Team Associated Takes Four at South Island Indoor Champs 2022
The weekend of the champs had finally arrived and in true indoor racing style the weather was cold and damp - perfect conditions to be inside all weekend skidding model cars around.
A few travelers had bravely defied potential Covid and booked their accommodations. Friday night was open / controlled practice after a mammoth day of track setup and organisation.
The doors were opened at 7:30am under the cover of darkness for day 2--seeding and qualifying. It was immediately obvious that there was an elite group of 7-8 guys who had that little bit of extra speed, but the challenge would be on them to also be consistent throughout qualifying.
Four qualifying runs were done on day one and then one more on the Sunday to determine those who would contest the A mains.
By the time the finals came around, everyone had found their groove and turned the dial all the way to 11. This resulted in some fantastic racing and great sportmanship, and when the dust had finally settled the following people were at the top of their classes:
Dream Media 2WD Buggy
1. Phil Sandford (Team Associated / Christchurch)
2. Ian Rickerby (Team Associated / Christchurch).
3. David Beck (X-Ray / Invercargill)
Phil had wrapped this one in the first two races, which left defending champ Ian Rickerby to storm home and win the final race and take second place. Both of these blokes battled uphill, shaking down the new B6.4s, but when they had them dialled in, the pace was unreal.
Dave Beck drove with great speed and consistency to beat Daniel Thompson out for third place!
Mainland RC 4WD Buggy
1. Ian Rickerby (Team Associated / Christchurch)
2. David Beck (X-Ray / Invercargill)
3. Jon Cunard (Team Associated / Christchurch).
This racing was so tight. Defending champ Ian Rickerby got out to a flier taking out the first win before having a terrible run in the A2 final and coming last. This allowed Jon Cunard to push up from the B qualifying group to take out the A2 win.
In the final race Ian prevailed again, thus taking out the whole thing.
Bridgestone Kaiapoi 2WD Stadium Truck
1. Phil Sandford (Team Associated / Christchurch)
2. Jon Cunard (Team Associated / Christchurch)
3. Luke Prattley (Schumacher / Christchurch)
This one was touch and go with Phil and Jon taking a win and a second each over the first two races--before Phil prevailed taking the last one out.
GTRC 2WD SCT
1. Zac Rickerby (Team Associated / Christchurch)
2. Danny Lang (X-Ray / Invercargill)
3. Willie Sloan (Team Associated / Christchurch)
Zac Rickerby has had a lock on this trophy for the past couple of years and once again dominated in his dialled Team Associated SC6.2.
Danny Lang and Willie Sloan had a titanic battle for second place that boiled down to the last lap of the final run. Zac had broken, which left Danny to take the victory and second place overall. The crowd was heavily invested in this one!
It was another great year of champs--some races were intense with new rivalries and friendships created. RC was the winner of the day.
Photos courtesy of Christopher Innes Photography.
Thanks to Ashton Witte of Hobbystation for this report.
Associated Electrics - Champions By Design
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