The first race of the 2018 Cap-Pele Offroad series was held May 19th. George, the host track owner, welcomed long time racers back to the track along with some new faces trying racing for the first time. The weather could not have been better for the season opener and the track was in good shape, but got very dusty as the day progressed. Plaques were provided by 333 Customs and Freedom Hobbies provided gift certificates to the racers! The results from this race will be added to the Overall Series Points!
1/10 2wd Buggy – RESULTS
Results: 3rd-Gordon Calder, 1st-Dario Paoletti, 2nd-Gregg Lawton
2wd buggy was the first final to be run that day. The track was very slippery after the day of racing. In this race 2 new racers joined the field, Zack Bernard and Blaine Murray, along with a field of seasoned racers to tackle the track. Early in the race Dario, Gregg, and Gordon got off to a clean start with Gregg taking the early lead. After an early battle with Gordon, Dario was able to recover and take first while Gregg held 2nd while Gordon held 3rd. Reg Comeau had a great run improving from his 6th place start to finish 4th.
1/10 2wd SCT – RESULTS
Results: 2nd-Chris Flewelling, 1st-Patrick Last, 3rd-Dario Paoletti
In 2wd SCT we welcomed new racer Brian Roy to the track, who finished 5th out of the 8 racers. At the start of the race there were quite a few position changes across the whole field of racers. Patrick drove very consistently and held the lead throughout the race. George started strong but had an unfortunately long lap which let both Chris move into 2nd and Dario passed for 3rd.
1/10 4wd SCT – RESULTS
Results: 3rd-Dario Paoletti, 1st-Gregg Lawton, 2nd-Stephane Doucette
In 4wd SCT we welcomed new racer Zack Bernard to the class. Unfortunately he was able to start the final due to mechanical issues. At the start of the race Gregg and Shane were able to break away from the group slightly. Gregg was able to take advantage of the clean air and was able to hold the lead though the race. Shane had some troublein the Hucka-bump section and that allowed Dario to get into the top 3. Shane and Dario would battle throughout the whole race, with Dario making the pass on the last lap for 3rd. While others were watching the leaders, Stephane was quietly charging through the field after an initial mishap that put him down into 6th. But, he was able to catch the battle for 2&3 and took the 2nd place for himself!
1/8 E-Buggy – RESULTS
Results: 2nd-Shane Foote, 1st-Dario Paoletti, 3rd-Chris Flewelling
The 1/8 E-buggy was a good one to watch with the top 3 racers all on the same lap. Shane had an early lead but had some trouble with a few slow laps early in the race falling to 3rd which allowed Chris to bump to 2nd and Dario moved to 1st. Dario took the lead and held it to the finish. Shane was able to recover and make the pass for 2nd, while Chris was close by but settled for 3rd.
1/8 E-Truggy – RESULTS
Results: 3rd-Patrick Last, 1st-Shane Foote, 2nd-Stephane Doucet
1/8 E-truggy seemed to be able to handle the conditions of the track well which made for an interesting race. Stephane had an early lead, but a driving error let Shane by for 1st which he was able to hold with clean driving. Stephane pushed hard through the race but was not able to beat the clock missing the extra lap by tenths of seconds to finish 2nd. Patrick Last had a solid race and finished close behind for 3rd. The Cinderella Story in this race was Mat Leblanc who was able to jump into the 4th place spot from his 6th place qualification.
1/8 Nitro-Buggy – Qualification
Results: 2nd-Chris Flewelling, 1st-Shane Foote, 3rd-Mike Belanger
The final in this class was not run because of mechanical problems. The finish order was based on the results of the 3 qualifiers.
1/8 Nitro-Truggy – RESULTS
Results: 2nd-Mike Belanger, 1st-Shane Foote, 3rd-Chris Flewelling
1/8 Nitro Truggy had a small field of dedicated racers. Shane took the lead at the start of the race and remained unchallenged to finish 1st. Mike’s transponder stopped working after the first lap but he continued to turn laps through the race to finish 2nd. Chris had a flameout late in the race and was unable to restart his motor and ended up falling to third.
