The Fredericton RC Racing Club held their Fall Brawl race at the Shady Pines Speedway offroad track on Sept 19, 2020. Fall was certainly in the air, with morning temperatures around 12 degrees, with afternoon highs about 18. The track crew put considerable effort into the track trying to keep the track together with high grip and low dust. Then in Fredericton they did not have a drop of rain for the week after the track repairs before the race. On the day of the race the track did blow out in places, but dust was much lower as seen in the videos. The track crew has more changes in mind to get the highest grip possible!
At this race there were awards for the A-Mains, and with the B main we ran a full 7 minute main with 1 bump up. There was a good turnout for this event with 15 drivers registered in to 40 classes!
Thanks to all racers who attended, to Mark Baird for hosting the event, and for the race sponsors: Great Hobbies, Nicholson’s Waste Management, and Maritime RC Racing !!!
Complication Video – by Andy Palmer
2wd Buggy A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st: Gregg Lawton, 2nd: Mark McKinnon, 3rd: Dario Paoletti, TQ: Maxim Losier
In 2wd Buggy Maxim would set the TQ in the first round that could not be matched by the other racers through the entire event. From the tone the racers would get off to a great start, but a slight incident in the corner step-down would shuffle the top 3 with Mark taking the lead, Gregg moving to 2nd, and Jeremy moving up to 3rd. On the next lap Mark would have a horrific flip in the doubles that would drop him to last place. Gregg would get into first and build a large gap to 2nd through the race. Dario would find himself in 2nd, and William in 3rd and they would run there for well over half the race, not realizing Mark was aiming for a podium position. On the last lap Mark would pass William in the step down section to take 3rd, and then Mark would pass Dario on the last corner to move to 2nd!!! Its worth watching the race video to see the final lap unfold! The final order was Gregg 1st, Mark 2nd, and Dario 3rd.
2wd Buggy B-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st(bump): Trevor Furlotte, 2nd: David Nicholson, 3rd: Mark Baird
2wd Buggy continues to be the most popular class in the maritime region, and this race was no exception with an A & B main. The winner of the B-Main would earn the bump up into the A-Main. At the start of the B, Trevor would get a half lap lead over the field as the racers sorted themselves out. Mark Baird had a great start and moved into 2nd with Andy Palmer moving as high as 3rd place before settling back to 5th. Dave Nicholson had a rough start but he would whittle away at Trevor’s lead through the race. First David would overtake Mark for 2nd, and then getting right to the back bumper of Trevor to challenge for 1st. There would be a little back and forth late in the race, but a last lap bobble by David would help secure Trevor’s 1st place run, with David settling for 2nd and Mark running well in third.
2wd SCT A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st(tq): Mark McKinnon, 2nd: Jeremy Sherriff, 3rd: William Muirhead
In this race Maxim would borrow William’s tlr 2wd SCT to make his debut in the class. From the tone Mark took a strong lead and was able to gap the field with a last corner pass on Jeremy. The race was for 2nd between Jeremy and William. At times William would close in on Jeremy who was running consistently in this final race. William he even got a slight lead into 2nd at the 6:00 minute mark of the race, but a traction roll at the end of the straight would give Jeremy the space he would need to secure 2nd. The finish order would be Mark in 1st, Jeremy 2nd, with William in 3rd.
2wd Stadium A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st(tq): Gordon Mercer, 2nd: Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Maxim Losier
In 2wd Stadium we welcomed new racer Michel Ruest to his first ever race. He improved with every qualifier and had a great final! In this race Gordon would put together one of his best races this summer, driving consistently and avoiding wrecks to finish a strong 1st. Stephane would also have a strong race, but the slightest bobble here and there would keep him from challenging for the lead and hold him to the 2nd spot on the podium. Maxim would follow Stephane closely in this race, and he would finish 3rd on the podium.
Note: mid race (5:14 of the low view video) the lap counter would miss one of Stephane’s laps. He ran a wide line out to the pipe and maybe that was a weak spot for the the loop.
4wd Buggy A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st: William Muirhead, 2nd(tq): Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Dario Paoletti
The 4wd Buggy race was full of surprises! This race had a ton of position changes throughout the race, making it anyone’s game for a podium position. Early in the race Dario would battle Stephane over the first spot. Dario would eventually take first and pull out a commanding lead! William and Stephane would spend a great deal of the race battling over the 2nd spot. The race was going well for Dario until he had a horrific lap with crashes and marshalling where he dropped from 1st to 4th in just 2 laps. William would take advantage and take 1st for himself, and Stephane would grab 2nd. Dario would recover and finish on the podium in 3rd.
4wd SCT A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st: Gregg Lawton, 2nd: William Muirhead, 3rd(tq): Dario Paoletti
4wd SCT was a nailbiter! (Well worth seeing Trevor’s reaction to the final lap on the high video, he is standing to the right of the camera.) At the start of this race Dario and Gregg would have trouble getting into the race, as both fell from the top spots to run in last for a lap or 2. Mark Baird would take full advantage of the situation and lead the racers around the track for the opening lap, followed closely by William. William would then challenge Mark for the top spot and take it for himself! Gregg was able to recover from his early lap woes and work his way into 1st with William following close behind. Gregg would barely tap a pipe and this would give William all the chance he needed to make the pass for 1st. The 2 racers would run about 10-20 feet apart for the next 4 minutes, giving the spectators a driving clinic. One truck would slightly bobble and they would be close together, the next lap a bobble would bring them further apart. Lap after lap this Cat and Mouse game would continue. Then on the last lap as the counter was counting down from 10 … 9 …. 8 … Gregg would make his move. With 10 feet of track to make up, he first found a few feet after the table top at the end of the straight. Then he would find a quick line around the lollipop and infield before the jumps to close up another few feet. Then he would find the line through the jump section that put him right on William’s back bumper at the corner step down. It was a dead heat as the 2 drivers came down the short step down straight, but William went a little wide coming down the small straight into the infield sweeper. William left enough space to drive a truck through, and Gregg took the invitation with a clean pass. Best captured by Trevor saying “what the hell …”!!! The race would finish with Gregg 1st, William 2nd, and Dario 3rd.
1/8 E-Buggy A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st(tq) Stephane Doucet, 2nd: Dario Paoletti, 3rd: Mark McKinnon
At the tone of this race Stephane and Dario would get the jump on the field and pull a slight gap from the pack. Mark would have an initial slow start off the line but would quickly recover and find himself in 3rd early in the first lap. Stephane looked to be pulling away from the field little by little each lap. He had a bit of trouble getting by Trevor and that caused a tumble on the straight, where Stephane’s buggy ended up under the drivers stand in a tough to marshal spot. By the time he was back on track he was down in 2nd with Dario about a straightaway lead. After running some close nose to tail laps, Dario tapped the Lollipop corner and this allowed Stephane to sneak by. The race settled in from that point on with Stephane pulling away from Dario a little at a time. On the last corner Stephane would get into Mark coming on to the straight but it would not change the order with Stephane finishing 1st, Dario 2nd, and Mark 3rd on the podium.
1/8 E-Truggy A-Main: RESULTS – HIGH ANGLE – LOW ANGLE
1st(tq): Stephane Doucet, 2nd: William Muirhead, 3rd: Maxim Losier
At the tone of 1/8 Truggy, Maxim would jump into 1st from his 3rd place start. Over the next few laps Maxim would race close and battle for the first spot. Lots of close racing in the video for sure. William was just within reach in 3rd in case the drivers got tangled. Maxim looked like he just may pull away. At the 3 minute mark Maxim would tag the pipe at the end of the straight allowing Stephane by into first. Then a few laps later Maxim would tag the pipe going in to the double section and that would let William advance to 2nd. At the 2 minute mark Maxim seemed to loose all grip in his truck driving wildly over the pipe at a couple places on the track. Stephane would have a bit of trouble getting by Trevor late in the race which allowed William to catch up and maybe challenge for the lead. William would get close, but not close enough to make a real run at the lead and the race would end with Stephane 1st, William 2nd, and Maxim 3rd.
Event Photos:
