After thoroughly enjoying my return to the bitumen at the Northern Rivers race, I made a return to the dirt in Tassie this weekend for the first round of the summer series at my club.

This time I was running an EP truck (Team Associated SC10) in the mixed EP class, and the Team Magic B8RS nitro buggy in the Pro Buggy class. Both are on test for Racing Lines (and you can read about them in a couple of months when those stories go to print) so it was good to give them an on-track competition workout.

The club has struggled heaps over the last couple of months with Tassies wettest winter in about 50 years – meaning that most of the club events since July have either been cancelled or weather affected.  As a result, numbers were a little down, but with fine weather returning over the coming weeks, we can look forward to some good races ahead.   Still, there were about 40 entries today, with 9 in the Pro Buggy class.

The SC10 I ran in a mixed EP class, but without a transponder. It was heaps of fun, and I remain convinced that Short Course trucks are a very fun class to race…..and I think (hope) they’ll take over from Stadium Trucks in the year/s ahead.

In Pro Buggy I ran into a few glitches during the day, meaning that I didn’t finish a race until the last qualifier when I had a decent run.  NWRCCC uses a strange aggregate qualifying system, so I was qualified dead last.  Way to go Scott!

In the final I got off to a good start to hit the lead after lap one, and then raced very close with Sam and Tim (the two fastest buggy racers at the club).  Sadly I made a small error and rolled at the point on track furthest from marshals about 5 minutes into the 30 minute race – losing a heap of time.  Eventually I caught Sam, but Tim was too fast and too consistent. Sam and I battled backward and forward swapping positions both on track and in pit stops until I had an engine cut at about 18 minutes, followed in quick succession by another cut.

My super pitman Matt got me back on track and I bumped the idle up on the Tx – the buggy then running flawlessly through to the end, picking up a few spots, but still finishing mid-field. Still plenty of lessons to learn about engine tuning obviously!

Running a 30 minute final was a novelty, the first time I’ve run that long I think (we usually run 20 minute finals at NWRCCC).  I was a little worried about the concentration factor having recently been running 5 minute EP races, and I certainly made a few mistakes right around the end of the first five minutes – but I actually got into a really nice groove after that and in the last 10 minutes of the final.  It was fun to be able to be able to settle into a groove – and I have to say, pit stops are quite an adrenaline rush!

The Pro Buggy class at NWRCCC is coming along nicely, with the overall standard of driving much improved throughout the year as the guys get to grips with what for many is still a relatively new sport.  I’m only there every couple of months, so don’t get to race with the guys as much as I would like, but each time I go, the level of competition is just a little tougher.

After a few days of sunshine in a row (amazing!), the track was relatively dry for this event – certainly the driest its been since it was put down in May.  Indications are that when it dries out completely over the coming weeks it will be slick in places, but really fun to drive. 

The Club is running a Club Championship race in December, as a pre-cursor to a sanctioned Tasmanian championship in 2010. The race runs over two days and should be lots of fun – with I think a 45 minute final at the end of it – that should be interesting.  I think I’ll be back running the LRP S8 BX for that race.