Caldi National Report

[JonMack]

Some people are great in the mornings, their alarm goes off, they hop up out of bed and are ready for the day within minutes. On rare occasions I am one of these people, but Sunday the 9th of January was not one of those times. Hearing my alarm going off at 6:15 was quite painful after only resting my head on the pillow 5 or so hours earlier, but my three years of lack-of-sleep training which I undertook at university a few years ago come in handy every now and then. Within an hour of waking up my chauffeur for the day had arrived, and we hit the M5.

With three rounds behind us it was time to head over the bridge for the first time this season, and year, to the welcoming doors of Caldicot RC club. Caldicot is well known within the 10th scale scene and also has a decent number of micro racers attending it's meetings, in fact our chairman Mr. Cris Oxley calls this his home club, as does micro superstar Craig Harris.

When I walked into the hall, the first thing that struck me was the warmth, the last two events I attended called for hoodies hats and fleece jackets all day long, within a few minutes of arriving I had taken all that gubbins off and was down to one layer! In comparison to last years event the immediate trackside pits were smaller, this is due to the minimum straight length that was brought in at the last EGM. Still there was plenty of room for racers in the room next to the track, and this is where the majority set up. Thanks to a certain treasurer I had bagged a table trackside, so after getting all my junk unloaded I decided to scope out the track.



Andy at Caldicot is known for his brilliant track building skills, and this was no exception. From the main straight you headed into a hairpin, over a hump then a left hander taking you onto the first section of slippery floor, over another little bump and another left hander had you heading back the way you had come, except this time it was time to go up a ramp to a right hander hairpin set ontop of some tables, a quick blitz of the throttle brought you down the ramp onto the back straight, another right hander took you into a slippery chicane, and once getting back onto a small strip of carpet, a left hander led to the main jump. After popping over this it was time to double back using the banked wall-ride corner and a ninety degree left hander lead to a very tricky left hand one-eighty degree gym-mat section. Once you got through those a quick double back led you back onto the main straight.





After booking in and drivers briefing it was time to hit the track for practice. First out were the 1/18th 2wd guys, followed by a heat of 16th 4wd, then 16th 2wd, 18th 4wd, and 3 more 16 4. Everyone was in agreement that the track was nice and fast, the slippery sections certainly made for interesting driving but most people were coping okay. After a short break where unsurprisingly there were no changes made to the track, a testament to Andy's building abilities, it was time to start qualifying.

Qualifying kicked off in the usual manner, same order as practise with the best two of four rounds counting as your qualifying position. In 18th 4wd it was no surprise to see Keith Robertson ending up in first position after heat one, with Paul Knight taking the honours in 18th 2wd. 16th 2wd had Gav Stephenson leading the pack, and 16th 4wd had Craig Harris ending up on top, a position he kept all day, closely followed by Phil Sleigh, then Danny Conway.

One of the issues which was brought to light (excuse the pun) in the second round of qualifying was the issue with the sun coming through windows, reflecting off the floor and causing the drivers discomfort. There was a flurry of activity before the 1/16th 2wd heat got underway as a number of sponsor banners got zip-tied over the windows, within 5 minutes or so practice was back underway and there were no more complaints regarding that matter. Something which was also brought up by Craig Harris was the heating, as the hall got warmer, the floor got grippier and lap times started to come down slightly, then as the heating went off, the floor cooled down and the lap times got slower, Craig found he was going around half a second faster per lap on the warmer track, so the decision was made to keep the heating on as much as possible, to make it a level playing field for all drivers.



The most exciting heat of the day had to be the final 1/18th 4WD heat. There had been a bit of banter between Keith Robertson and Craig Harris about who would get the fastest time of the day, and when Keith stepped up to the rostrum to start his final heat, as soon as the computer called his number he was off. People were gathered round the computer checking his lap times, comparing them to Craigs, seeing how he was doing, he had a couple of niggles in the first few laps but once he got into the rhythm he was absolute flying, his car was possessed, I had the pleasure of marshalling during the round and it was without a doubt the best bit of RC driving I have ever witnessed, the car was on rails right up until his final lap, he overshot the jump slightly and didn't quite get enough time to turn on the banked corner, the car went over the top and despite some quick marshalling, Keith wasn't able to get the fastest time of the day. It was incredible to watch that little RC18B2 go round the track, I'm sure it will be talked for months to come as some of the best qualifying ever witnessed at a UK micro national event.

After all four heats the positions had changed slightly, KRob stayed up front in 18th 4wd, with Danny Conway in second, and Scott Dumayne in third. 18th 2wd was dominated by Scott Dumayne, after coming in second in heat one he stepped up his game in the final heats to take not only first spot from local Paul Knight, but TQ for the day as well. 16th 2wd saw a battle between Dan Osborne, Gavin Stephenson and Danny Conway for pole, in the end Danny Conway got the top spot with a blinding final run which also saw him get TQ, Gavin Stephenson followed in second and Phat Bodies Jr. aka Dan Osborne filling the final spot of the top three. Local Craig Harris managed to keep the top spot all day in 16th 4wd, with Phil Sleigh and Danny Conway rounding out the top three. Has to be noted that not only did Danny Conway race in three classes all day, he also came top three in all of them!



First final of the day was 18th 2wd. Although there were only three drivers participating in this race, it made for some nail biting action watching Paul and Scott battle it out, it wasn't until the final minute where Paul made a few small errors, which allowed Scott to get past and take the win for his first win of the season. Next up was the 16th 4wd D final, which contained Steve Guppy, Jon Dowding, Tony Mulligan, James Sanders, Jake Venter and RCMI owner Cain Squires filling the last spot. In the end it was Steve Guppy who took the win from Tony Mulligan, with Jon Dowding in third. The 18th 4wd final followed, unsurprisingly it was Keith Robertson who took the win from Danny Conway, Scott Dumayne followed in third place. Rounding up that final saw Winston Barnett in fourth, and Mat North in fifth.





The 16th 2wd final saw a tight battle between Danny Conway, Gavin Stephenson and Dan Osborne, in the end it was Osborne who came out ahead, followed by Conway, then Stephenson. Dan Harding finished fourth, with Stu Mac, Steve Hawkins, myself and Mr. Phat Bodies Si Osborne rounding up the final places.