Paddy Piston Race 2009
The annual Paddy Piston Race held at the BADMCC track just outside Belfast took place over the weekend, and saw some the top guys from the BRCA series take on the top guys from Ireland. Dave Duggan reports back...
We arrived on Friday evening, most of us on separate flights and our friends Alan Bickerstaff and Andrew Rennick were there to collect us from the airport. The weather wasn't looking too great but we checked into the villa we were staying in and got some food and a few beers before off to bed.
We arrived at the track at about 8.30am on Saturday morning before open practice began at 9.00am. The weather was still a little wet although no heavy rain was forecast for the weekend. First impression of the track were that it looked big, challenging and lots of fun. The track had many big jumps that give really big air but aren't that difficult to make, thus making it a good fun track for all driving standards.
BADMCC -Northern Ireland's Premier 1/8 Off-Road Model Racing RC Club.
After a bit of practice in the damp conditions we were into qualifying of which there were to be 7 rounds in total, with 10 minute heats. Despite the damp conditions the control Proline Revolver M2 tyres were working well and as an added bonus, due to them being a small pin tyre, they didn't destroy the track surface and make it go really bumpy.
The first round of qualifying was taken by Irish ace Michael Todd in front of Craig Drescher with his Reedy powered RC8B. From here on though qualifying was all about one man, Darren Bloomfield. Darren got into a good groove early on and went on to TQ all remaining 6 rounds of qualifying to place his car firmly on pole position for the main final. Craig managed to get close in a couple of rounds and was improving the set up of his car as he went on and in the final damp round on Saturday would have been almost on Darren's pace but for one costly error. Qualifying third was Richard Taylor with his Reedy powered car. Richard was getting incredible fuel mileage from his Reedy engine and was toying with the idea of running 15 minutes between stops in the 1 hour main final!
On Saturday evening after 5 round of qualifying had been completed the club put on a BBQ that was free to all competitors. The food was excellent and the club must be applauded for giving the competitors so much value for their entry fee. After we returned to the house and then took off to the pub for a few beers which was all in the spirit as the organisers had arranged a late start on Sunday morning so as to facilitate such events.
The finals were all of 30 minutes duration in keeping with the theme of giving people as much track time as possible, with the main finals for Truggy and Buggy being 45 and 60 minutes respectively.
Some shots of the racers working on their cars.
The Truggy main final was taken by Chris McCauley after a near faultless drive, with Bradley Baird coming in the runner up spot after a spirited drive with Aaron Vance coming in third.
The Buggy final got a small delay as Darren Bloomfield managed to break his car as he exited the pit lane for warm up, nobody objected to the repairs being made as the race was being run in a fun manner and it wouldn't have been in the spirit of it to not allow him the time.
When underway Darren carried on where he left off and dominated the final going on to win by just over a lap from Craig, although Darren's second slice of good fortune arrived just after Craig had crossed the line to finish as Darren broke his car again on a jump and wasn't able to complete his final lap! Richard Taylor took third after a good fight back from poor start, he decided discretion was the better part of valour and opted to make his fuel stops at 12 minutes which saved him 1 stop over the rest of the field.
Buggy and Truggy podium winners.
After the Trophy ceremony and obligatory champagne spraying all that was left to do was thank the club for putting on a fantastic meeting and showing the best hospitality we could ever ask for.
We are only just back and I am already looking forward to the PPR 2010!
BADMCC -Northern Ireland's Premier 1/8 Off-Road Model Racing RC Club.
After a bit of practice in the damp conditions we were into qualifying of which there were to be 7 rounds in total, with 10 minute heats. Despite the damp conditions the control Proline Revolver M2 tyres were working well and as an added bonus, due to them being a small pin tyre, they didn't destroy the track surface and make it go really bumpy.
The first round of qualifying was taken by Irish ace Michael Todd in front of Craig Drescher with his Reedy powered RC8B. From here on though qualifying was all about one man, Darren Bloomfield. Darren got into a good groove early on and went on to TQ all remaining 6 rounds of qualifying to place his car firmly on pole position for the main final. Craig managed to get close in a couple of rounds and was improving the set up of his car as he went on and in the final damp round on Saturday would have been almost on Darren's pace but for one costly error. Qualifying third was Richard Taylor with his Reedy powered car. Richard was getting incredible fuel mileage from his Reedy engine and was toying with the idea of running 15 minutes between stops in the 1 hour main final!
On Saturday evening after 5 round of qualifying had been completed the club put on a BBQ that was free to all competitors. The food was excellent and the club must be applauded for giving the competitors so much value for their entry fee. After we returned to the house and then took off to the pub for a few beers which was all in the spirit as the organisers had arranged a late start on Sunday morning so as to facilitate such events.
The finals were all of 30 minutes duration in keeping with the theme of giving people as much track time as possible, with the main finals for Truggy and Buggy being 45 and 60 minutes respectively.
Some shots of the racers working on their cars.
The Truggy main final was taken by Chris McCauley after a near faultless drive, with Bradley Baird coming in the runner up spot after a spirited drive with Aaron Vance coming in third.
The Buggy final got a small delay as Darren Bloomfield managed to break his car as he exited the pit lane for warm up, nobody objected to the repairs being made as the race was being run in a fun manner and it wouldn't have been in the spirit of it to not allow him the time.
When underway Darren carried on where he left off and dominated the final going on to win by just over a lap from Craig, although Darren's second slice of good fortune arrived just after Craig had crossed the line to finish as Darren broke his car again on a jump and wasn't able to complete his final lap! Richard Taylor took third after a good fight back from poor start, he decided discretion was the better part of valour and opted to make his fuel stops at 12 minutes which saved him 1 stop over the rest of the field.
Buggy and Truggy podium winners.
After the Trophy ceremony and obligatory champagne spraying all that was left to do was thank the club for putting on a fantastic meeting and showing the best hospitality we could ever ask for.
We are only just back and I am already looking forward to the PPR 2010!
