Fastrax Nitro Summer Series 2009

Buggy Class Dennis Holding, Adrian Dean and Ashley Timms where contesting the serries with six points seperating all three at the start of the meeting, Adrian needing to better Ashley by two places and Dennis by four to win. First round honours went to Adrian with Mark Redmond second and Dennis in third. Ashley had a bad first round and qualified down in fifth. Round 2 saw nobody improve and with only CML sponsored Mathew Tou showing improvement in round 3, moving up to fourth, and dropping Ashley down to seventh. On the grid it was all to race for in the final qualifying round. In round four all but Adrian went faster but the order remained the same except for Ashley who bumped a place back upto sixth. In the final, after a very clean start, Adrian had the lead from Mark Redmond with Dennis in third and Mathew in fourth. This remained the order of things until the first major fuel stop for the leaders on nine minutes. Coming into the pits Mark suffered a loss of signal and his car went into fail safe, stopping dead. Despite a valiant effort by his pitman he dropped to third by the time his car had been retrieved and refuelled. The top five where only fifteen seconds apart for the next eight minutes when more radio problems for Mark and some great driving by Ash brought about a championship deciding order at the second pitstop in the marathon thirty minute final. Exiting the pits the order was Adrain, Ash, Dennis and then Mark. This stayed till the end but there was less than four seconds between Adrian and Ash for the remainder of the final. So, a series win for Ashley Timms by one point from Adrian Dean, a very close run championship which could have gone any way between the top three at any stage of the final. Well done to all involved for an excellent series, roll on next year! Truggy Class This was hotley contested by Mitchell Booth, Carl Dixon, Mick Butler and Stewart Quinn. Six points seperated them all at the start with Mick holding top spot. It was Stuart who took honours in round 1 followed by Mick Carl and then Mitchell. Fourteen seconds between them all sugested good things were to come. No improvement in round two as all started to push but changes in round three saw Mick take poll two seconds faster than Stuart, Carl and Mitchell both going quicker but not changing order. The positions stayed the same in round 4 but Stuart closed the gap on Mark to half a second. The thirty minute final saw Stuart off to a great start with Mick, Carl and Mitchell in close attendance. For the first twenty minutes, although Stuart remained in the lead, the second spot was changing all the time with young Mitchell giving the older more experienced boys a run for there money. He sadly faded towards the end but a great effort all the same from a lad just thirteen and in his FIRST season! Mick and Carl got stuck with back markers around the twenty five minute mark allowing Stuart to make a clean break and eventualy winning the meeting by two laps with Mick taking second and Carl third by just eight seconds. Very close racing after thirty minutes and a crucial second spot for Mick. The overall championship after count back was a TIE! The results of both Mick and Stuart were identical so in true sporting fashion race sponsors Fastrax and organising club Stoke Nito Race Club agreed to honour both mens achievements with trophies and prizes. It was decided to have second and third so they went to Carl and Mitchell. The truggy class this year was very keenly contested and we can look forward to next years series to see if young Mitchell can improve on third,..... a star in the making? Well done to all racers for a series that was held in good spirit and organised well. It was well attended throughout and that's no mean feat in this current climate. Finally, a big thanks to Stoke Nitro Racing Club for hosting the event. It was a fantastic series and everything ran as smoothly as expected.