oOple Series Round One - Schumacher Double win

[jimmy]

The inaugural oOple Series - or more formally known as the 'oOple Offroad Open Series' - kicked off this past weekend with round one at Stotfold Model Car Club.

The weather couldn't have been better and the strict 'leave the attitudes at home' warning seemed to work well since everyone loved it!
Nathan Ralls took the early TQ in both 2WD and 4WD classes - he was on fire with his C4.1 and Xray XB4. With a perfect score in both classes after two rounds he was looking fairly secure for the overall TQ. Lloyd Storey had something to say about it however and after taking the 3rd and final round of 2WD qualifying of the day, it was decided we'd run an extra round, which Lloyd took advantage of with another win to go equal on points with Nathan. The final round of 2WD qualifying was taken by Kevin Lee so by virtue of his faster time, it was Lloyd that took the overall 2WD TQ.

No one could really touch Nathan Ralls in 4WD - his Xray buggy had some little mods and he'd done a lot of setup work - and it showed. With just Tom Cockerill able to steal round three, Nathan took rounds 1,2,4 & 5. Domination.

With three-leg finals for all drivers, everyone had a good amount of track time. Lloyd and Tom Cockerill each took a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in 2WD A final legs, but it was Lloyd that took the overall win by virtue of his faster winning time.

In 4WD Nathan again wasn't having much luck. Tom Cockerill took leg one before Nathan fought back to take leg 2. Everything came down to the final lap and after leading the race for 4:58, Nathan made a small error right before the finish line - throwing away the win and allowing Tom to sail past for the overall victory and a double Schumacher win.

It was a great weekend with racing finishing bang on schedule at 4pm, leaving plenty of time for people to get home at a reasonable hour. Once we've released the report and video there will be no doubt people will 'get it'. A huge thanks to all the oOple crew and Stotfold guys, especially Keith who was everywhere and did more than we'd possibly expect from him.

The next round at Robinhood Raceway on the astroturf track is very close to full so if you've not got your name down for a fun and relaxed weekend of racing, do it now!