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Posted on 17/12/07 20:47:05 |
soccerkiddo3
 Posts: 207 Reply  |
The (HO Slot Car) year that was 2007
After writing up about last weeks racing I was about to give the winners for the progressive points in 2007. I decided that I should write about the year we had so I thought that another write up was needed. Here it is. To start with, couple of events outside of our group. Firstly there was Toy Traders AFX Australian Championship. This was basically a time trial event for 16 year olds and under. Well done to Chris for firstly making the WA finals. Then taking 3rd place in the WA final was a job well done. Hope you enjoy the prizes. Next up Tracey, Chad and Karl take a bow. 1st place in a team enduro at XLR8. Not bad when you consider Chad was the only one with any experience in 1/32 scale cars. Mind you, with your performance at the last 1/32 enduro there may be some saying that the first up win was just beginner’s luck. As far as our racing goes 2007 was a mixed year, in fact we tried to mix it up with a Championship race meet one month, something a bit different the next. We certainly did a few unusually things. We started the year with a non Championship event so I think I will start by discussing these. First off we headed down to Armidale for the afternoon for a bit of a jump off to the year. We discovered that if you do give these cars wings they do really fly. Without wings just turning up the volts a bit you can get these cars to clear high gates or even stick to the underside of a carport roof. Mind you the extra volts can cause a controller to pop their cork, hey Cam. I am just glad it wasn’t my cars being treated like that. Later in the year we found out that running cars in a straight line can be a lot more fun than it looks but running them around in circles doesn’t quite hit the spot. I think that it had something to do with the coloured lights that Cam hooked up for his drag strip or maybe it was just the heat that affected us making us think that drag racing was fun. Maybe we should try an oval track in 40 degree heat. Next off we were back at Kev’s. This time for some (half) serious racing. Longer heats can be a whole lot of fun and while racing on the carpet does take us back to the roots of AFX racing, it is something that my old back can do without. Next up was our team enduro. This year with smaller teams and one hour racing per lane on Drew’s six lane track made it truly an endurance race. A race we not only survived but enjoyed. Maybe it should be 8 hours in 2008?? That brings us to last week’s event, a Driver’s Challenge. Here Karl showed us even without his finely tuned cars, that he is hard man to beat. I am looking forward to the handicap event next year when we can give him, Dave G and Drew handicaps big enough to bring them back to field and give all of us a chance to win. I think all in all the special events were all kind of fun. With only 4 planned for next year it is going to be interesting just deciding on which events we repeat and what new ones we give a try. To kick off the year we are planning a day down at Checkered Flag in Maddington in January. I do have an idea for a parts race that will build a car unlike anything we currently have. I will have to see if I can get the rest of you interested as it will cost a few dollars. Next subject our Championship events: Little did we know when we started the year on Dave’s WOW HO Raceway that it would not be around by the end of the year. It was the track that started it all for this group. Looking forward to you rebuilding it sooner than later, Dave. Cam, racing on your track was an experience, and a good one I must admit. Not at all what I expected. You can get a Modified Super G+ over that hill. Drew provided us all with our first experience of racing HO cars on a 6 lane track. It certainly keeps you busy racing in 50% more heats. Karl hosted 2 events on his track, maybe I should talk about home track advantage when discussing the years results. Maybe not as the racing on my home track was personally a complete disaster. But overall, a lot of great racing was had by all. When it came to points, at the start of the year I introduced a bonus point system so that the winner of every heat (not finals) got a bonus point making each heat worth something regardless where you were in the standings. Also had bonus points for qualifying. At the time I had a discussion with Garth who pointed out possible problems where the person coming second may actually get as many points as the winner. My comment at the time was that I hoped racing was close enough that this would happen. A championship decided by bonus points is a good tight championship. Little did I know, we would have a couple of these. First off, congratulations to Karl, 4 mugs. He took out the RO title from myself and Tracey. He had a good win in Classic Tjets from Drew with Tracey third. He also a good win in Modified Super G+ from Dave G and Drew. He had to fight for it in the Stock Turbos taking the event in the last race of the year. Drew and Karl both ended up with 3 wins for the year but Karl sneaked home by 2 points. Next up was Cam with 2 mugs. He was the Consistency winner for Classic Tjets and Stock Turbos accounting for Garth 2nd and Chad 3rd in both events. Finally to Consistency Modified Super G+. Here bonus points really counted. Chad can consider himself unlucky with 4 wins for the year but gets pipped by Jason who had only 2 wins. Mind you Jason did place in the 5 races he competed in. It all came down to bonus points. Just winning the final isn’t the be all and end all. Cam was only 4 points further back despite not winning a final. You can argue the points system all you like but you can’t argue the fact that is was great racing all round. Well done guys but especially well done to Jason on beating the old guys. Jason was also successful in the Junior Championship reversing the result with last year’s winner Chris. Coupled with his win in the team enduro you would have to say that he had a great year. I will get the mug and medals to you soon Jason but remember the mug is only for soft drinks. That goes for Karl and Cam too you know. Progressive Points Results: Classic Tjets Consistency Cam 105 Garth 99 Chad 90 Jason 67 Kev 63 Richard 63 Chris 61 Dave H 35 Caitlin 21 Matelen 19 Jamie 15 Michael 14 Em 12 Nathan 10 Luke 10 Nod 9 Woody 9 Barry 7 Speed Karl 121 Drew 102 Tracey 81 Dave G 76 Geoff 77 Stock Turbos Consistency Cam 108 Garth 93 Chad 89 Chris 82 Kev 79 Jason 62 Richard 55 Dave H 39 Caitlin 33 Michael 30 Matelen 17 Woody 15 Luke 14 Nod 13 Em 11 Nathan 10 Barry 9 Speed Karl 108 Drew 106 Geoff 93 Tracey 79 Dave G 78 Modified SuperG+ Consistency Jason 104 Chad 102 Cam 98 Garth 84 Chris 73 Kev 67 Richard 49 Caitlin 28 Dave H 21 Matelen 18 Woody 15 Nod 14 Nathan 12 Luke 10 Speed Karl 119 Dave G 99 Drew 95 Geoff 84 Tracey 80 Restricted Open Karl 138 Geoff 115 Tracey 98 Chad 94 Cam 74 Dave G 92 Garth 48 Drew 27 Dave H 11 Anyway that is it for HO Slot Cars in 2007. Hopefully we can take the good time we have at Christmas through to our racing in the New Year. So for now I would simply like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and look forward to a wonderful new year for everyone. I hope you all find a really fast slot car under the tree come Christmas day. |
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