Fastrax Summer Series 2011
Iain returns from his holidays just in time for the 6th and final round of this year's Fastrax Summer Series.
Back off my jollies and straight down to Stoke Nitro Racing Club for the last round of the Fastrax summer series.
Having listened to the weather man I began to wonder why, driving through lashing rain at 7.45am, but fair play they got it right and when I hit the track it was dry and we only had the odd light shower in the morning while the sun made an appearance for the finals. Such is the prestige of the event we now had an all-star turnout for finals day with multiple national winner Graham Alsop , Associated A-team's Dave Bailey and SMD director Jamie Booth all racing along-side the regular team stars, John Howells, Stuart Mahon and Mark Redmond to name just a few. Some mega close closing was going to be witnessed; I could just feel it!
Truggy
Sean Bailey was the early pace setter in this class with an eight lapper and twenty second lead over series leader Kev Mac. Andy Tobutt was in 3rd a further ten seconds down with Steve Taylor 4th again ten down on Andy.
The 2nd round saw Jon Howells enter the fray with the excellent RC8T and immediately take up pole position with no improvement from anyone else, leaving it as you were but down a place.
Round 3 and Andy Tobutt decided to sort himself out and due to the rain was the only improver in this class this round. He moved up from fourth to third with Kev dropping down one.
Finals
Sean Bailey got off to a flier from Jon and led for the first four laps until car failure forced him out. What might have been as Jon could not get passed him and I am sure it would have been a close run thing. As it was, John was then left unchallenged and ran out the winner of the 22 minute final by four clear laps! The Associated RC8T is the truck to have at the moment.
With Kev Mac having already won the series the race was very much on for 2nd and 3rd and anyone from 2nd down to 5th could finish on the podium for the series. Steve Taylor, Andy Tobutt and the previously unmentioned pair of John Clay and Dan Evans all battled it out for both the top spots left in the series and the same spots in this race! All finished on the same lap, all were separated by no more than ten seconds and the lead was swapped five times with each driver holding 2nd at some point in the race. Clean driven and fast action was the order of the day for the whole of the final and the racing was a credit to the drivers and the series. They should have had a round of applause at the end it was that good! As it was Andy was king of the pile for the final coming in 2nd behind John Howells with Steve Taylor 3rd, Dan Evans 4th and John Clay 5th. All this meant after points were tallied was that Kev was series winner which was well deserved as he took three round wins from four needed.
Andy Tobutt was 2nd in series after two 2nds one 3rd and one 4th, this last race second pushing him two points ahead of series 3rd John Clay. 4th in series was Stuart Mckeller who was not present but only one point behind John, so as you can see it was a very close class this year Well done to all drivers as I have very much enjoyed watching and am now thinking of trying the class myself next year.
Round 6 truggy winners.
Buggy
Round 1 saw Graham Alsop take up the challenge and knock Mr Howells of his now customary top spot by just two seconds with Dave Bailey in 3rd a further four seconds behind John. Another HoBao driver, Lloyd Pitt, was in 4th with Stuart Mahon making up the top five.
Round 2 saw loads of improvements as all drivers got to grips with the track. Graham stayed on pole, increasing his advantage to five seconds over John who also improved. Dave Bailey five behind John in 3rd with young HoBao rising star Ashlee Owen nicking 4th from SMD ?s Jamie Booth.
Round 3 and the top three were playing an ?anything you can do? game as they all improved by the same amount leaving the order unchanged and the distance between each qualifying time the same as the previous round. No time improvement from either Ashlee or Jamie left the top five the same for the finals
As with the truggies the top series spot was already won but any of the next four could take a podium depending on where they finished.
C Final
John Clay was the most consistent taking the lead five laps from the end for the first bump up spot with Brandon Tills and Andy Tobutt battling for the last one, Both the cars crossing the line at the same time and the position of the in car lap counter determining Brandon was going up to the 'B'. Well done and really unlucky Andy.
B Final
This was a three horse race between Jon Griffiths, Glen Howard and Abi Dean for a place in the ?A? main. Second on the grid man Glen lead the way for much of the race with the other two in close attendance all the time. A 'racing incident' did occur eighteen minutes in with the all three cars crashing into one another but somehow all keeping their respective positions. Jon who had been second came together with third place Abi again two laps and one minute from the end but managed to regain his place and nick the win from Glen TWO corners from the end.
Abi the unlucky racer this time by just nine seconds with an average lap time just eight hundredths slower than the first two.
A Main
Graham and Jon got away and top spot was pretty much about these two racers. They swapped the lead just once briefly on lap thirteen out of thirty five when Graham made a slight mistake but regained the lead a lap later. That however doesn?t tell the full story as both drivers were on the ball and were never more than a car width apart until the first of two fuel stops, they both lapped in almost identical lap times and both entered the pits together. Graham?s fuel was done so quickly by his crew he got out three seconds ahead of John and this lead remained until the second and last fuel stop. They both had continued to lap at the same pace and the gap was still three going into the pits for the final time where incredibly Grahams crew did it again and increased his lead from three to six. I have to say that although Graham kept his head and his thumbs drove the car over the line for first from John. It seemed his pit crew won him the race!
Jon did however take the series win for Team Hobao with a faultless four out of four round wins so there was some consolation was to be had.
Round 6 buggy winners.
Battle for third and second and third in series was between Ashlee Owen, Mark Redmond, Lloyd Pitt and another Hobao starlet Mitchell Booth. Going into the final race Ashlee had to finish above Mark to take 2nd in series with Mark needing a top three to secure 3rd in series.
At the start all looked rosey for Ash who got away with the leading two and remained third for the whole final except for a brief two laps were Jamie Booth took up the mantle. Mark had a stinker of a start and after three corners was dead last. What followed was the drive of the series in my opinion as Mark set about chasing down the leaders in what was a very quick final. His race had it all, some breathtaking manoeuvres, some silly mistakes and two extremely quick fuel stops. He was up to fourth on eighteen minutes of the twenty two and started to catch Ash but ran out of time.
Mitchell and the other possible for a podium finish Lloyd both had bad luck with Mitchell having to retire on ten minutes and Lloyd coming in tenth after an engine flame out. Both Hobao drivers will be back next year for bigger and brighter things I?m sure.
Of the top five in series four were HoBao with only Mark able to break the sequence, a new generation of car and driver is set to sweep the board me thinks.
The Buggy Championships Winners.
The Truggy Championships Winners.
Special mention to Jared and Stoke nitro for an excellent series, which was well run and faultless from start to finish. It WILL be held again next year at the same venue as you can?t improve on perfection. Well done boys.
Also mention to Team HoBao?s Jon Howells who gave ALL his prizes to a local hospital charity started by one of the series entrants to help sick new born babies.
Cameron Taylor is next for a mention as he was voted the most improved young driver of the series. He is a very pleasant young man who will be a star of the future.
That?s it from me for another year, have enjoyed it immensely and am already looking forward to the CML Winter series to be held at Stoke Nitro for this year while the Frankley venue is renovated, this starts on 23rd October, hope to see you there.
Truggy
Sean Bailey was the early pace setter in this class with an eight lapper and twenty second lead over series leader Kev Mac. Andy Tobutt was in 3rd a further ten seconds down with Steve Taylor 4th again ten down on Andy.
The 2nd round saw Jon Howells enter the fray with the excellent RC8T and immediately take up pole position with no improvement from anyone else, leaving it as you were but down a place.
Round 3 and Andy Tobutt decided to sort himself out and due to the rain was the only improver in this class this round. He moved up from fourth to third with Kev dropping down one.
Finals
Sean Bailey got off to a flier from Jon and led for the first four laps until car failure forced him out. What might have been as Jon could not get passed him and I am sure it would have been a close run thing. As it was, John was then left unchallenged and ran out the winner of the 22 minute final by four clear laps! The Associated RC8T is the truck to have at the moment.
With Kev Mac having already won the series the race was very much on for 2nd and 3rd and anyone from 2nd down to 5th could finish on the podium for the series. Steve Taylor, Andy Tobutt and the previously unmentioned pair of John Clay and Dan Evans all battled it out for both the top spots left in the series and the same spots in this race! All finished on the same lap, all were separated by no more than ten seconds and the lead was swapped five times with each driver holding 2nd at some point in the race. Clean driven and fast action was the order of the day for the whole of the final and the racing was a credit to the drivers and the series. They should have had a round of applause at the end it was that good! As it was Andy was king of the pile for the final coming in 2nd behind John Howells with Steve Taylor 3rd, Dan Evans 4th and John Clay 5th. All this meant after points were tallied was that Kev was series winner which was well deserved as he took three round wins from four needed.
Andy Tobutt was 2nd in series after two 2nds one 3rd and one 4th, this last race second pushing him two points ahead of series 3rd John Clay. 4th in series was Stuart Mckeller who was not present but only one point behind John, so as you can see it was a very close class this year Well done to all drivers as I have very much enjoyed watching and am now thinking of trying the class myself next year.
Round 6 truggy winners.
Buggy
Round 1 saw Graham Alsop take up the challenge and knock Mr Howells of his now customary top spot by just two seconds with Dave Bailey in 3rd a further four seconds behind John. Another HoBao driver, Lloyd Pitt, was in 4th with Stuart Mahon making up the top five.
Round 2 saw loads of improvements as all drivers got to grips with the track. Graham stayed on pole, increasing his advantage to five seconds over John who also improved. Dave Bailey five behind John in 3rd with young HoBao rising star Ashlee Owen nicking 4th from SMD ?s Jamie Booth.
Round 3 and the top three were playing an ?anything you can do? game as they all improved by the same amount leaving the order unchanged and the distance between each qualifying time the same as the previous round. No time improvement from either Ashlee or Jamie left the top five the same for the finals
As with the truggies the top series spot was already won but any of the next four could take a podium depending on where they finished.
C Final
John Clay was the most consistent taking the lead five laps from the end for the first bump up spot with Brandon Tills and Andy Tobutt battling for the last one, Both the cars crossing the line at the same time and the position of the in car lap counter determining Brandon was going up to the 'B'. Well done and really unlucky Andy.
B Final
This was a three horse race between Jon Griffiths, Glen Howard and Abi Dean for a place in the ?A? main. Second on the grid man Glen lead the way for much of the race with the other two in close attendance all the time. A 'racing incident' did occur eighteen minutes in with the all three cars crashing into one another but somehow all keeping their respective positions. Jon who had been second came together with third place Abi again two laps and one minute from the end but managed to regain his place and nick the win from Glen TWO corners from the end.
Abi the unlucky racer this time by just nine seconds with an average lap time just eight hundredths slower than the first two.
A Main
Graham and Jon got away and top spot was pretty much about these two racers. They swapped the lead just once briefly on lap thirteen out of thirty five when Graham made a slight mistake but regained the lead a lap later. That however doesn?t tell the full story as both drivers were on the ball and were never more than a car width apart until the first of two fuel stops, they both lapped in almost identical lap times and both entered the pits together. Graham?s fuel was done so quickly by his crew he got out three seconds ahead of John and this lead remained until the second and last fuel stop. They both had continued to lap at the same pace and the gap was still three going into the pits for the final time where incredibly Grahams crew did it again and increased his lead from three to six. I have to say that although Graham kept his head and his thumbs drove the car over the line for first from John. It seemed his pit crew won him the race!
Jon did however take the series win for Team Hobao with a faultless four out of four round wins so there was some consolation was to be had.
Round 6 buggy winners.
Battle for third and second and third in series was between Ashlee Owen, Mark Redmond, Lloyd Pitt and another Hobao starlet Mitchell Booth. Going into the final race Ashlee had to finish above Mark to take 2nd in series with Mark needing a top three to secure 3rd in series.
At the start all looked rosey for Ash who got away with the leading two and remained third for the whole final except for a brief two laps were Jamie Booth took up the mantle. Mark had a stinker of a start and after three corners was dead last. What followed was the drive of the series in my opinion as Mark set about chasing down the leaders in what was a very quick final. His race had it all, some breathtaking manoeuvres, some silly mistakes and two extremely quick fuel stops. He was up to fourth on eighteen minutes of the twenty two and started to catch Ash but ran out of time.
Mitchell and the other possible for a podium finish Lloyd both had bad luck with Mitchell having to retire on ten minutes and Lloyd coming in tenth after an engine flame out. Both Hobao drivers will be back next year for bigger and brighter things I?m sure.
Of the top five in series four were HoBao with only Mark able to break the sequence, a new generation of car and driver is set to sweep the board me thinks.
The Buggy Championships Winners.
The Truggy Championships Winners.
Special mention to Jared and Stoke nitro for an excellent series, which was well run and faultless from start to finish. It WILL be held again next year at the same venue as you can?t improve on perfection. Well done boys.
Also mention to Team HoBao?s Jon Howells who gave ALL his prizes to a local hospital charity started by one of the series entrants to help sick new born babies.
Cameron Taylor is next for a mention as he was voted the most improved young driver of the series. He is a very pleasant young man who will be a star of the future.
That?s it from me for another year, have enjoyed it immensely and am already looking forward to the CML Winter series to be held at Stoke Nitro for this year while the Frankley venue is renovated, this starts on 23rd October, hope to see you there.
