The 2018 Northern Championship race was held September 22nd at the BlackFly RC track in Saint-Laurent, NB. This event had 30 drivers attend who entered 70 RC vehicles into 7 classes. It had rained the night before and in the early morning on the day of the race but Stephane, the track owner, was able to get up at 4am and prepare the track for the day of racing. Race start was postponed 1 hour to allow for the track to dry a bit. The day was sunny and as the sun dried the track the conditions were perfect for a day of racing with 3 qualifiers and the finals!
Thanks to all volunteer marshals! And to all spectators! and MOST IMPORTANTLY, !!! All of you, Racers, for allowing me to enjoy these race days! Thanks for patiently waiting until the end of the day to allow for 3 nice qualifying rounds and the mains. Hats off to our 3 cooks, Annie Doucet, Sophie Roy & Monique Comeau
And lastly, all the sponsors!!
| Sponsor | Location | Donation |
| Greco | Beresford, NB | 1x Party Pizza |
| M.L Variété Esso | Dunlop, NB | 2x $10 gas cards |
| Tim Hortons | Beresford, NB | 5x $10 gift cards |
| McDonalds | Bathurst, NB | 10x free lunch certificates and 10x free McFlurrys |
| Freedom Hobbies | Salisbury, NB | 4x $10 gift certificates |
| Chaleur Building Supplies | Beresford, NB | Trophy materials |
| Orange Couch Creative | Maple Ridge, BC | Trophy design and printing |
2wd Buggy A-Main – RESULTS
2nd: David Jean, 1st(TQ): Guillaume Berube, 3rd: Dario Paoletti (Alex Rizi was using his Stadium truck and was not counted as a 2wd buggy)
In 2wd buggy David Jean took the lead early from Guillaume Berube, but a few bobbles in the laps following gave Guillaume the lead which he held to finish 1st. David then battled with Dario for the 2nd place spot. David was able to take the 2nd spot back and Dario settled for the 3rd spot on the podium. One interesting item was Martin Plourde who improved on his 8th qualifying position to finish 4th, just off the podium.
2wd Stadium A-Main – RESULTS
2nd: Dario Paoletti, 1st(TQ): Alex Rizi, 3rd: Serge Hache
Stadium truck had 4 entries this year, but one truck was broken during practice. Of the 3 remaining trucks, Serge Hache also had to leave before the event ended so the podium was decided on their qualifying positions. Alex Rizi did run his truck with the 2wd Buggy final for fun.
2wd SCT A-Main – RESULTS
2nd: William Muirhead, 1st(TQ) Alex Rizi, 3rd: Zack Bernard
In 2wd SCT there was a large field of racers working hard to get on the podium. At the start of the race Alex Rizi and William Muirhead would get away from the rest of the group and finish 1st and 2nd. Reg Comeau would have a good start but would have a major bobble early in the race. This would let Zack Bernard move into the 3rd spot. Reg would fight to get within 3 seconds of 3rd but could not challenge Zack for the position. Racers who made good improvements were Darius Chickoski who qualified 10th and finished 5th, and Bruno Hache who qualified 9th and finished 6th.
4wd SCT A-Main – RESULTS
2nd(TQ): Shane Foote, 1st: Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Dario Paoletti
4wd SCT was a large group with an A & B main. The A-main was a good challenge for the racers with lots of close racing. At the start of the race Stephane would challenge Shane for the lead early, but Shane was able to take it back. Stephane would keep the pressure on and would make the pass for the lead at the 2/3 point in the race. Stephane would hold the lead and take 1st, with Shane finishing 2nd. While this battle was happening there was another battle for 3rd. Dario had an early bobble and this would allow Jeremie Hache to take the 3rd spot early in the race. Dario would fight back and for several laps the 2 racers would trade the spot back and forth. Dario would make the pass at the 1/2 way point of the race and hold it for the 3rd spot on the podium. A racer who made a good improvement was William Muirhead(Speed Beard) who qualified 8th, after the bump up from the B-Main, and would finish 5th.
4wd SCT B-Main – RESULTS
Bruno Hache(bump to A-Main), William Muirhead(bump to A-main), Georgie Paulin
In the 4wd SCT B-Main, the racers were battling for the 2 bump up spots to the A-Main. Bruno Hache would lead from the start to finish 1st. William would battle early with Zack for the 2nd spot, but unfortunately Zack broke and William continued on to take the 2nd bump spot.
1/8 Buggy A-Main – RESULTS
2nd(TQ): David Jean, 1st: Alex Rizi, 3rd: Shane Foote
1/8 Buggy was again a popular class at BlackFly with entries for an A & B-main. The A-Main proved to be a very close race. Early on Alex would take 1st from David, but then Alex would need a marshal and fall to 3rd with Shane taking 2nd. After a battle with Shane, Alex would take the 2nd spot with sights on the lead. Alex then put pressure on David and took the first spot at the 1/2 way point of the race. David would keep the remaining race close In the end Alex would finish 1st, David would finish 3 seconds back in 2nd, and Shane would finish 3rd. A racer who made a good improvement was Maxime Denis, who bumped to the A-Main in 8th spot and finished 6th.
1/8 Buggy B-Main – RESULTS
Chris Flewelling (bump to A-main), Maxime Denis(bump to A-main), Bruno Hache
In the 1/8 Buggy B-Main, the racers battled for the top 2 positions which would bump to the A-Main. Maxime Denis would take the lead early and hold it to late in the race. Chris Flewelling was fast charging for the top spot and improved on his 4th place qualifying spot to take the 1st bump spot. Maxime settled for the 2nd bump spot into the A-Main.
1/8 Truggy A-Main – RESULTS
2nd: Donald Denis, 1st(TQ) Guillaume Berube, 3rd: Shane Foote
The 1/8 Truggy race was an interesting one to watch. Guillaume Berube took the lead from the tone to finish 1st ahead of the group. The Battle of the race was for the 2nd and 3rd positions. Early in the race Shane would fall from 2nd all the way down to 6th. While Shane was working his way back, Donald Denis and Stephane Doucet would battle closely for the 2nd spot. They would trade the spot several times until Donald made the pass at the 2/3 point in the race and held it to finish 2nd. Stephane then would have to contend with Shane, who had worked his way back into striking distance. The two would race close but Stephane made a mistake with 4 laps remaining which allowed Shane to get by to take the 3rd and final podium spot.
1/18 Nitro Buggy – RESULTS
2nd: Martin Plourde, 1st(TQ): Shane Foote, 3rd: Chris Flewelling
In nitro buggy there were 4 entries with one of the racers not able to make the start. This was a 15 minute final to allow the racers a bit of a refuel strategy. The finish order remained the same as the starting order with Shane 1st, Martin 2nd, and Chris 3rd. Not shown in the laps was Mike Belanger did start the race, but his transponder was not counting. He had a few electrical issues and finished the race with approximately 15 laps.
Novice Racers – RESULTS
4th: Daphnee Doucet, 2nd: Cloé Comeau, 1st: Jacob Murphy, 3rd: Jacob Rivard, 5th: Guy Haché
The Novice class is the place for the newest racers to get their start into RC. In this group the kids had a lot of fun racing their trucks. At the start there were a few bobbles by the young racers which changed the running order, but all kids made the podium and received a prize for their efforts!
Event Photos
