Round 2 of the WRCA was at Saundersfoot club this weekend and it was a great day. The sun was shining the track was exciting and the company was great. Ieuan Payne and Nathan Notley were in attendance to represent TLRUK in the Welsh region. Ieuan would be running his Team Orion powered TLR 22 3.0 with the Laydown conversion and Nathan running his Speed Passion and Trackstar powered TLR 22-4.

Round 1.
The track still was a bit damp by the time of Ieuans heat so he decided to run Ballistic Buggy green compound tyres for the first run but it didn't pay off with them not being as good as he would of thought but still he managed a 5th place finish overall for round 1. Nathan choosing to run Schumacher Mini Spike Yellow compound for his first run after a bit of a talk with his team mate and this seemed to work for him getting a 10th place in round 1. So both TLR drivers were in an A main position.

Round 2.
This round was probably the best for Ieuan making a few changes to his car tyres being a major factor but also adding a bit of ride height which helped. He got 2nd in his run and being in the top heat this gave him 2nd for the round and 3rd overall on points. Nathan making a couple of changes but not as major as tyres less ride height and that was it mainly. He had a good run with a couple of mistakes but this got him into 8th position overall on points. So both TLR drivers were off to a good start.

Round 3.
Ieuan made yet another change going to 3.5 degrees of rear toe to get a little more side grip in the corners because by now on the grass the racing line was getting very slick now. This made the car easier to drive for Ieuan but with one mistake it made Ieuan not improve which he was gutted about as the car was good. This meant he was still 3rd overall but tied on points with a good driver who was Gavin Gallagher. Nathan not making any changes to his car but tried to keep it clean in the run which he didn't manage to do getting tangled up with a few people that he was battling with cost them all valuable time. The track was getting slower so no improvements for either of them but Nathan still managed a 8th overall.

Round 4.
Ieuan knew he had to finish in front of Gavin to start 3rd on the grid but an early mistake getting caught on the rope cost him and Gavin ran a clean race so Ieuan had to settle for a 4th position overall which he was happy about. Nathan still keeping the same setup and tried to make no mistakes which he managed to do making up a place on the grid this meant he would start 7th in the A main.

Finals.
Ieuan starting 4th on the grid for the 2wd A main and a clean start but by the time of the finals the grip levels had drastically gone down meaning with the laydown transmission car it struggled for the first time all day. He then made a mistake on the first jump landing far from the landing point causing him to traction roll because he landed whilst steering the car this dropped him back to 8th then he just kept in clean and fast he managed to make up the places to get back to 5th and a great battle with Pete Belsten with Ieuan going a bit wide on a corner letting Pete through and then Ieuan not being able to make it back past him with Pete driving a very good race to the end. Nathan starting 7th he would make a good start but a crash on the chicane at the end of the straight lost him two positions he fought his way back to 6th with some great battles with other drivers in the final all of them from 5th to 8th were swapping positions all the time making fair and clean passes it was good to watch also. Then it was a last lap dash but Nathan having some bad luck his car cut out on the last corner so he finished 9th so unlucky Nathan not how you would of wanted to finish. So not a bad day for the TLR duo both making the A final so both were able to show how good the TLR cars actually are.

Both drivers would like to say thank you to their sponsors for all their support. TLRUK Horizon Hobby UK Spektrum Team Orion Dynamite.

Special Thanks to Ieuan Payne for the Report

Source:

I. Payne