2009 Victorian Titles Race Report

By AllisonAt the Track

Event: 2009 Victorian Off Road Championships
Type: 1/10 Electric off road
Date: 17-19 April, 2009
Track: Wodonga (3 hours north of Melbourne)
Surface: Red Clay, blue groove
Temperature: 15C in the mornings, 25C and sunny through the days
Entries: 150
Race Reporter: Ray Munday

JConcepts continued its domination down under at the prestigious Victorian EP off-road championships in Australia, with team drivers Matt Griffin and Ray Munday taking a clean sweep of the open classes.

Held at the historic and picturesque Wodonga track, 3 hours north of Melbourne, racers were presented with a perfectly prepared track which was challenging yet fun to race on combining high speed sections, a very technical infield and lots of jumps.  Cool mornings, warm afternoons and a surface which continued to groove up all weekend put tyre choice at a premium and tested drivers of all skill levels.

In 4w open, 10 time National champion Matt took TQ after a close battle with Ray (BJ4WE), and then took the win in the finals.  An electrical DNF in A1 cost Ray dearly and he ended up placing 3rd after losing 2nd on a countback.

In 2w mod, Matt also TQ’d and took the first 2 A finals to seal the win.  Ray won the third final to claim second from up and coming young driver Jay Beattie.   

JConcepts Bar Codes were the tyre of choice on the front for 2wd and 4wd (rear was control tyre), with Blue compounds used in the morning and Orange compound when the track warmed up.  Matt and Ray chose Hi-Flow bodies and 6.5” JC wings on their buggies.  Ray also used the JC Rulux rims.

Ray took out the mod truck class on his first foray into the class.  Matt TQ’d but some terrible luck in the finals prevented him from taking the treble of classes.  Jay Beattie, a previous stock truck national champ, showed he will be a future champ by finishing second in his first big race since moving up to the open class.  

Ray chose to use the Hi-Flow T4 body, Rulux rims and JC tyres (Double Dees in the morning, Bar Codes in the afternoon) to take the win.

JConcepts victories weren’t limited to the open classes.  In 4w Superstock, Mildura driver Ben ‘The FOS’ Roulstone took TQ and the win using JC bodies, wings and ballcups. Scott Giles from Mildura claimed the 2w superstock title and TQ’d truck stock, which was won by Antony Howard.   16year old Ryan Clark showed he will be a future threat as he converted his long journey from Queensland into a double victory, taking out the 2w and 4w stock classes. He used JC wings and bodies and trusted JC rounder front tyres when the track was cool.

Thanks to the Wodonga club for putting on a great event at one of the best tracks in Australia!

 Ray Munday