2005
CHARITY CHALLENGE - RACE REPORT
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Blue skies and smiling faces greeted the drivers at the 2005 PDNR Charity Challenge.
The event, organised by Penrith District Nitro Racing Inc. (PDNR) involved just
under fifty entrants competing over five divisions: EP Open, Open Pan, Off Road,
Nitro Lite and Nitro Open. The Charity Challenge was held at Oran Park, once
again a main attraction of the Kids Race Day.
EP
OPEN - Sponsored by Harris RC
For the first time at the Charity Challenge, there was enough interest from
electric drivers to have a division especially for them, and they didn't disappoint
the crowd. Special thanks to all the EP drivers for their efforts and support
of the event, particularly the group from Canberra's club ACTMCRC.
From the first practice laps it became clear that the fast man would be Mark Wallin, and he dominated qualifying sitting comfortable in TQ position at the end of each run. David Bird and Splitty Miller we tight in battle for the next two positions, but Michael Barendrecht trumped them both in the final qualifier to secure Q2, delegating Bird to Q3 and Miller to Q4.
The first five-minute leg of the A Final would be a repeat performance by Mark Wallin, leading from start to finish to take the win one lap ahead of Bird, Barendrecht and Miller. Finally the luck changed for Allan Johnson who finished in fifth place after starting last due to a terrible run during qualifying.
The second
leg saw Wallin reinforce his dominance winning by two laps and setting the fastest
lap of the day for EP in the process - 15.434. Barendrecht, Miller and Bird
were again fighting for the minor placings and finished leg two in that order.
OPEN
PAN - Sponsored by Graham's Hobby Centre
Open Pan consisted of five entrants, made up of a mixture of 1/8 scale and 1/10
235mm on road cars. Steve Valletta showed promise early topping the sheets after
the first qualifier, but it would be Jonathan Freund and Steve O'Connor who
secured the top two spots, delegating Valletta back to third.
The A Final (10 minutes) was essentially a two horse race between Freund and O'Connor. Freund lead from start to finish but came under pressure by O'Connor mid race. O'Connor would eventually drop one lap behind after he was issued a drive through penalty for short-coursing. The finish was close, only 0.5 seconds, but Freund safely took the win with 38 laps, posting the fastest lap of the day, an impressively fast 13.794. O'Connor second 37 laps and Keith Weaver third 20 laps.
OFF ROAD - Sponsored by Massive Mods
Eight Off Roaders attacked the Oran Park bitumen with buggies and trucks sharing
the circuit. It was clear early that the monster trucks were no match for the
buggies and a side competition emerged between Kim O'Connor and David Baker
- the two truck drivers.
For the TQ honour would be an exciting battle between Michael Turner, Mark Deberard and George Dib. Deberard set the early benchmark in the first qualifyier, but this would be raised by Turner who was on TQ pace in both the second and third qualifiers. Dib drove a blinder in the third qualifier, pulling out a personal best time to secure second by the narrowest of margins.
The Off Road finals are always action packed, and this was no different. The marshals were kept busy with many drivers forgetting which way the wheels are supposed to face (down!), but Turner would dominate, claiming the fastest lap of 15.745 and taking the win ahead of Deberard and Ron Sant who drove well moving up from seventh on the grid.
NITRO LITE - Sponsored by Auswide Hobbies & Collectables
Nitro Lite was contested by thirteen drivers and again there was one standout.
Rod Albronda set TQ pace every qualifying run and set the quickest lap of 15.717.
Father and Son, John and Frankie Torre troubled the scorers early, but were
deligated down the order as Robert Blanch, Splitty Miller and Rod Morgan got
their eye in.
The B Final was an entertaining race with positions changing more times than that crowd cheered. For the ten minute race, Ron Sant started from pole position, after just missing the A Final, but had to work his way back to thr front after a bad start dropped him back to third. Sant then lost the lead to David Baker mid race after trouble but again drove hard and regained the lead with one minute remaining. Baker finished a respectable second, Mark O'Connor third.
On paper the A Final would be a hotly contested race. The battle at the front between Albronda, Blanch, Miller and Morgan had the crowd on their feet with positions changing as fast as the laps. Disaster struck Albronda on lap 23 while chasing the leaders he pushed the limit, clipping a timber causing him to retire. At the same time Miller broke through to take the lead after a multi lap battle with Blanch for the top spot. Blanch drove hard and fought his way back to the front taking the win by the smallest of margins 0.32 seconds. Third place went to John Torre who drove a clean and consistent race moving up from sixth on the grid.
NITRO OPEN - Sponsored by Graham's Hobby Centre
Nitro Open had fourteen entrants doing battle, but again it would be one driver
who dominated proceedings. Tony Firth set a new TQ pace every qualifyier and
posted the best lap of 13.948. Team mate Michael Turner was never far behind
and comfortable secured second on the grid. Steve Valletta was also improving
with every run and completed the top three.
The B Final was dominated by Matt Ferguson, leading from start to finish. Charles Pilotto secured second and Laurie Cauchi third.
The A Final would again be the Firth and Turner show, the pair leading away from the field and clearing out. Laurie Grima was holding third until a mod race retirement promoted Valletta to the final podium position. It was a very exciting last minute of the race as Firth began to loose drive due to stripped belts, forced to limp around and hope to finish the race. Turner, who was fully aware of Firth's misfortune set himself to the task driving extrememly hard to try and make up the two lap deficeit. Turner had reclaimed one lap as the buzzer sounded, Firth only just making it across the line, lacking enough drive to make it back to pit lane. Turner seconds with Valletta third completing a Kyosho RRR top three.
DUNNY DERBY - Sponsored by Auswide Hobbies & Collectables
The highlight of the RC action would have to be the demolition dunny derby.
This year fourteen balsa wood dunnies were prepared thanks to Michael Turner.
The material supplied by the sponsor Auswide Hobbies & Collectables who
this year introduced a trophy for the most entertaining driver.
The carnage was everwhere, wheels breaking away, basla cement breaking apart and bits of balsa spearing everywhere. The huge crowed echoes every impact and every smash sent more balse into the stratosphere. The Benny Hill music kept the theme with the best summary of the event from four year old Rhys O'Connor,
"It's not a race, it's cars crashing with with houses on the back"
The eventual winner of the Dunny Derby Award was Steve Valletta and his Thunder Tiger MTA4.
RC vs 1:1 DRAG
The RC action drew centre stage during the lunch break for the annual battle
between a RC machine and a real life sized car. All eyes were focused on the
main straight as Steve O'Connor lined up his new and absoluelty awesome ¼
scale dragster. The opponent, this year was a furious Ford Sports Sedan. Preparation
and R&D was a bit rushed for Steve and there was no time for a practice
run, it was straight into action. The Ford got the jump off the line, but Steve
kept tow once the ¼ beast got underway. The gap remained constant as
the cars crossed the line. The Ford a popular winner amongst the crowd and the
the long RC faces from Team O'Connor were heading back to the drawing board.
The loss this year takes the overall score to 2:1 in favour of the 1:1 cars,
but RC will be back next year!
CONCOURSE
- Sponsored by Custom T-Shirts & Trophies
Bluey from Custom T-Shirts & Trophies has always looked after PDNR with
smart looking trophies and awards, so who better to sponsor Concourse. This
year the winner was Michael Turner with his outstanding themed design based
on the Kids Race Day, and incorporating the Rotary Club of St George Central
who organise event.