Yesterday was a great start to our Outdoor Series. Like Bob said, thanks to everyone for stepping up and helping us get 22 rigs through 56 runs in a timely fashion.
Congrats to Steven on His first win in the shafty class. Thanks to our Sponsors he made out with a COW RC screw catcher, a Castle Creations BEC, and a COW RC bag to take them home in. Congrats to Dan for his tiebreaker win in the Pro class
(Just kidding Dan Nice driving). Dan went home with a COW RC screw catcher and coozy, a Castle Creations Micro Sidewinder, and a COW RC bag to bring them all home in.
See you all in Melrose in two weeks.
- = Pro Race Report (Written by BC-Brian) = -
Course 1 Pro included 10 gates and a bonus on some great rock among a bunch of nice.... wet... moss... It made for some fun gates. Gate 1 was a fun little uphill that you had to get just right or your chassis would slide into a notch and take out the lower gate. Gate 2 was another climb that you had to setup just right to do a one tire pull and get your truck onto the line. Gate 3 required a small drop with a tight dig turn without hitting the outer gate. Gates 5 and 5 were off camber uphills that took a little effort to get through. The bonus came up next, it was on a small ledge and required that you burn your rear axle to get the rig to swing around. Gate 6 left you with two options gun it up the left side or setup for a one tire grab on the left side. Gate 7 and 8 were not to bad but still had narrow lines and you needed to hit them just right. Gate 9 needed you to pop over a gap and then wheel over a large breakover. The finish gate was an easy up it getting there with time left was the hard part. Bob killed this course with a -30, Brian landed in second on this course with a -28,
Course 2 Pro was another 10 gates + bonus. Course 2 was less spread out than course 1. It was setup on a large multi leveled chunk of rock. The start gate was straight up through a steep vertical. Gate 2 was a steep climb into a V-notch. You needed to get a tire up on the ledge and then pull up and around to clear the gate. Gate 3 was a very delicate sidehill that took some tricky navigating. Gate 4 left you with two options, take a tough climb up the side or an easy approach that typically required a reverse. Gate 5 was a straigt up that needed a little throttle goose and up you were. For those that didn't have the wheel speed they could take a off camber approach to the gate and pull it. Gate 6 was an uphill gate that needed a one tire pull up, and into gate 7, an off camber downhill, and then back up through gate 8. Gate 9 was a heavily boundaried off camber that required a small drop with some rear burn to setup for a dicey sidehill. Gate 10 was a bit of a mind challenge, with three ways to get through. For those low on time there was a near vertical descent about 5' into a boundaried chute to the finish gate. A bad bounce here and you would tag one of the boundaries and go back to 9 with even less time. For those with a lot of time to spare you could take the Very long route around, back up through gates 1 and 2 and then up through the finish. If neither of these suited your fancy there was a small notch in the boundary for an easy straddle. Brian landed a -9 on this course and Dan M. earned himself a 5.
Course 3 was set up on a large rock outcropping at the top of the hill. Gate 1 was an uphill V-notch climb that required you to bail out to the left. Gate 2 and 3 were tied together if you were able to keep your truck on the ridge you could easily pull directly through gate three, if you slid off the line however there was a risk of hitting the boundary down below. Gates 4 and 5 were both uphill gates requiring that you hook up and pull over a ledge. Gate 6 needed a controlled drop and so did gate 7, however this one had the looming threat of a boundary just beyond the gate. Gate 8 brought you uphill and you had to hope that you would not get tangled up in the three that was just to the left of the approach line. Gate 9 was another uphill, you had to fish around for the grip with your left tire and then pull up without tagging the right gate with your rear tire. Stan went first on this course, pulled a -29 and had us all convinced it would be a cake walk, turns out he just owned it. Dan R. also showed people the way on course three with a -19.
- = Shaftsmen Race Report (Written by Force5) = -
Course 1 included 10 gates and an alternate at gate 8 for 12 points. With the rain ending at 5:30am there was still plenty of wet stuff to slip and slide on. Gate 1 was a drop from a boulder onto a nice wet slab. Gate 2 was the first off camber uphill climb. Gate 3 was another off camber uphill gate about two feet further down the ridge, this was a tricky climb where most opted out and took the Dan P line and back down the edge then pull up thru the gate. Gates 4 was a drop from the main slab onto a small step, if you miss the step it was a long drive around. Gate 5 was a classic v-notch that you needed to get the approach to it just right and then watch out for the deer droppings on the way to 6. Gate 6 was another off camber uphill climb from the main slab. Gate 7 was a nice drop into a hole where you had to make a choice, turn left and go for Gate 8 climbing out of the hole or go straight or to the right out of the hole to attempt gate 8A. Gate 8A was a nasty off camber to the right. Gate 9 was a nice corkscrew downhill right back the nice wet slab. The finish gate was an up back onto the start boulder totally covered in lichen and moss. Bob got the top honors on this course with a -20, followed by Dan P. at -8 and Steven with a -6.
Now Course 2, OK everyone, I need to apologies for the Gate 1 and 2. I really thought the climb to gate one would be doable. To my surprise and horror gate one turned up again as the bonus on the pro course. I will make sure I try to set better courses in the future. On the other hand this is a National Qualifier and I need to push you guys as hard as I can.
Course 2 was 10 gates + bonus. Course 2 was at the large rock outcropping at the top of the hill. The start gate was straight up a too steep vertical with an easy straddle down low. Gate 2 was up on the ledge with another straddle down low, again sorry guys. Gate 3 was a drop off the bolder to the slab. Gate 4 took you back up the needing to avoid getting tangled up in the vegetation. Gate 5 was a really nice increasing off camber climb with a turned to the right at the top. Gate 6 was a long decent from the top of the rock. The bonus was around the other side of the boulder, with a tight boundary on an uphill climb. Gate 7 was a motor all the way around the boulder to a v-notch drop. Gate 8 was another nasty long uphill climb with several grade changes. Gate 9 was a great drop down and side hill across the painted face of the rock. The finish gate brought you right up to the edge of large drop but was an easy pull up and over. On this course Steve threw down smacking everyone with a -11. 29 points ahead of the next driver Stan, with an 18. Followed by Bob and Jeremy with a score of 22.
Results for the Day
Way to go Dan, First Place Pro
Steven's First Ever Win in Shafty. Congrats Man!
