The 3rd race of the 4 race Maritime RC Offroad Series was held at Shady Pines Raceway, in Fredericton New Brunswick. Shady Pines is owned and operated by Mark Baird. Mark and his track crew (Gerald Fanjoy, Gregg Lawton, Cody Porter, Jason Sullivan, Terry Terris) did an excellent job of preparing the track for the race. On raceday the announcing was shared between Jordan Miles, Darren Scott, and Stephane Doucet. Stephane brought his lap counting system down from his track and George Thompson brought his rental transponders. The lunch bbq was put on by Mark’s daughter Shelby Baird. There were a lot of people involved to make the event successful, and the racers appreciate all the effort that went in to the event and preparations!

On raceday it became apparent that there were 2 distinct sections of the track with different grip levels. The sweeper and infield section before the doubles (near in above photo) was hard packed with light dust, while the back section (far in picture) seemed to be damp and had good grip. The track layout was deceivingly simple. The goal of the track design was to have a track where most racers could turn laps without crashes, but also to make it difficult to run the track fast to challenge even the best of drivers. The morning started cool and calm as shown in the track photo, but by mid-day the marshals ran for the shelter of the trees from the heat and sun with only the bravest venturing out to marshal the infield.

This race was well attended, with A & B heats in 4wd SCT and 1-8 buggy. 2wd buggy had enough entries for A, B, & C mains! Thanks to all the racers who traveled to the race and local racers who attended. Your participation made for an excellent race day!

The series sponsors donated lots of door prizes for the racers which were drawn after the racing was complete. Thanks to all the series sponsors for the Series, it is much appreciated by the racers.

As always, as race 3 of the 4 race Maritime Series the results of this race will be added to the overall 2019 Maritime RC Racing Offroad Series points.

2wd Buggy A-Main: RESULTS – VIDEO

1st: Guillaume Berube, 2nd: Gregg Lawton, 3rd: Kyle McKinnon, tq: David Jean

The 2wd A-Main had a 7 car final. At the tone (as seen in the video) the top 5 broke away and had a clean first few laps with Kyle in the lead. Kyle would then have a few bad laps with bobbles and fell to as low as 6th, with David Jean taking the lead. The race would settle down with close racing until about 3 minutes to go. At that time David would crash in the Double section and this would allow Guillaume to take the lead and Gregg to sneak by into 2nd. Kyle would stay close to David and make the pass for 3rd with only 30 seconds remaining. The race would end with Guillaume having a consistent race to finish 1st, Gregg improving from his 5th place start to take 2nd, and Kyle recovering on the last lap for 3rd.

2wd Buggy B-Main: RESULTS

1st (bump): Dario Paoletti, 2nd: Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Rene Leblanc

In the 6 car B-Main the winner would get a spot in the A-Main as a reward for their efforts. Early in the race there was a lot of back and forth between Rene, Gordon, and Stephane as to who was going to challenge Dario for the lead. While the 3 would battle Dario would get a bit of a gap over the other racers and finish the race in 1st and get the bump to the A-Main. As the race progressed it settled into Stephane 2nd with Rene 3rd. Gordon would finish on the same lap as he tried to get on the podium but ran out of time.

2wd Buggy C-Main: RESULTS

1st(bump): Gerald Fanjoy, 2nd: Zack Bernard, 3rd: William Muirhead

This was the first time in the series that we had a C-Main in any class, and the winner of the race would bump to the B-Main. At the start of the race Gerald would lead the first lap, but have a bobble which dropped him to 5th place. Zack would take advantage and jump to the lead for a lap before having a bad lap and dropping himself back to 5th. William would then take the opportunity to take the lead before a series of bad laps would see him fall to 4th. Gerald then would work his way back through the group with consistent driving to retake the lead and finish 1st and take the coveted bump-up spot. Zack would recover and work back to take 2nd, and William would race to the line for 3rd being chased closely by Mark Baird. Mark would finish 0.3 seconds behind William, which proves that William can drive faster scared then Mark can drive mad!

2wd SCT A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): Kyle McKinnon, 2nd: Jon Betts, 3rd: Jeremy Sherriff

In 2wd SCT it was decided to race the trucks together in the largest final of the event. From the start of the race Kyle put on a racing clinic and lead the race from tone to tone, finishing about 1/2 a lap over 2nd. This left the remainder of the group to fight over the remaining podium positions. Jon Betts, who recently came out of retirement for this race, held 2nd spot until a bobble dropped him to the 3rd spot. Jeremy took advantage of the rusty driver and took over the 2nd spot for most of the race. Jon collected himself and fought off charges by Derek. With about 2 minutes to go Jon would make the pass on Jeremy and this time did not let it go. The race finished with Kyle 1st, Jon 2nd, and Jeremy 3rd.

4wd SCT A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): Jordan Miles, 2nd: Jon Betts, 3rd: Gregg Lawton

In 4wd SCT we welcomed Jordan Miles, who was vacationing in the Maritimes, to join us for the race. At the start of this race the top 3 would battle it out around the first few corners, which would allow Gregg Lawton to take advantage and work his way to 1st for a lap. The action was not over, as Jordan would take the lead for a lap before a bobble would drop him back to 3rd, this time allowing Jon Betts (back for the race) to take the lead. Jordan would eventually recover and work his way back to 1st. Gregg and Jon would then have a close back and forth battle for the 2nd spot for the rest of the race. When the race ended Jordan would finish 1st, Jon 2nd, and Gregg 3rd only 2 seconds behind Jon.

4wd SCT B-Main: RESULTS

1st: Zack Bernard, 2nd: George Thompson, 3rd: Reg Comeau

4wd SCT had a large field of racers, enough for an A & B main. the winner of the B would join the group in the A-Main. At the start of the race William would charge to take the 1st spot. William would hold 1st until about 1 minute remaining, and then a bad lap would send him crashing to 4th spot. This gave Zack a chance to take the 1st spot and the cherished bump to the A-Main. George Thompson would work his way to 2nd even with some missing front body clips slowing his truck, and Reg would work his way into the 3rd spot.

1-8 Buggy A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): David Jean, 2nd: Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Rene Leblanc

In 1/8 Buggy, David Jean had the hot setup for the track. He lead the race tone to tone with a very consistent race to finish 1st. Stephane also would prove to be a force on this track and would finish a solid 2nd. The battle in this race was for the 3rd spot on the podium. Mark McKinnon would have a chance at the 3rd spot for a lap, but a few slow laps dropped him to 5th for the race. Rene would then have a chance at the 3rd spot, but Dario would take the spot and run with it for a few laps. Rene would recover and take back the 3rd spot for the remainder of the race. Dario would chase and challenge for the spot, but just could not get it back and had to settle for 4th.

1-8 Buggy B-Main: RESULTS

1st: Derek Bain, 2nd: Zack Bernard, 3rd: George Thompson

1/8 Buggy is getting popular in the Maritimes, and this race had enough racers for an A & B-main. In the B-Main the winner would get the bump to the A! Derek seemed to want 1st the most, and he jumped to 1st right off the start and held it for the race to take the treasured bump-up spot. George and Zack would have a great battle for the 2nd spot. After trading the spot back and forth through the race, George would settle into 2nd and was thinking he had it in the bag, that is until Zack made the pass on the last lap to take 2nd. George lost his shoes in a bet and settled for 3rd … 😉

1-8 Truggy A-Main: RESULTS

1st(tq): Guillaume Berube, 2nd: Stephane Doucet, 3rd: Rene Leblanc

In 1/8 Truggy, Guillaume Berube was having a great day. He had the hot setup in truggy, lead the race tone to tone, finished 1st, and had the fastest lap of the race. The battle was for the remaining spots on the podium. Rene would start the race in 2nd and hold the spot until the 4 minute mark. Early in the race Derek Bain would jump up from his 4th place starting spot to get into the 3rd spot before a mechanical failure would cause him to drop out. Stephane would then take the 3rd spot with his eye on Rene in 2nd. At the 4 minute mark Stephane would charge into the 2nd spot. Rene would apply pressure but had to settle for the 3rd spot only 2 seconds back from 2nd.