valley RC and Nitro-X fuel. |
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Craige Lewis XRAY XT8
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