Australian Championship 1/8th Scale Off Road
Australian Championship 1/8th Scale Off
Road
1/8th
Off-Road |
| Report by: RB Products
Australia |
| Event date : |
21-23/02/2003 |
| Weather : |
Sunny
weather |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
| Friday |
| Friday the 21st of February was the first day of official free
practice, but the constant drizzle and sudden and often downpours kept most of
the racers double checking their cars at the hotel. Some kept an open mind and
made the effort to go to the track just to see what was happening but soon
returned, shoes covered in mud and their cars as clean as when they started.
This reporter decided most definitely that a new pair of Wellington boots were
in order. The mud was horrendous and when one only packs white racing shirts,
potentially there is a problem. The mood in the hotel was positive that the
weather would fine up for the start of official qualifying Despite this bit of
reassurance from the people in the know, I still hung on to my "wellies" just
incase. |
| Saturday |
| Saturday February 22, 2003 started off being slightly overcast but
with reassurances from the local Kart club we were sure there was going to be
sunshine for the remainder of the weekend. Our arrival at the circuit was
around 8:00AM with officials running around trying to get things organized. A
big program to get through (over 55 drivers) and not so many days left to do it
in. At the drivers meeting there seemed to be some confusion on exactly what a
"rain day" is used for but after some discussion everything was back to the
issues at hand. The group decided collectively that everyone would have 1 round
of practice due to the weather and official racing would start there after.
Good solid qualifying was completed throughout the day, the weather holding off
and by the end of the day it actually got quite warm. The usual suspects were
at the top of the qualifying. Haley, Drygalla, Cains and Hekkama all putting in
a great effort. As the day wore on the track started to dry out and things
started to change. Lap times became slower and in general drivers were being
more careful as the ruts became deeper. Ultimately Ian Haley from RB Australia
put in a convincing performance to take the TQ honours despite the decsion to
run an additional round of qualifying on Sunday. With the subsidence of rain
and mud there wasn't much cleaning to do so I guess the hotel showers were
actually used for their designed purpose. The focus I'm sure was then every
piece of furniture being used as a workbench while each car was meticulously
rebuilt for the finals the next day. |
| Sunday |
| Sunday February 23, 2003 a round of qualifying and the competition of
the lower finals, it was decided to use the rain day for the Semi and Main
Finals. The fact that it took 3 hours to work out the finals didn't help but
nevertheless the organizers did what they could with what they had. Monday
February 24, 2003 after the completion of the Semis the field was set for the
final. Sadly the likes of Cains and Cheng eliminated due to car failure after a
really outstanding campaign. |
| The Main Final |
| Lap 1 we had Ian Haley and Tony Hekkama lead the pack, racing away to
early lead of half a lap on the rest of the field followed by Tom Drygalla and
Ron Maya. Closely followed by Nick Drygalla the rest of the pack fell away as
they struggled with each other fighting for position and the opportunity to
catch the leaders. For 5 1/2 minutes Tony followed Ian, Ian slowly pulled away
but Tony was never more than 2 or 3 corners behind him, in an attempt to build
the lead Ian took to the double jump at furious pace only to find that car
would land a jar and break the bottom suspension arm, a quick trip to the pits
with his pit crew working frantically on the car Ian rejoined the field 2.5
laps down but still in outright fourth place. This would be the start of a 30
minute slog to get back to the top. At the ten minute mark defending National
Champion Nick Drygalla came off the track with a flat receiver pack, this stop
cost him any chance at defending the title and he would ultimately rejoin the
field 7 laps down. Tom Drygalla left the track at the 34 minute mark with a
damaged steering plate, a quick repair in the pits meant he could no longer win
the race but undeterred he re-entered the track to complete his final with a
more than honourable result. All of the drama at the head of the pack meant
that at the 40 min mark Steven Drygalla would be able to take the lead after
the leader Ron Maya, came into the pits with engine problems, this time the
return to the pits cost Ron approx. half a lap,and moved Ian Haley up to second
place. With Tony Hekkama in third and Stephen Sneddon in fourth and a lap down
form the leaders, the battle was on at the top with only 23 seconds (half a
lap) between Drygalla and Haley. At 52 minutes Haley takes the lead, but there
was still the question of one last fuel stop. Drygalla poised 2 seconds behind
and fully fueled, regained the lead on Haley's last stop. Literally seconds
after Haley's fateful fuel stop the steering servo gave way rendering the car
uncontrollable. With minutes remaining the 14 year old Steven Drygalla drove
his RB Powered Kyosho to perfection. Smooth and cautious to win a well deserved
place in the history books. A fantastic drive by the young lad who comes from a
family of great competitors. A fine effort by all with a very professional
display of driving and racing etiquette. Although this reporter didn't quite
understand the concept of how the heats were drawn up the result was as one
would expect. As with any off road race it became a race of attrition with the
track condition getting the better of most. A great achievement from
Australia's youngest National Champion, Steven Drygalla. Honourable
performances from Ian Haley, Tom Drygalla, Nick Drygalla, Ron Maya, Tony
Hekkama and Stephen Sneddon. Overall a successful event our congratulations to
all. |
|
|
|
|
EVENTS
REPORTS PER YEAR
