This years state titles were held back at the Logan City Radio Control Car Club, the same track which hosted the Australian nationals back in 2012. The track has had a huge upgrade since then, with a new surface that eliminated alot of the old bumps, new track layout with new concrete curbs. This resulted in an awesome track to race on, with many keen local racers ready for the event. The control tyre for this event was the Volante V5 36, which in the hot track conditions proved to have alot of tyre wear on the low traction "abrasive" surface. Each competitor is allowed to use up to 3 sets during the event, which would make a challenge to finish all 6 rounds of qualifying on 1 set.
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Friday Practise:
On the Friday it was mostly open practise for the day, with controlled class practise in the afternoon. During the day I made many changes to make my car easier to drive (-1.5 camber front and rear, front gear diff, less bump steer and foam inserts inside the shock) and have less tyre wear. This was also my first event using the PSS shock system which allowed me to use heavier shock oil, and in the hot mid-day conditions felt perfect.
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Saturday Qualifying:
Qualifying started on Saturday morning with 5 rounds to be run, with the final 6th round on Sunday morning. Qualifying was to be best 4 out of 6 rounds. I made changes to my car for the first round with everything I felt improved the car during practise, which resulted in taking TQ. At this time the car was very easy to drive and held great corner speed, but I was keen to make some more little changes to improve the overall speed. I went on to take TQ in every round for the day with the car remaining very consistent in each round.
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Sunday last Qualifier and Finals:
With overall TQ already locked in I could make changes for the last round to try improve the car further before the finals. With the cold morning track I was again able to TQ the round but the car feeling was not as nice, so I changed the car to what would be best for the finals. This year the rules have changed to all 3 finals counting towards the overall result, so I had to be clear of trouble at the starts. Each final started the same for me, clean starts and keeping the car straight during the races. With the changes I had made during the event, the car felt even better during the finals and allowed me to win each final with bigger gaps then in qualifying.
Overall results:
TC1 21.5
1. Brad Palmer 2. Michael Belby TQ - XRAY T4
3. Mitch Hardy - XRAY T4
4. Jay Marcon
5. Mal Pearson 6. One Tran - XRAY T4
7. Michael Chiam - XRAY T4
8. Brad Hall
9. Adrian Field
10. Laura Matthews
TC2 Stock
1. Keith Mackrill
2. Iain Schwartz 3. Cooper Porter - XRAY T4
4. Liam Chadwick - XRAY T4
5. Justin Reddiex - XRAY T4
6. Chris Shevelling - XRAY T4
7. Brad Palmer - XRAY T4
8. Mal Pearson
9. Terry Norman 10. Alex Kidas - XRAY T4
TC1 Modified
1. Corey Broadstock TQ - XRAY T4
2. Jordan Kidas - XRAY T4
3. Michael Redmond
4. Jason Dorn
5. Brad MacDonald
6. Peter Beckett
7. Milton Lincoln
8. Karl Kuehner
Formula 1
1. Noel Gordon (TQ) 2. Duncan Vaughan - XRAY X1
3. Justin Reddiex - XRAY X1
4. Karl Kuehner
5. Michael Chiam
6. Shane Hyde
7. Chris Matthews
8. Dave Guyatt
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Special thanks to the Logan City Radio Control Car Club for running a great event once again. Volante Tyre Australia for providing a great control tyre. As always thanks to HEI International for the Team Xray cars, Hudy equipment and Nosram electronics.
