Event: 2009 Coleman Cup
(Final round of 2009 Mildura RC Centre
ORRCA Vic Drivers Series)
Type: 1/10 EP Off-Road
Track: Keilor, Melbourne Australia
Weather: 11-22C (52-72F), Mostly Sunny
Race Reporter: Ray Munday
Date: 4th October 2009
Track Conditions: High grip
JConcepts drivers Matt Griffin and Ray Munday continued their winning ways in Australia, taking out 4wd and 2wd modified at the Coleman Cup in Melbourne against a tough field.
The Coleman Cup is an annual memorial event for a young racer who was taken at a tragically young age, and celebrates sportsmanship, close racing and the love of RC cars – all things Brendan is remembered for.
The 2009 edition of the event was held at the Keilor Rc track, and attracted close to 90 entries for the 1 day event. The Keilor club prepared a fantastic high grip track with a challenging layout including fast sweepers, a tight infield, lots of elevation changes and a new step up jump. After rain in the week leading up to the event, the weather was perfect for the weekend, varying between 11C and 21C on race day, making for great racing conditions!
This year the race was also the final round of the 2009 ORRCA Vic Drivers Series, sponsored by the Mildura RC Centre. Some awesome trophies were up for grabs as was over $1500 worth of raffle prizes!
2W Mod: Qualifying was a close battle between the 2009 and 2008 2w Mod national champs, Matt Griffin and Ray Munday. Cool conditions made Blue Bar Codes Fr&Rr the choice tyres to have in the early rounds. Rays Novak Brushless powered B4 led the way in Q1 before dumping with a minute to go after a rookie mistake (putting the wrong pack in his car!) giving Matts Reedy / Nosram powered B4 the round win. In Q2, Ray took the round win from Matt, taking qualifying to the 3rd and final round. With the temperature now close to 20C, it was time to strap on the Orange Bar Codes and watch the lap times come down! After a very close battle, it was Matt taking the win and pole, Ray on 2nd and Justin Vergunst lining up 3rd with his RB5.
4W Mod: Ray had a smoother run in 4wd qualifying, winning all three qualifiers with his Novak powered BJ4 WE, but it was not easy as Ben Panic (who had flown down from Sydney) pushed him hard, also sporting Bar Codes. Showing great speed with his new Durango, Ben qualified 2nd, and Matt qualified 3rd after some electrical gremlins prevented him from completing Q2. Ray used Blue Bar Codes for the first qualifier and switched to Orange Bar Codes from the 2nd round onwards, breaking through the 12 lap barrier in the 2nd and 3rd rounds.
2W Mod Mains: The scene was set for a close series of finals, and the first 2w mod final was one of the toughest races of the day. Matt Griffin led from start to finish, but throughout the race Ray was right on his hammer, the gap never bigger than 1s. There was some side-by side racing through the race but the two never tangled, the race being completed in a record time of 11/5:08 that was only about 10s off the fastest 4w mod time of the day!
The crowd was on their feet for final 2, but after an early mistake from Matt, Ray was able to control the pace and take home the win. With a 1st and 2nd each, the 3rd final would be the decider. Again Matt and Ray got out to the lead, but a roll over the step up jump on lap 4 by Matt gave Ray some breathing space and put Matt back in the pack. Ray cruised home for the win and the 2009 2w Mod Coleman Cup trophy, Matt finishing 2nd overall and Justin finishing 3rd with some fast lap times in the finals.
Matt’s 2nd placing gave him 1st place in the 2009 Mildura RC Centre driver series.
4W Mod Mains: After the first 2w mod final, the crowd was ready for another intense battle in 4wd and they weren’t disappointed!! Ray led the way from TQ, coming under pressure from Ben Panic for the first lap before Matt Griffin took over 2nd. Ray and Matt pulled away from the pack with Matt applying maximum pressure throughout the race. Matt was clearing the step-up jump which allowed him to overtake Ray on several occasions but it also hurt the line through next corner, allowing Ray to re-pass each time. Finally, with less than 30s to go Matt was able to make the move stick in an awesome display of mid air control. Both drivers just made it through for 12 laps, and despite his best efforts Ray wasn’t able to re-pass Matt by the end of the race. This race can be seen on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfCF6I4lcZI
In Final 2, Matt tried a similar move over the jump on Ray but cased the landing, ending up in the pack and giving Ray a 5s lead 2 minutes into the race. In a seemingly winning position, the unthinkable happened when Ray caught a rut under brakes at the end of the back straight, damaging the rear of his car and causing him to DNF. With the 2 main contenders out of the running, there was a big battle between Justin Vergunst (ZX-5 FS) and Ben Panic for the win, with Justin taking it right at the end and Matt Griffin making a big comeback to finish 2nd.
There were 3 drivers in with a mathematical chance of winning going into the third and deciding Final. This time Ray led from TQ all the way to the flag, but with Matt finishing 2nd and Justin 3rd, Matt took the overall victory from Ray and Justin. Justins 3rd place was enough to give him the 2009 drivers series title.
Truck Mod: 2008 Truck mod National champ Ash Peeler made a rare appearance in the truck mod class. It was Andrew Giddings in his new RT5 who took TQ, but after a slow start in qualifying, Ash got it together in the finals to take the win from Andrew and Pete ‘The Wookie’ Wooster. Ash used the JConcepts Scoopless Illuzion body and Rulux rims on his T4.
Mick Campion finished 5th to take out the 2009 truck mod drivers series.
Stock Classes: In the stock classs, Mick ‘the doctor’ Salis handed out the medicine in 2wd and truck stock, although Shaun Thiel managed to take 2wd TQ in a field that stretched to a C Final. Young Logan Symes took out 4wd stock, with Glenn Wilson coming home 2nd in both 2wd and 4wd stock.
540 Classes: Doug Ewen took out the 2wd/4wd double in this hotly contested class, although it was a tight battle in 2wd with Dave Engledow (TQ) and Nathan Lamacchia taking a final each. Keep a look out for these guys in the future!
Coleman Cup Trophy: This prize is awarded for the best sportsman. Mark Polistena was awarded this prestigious trophy for his selfless efforts to help out the club over many years. Great job Mark!
At the end of the day, Jconcepts Bar Codes were used to take out the modified buggy classes and were used by many racers throughout the field. Despite the abrasive track, the wear with the orange Bar Codes was particularly impressive, Ray using 1 pair of 4wd front tyres all day (5 runs) and getting 3 runs out of the rear tyres without losing lap time. In the cold morning conditions, the Blue Compound Bar Codes were the unfair advantage!!!
Pictures and race results can be found at www.rccar.com.au and www.keilorrc.com.au. Thanks to Carl Kallenbach and Ray Coleman for additional pictures.
The Coleman Cup was a great finish to the 2009 Mildura RC Centre ORRCA Vic Drivers Series. There were big turnouts all year, tough racing and lots of new faces. Roll on the 2010 series!
Products Used/Notable Happenings:
B4 Scoopless Illuzion Body, B44/BJ4 Scoopless Illuzion Body, T4 HiFlow Illuzion Body
6.5″, 7″ Wings, B4 Front Scoop
B4/B44 Rulux Wheels/T4 Rulux Rims
Blue Compound Bar Codes
Orange Compound Bar Codes
BJ4 Worlds Edition 4WD Buggy
.
.
