2016 NSW EP10 Off Road State Titles

Grant Michelmore had arrived before dawn. Heavy overnight rain had led him to sacrifice a mattress protector, (hope you are going to reimburse yourself for that Grant), and turn it into a super soak-er… and it did a surprisingly good job. There were some occasional drops of rain still falling but it was clearing and the great work Grant had done meant that racing was not going to be delayed too long.

There was some early morning tuning and decisions to be made about the use of the control tyre goop, Sticky Kicks, with the control tyres, JConcepts Bar Codes V1 Blue Compound.

The track was slick in parts and was going to provide a challenge early. The competitors began arriving and once the scrutineers were done, racing would soon be underway.

Concourse

The concourse on Saturday morning provided the opportunity for racers to show off some impressive paint jobs and carefully set up electrics and wiring before getting dirty.

Lachlan Donnelly won the 2wd buggy category and Ryde member Sam Saad won Short Course Truck with his brand new SC5M.

On Sunday the 4wd buggy concourse was won by Jordan Isergin and Stadium Truck concourse was won by Nathaniel White.

2WD Junior Stock

Lachlan Donnelly (Castle Hill) and Nick Jolly (Maitland) were neck and neck all day. Nick took the opening two qualifiers, Jack Grey (St Ives) the third, but Lachlan posted the fastest time of the morning in the final qualifier. Nick Jolly took the TQ.

Jack Grey took out the first final and was the only Junior to make 12 laps for the day. Lachlan Donnelly was fast and consistent in finals 2 and 3 and ended up as State Champ 2016, with Nick Jolly close in second.

A special mention to the sportsmanship shown by Nick Jolly when he stopped and waited for Lachlan after a racing incident. Great driving Nick!!

2WD Stock

Ryde members Christian Homann and Chris Jordan have been setting the pace all year in 2wd stock. Both have dominated Ryde club meets and the recent NSW Club series and were arguably considered to be the favorites to battle it out for the title of NSW 2wd stock champion. Team Queensland had other ideas.

Two firsts and the fastest time of the morning gave Tim Harris from GCEORRCCC the TQ, with Christian Homann in second and Jaime Cramp, also from GCEORRCCC in third. Chris Jordan qualified fourth. In the closely fought finals Tim came out on top with a second and two firsts. He edged out Christian in second and Chris pushed both to finish third. In all three finals the top four finished within four seconds of each other. The Ryde track providing for some fast, consistent runs.

Final Placings

Tim Harris (GCEORRCCC)
Christian Homann Sydney RC (Ryde)
Chris Jordan Sydney RC (Ryde)
Jaime Cramp (GCEORRCCC)
Chris Wilson Sydney RC (Ryde)
David Matthews (Southern Highlands)
Jordan Isergin (Keilor)
Robert Uljan Sydney RC (Ryde)
Trent Johnson Sydney RC (Ryde)
Chris Primmer (Maitland)

2WD Modified

The Queenslanders shook up the locals in 2wd stock but it was the Victorians who pushed the local favourites in 2wd Mod. Andrew Selvaggi (AE) and Ray Munday (AE) from Keilor quickly adapted to the track conditions and posted fast and improving times in qualifying. However, Ari Bakla (Xray), took the TQ as he posted the fastest time of the morning and won two of the four heats. Ray Munday would start from second on the grid in the finals and Matt Kellett (AE) from third spot.

In the first final Ari edged Ray by just .7 of a second. Both drivers, along with Craig Laughton (TLR), breaking 13 laps for the first time for the day. In final 2, Andrew was the only driver to break 13 laps and took the win with a consistent Cale Wilson (TLR) in second. In final 3 it was Ari who was the sole driver to break 13 laps, taking the win and the State Title.

Final Results

Ari Bakla (St Ives)
Andrew Selvaggi (KEORCA)
Ray Munday (Keilor)
Cale Wilson (Castle Hill)
Bradd Vercoe (Castle Hill)
Craig Laughton (Maitland)
Mitchell Bacon (St Ives)
Cam Sautelle (St Ives)
Alex Richardson (Ryde)
Matt Kellett (Castle Hill)

Short Course Truck

Matt Kellett (AE) had great pace all day in SCT. From heat 3 of qualifying onward he scored 12 laps in every race and was regularly doing 25 second laps. His SC5M was easily capable of clearing the big triple and seemed to float around the track. Chis Primmer (AE) also had great pace and his truck looked just as capable. In fact he finished higher than Matt in two of the qualifying rounds but it was Matt who set the fastest time of qualifying and he took the TQ. Chris was second and Jaime Cramp (AE) would start from 3rd spot on the grid.

In the first final Chris had a super fast run, scoring 12 laps and he finished 10 seconds ahead of Matt with Jaime, who also made 12 laps in third. Matt came back with an even faster time in final 2, finishing 12 laps ahead of a consistent Sam Saad (AE), with young Jordan Isergin in third. In final 3 Matt again finished in first position ahead of Sam and Jaime in third. Two firsts gave Matt a well deserved 2016 Short Course Truck State Champion title.

Final Placings

Matt Kellett (Castle Hill)
Sam Saad (Ryde)
Chris Primmer (Maitland)
Jaime Cramp (GCEORRCCC)
Jordan Isergin (Keilor)
Mitchell Pratt (GCEORRCCC)
Brian Stewart (Knox)
Grant Robinson (Ryde)
Tim Harris (GCEORRCCC)
Lhor Chaichanachimplee (Ryde)

Image Gallery

4WD Stock

Home track advantage, a very well set up car and exceptional pace and consistency were all contributing factors to the convincing win Christian Homann (Xray) achieved in the 4wd stock event. The Ryde driver took the TQ with four runs that differed by just four seconds and he set the second fastest time of qualifying. The fastest time went to Jordan Isergin (AE) who just missed out on setting the first 13 lap run of the day. He would start from second on the grid and a fast and consistent Jeff Primmer (TLR) started from third. Jeff’s Maitland team mate and 2016 NSW Club Series 4WD Stock Champ, Luke Rich (Xray), started from fourth on the grid.

In the finals Christian was unstoppable. He scored the two fastest times of the day. Final 1; 13-5:15.868, Final 2; 13-5:15.459. That kind of consistency is hard to beat. Jeff took out second place in Final 1, agonisingly close to making 13 laps and Jordan finished third. In Final 2 it was Jordan who took second with Luke in third, both drivers making 13 laps. In Final 3 Christian sat out as he already had the title in hand. That left Jordan, Jeff and Luke to fight it out, and fight it out they did. Some aggressive driving was witnessed by all and in the end it was Jordan who took the win followed by Luke and Jeff in third.

Another special mention for Nick Jolly. The young driver from Maitland has only recently joined the 4WD stock class and achieved an outstanding result of 6th overall.

Final Placings

Christian Homann (Ryde)
Jordan Isergin (Keilor)
Jeff Primmer (Maitland)
Luke Rich (Maitland)
Chistopher Wilson (Ryde)
Nick Jolly (Maitland)
Brian Stewart (Knox)
Jack Grey (St Ives)
Lachlan Donnelly (Castle Hill)
Christopher Wilson (Castle Hill)

4WD Mod

Compared to the hard fought 2wd Mod State Title Ari Bakla (Xray) won on the Saturday, his win in the 4wd Mod category was much more comfortable. He dominated qualifying and was the only driver to complete 14 laps, increasing his pace in each of the four heats. Craig Laughton (TLR) qualified second just ahead of Mitch Bacon (Xray).

In the first final Craig finished 3 seconds behind Ari, both drivers completing 14 laps. Mitch came in third and Cale Wilson (TLR) finished fourth. In the second final Ari and Craig went faster again but it was Ari who finished first going within a whisker of setting a 21 second lap. As Ari had won the title by winning the first two finals he took a back seat to Craig, Mitch and Cale in final 3. The race went down to the last lap when Mitch came from second place to take the win and second place in the overall standings. Cale Wilson finished third.

Final Placings

Ari Bakla (St Ives)
Mitchell Bacon (St Ives)
Craig Laughton (Maitland)
Cale Wilson (Castle Hill)
Michael Harlow (St Ives)
David Warner (Castle Hill)
Andrew Selvaggi (KEORCA)
Cam Sautelle (St Ives)
Ray Munday (Keilor)
Tom Matley (Castle Hill)

Stadium Truck

The title for NSW Stadium Truck State Champ was a close battle fought out between four drivers, Ryde driver Nathaniel White (AE), Castle Hills Matt Kellett (AE), Andrew Selvaggi (AE) from KEORCA and Tom Matley from Castle Hill. Andrew took the TQ with three very fast and consistent runs in qualifying. Ominously, Matt set the fastest time in qualifying and started from second on the grid, with Tom not far behind in third and Nathaniel in fourth.

In the finals the racing was close. Matt won the first final by just .75 of a second from Nathaniel in second with Andrew another 3 seconds further back in third. Final two was also a nail biter but the result was the same, Matt taking the win by a bit over a second ahead of Nathaniel and Andrew again, 3 seconds behind in third. With two wins under his belt Matt had won the State Championship and so sat out in final three. Andrew took the win in final three with the fastest time for the day, 2.5 seconds ahead of Nathaniel who also set a personal best and second best time of the day. Mitchell Pratt (AE) finished in third ahead of Tom who finished in fourth in all three finals.

Andrew’s fast time in the third final was significant. He finished equal with Nathaniel on points but his fastest time gave him second place overall, relegating Nathaniel to third.