Weston Worlds 2017 Race Report
Weston Worlds 2017
The weekend dawned bright and sunny which soon turned to hot, hot, hot! Once booking in had been completed, the track was opened for open practice for drivers to check their setups and tyre choice. Drivers briefing was held before the start of qualifying and a birthday cake and card was presented to our club chairman Steve Price with a rousing rendition of happy birthday. Racing then got underway with crowds gathering to watch.
There were 7 heats in each round of qualifying and a 15-minute break at the end of each round so that each heat could start on the hour. The day progressed well and we even had enough time to add in an extra round of qualifying on Saturday and a couple of fun events, the Dash for Cash and the Ladies Race.
The Dash for Cash was a 12-minute race and attracted 12 entries, congratulations to Rob West from Swansea Car Club for winning this race. Rob is running an Agama with a Bullit engine.
Next up was the Ladies race which was 5 minutes in duration and is aimed at the wives, girlfriends etc., There were 6 entries for this and a close battle was fought between Cate Pound and Wendy Foster, with Cate eventually winning the race driving Andy Cooper’s Team Associated RC8B3.1. Well done to all the Ladies/young ladies who entered and gave it a go.
That concluded the qualifying for Saturday so it was time to light the BBQ’s have something to eat, then wander down to the flight line to watch the amazing night flying and firework display.
Sunday dawned even hotter than Saturday and the smell of sun cream was in the air, hats of all shapes and varieties were sported by many to keep sunstroke at bay. The two final rounds of qualifying then got underway to see East Shrewsbury members placed in the following finals.
E Final – 15 mins
Matt Cunnington 6th on the start grid and finished 1st completing 26 laps in 15.13.45 mins
Curtis Burley 1st on the start grid and finished 2nd completing 25 laps in 15.3.07
Jack Hawthorne 8th on the start grid and finished 6th completing 20 laps in 15.35 mins
Mitch Thomas 4th on the start grid and finished 8th completing 16 laps in 13.11.77 mins
Dan “Jaff” Evans 2nd on the start grid and finished 5th completing 22 las in 13.324 mins, “Jaff” was in the lead for most of this final and the JQ was flying, but had transmitter problems which saw him drop down the field.
D Final – 15 mins
Craig Bolas 6th on the start grid and finished 3rd completing 26 laps in 15.25 mins
Bryn Pound 3rd on the start grid and finished 4th completing 25 laps in 15.32 mins
Joe Law 5th on the start grid and finished 5th completing 24 laps in 15.28 mins
Curtis Burley bumped up from E Final started 10th and finished 6th completing 23 laps in 15.10 mins
Chris Reeves started 4th on the grid and finished 7th completing 23 laps in 15.14 mins
Matt Cunnington bumped up from E final and started 9th and finished 8th completing 23 laps in 15.17 mins.
C Final – 15 mins
Craig Bolas bumped up to start 11th on the grid and finished 7th completing 25 laps in 15.27 mins.
B Final – 15 mins
Gary Gregory started 2nd on the grid and stayed in that position completing 29 laps in 15.30 mins
Dave Dutton started 1st and finished 5th completing 28 laps in 15.29 mins
Steve Price (Birthday Boy) started 6th and finished 7th completing 28 laps in 15.31 mins
Ashley Pattison started 7th and finished 8th completing 27 laps in 15.17 mins
Ollie Dillon started 8th and finished 11th completing 23 laps in 14.47 mins
A Final – 20 mins
Nikky Davies started 4th on the grid and finished 3rd completing 41 laps in 20.24 mins
Matt Box started 9th on the grid and finished 7th completing 40 laps in 20.30 mins
Gary Gregory bumped up from the B Final to start 10th and finished 11th completing 11 laps in 6.29 mins.
The top 3 in the A Final were
1st James Harrold – 42 laps in 20.3526mins running Team Associated and an LRP Engine.
2nd Jon Howells – 41 laps in 20.6.178 running Team Associated and Nova Rossi Engine
3rd Nikky Davies – 41 laps in 20.24.776 running Team Associated and Rex Engine
A Final – Electric Buggy
Zak Edwards our youngest member was running a TLR Electric buggy and has only recently started competing, congratulations for coming 11th Overall completing 21 laps in the main A final and driving consistently in your qualifying sessions and Legs 1 and 2 of the A Final.
Dave Dutton was competing in 2 classes and was running a Kyosho Electric buggy and finished 3rd overall in the A Final – well done Dave.
Congratulations to Jack Hawthorne who came 3rd in the Nitro Class Juniors, Jack is also new to racing having only competed at club level until recently.
Once racing had finished it was presentation time and trophy boards were awarded to the top 3 in each final. If you didn’t manage to stay for the presentation; trophy boards will be available for collection at club night or the next round of our summer series (once we’ve unloaded the trailer!) on July 23rd.
Thank you to all who competed over the weekend for the great atmosphere and good-natured racing, we hope an enjoyable time was had by all.
THANK YOU to all club members who have helped with organising this event and getting equipment up to Weston Park, especially to Steve Price who took all the equipment up to the track whilst others were away racing and for the time he has spent in the week cutting the grass etc., it is much appreciated Steve. Thank you to Chris Reeves for supplying the spray paint, road signs and much more. Thank you to Ollie Dillon for designing and printing our new club banner – it’s awesome! Finally, grateful thanks as always go to Alex Vernon for running the meeting and keeping the day on track with timings. If I have forgotten anyone I sincerely apologise but thank you all for a magnificent event!