2019 Maritime RC Racing Offroad Racing Series #4

The 4th and final race of the 4 race Maritime RC Offroad Series was held Aug 17, 2019 at the Revolution RC Raceway in Cap-Pele New Brunswick. Revolution RC Raceway is owned and operated by George Thompson and he is helped by a track crew of Dario Paoletti and James Fenton who help keep the track in racing order. At this track there is a full size drivers stand along with a wheelchair accessible stand available. Tara Thompson was a busy helper at this race doing the bbq preparations, taking care of both the 50/50 and door prize draw, and later handed out frozen refreshments to the racers. George and Gregg Lawton shared the race announcing duties, and Stephane helped with the heats and mains setup. This was a well run event and all the racers appreciated how well the race day went.

The day started clear and sunny in the morning, and the temperatures got into 28 degrees by early afternoon. As the day progressed it became overcast which helped keep the heat down. The track was run in a clockwise direction for this event, which is opposite to regular season races to give equal opportunities to the racers and prevent a home track advantage. Track maintenance during the race was kept to a minimum as the track was kept fairly dry during the event. The track was watered before the finals at an attempt to keep the dust down. After the watering the track did have a bit more grip than usual which turned out well for the finals.

The turnout for this race was the highest of all races in the 4 race series. This excellent turnout lead to full heats of racers, but with the large number of heats only 2 qualifiers could be run before the mains. 2wd Buggy and 4wd SCT had full A, B, C mains while 2wd SCT and 1/8 buggy both had A & B mains. 1/10 Stadium and 1/8 Truggy rounded out the field of race classes. For this race the top 2 finishers in the lower mains would bump up to the higher mains. At the end of each main race the top 3 drivers were presented with their main plaques which helped keep the pace going.

After all the mains were completed there was a HUGE amount of door prizes donated by the series sponsors to be given away including $120 in gift certificates from Freedom Hobbies, $100 Tekno certificate from Tekno RC, $25 from Great Hobbies, an MRCR Series branded hoodie from Acadian Design, T-Shirts from Hobbywing, a hat and stickers from Gens-Ace, a 4s lipo and wire from Bego Racing, and $250 in certificates from RCMart, and Tim Hortons and Subway provided by Revolution Raceway. and the Series awards were presented after. Thanks to George, Tara, and Family for hosting the event, thanks to the Series sponsors for their generosity with door prizes, and thanks to all the racers to participated in the series!!!

This race completes the 4 race Maritime Series!!! The results of this race will be added to the overall 2019 Maritime RC Racing Offroad Series points.

2wd Buggy A-Main: RESULTS – VIDEO

1st(TQ): Guillaume Berube, 2nd: Kyle McKinnon, 3rd: David Jean

2wd Buggy is a very competitive and closely matched field. At the start of the race Guillaume, Gregg and Kyle got a bit of a gap on the rest of the field and began to pull away slightly. At the 4 lap mark Guillaume had a bobble over a jump and Gregg was able to take the lead and pull a decent sized lead. On the very next lap Gregg would clip a pipe and need a marshal, which would erase the lead and allow Guillaume to regain the lead while Gregg fell to 2nd. Just a few laps later Gregg would have a super long lap allowing both Kyle and David to move to 2nd and 3rd while Gregg fell to 4th. David had been running very consistently in this race and was able to keep the pressure on Kyle through the remaining laps. David ran out of time as the buzzer went with the finish order ending with Guillaume 1st, Kyle 2nd, and David 3rd. Of note was Gordon Mercer who improved his 6th place starting spot to finish 5th.

2wd Buggy B-Main: RESULTS – VIDEO

1st(bump): Rene Leblanc, 2nd(bump): Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Mark Baird

In the 2wd Buggy B-main, the top 2 racers would bump up to the A-Main, so the racers were inspired to do their best. At the tone there was a little congestion in the first turn sweeper and poor Gerald Fanjoy took the brunt of it falling to last after needing a marshal. He was able to work his way back through the group and finish in the position he started. The top 3 of the main were able to get out to a clean start and were able to get a gap on the rest of the group, with Rene getting out into the lead closely followed by Mark Baird who had found some speed in the early going. Mark would keep the pressure on Rene until a slight bobble would let Stephane Doucet into 2nd while Mark dropped to 3rd. The racers continued in the same order until the buzzer and Rene and Stephane finished with the 1st and 2nd bump spots and Mark finished 3rd on the podium. Of note was racer Rhodri Amour, who bumped up from the C-main, would improve from his 8th place start to finish 4th just off the podium!

2wd Buggy C-Main: RESULTS

1st(bump): Rhodri Armour, 2nd(bump): William Muirhead, 3rd: Mat Leblanc

2wd Buggy was so popular there was a full C-main. The reward for the top 2 was to bump up to the B, so all the racers were on their best behavior! The race started with a clean start with William maintaining 1st, Rhodri 2nd, and Mat jumping up to 3rd from his 4th place starting spot. A few laps in William would bobble giving Rhodri the lead. The following lap Rhodri would bobble and William and Mat would jump up into 1st and 2nd! The very next lap rhodri would then retake 1st and bump the both down. Then William would charge to 1st to challenge Rhodri, while David Praught would challenge Mat for 3rd. On the last lap there would be more position changes and the race would end with Rhodri 1st, William 2nd, and Mat 3rd! Back in the field the best improvement was Mackenzie Praught, who started in 8th and finished in 6th. Also to note, David Nicholson was in his first ever race!

2wd Stadium A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): David Jean, 2nd: Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Reg Comeau

1/10 Stadium is a new class to the series. It was run at the Blackfly series race with great success, and a small group came to Cap-Pele with them so the class was formed. This race was uneventful, with the finish order the same as the starting order with David 1st, Stephane 2nd, and Reg 3rd. Stephane finished on the same lap as David, but about 1/2 a lap back. The item to note was new racer Andrew Palmer was attending his first ever race and did well with a set of bald rear tires on the slippery track! Next race he promised to have a good set of tires on!

2wd SCT A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): Kyle McKinnon, 2nd: Jeremy Sherriff, 3rd: Derek Bain (not Beain … lol)

In 2wd SCT there were enough racers at this event to run an A&B-main. At the start of the A-main Jeremy was able to make the pass and hole the lead for a lap before settling back into 2nd with Kyle regaining 1st. The 2 racers would stay about 1/3 of a lap apart to finish with Kyle finishing 1st and Jeremy finishing 2nd. Derek Bain would have a very consistent race to finish solidly in the 3rd place podium position. Other racers who improved on their starting position was George Thompson working his way from 6th to 4th. Chris Flewelling also improved in the race, initially jumping from the 9th place bump spot up to 4th, before settling back into 7th.

2wd SCT B-Main: RESULTS

1st: David Praught, 2nd: Chris Flewelling, 3rd: Boyd Newman

In the 2wd SCT B-Main the top 2 finishers would bump-up to the A-Main. At the start of the race, rookie racer David Praught would leap from his 4th place qualifying spot to the 1st spot, and after a slight bobble he would hold the 1st spot to the finish. for 2nd, Chris Flewelling would initially fall to 4th but would then quickly recover and finish in 2nd. 3rd spot on the podium would be held by Boyd Newman who had a very consistent race, finishing on the same lap as the other leaders. Also note new racer David Nicholson was able to improve on his 7th place start to finish 5th.

4wd SCT A-Main: RESULTS – VIDEO

1st: Shane Foote, 2nd(tq): Gregg Lawton, 3rd: Dario Paoletti

4wd SCT has proven to be a popular class in the Maritimes, and this race was no exception with full A,B,C mains. In the 4wd SCT A-Main it turned out to be a nail biter finish. At the start Shane Foote would jump from his 5th place start to 2nd spot before settling into 3rd for the time being. Gregg Lawton would pull to a huge lead, but a very slow lap would allow Dario to take 1st for his own. Gregg and Dario would have a close race before Dario would bobble and Gregg would take the lead back again. Once again Gregg would build a decent lead before again a slow lap would allow Shane to take the lead. The last few laps Gregg made up some ground but ran out of time. The race ended with Shane having a consistent race to finish 1st, Gregg throwing it away 2 times to finish 2nd, and Dario finishing strong in 3rd. An item to note was Derek Bain working his way up from a 7th place start to finish 4th.

4wd SCT B-Main: RESULTS

1st(bump): Zack Bernard, 2nd: Chris flewelling, 3rd: Pierre Plante

4wd SCT B-Main was an interesting race with a lot of position changes. The top 2 would bump to the A-Main, and all the racers put their best effort into this race! At the start of the race William jumped to 2nd with Chris jumping from 8th to 3rd on the first lap. Zack Bernard bobbles which gives William 1st and allows Chris to move to 2nd. William then has troubles and falls completely off the podium which hands Chris to move to 1st and Zack to recover to 2nd. On the last lap Zack would make a move to finish 1st and chris would finish 2nd. Back in the pack, Pierre Plante worked his way from his 7th place start to finish 3rd.

4wd SCT C-Main: RESULTS

1st(bump): Chris Flewelling, 2nd(bump): David Praught, 3rd: James Fenton

This is the first 4wd SCT C-Main in recent memory at the Cap-Pele track. The top 2 racers of the 4wd SCT C-Main will bump to the B. In this race Chris Flewelling lead the race from the tone and finished in the 1st bump-up spot. The battle was then for the 2nd bump spot . Early in the race Mackenzie Praught jumped to 2nd from the 6th starting spot, but over the race a few crashes dropped her back to 6th. James Fenton then tried his had at the 2nd spot and held it for a few laps before David Praught decided he should have it as well. James and David would trade the spot back and forth for the next few laps until the buzzer sounded and David was able to get by for 2nd, with James finishing 3rd.

1/8 E-Buggy A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): David Jean, 2nd: Shane Foote, 3rd: Stephane Doucet

1/8 E-Buggy is becoming a very popular class in the maritime series, and this event had enough racers for a full A&B-Main. In the A-Main David Jean proved to be the racer to beat with the hot setup. At the tone David gout out into the lead, and held it until the halfway mark. At the half David would have a couple of long laps which allowed Shane Foote to take the lead from the 2nd position! Shane was able to hold the lead for a few laps until he bobbled which allowed David to regain the lead. Quietly behind the 2 leaders Stephane was working his way through the group, improving on his 6th place start to work into 3rd. At the final tone it was David 1st, Shane 2nd, and Stephane 3rd!

1/8 E-Buggy B-Main: RESULTS

1st: Rhodri Armour, 2nd: Zack Bernard, 3rd: Derek Bain

In the 1/8 E-Buggy B-Main the top 2 finishers would bump to the A-Main. At the tone Zack would lead the field followed closely by Rhodri who moved up from his 3rd place starting spot. 3rd would be briefly held by Pierre Plante who came out of nowhere from a 6th place start! As the race settled Derek Bain would take 3rd and settle in for a long race. The race order for the podium remained unchanged for most of the race, until the pressure got to Zack on the last lap which allowed Rhodri to get by for 1st, Zack holding 2nd, and Derek following in 3rd. Two racers who did improve their positions through the race was Pierre who finished 4th from 6th, and Mat who finished 7th from his 10th starting spot.

1/8 E-Truggy A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): Guillaume Berube, 2nd: Stephane Leblanc, 3rd: Rene Leblanc

1/8 Truggy is always an exciting race to watch, and at this race there was a full main of truggies! At the start tone Guillaume, Rene, and Stephane were able to get away clean. After a few laps Rene started to loose the handle which allowed Derek up into 3rd. Derek had a bobble and it eventually turned out that he could not continue. This gave Rene the chance to take 3rd back. The race settled down and continued in the same order until Guillaume had a slow lap, and this gave Stephane a chance at the lead. It was short lived as Guillaume recovered and retook the lead. It was a close battle and when the final buzzer sounded the top 3 were still on the same lap with Guillaume 1st, Stephane 2nd, and Rene 3rd. Its worth mentioning that Mat Leblanc was the hardest charger in the race finishing 6th from his 9th place start.