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Rennicks Modeltune Grand Prix 2010 Race Report

Drop Inn Racing at Craigavon hosted the annual Rennicks Modeltune 2010 Grand Prix on Saturday 2nd January. A challenging fast track was laid out on the sports hall Astroturf floor, and with four rounds of Qualifying followed by 2 Leg Finals the action was fast and furious.



The early pace was set by Drop Inn Racing regular Mark Penney, Aaron Vance from Clogher Valley Model Car Club and defending champion Jim Lee. John Matthews meanwhile was successfully debuting his HPI Short Course truck, and was up in 4th place after Q1. Roger Skelly was very much on the pace from the start too, with Sam Scott, Chris Turner & Craig Boyd putting in good lap times as well. Further down the field Cameron Scott, Michael Cairns, Pierce O’Connor & Mark Reid were all improving with each round of qualifying. The new B4FT of Neil Irwin was suffering a few teething problems in Q1& Q2, but things were to improve later!
So half way through qualifying (time to hit McDonalds!) the grid for the A Final was looking like this:
1: Mark Penney 21 laps 2: Aaron Vance 20 laps 3: Jim Lee 19 laps 4: Roger Skelly 18 laps 5: John Matthews 17 laps

Best improver in the second half of qualifying had to be Neil Irwin, climbing from 15th to 2nd! Not bad for first time out in a brand new car. Aaron Vance was able to keep in touch and qualified 3rd, just behind Neil in 2nd and Mark Penney out on his own in pole position. Late comer Andrew Rennick got his Losi up to 4th, with the last automatic A Final place claimed by Jim Lee who was not prepared to give up his 2009 title without a big fight!
B Final places went to Roger Skelly, Ed Acheson in his J82 bruggy, John Matthews, Sam Scott and Chris Turner.
With a bump up system in operation, Cameron Scott, Craig Boyd, Michael Cairns, Pierce O’Connor and Mark Reid all had a chance to bump up out of the C Final.

Finals got underway around 4pm, with Cameron Scott winning the C Final Leg 1 and Leg 2 in his beautiful Kyosho Lazer – very nice shell supplied by Santa just a few days ago! Strong performances too from Pierce O’Connor & Mark Reid, both still smiling and cars still going at the end of the days racing!
Roger Skelly cleaned up in both legs of the B Final, a contender for racer of the day on his first trip to the Craigavon astroturf. Sam Scott was unlucky with his car and did not start, even a quick front diff change not enough to get him going again. Chris Turner & Cameron Scott traded places just behind Ed Acheson’s J82 which was showing potential at last!

A Final racing was again of the highest standard, with all 6 drivers to be highly commended for both their skill and their sportsmanship. Leg 1 went to Mark Penney who was practically untouchable all day, with Aaron Vance fighting his way up to a great 2nd place. Andrew Rennick also impressed with his best finish of the day in 3rd, with Neil Irwin, Jim Lee and Roger Skelly taking the final placings. Leg 2 saw Mark clean up yet again, with Neil Irwin finding his form again and getting 2nd. Aaron Vance was hot on his tail in 3rd, Andrew Rennick dropped 1 place to 4th with Jim & Roger repeating their Leg 1 placings in 5th & 6th.

So after the green dust settled, the final placings in the Modeltune Grand Prix 2010 were as follows:

C Final Winner: Cameron Scott

B Final Winner: Roger Skelly

A Final:
1st Mark Penney

2nd Aaron Vance

3rd Neil Irwin

4th Andrew Rennick
5th Jim Lee

A big thanks to all who took part and made the day a great success, and especially to event sponsor Andrew Rennick from Modeltune, Portadown! The vouchers for the top 3 were no doubt well appreciated, and let’s hope Mark has a good big mantelpiece to keep that impressive trophy on!