This past weekend at MORRCC in Sunshine, Victoria was the 2014 Victorian State titles for 1:8 Off-road.
It would be the first race/drive since being in my first home, and it felt great to be at the track again. I got my Kyosho MP9 all freshly rebuilt, My Alpha Blue Lutz all ran in and ready.
Friday was two controlled practice rounds and two qualifying rounds. Practice was all about getting the hang of the awesomely prepared track thanks to Savage Sam and the crew at MORRCC. I got into a rhythm again by then end of the first round and was ready to start qualifying.
Qualifying was something I would rather forget. I had a heap of bad luck. Round one I had a semi-clean run but had a few crashes which resulted in a average time. Round two I got off to a good start to the run but flamed after i flat landed the triple quite hard. By the time we got it re-fired I had lost two laps and only banked a 10-lap run. With a good rest overnight I was going into round three with a fresh mind and was ready. I would get a great clean run and just made sure I banked a good one. I managed a fourth for the round. I was happy with that and then it went on to the fourth round. Again I got another really clean run, this time i pushed a little harder and managed second for the round. By this time i was pumped. The fifth round came about and i was hoping for another clean run. I got off to a great start but clipped the pipe in a corner and flipped over, It flamed….. I lost a lap and banked a 11-lap run. This was not what I wanted. I had one more round of qualifying to go to make it enough to qualify straight into A-Main. Round six, I got out there in warm-up and the car felt great. I go for the final lap to bring the car in to re-fuel for the start of the run but it stalls. I get it fired up again but it stalls again. The clutch bearings were seized…! I couldn’t do anymore to qualify. So I qualified in 16th and would start from 6th in the B-Main.
The B-Main I needed to finish in the top five to make the Bump up into the A-Main. I did just that! the car ran flawlessly for the 30-min LCQ and I would go on to start from 13th from the A-Main.
I did some work in the hour spare before the A-Main and prepped my car. Mounted up some fresh M3 Pro-Line Big Blox, made the tune right and I was ready!
The 45-min Main went really well, I backed off at the start and let all the carnage happen in front of me. I went from 13th to 3rd in the first lap! I just cruised the whole Main and didn’t really ever push, I just wanted to make sure I got through in one piece and get a good result. I managed to hold on for 4th place! I was pretty pumped about that result considering the weekend I had prior!
Thanks to all the people who help me, Kyosho, Alpha, MKS, Pro-Line, Gforce, Byron Fuels, Underpush Racing, RCRS! Also thanks to Christian Searl, Ronan and Craig Laughton for pitting for me! Bring on 2015.
