The Albury Team Race & Speed Weekend was held on Oct. 4 & 5, 2008. Those two weekend flying days were blessed with near perfect weather. At least in Melbourne, both Friday and Monday would have been considered too wet and windy to fly. Typical of Spring weather down under.

The fantastic hard surface at the Twin Cities MAC for control line speed and racing events is a tribute to the forward thinking of people like Daryl Gunst and other positive minded MAAA Committee men. There is no doubt the availability of this concrete circle contributed to the magnificent performance by our Aussie teams at the F2C World Champs in Landres, France in July this year.

Winners Hugh Simons and Grant Potter along with forth placed Rob Fitzgerald and Mark Ellins have done a mighty lot of practice and racing at this venue. The good news for the future is that our circle is here to stay and this excellent facility may again be a factor in providing future world champion teams.

F2C heats and Combined Speed were on Saturday followed by Classic B where five teams entered. At least another five teams couldn’t make it but the next Albury event is the Nats and predictions are for a record number of teams.

Highlight of the Classic B event was the revival of the famous Dream Team. Ken and John Hunting were right on the pace with their new Brodak 25 and are certainly going to keep everyone honest in this event from now on.

Lance Smith and Murray Wilson showed remarkable speed with the Galaxie and Brodak Mk 4 combination but were down on range. Although their speed got them into the final, extra stops were always going to count against them.

Steve Rothwell and Robert Owen again flew the orange Swooper and were only a lap or two away from making the final three. Robert has a new Classic B setup now and will soon have it sorted as he has the experience and expertise.

John Hallowell and Neil Baker made FTD with the Grassfire and Brodak Mk4 posting a 3.09 before changing to the Rocket while Graeme Wilson and Mark Ellins struggled to find their normal airspeed, perhaps due to using a different fuel.

In the final, Neil Baker’s slick pitwork with Mark Poskens on battery got the Rocket and Mk4 Brodak over the line first in 6.24. Although Lance and Murray had the best airspeed, the extra stop crippled their chances. The brothers Hunting did a great job to make the last three and will only improve as they become more familiar with their gear.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny for Vintage A and all teams took advantage of the perfect conditions to do some pre race testing. Steve Rothwell had a factory fresh R250 and was using a small 3.6mm venturi to be kind to the new engine and approach 60 lap range. With Ray Harvey at the propeller, a good time looked likely until their model collected a fuel bottle when passing another pit section on landing. Onion grass last year, fuel bottle this year… Steve’s luck is due to change next time we use the circle. And that will be at the Nats in a few months time. Watch out.

New World Champ ‘Harry’ Potter had South Oz pitting whiz Mark Poshkens on the oily end. Hugh Simons was unable to make it due to University study commitments. A fuel mix up cost them early, but once into stride, these two posted a FTD 3.18.90 to grab first choice for the final.

The old firm of Graeme Wilson and Mark Ellins were pushing the R250 Olympian to the limit resulting in two smoothly flown heats and a third fastest time of 3.23.97. Murray Wilson and Lance Smith flew two remarkably consistent heats of 3.28.3 and 3.28.4.

With R250’s being used by almost all competitors, the emphasis must be on first flick starts and quick landings. The result is a very, very competitive racing event. Just a scant second here or there can mean the difference between flying in a final or helping out with the lap counters and stopwatches.

Richard Justic and Andy Kerr found themselves in this situation. They had the airspeed to equal any team. There was less than a couple of seconds keeping them from showing how a two stop 60 laps plus per tank final can knock the stuffing out of the opposition.

John Hallowell and Neil Baker had two reasonable flights with the new R250 Dimpled Dumpling and had first choice in the final up until the last heat was run. The Dream Team had their Mars engine wound up to an impressive speed, but still not good enough to challenge an R250. Never mind. As you read this brothers Hunting will be drooling over their shiny new purchase from Steve.

The final promised a close race and it was exactly that until the last stop. A landing mishap put paid to the hopes of Harry and Mark while the backward starting malady skittled Neil and John when they were in the lead. Neil copped FOUR backwards starts in a row at that final stop! Meanwhile, Graeme and Mark took full advantage and sailed past to cross the finish line first, taking the honours in 6.58.65.

I for one can hardly wait for the upcoming Albury Nats.

John Hallowell. AUS 1984