Fastrax Summer Series - Round 3
CML's own Iain McCallum reports back from the 3rd round of the Fastrax Summer Series held at Stoke Nitro Racing Club.
Round three was upon me before I had time to blink, or so it seemed. Was it really two weeks since the last round? The weatherman had said it would be changeable which I took to mean rain at some point so half wets were loaded in the car for this one. Rain fell all the way to the track and then stopped as I pulled up and, remarkably, remained dry all day. I suppose he was right for once.
The buggy field was very strong this round with at least three national ?A? drivers/winners in the field. Sadly, once again, the truggy class fell fowl of the National Truggy Pro series at Kirkham, which was running on the same day. This didn?t stop the fun and even yours truly got into some serious truggy action.
1/8th Buggy Class
As previously stated this was a packed entry with some very high profile drivers. First to show was off-road electric star Stuart Mahon just nine seconds off a nine lapper with Graham Alsop under one second behind him and Lee Richardson in third, 11 seconds behind Graham. Mark Redmond and Gregg Hill were a further two and four seconds respectively behind Lee.
All change in round two as the big boys got used to the layout with Graham taking TQ with eight in five minutes and THREE seconds (would nine be done for the first time ever I wondered). Gregg took second by just seven hundredths from Stuart?s first round time who just dropped down to third with no improvement in this round. Steve Webb?s own Adrian Dean the only other top five qualifier to improve with a time only five seconds behind Stuart. Another close race was developing and I was certain there was more excitement to follow!
In round three, in the top four, only Stuart improved his time with a blistering run which ended with him one and a half seconds behind Graham (who stayed on pole) and four seconds ahead of Gregg who was in third.
It promised to be a great final and we were not disappointed. After the first corner pile up Graham was the first to show with Stuart second and Lee taking advantage off the pile up to go from sixth to third on the first lap. A slight tumble on lap four saw Stuart take the lead briefly from Graham with Gregg taking third after a similar tumble by Lee. On lap seven a coming together of all the top four saw Graham retake the lead with Gregg second and Stuart in third. Lee unfortunately had to retire with (I believe) engine problems?unlucky dude.
National ??A winner Graham used his experience to stay in the lead without really being troubled by the second and third place men although there was slight concern at Grahams second fuel stop as I got into a bottle verses fuel gun (which is quicker?) game with Grahams pit lady Rachel. I won but only because I dropped my man?s car in front of Graham causing them both to crash! Sorry Rach.
Further back, the battle for second was still raging between Stuart and Gregg. They changed over no less than seven times in the twenty two minute final, both men displaying nerves of steel as they went from fox to hound back again. Good clean racing for the whole final with some breathtaking overtaking by both drivers. Gregg looked to have one to battle with a sound manoeuvre two laps from the end but then promptly ran out of fuel two corners from the end of the race allowing Stuart to take second place honours and leaving Gregg?s pitman to walk home.
1/8th Truggy Class
Entry was very low with only four drivers in the truggy class! I was asked by Jarred if I would run his truck in the class and so set about borrowing radio gear, batteries, tyres and fuel for the day.
In round one, amazingly, I managed to TQ with a time five seconds off an eight lapper. Kev Mac came in second and Stuart Mckellar third. After much gluing between rounds I was ready for round two and improved my time to eight laps Unfortunately for me so did Peter Wriggleworth to take a well deserved TQ. I was relegated to second with a good run from Stuart to take third spot from Kev who did not improve. No change in order for round three but Peter extended his lead to four seconds and Kev closed the gap on third to just two.
At the off in the final and the usual first corner smash was left to the third corner when yours truly got tagged and found himself last. Fortunately the other drivers all went and tipped on the next corner allowing me to go past a few. Peter went over first with Stuart second and me third. This stayed the order for four laps with us all pretty close together. Then my race went a bit pear shaped and the tyres finally gave up with three coming unglued and two of those losing inserts. Kev came thundering past both myself and Stuart to take second were he stayed until engine probs saw the leader Peter retire for a couple of laps and Kev went on untroubled to take the win. Second went to Stuart who drove a great race and try as I might I could not get past him. Towards the end he had opened a healthy twelve second lead but I was pleased I managed third with Peter coming in fourth.
Special mentions are to Jarred for the truck, Kev Mac for the receiver pack, Mark Redmond for the fuel and John Clay for fuel and tyres. A very entertaining day was had by all with John Clay providing the jokes both on and off the rostrum keeping us all laughing He really knows how to enjoy it and I could hardly concentrate in the truggy final with his running commentry on how badly he was doing. Next round is the fifth of September so come along and have fun with us. All abilities are catered for, as John will testify! Until next time?
1/8th Truggy Class
Entry was very low with only four drivers in the truggy class! I was asked by Jarred if I would run his truck in the class and so set about borrowing radio gear, batteries, tyres and fuel for the day.
In round one, amazingly, I managed to TQ with a time five seconds off an eight lapper. Kev Mac came in second and Stuart Mckellar third. After much gluing between rounds I was ready for round two and improved my time to eight laps Unfortunately for me so did Peter Wriggleworth to take a well deserved TQ. I was relegated to second with a good run from Stuart to take third spot from Kev who did not improve. No change in order for round three but Peter extended his lead to four seconds and Kev closed the gap on third to just two.
At the off in the final and the usual first corner smash was left to the third corner when yours truly got tagged and found himself last. Fortunately the other drivers all went and tipped on the next corner allowing me to go past a few. Peter went over first with Stuart second and me third. This stayed the order for four laps with us all pretty close together. Then my race went a bit pear shaped and the tyres finally gave up with three coming unglued and two of those losing inserts. Kev came thundering past both myself and Stuart to take second were he stayed until engine probs saw the leader Peter retire for a couple of laps and Kev went on untroubled to take the win. Second went to Stuart who drove a great race and try as I might I could not get past him. Towards the end he had opened a healthy twelve second lead but I was pleased I managed third with Peter coming in fourth.
Special mentions are to Jarred for the truck, Kev Mac for the receiver pack, Mark Redmond for the fuel and John Clay for fuel and tyres. A very entertaining day was had by all with John Clay providing the jokes both on and off the rostrum keeping us all laughing He really knows how to enjoy it and I could hardly concentrate in the truggy final with his running commentry on how badly he was doing. Next round is the fifth of September so come along and have fun with us. All abilities are catered for, as John will testify! Until next time?
