Schumacher Winter Series Round 3 – Report

The 2023/24 Schumacher Winter Series presented by the Louth Radio Control Car Club reached its midway point with Round 3 taking place last weekend. Schumacher front runner James Hart joined the series and set the fastest times in the opening qualifier and continued on to take four commanding rounds. Chris Lovely would lead the Xray charge and take 2nd spot in the qualifications with two 2nd places, 3rd would belong to 1:8 nitro ace Tim Wood and his Mugen.  In 4th would be Paul Sleight with his Awesomatix mixing it with the front times, 5th was Dave Sedgewick with his Awesomatix showing consistent speed. Daniel Burks would round out the A-final with his Destiny.

The six drivers would get away cleanly, until the they reached the slowest section of the track with a melee of cars. James Hart would take no invitation to pull a gap and extend it during the racing, never to be put under threat.  Lovely would drop down the order which would see Paul Sleight come out in 2nd having made an early corner one pass on Wood.  These two would battle away all race, leaving a pack behind of Sedgewick and Burks.   Lovely would claw his way back through to 4th after battles with Sedgewick and Burks.  But the battle for first would show Wood using all his experience to bring home the win 6 tenths ahead of Paul Sleight, Loveltin 4th followed by Burks and Sedgewick.

Result
1. James Hart – Schumacher
2. Tim Wood- Mugen
3. Paul Aleight – Awesomatix
4. Chris Lovely- xray
5. Daniel Burks – Destiny
6. Dave Sedgewick – Awesomatix

The Mardave supported class had a smaller attendance for this round with only three entrants. It would start close between Josh Carlton and Harvey Greenfield with Josh taking the opening rounds and Harvey having issues. But Harvey would get it together for the last couple of rounds and. Put in the fastest time as well. Josh would settle for 2nd. Dave Greenfield would be the third racer in the class but unable to match the pace of those ahead. Onto the final and it started super close for the first few minutes between Harvey and Josh, with Dave giving a watching brief. Until mistakes would creep in and the gap would widen, and Harvey would take the win in convincing style from Josh and Dave in 3rd.

Result
1. Harvey Greenfield – Mardave
2. Josh Carlton – Mardave
3. Dave Greenfield – Mardave

The Next Generation Cup allows the junior drivers to develop, meaning they can climb the ladder and not just be in their own race all day. Tobi Gittins would be the lead junior driver as he climbed the ranks in this close field of drivers to see himself seeded high. The race for 2nd and 3rd was super close between James Colebrook and Lucy Dabb, both showing exceptional driving. James would come out 2nd in the qualifying and Lucy only a few seconds behind in 3rd.

Onto the finals and Tobi would show mature racing making it in the d final and then onto the podium in the final too. James Colebrook would make it in the e final and would make it on the podium in his final also, whilst Lucy would make the f final and win that in style. All the junior drivers showing big improvements as they continue to develop.

Thanks to Chris Lovely for the report.