On the 13th of February Shicane and I travelled to the New Zealand Onroad Nationals in Whangarei. It was at a brand new venue, surface and track for everyone. It was an underground building with a spray on tar coating. We had a look around the track then unpacked and set up. I had entered Pro 12 and 10 and Shi had entered Pro 10, stock touring brushless and F1.
I took his Pro 10 out for a test and to see what we needed to adjust for him. I quickly learnt that there was minimal grip on the surface so started taking boost and brakes out of his Tekin speed controller. The car then became drivable. I then gave it to Shi to drive as this was his second event with the car. He then spent the next day and a half doing laps. I pretty much had to pry this car out of his hands to get him to practice with his other cars. I checked the timer on his transmitter and it had 9 ? hours on the timer with most of it spent on with the Pro 10. With a few changes to tyres and suspension of his stock car he was ready to go racing.
Now it was my turn to try my cars. I decided to soften the side springs and centre spring on both cars. The track had some fairly big bumps in it and was slippery off line. I turned the boost and brakes down on my cars too. As the track was very slippery on foams. We arenâ™t allowed to run tyre additives here. I then put UFRA tyres on my Pro 10 for my first time with them on this car as I already ran them on my Pro 12. They made a huge difference so left them on for the weekend.
Now into Saturday morning qualifying. There were three qualifiers followed by three finals on Sunday. Shi qualified in 11th in Touring Stock, 4th in F1 even winning one qualifier and 2nd in Pro10. I qualified 1st in Pro 10 and a surprised 2nd in Pro 12. There were drivers from all over the country in 12th and some tough competition.
In the first qualifier Andrew and Luke got a good run and disappeared off into the distance and my nerves got the better of me. I was pretty happy to finish 3rd as I havenâ™t raced some of these people before. In the next two Qualifiers Luke got the better of me and I got two 2nds. I was pretty happy to qualify 2nd â“Iâ™ve never raced this car at Nationals before.
Finals Day
Pro 10 were first. I got away clean but Shi got touched in the first corner knocking him off the track to 5th. He finished 4th. I finished 1st. The second race was a lot cleaner and we got away good. We were having a good race then I spun and he passed me. The 3rd race and it was another good start. I got a clear lead. Shi made a mistake and while correcting it he got a stop go penalty. He finished 4th and I was 1st and my 1st Nationals title.
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1/10 results
1. Colin Storey - XRAY X10 Link
2. Peter Signal 3. Shicane Storey - XRAY X10 Link
4. Phillip Bateman
Next was Shiâ™s 21.5 stock touring final. He won all 3 finals making him 11th.
Next was Shiâ™s F1 final.
Starting from grid 4 in each race he made it into 3rd. He raced there really well but didnâ™t quite have enough to get the guys in front. When they made a mistake they fell back into his clutches but were too quick for him and made a gap again. He Finished 3rd overall.
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F1 results
1. Craig Lamb
2. Martin Irawan TQ
3. Shicane Storey
Next up was Pro12. I was pretty nervous as the track had got more slippery as the event went on. I was starting from 2nd on the grid. The starts were like starting on Ice so I tiptoed through the first corner then we were into it. In race one Luke disappeared off into the distance and all I could do was do my best not to crash and hold the others off which I did to take 2nd.
In the 2nd and 3rd races Luke disappeared off into the distance but must have made a mistake as the next thing I know I was in first. I went on to win these two races. I was pretty stoked to win this class.
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1/12 results
1. Colin Storey - XRAY X12
2. Luke Duthie TQ
3. Andrew Webber
4. Nigel Bish 5. Daniel Webber - XRAY X12
6. Jayden Duthie
7. Peter Signal 8. Craig Lamb - XRAY X12
9. Steve Joblin
All in all we had a pretty good Weekend with reliable equipment. Thanks to Whangarei club for all your hard work, the great racing and for a good catch up.
