Round 2 of the 2011 ORRCA Vic Series was ‘Mallee Madness 5 – Smak It’ held at the always popular Mildura track. A massive 108 entries were received for the event, the most seen for many years at an ORRCA Vic round. This shows the healthy state of EP racing in Victoria, including the strong growth of the Short Course class which had a full A-main grid. Biggest class of the weekend was 2w mod with 20 entries.

As always, the Mildura club lead by PK and The Big Show had prepared a fantastic layout, this time with a new white clay surface which has proved to be more durable in all weather conditions. There were some tweaks to the layout since the 2010 Coleman Cup, with the first tabletop a little larger, a mid corner lump just after that and a tweak to the entry of the back tabletop. The most fun change was a re-profiling of the last hairpin onto the straight, now with a raised section that allowed drivers to use gravity to help rip the car through the corner and down onto the straight.

The new surface was a success, starting off moist in the morning (including a few small showers) but grooving up beautifully when the sun came out with minimal dust off the line. The combination of good grip, smooth surface and fun layout made for one of the most enjoyable tracks in recent memory. Comments were made that it was an awesome 4w mod track, rewarding an attacking driving style and allowing close racing.

Modified Entrants

The fields were deep in talent with many drivers using the event as a warmup for the Vic Titles in August at the same track. The 2w and 4w mod fields were headed by 2010 Champ Ray Munday (Associated / JConcepts / Novak) and Ben Sterling (Kyosho / Nosram), who have finished 1st and 2nd in every event since the 2010 Coleman Cup. Round 1 at Keilor saw both classes fall to Ray after incredibly close racing – would MM5 see a continuation of this battle?

Logan Symes (Losi 22 / AE B44) has been quickly improving since joining mod, making the A final in both classes at the Perth Nats over Easter and was looking to shine at his home track. Scott Cameron (Team C) and Andrew Giddings (Kyosho) are both past stock national champs running on their home track. Ben ‘The FOS’ Roulestone (Kyosho) is always fast at Mildura, and for this event there was a new face in the mod field– Adam Alexander. A top nitro driver, he has recently moved to Portland (south west Vic) and is looking to do more EP racing. He was running the Losi 22 in 2w mod and running an old T3 in truck mod. John Grenville (B4 / B44) and Mark Polistena (Schumacher) were other drivers expected to keep the field honest.

Truck mod has had poor entries of late, but for this event there was good support with Ray Munday, Scott Cameron and Adam Alexander looking to battle it out for the win.

Equipment

Ben Sterling was seen running Big Bore shocks on both his Kyosho buggies and claimed that they helped the performance in the second half of a run.

The Losi 22 was being used by many drivers and looked fast and stable on the track, especially in the hands of Logan and Alexander. Most drivers were running in rear motor configuration.

Most drivers used JConcepts Double Dees or Pro-Line Holeshot V2.0s, with some using Bar Codes at the end of the day when the groove had appeared. The Holeshots are the control tyre for the Vics, but the Double Dees provided a little more traction on the day.

Qualifiers (Format: 3 rounds, IFMAR style)

2wd Modified:

Qualifying in 2wd was a tough affair with 3 different winners over the 3 rounds. Conditions were difficult with some short rain showers appearing during the 2w mod heats. Logan Symes impressed with a TQ in round 1 from Ben Sterling. Ben Roulestone and Ray Munday had a close race in heat 2, but it rained on their warmup lap slowing lap times, placing them P3 and P4. Ray Munday took out round 2 from Ben Sterling, and Ben Sterling won round 3 from Ray. Ben Sterling got TQ on countback, Ray in 2nd and Adam Alexander a very impressive 3rd. Logan Symes and Ben Roulestone rounded out the Top 5 on the grid.

4wd Modified:

Round 1 saw Ray and Ben have a close battle throughout the race, Ray eventually scoring first blood, Scott Cameron not far behind. In Round 2 Ben had a mechanical gremlin, allowing Ray to TQ with Logan 2nd in the round. In Round 3, Ray made it a clean sweep, while Ben tried some different tyres and finished well off the pace. Ray ended up with TQ, Logan a threatening 2nd, Ben 3rd from Scott Cameron and Johnny G 5th.

Truck Modified:

Rays warmup lap was the first run of his truck on the track, but someone forgot to tell his truck that as it worked perfectly from Lap 1. Scott Cameron and Adam Alexander chased hard but Ray TQ’d after 2 rounds and elected to sit out the 3rd to concentrate on preparing his buggies for the finals. Adam Alexander won the 3rd round to secure 2nd on the grid from Scott, Luke Brouwer showing improved form with 4th on the same lap as the leaders.

Mains (Format: 3 Finals)

540 Class:

Matt West was the dominant driver in this class, taking TQ and winning the first 2 finals. Matt Gardner won A3 to take 2nd overall and Mila Giddings showed she is getting faster each race meet by finishing 3rd.

Stock Classes:

Local hotshot Shaun Thiel TQ'd all 3 stock classes (2wd, 4wd and truck) but it wasnt as easy for him in the finals. Shaun took out 2wd from Bendigo driver Scott Rawlings (who had the loudest cheer squad) and Paul Kealley (who doubled as race director). In truck, he had to contend with former multi-time national stock champion Scott Giles who made a comeback for the event. Shaun finished 1st from Scott, Paul Kealley again 3rd. 4wd was a different story with John Watkins (B44) winning A1, Mick Salis (X5) A2 and Scott Rawlings (B44) A3. Mick Salis took the overall win from Scott and John, with Shaun finishing 4th.

Short Course Truck:

A full field of SCTs showed that the class is well and truly growing in Australia with a diverse mix of chassis. Scott Rawlings TQ'd with his SC10 from Mick Salis (XXX-SCT), and it came down to the 3rd final between the two. Mick shadowed Scott before he made a spectacular mid-air pass to take the lead and win overall.

2wd Modified:

As has been the case for the last few rounds, the finals were a tough battle between Ray and Ben Sterling. In A1, Ray managed to pass Ben on Lap 1 and lead all the way to the wire. Ben again tried a different tyre and found that the handling of his RB5 went away. In A2, Ben and Ray pulled out a gap from the field with Ben holding a 1s lead. At about half distance, Ben made a small mistake in the far section and ended up on the wrong side of the pipe, giving Ray the lead which he held to the end to take overall victory. In A3, Ben and Ray again took off in the lead, but Ray had a DNF with a pinion working itself loose. Ben took the win with FTD to secure 2nd overall, Adam Alexander showing he is quick in electric with a 3rd placing from Logan. Ben Roulestone, after showing early promise had terrible luck in the finals and wasn’t able to show his true form.

4wd Modified:

4wd had the most exciting racing of the day, the result not clear until the last lap of the third main. In A1, Ray got away to an early lead and never relinquished it, but Logan Symes and Ben Sterling were never far behind. Ben managed to pass Logan at the 4 minute mark for 2nd to keep the pressure on, but was not close enough to make a pass.

In A2, Ray, Logan and Ben got off to an early lead. Ben made a pass on Logan and was right behind the leader when Ray clipped a kerb in the esses, rolling over. Incredibly, Ben then clipped him and also rolled, giving Logan the lead while Ray and Ben were now both in the pack. Some uncharacteristic tangles between Ben and Ray held them up and left Logan unchallenged, Ray eventually finishing 2nd and Ben 3rd.

All 3 drivers had a chance of winning going into A3. On lap 1, Ray had an awkward landing off the tabletop dropping to the back of the pack, while Logan and Ben shot off to the lead. Ray drove hard to work back through the pack, and with 2 laps to go had caught up to Logan in 1st. Going over the doubles, Logan got slightly sideways and Ray tried to pass but was spun around and gave Logan some breathing space. Logan ran slightly wide onto the straight, allowing Ray to get in under his wing, and Logan took a wide line on the first corner of the last lap, allowing Ray to sneak past under brakes into the hairpin. The two touched, Ray coming out ahead. When the points were tallied, it was Ray 1st, Ben 2nd and Logan and unlucky 3rd but showing that he will be tough to beat at the Vic Titles.

Truck Modified:

Ray and his T4 easily won A1 and A2 with times that would have placed first in 2w open. The Mildura track rewards an aggressive style, and trucks respond to aggressive driving with big powerslides and wheelstands seen by all drivers! Adam Alexander and Scott Cameron chased hard and raced closely for 2nd and 3rd. In A3, Ray made a tyre change on the warmup lap, missing the start and letting Adam and Scott get out to the lead. This was the best race of the day in truck with several lead changes, Ray eventually taking the win with Adam and Scott closely behind.

Summary

As always, the Mildura club put on a fantastic event on what is arguably the best and most fun track in the country. Despite the high entries, racing was finished by 430pm allowing all those who had travelled to get on the road early.

The Victorian Titles will be held at the club the first weekend of August. Everyone reading this report should enter now!!!